Piece = Part = Portion: Fractions = Decimals = Percents [Hardcover]

Scott Gifford (Author), Shmuel Thaler (Photographer)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Just as hola and bonjour mean “hello,” in the language of math, fractions, decimals, and percents describe the same thing in slightly different ways. So why are so many kids bewildered by this math basic? Because rarely is the explanation of this important concept presented so clearly. Now there'¬?s PIECE = PART = PORTION, to offer clarity with hip graphic presentation to boot. Finally!Engaging antidote to mathphobia. Photography will appeal to visual learners.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-The striking photography in this book will not only whet an occasional appetite, but also satisfy the need for a visual treatment of the topic. Opposite three written representations of the same portion-a fraction, a decimal, and a percent-Thaler contributes clear, close-up illustrations. The large photographs framed in bands of bold color draw the eye from the matching numeral equivalents. While the examples include the tried-and-true pieces of pie and pizza and quarter of a dollar, Gifford relates more unusual divisions of a whole to illustrate other fractions: 1/7 of a week and 1/11 of a soccer team offer a fresh look at other portions. This simple text, paired with large vibrant art, provides a startlingly clear mathematical perspective.
Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. Notable for its clean design, this brightly illustrated book introduces the idea that fractions, decimals, and percents are different ways of saying the same thing. An introduction is followed by a picture of a single gym shoe and the explanatory words, "1/2 of a pair of shoes," ".50," and "50%." The next 14 double-page spreads follow the same pattern: a large, sharply defined photo and large-print text that defines the picture in terms of its subject along with three ways of expressing it numerically. But while "1/10 of your toes" (smartly illustrated with a big toe poking through the hole in a sock) is ".10" or "10%," some of the decimal numbers and percentages are rounded-off approximations: "1/7 of a week" is not exactly" .14" or "14%" of a week. If that's close enough for a teacher's purposes, then this attractive book will fit the bill. However, those who value the precision of mathematics will be disappointed that Gifford chose to use inexact equivalencies without at least mentioning the useful concepts of rounding and approximation. This is, nevertheless, a promising first book for Gifford, an elementary-school teacher, and another striking visual interpretation from Thaler, the photographer who illustrated George Levenson's Pumpkin Circle (2002). Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Tricycle Press (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582461023
• ISBN-13: 978-1582461021
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 0.4 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,009,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Visual Teaching Tool, September 19, 2010

By 

Dragonflies & Autumn Leaves - See all my reviews

This review is from: Piece = Part = Portion (Paperback)

Has pictures of "fractions" that kids are familiar with, such as 1/2 of a pair of shoes, 1/7 of a week, 1/3 of a traffic light.
It is laid out with the picture on the right hand page, and on the left hand page nice and big, the fraction on top (1/6), the words in the middle (of a six-pack), and on the bottom both the decimal (.166) and the percent (16.6%)

So here comes my question about this book... wouldn't you round the repeating .166666 up to .167 or put a line over the 6 to show it's repeating ? (I'm no math authority, but that's the way I understand it.) That's o.k., my son has fun finding "mistakes" and figuring out what it "should be," which is a teaching opportunity in itself.

I found this book more useful as reinforcement and review once I had already introduced my son to fractions, percents and decimals, and their relationship to each other. Otherwise, a kid may see the logical connection to 3/4 of a sandwich and the fraction, but be confused by the decimals and percents. Of course, that can be an opportunity to explain how they are related. :) But the explaining will be up to you... that's not covered in this book. It's more of a visual-aid teaching tool. I was a bit disappointed when I first got it at how simple it was, but It really is handy to have something like this to use.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teacher Review, July 7, 2008

By 

Jennifer F. Laboe (Meridian, Mississippi) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Piece = Part = Portion: Fractions = Decimals = Percents (Hardcover)

This is a great resource for teachers to use to introduce the fractions, decimals, and percents to their classes. It really can be used in any early elementary grade. It has mostly photos with hardly any written parts but it is a very useful resource!

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding VISUAL teaching tool, December 7, 2011

By 

Alan S. Nissenbaum "jukebox" (st louis mo) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Piece = Part = Portion (Paperback)

I continually use this pictorial book to help familiarize students with fractions. The graphic representations and supportive numerical information (expressed as fraction, decimal, & percentage,) on the reverse of each graphic are very valuable. Extremely useful and USER-FRIENDLY teaching tool! Many thanks.