Animals on Board (Mathstart: Level 2

MathStart Level 2

by Stuart J. Murphy, R.W. Alley (Illustrator)

Ride along with trucker Jill and her dog as they add up the animals zooming by. But these are no ordinary animals, and they're bound for a surprise destination!Ride along with trucker Jill and her dog as they add up the animals passing by on other trucks. But these are no ordinary animals, and theyre bound for a surprise destination! Lively illustrations by R.W. Alley make adding truckloads of fun.

Genres: Mathematics, Animals, Picture Books, Counting, Education, Childrens, Nonfiction

36 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 1998

About the author

PICTURES & WORDS, STORIES & BOOKS
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com

I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.

I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.

I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.

MATHSTART

The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.

The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.

Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )

THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL

Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”

STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN

My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.

I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.

Each book is reviewed by a tea

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this 4 stars with one caveat - I think it's more a level 1 book instead of a level 2 book.

We follow a truck driver down the road and count various animals as they drive by on other trucks. Like 3 tigers plus 2 more tigers equal 5 tigers. Once the animals pass it shows a sign with the numbers written out and a small picture of each animal above it. So for 3+2=5 there are 3 small tigers above the 3 and 2 small ones above the 2.

My older boys (8 yrs old) listened with interest, but the math was really easy for them. The 4-yr-old really liked the story and the math was just about right for him. It would be a good jumping off point to do some more adding with counters/manipulatives. The 2-yr-old just wanted to make the animal sounds.

Best used for those just starting addition.

[Khadija Bensaadoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interactive and fun book about a truck driver names Jill and her dog who count different zoo animals that pass them by.Its a great book to use when teaching fact families. The book only includes addition fact families by as the teacher reads the book she can ask the students the inverse of the math sentences that are in the story. During the book the Activity: the teacher will supply the students stuffed animals. The students will arrange them into groups and make up number stories about the animals. Grades prek-2

[Kacie Wiscott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Animals on Board is a great book for early math practice and concept development. The book showcases early subitization strategies by providing visual representations of numbers that students can use to practice identifying and recognizing quantities quickly. The illustrator uses the animals driving past truck driver Jill as a way to represent this, and organize them in the way that the numbers would look like on a dice. If students aren’t ready for that quick identification, they still have the option to count the animals one by one. Along with this, the book uses another form of representation for the quantities through their actual numerical form. Each page shows the written equation for the math students are actually counting, to further solidify the connection between the counted objects and how they are written as a math concept. These options for representation allow students with different learning needs to all have access to the book in some way. There are ways for students to practice counting at a very early level, as well as ways for students to continue developing their subitizing skills. As a result, even if students have different learning needs in the same classroom, the book’s built in scaffolds and solving options allow all students to be engaged and successful in the way that suits them best.

[Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “Animals on Board”by Stuart J. Murphy is a math adding book for young readers and learners. The readers can count along with Jill the truck driver, counting and adding up the animals as they drive by. There are many different animals that are seen throughout the book and they are all on different trucks. Some of the animals are swans, pandas, frogs, and many others. One critique for the book is to continue the story through the destination rather than having the readers count up the animals in the end. Giving the readers a actual equation to solve with all the animals together would be helpful to the book, and add another dimension. Overall, the book is a great way to engage your students in the book and count along with the reader while incorporating math into a story.

[Kayla Angeletti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book! It was a cute little math book about addition. The illustrations were nice and colorful and were very cartoon-like. In the book, there is a truck holding a certain type of animal and then another truck holding more of the same animal. Included in the book was not only how many animals were on each truck so you could count and see how many animals were on that truck, but the author also included addition problems on the pages (such as 3+2=5) so that way the readers can see it visually. This book also had a rhyme to it and I loved it. This book could also help with counting and learning colors too! I would recommend keeping this book in your classroom!

[Tiffany Boutain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This read is a level 2 reader for adding and would be great to read when introducing addition. This book shows different animals on trucks being moved with a focus on adding each group as they appear in the story. Written equations are included, up to ten animals at most and at the end of the story give a chance for students to find and count the total number of animals that they saw on each load creating an opportunity for a whole group activity.

[Cori Dantio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute picture book to introduce adding to a small child. It actively shows what the equations look like and show how that equation relates to the animals in the story.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to counting and early addition concepts. Fun, engaging and educational.

[Jurene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good basic adding book.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've read several of the MathStart books by Stuart J. Murphy and we have liked them all. Each has a different math principle and they range in levels from one to three. The stories are interesting and have colorful illustrations. But they also incorporate a simple math concept that is depicted in a way that children can easily understand. I love it!

This rhyming tale depicts a truck driver counting and adding different numbers of creatures on other trucks. The ending is a bit obvious and the narrative seems a bit too focused on the math, but still, the story is entertaining. The illustrations are colorful and the different animals are cute. We discussed whether or not our girls thought they were real and I had them predict what they would all be used for in the end.

My only issue with this book is that I would've placed it in the MathStart Level 1 group, instead of Level 2. I have been focusing on the higher level books because our girls think the easier levels are a bit too babyish for them. Still, we enjoyed reading this book together.

[Madison Bopp · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be a great book to read with the class to discuss addition. I would read the story to the class and ask students to point to each animal and have us all count them together. After they count the animals, I would ask them questions such as "If there are 6 swans and 2 more are added, how many swans will there be in all?" After we have done this together as a class, I would then have the students work in their groups at their table with circus trains that I would have made and provided for the students. All the students will have their own circus train and I would put animal crackers at each table. I would make recording sheets for each student that will have the name and picture of all the animals that are represented on the animal crackers. I will have students make their own animal trains and write down how many of each animal they have chosen to go on their animal train. I will then have the students add all the animals together to see how many animals are on the whole train. Students can eat their crackers when they are done with the center.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book. A trucker drives down the road counting how many of various kinds of animals there are on different trucks. Then the trucker adds the numbers together, and the book shows the simple math sentences.

My 3-year-old loves it, and all she does is the counting part. I imagine it will be useful in the future when she's ready to do the simple addition as well. The text has a nice rhyming rhythm. A good picture book all by itself that also helps practice math.

[Vanessa Peavy · Rating 2 out of 5]

While driving her truck which carries a very special load, Jill counts and then adds the number of animals that she sees on other trucks as they pass her on the road.
This book is good for children 6 and up.

To use this book. I would have students make up number stories for the itmes that they choose. For example I would have them gather 8 markers and have them make a number story, "There are 4 red markers and 3 greens ones, and 1 yellow one. there are 8 markers altogether.

[Hatka Kecalovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Animals on Board by Stuart J. Murphy uses a variety of animals to introduce students to the concept of addition. The book also focuses on number sentences. The book can also be used as a resource for lessons on rhyming, adjectives, and verbs. This book can be used in first to third grade classrooms.

[Quynh Le · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for counting and I love how I can also tie it to a lesson on animals. The book also has explicit number problems in it, such as 3+2=5, which is helpful for anyone who need that kind of visual. I think the 'can you find..." page is great because it's interactive and it helps students to recognize the different types of animals out there.

[Rebecca Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cute book to use for a math read aloud. As the teacher reads, the students can write the number problems. The teacher can cover up the equations in the book and then reveal the answers after the students finish writing the number problem.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great counting book for story time with zoo animals

[Renae Williams]

This book is fun because it is interactive. This is good to use for a lesson in counting.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is good for adding and working on counting skills through using zoo animals.

[Airiel Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good for addition and the fact that they are using zoo animals makes the book engaging for little kids.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun interactive counting book. It helps children learn the basics of addition while adding zoo animals.

[Gina Starling · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the MathStart series, this story in rhyme lays out five simple addition problems. grades K-2 for teavhing addition.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doesn't start with one and go to ten. Three pandas and six swans--it's setting up a circus, and then counting all the horses, etc. at the end.

[Sheniqua · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses on adding single digit numbers. It can also be an introductory book to begin discussing double digit addition and grouping large quantities together.

[Karley]

Great book to use when learning about addition in the early elementary grades. It could also be used when discussing patterns and counting.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book but I couldn't give it more stars because the answer to the addition questions are right on the page and makes me wonder if my child is truly adding or reading the answer?

[Esther]

Addition of trucks laden with animals. Grouping of similar animals forms the addition problem. No problem to solve though, mostly just counting.

[Elanor]

All by herself!

[Joy Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple concept of counting animals with rhyms. There are two pages in the back for followup activities related to addition

[Little Champs]

Number 23