Double the Ducks

MathStart Level 1

by Stuart J. Murphy

It's hard work, taking care of 5 little ducks. But when each little duck comes home with a friend -- oh, no! Now it's double the ducks and double the work. How can 1 little boy get everything done?

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

Paperback

First published December 24, 2002

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

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The key ideas here are counting and doubling. On most pages, you can count the item being discussed both in the main illustration and in the box in the upper right corner. The exception is the hay pages; the bundles of hay aren't shown in the main illustration.

The counts are a little contrived/unbelievable. The story is also very devoted to linearity, which makes sense in most but maybe not all of the cases.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept is good, but it doesn't feel real. Why would it take 3 bags of food to feed 5 ducks? Why would it take 4 bales of hay to make nests for 5 ducks?

The idea is that he has 5 ducks that he cares for. Each duck brings home a friend and suddenly he has twice the work and needs twice the supplies.

[Jc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Math made easy for kids to understand.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok book for introducing the concept of doubling numbers. The text isn’t particularly engaging.

[Lbrown107 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book focuses on doubling numbers/ adding a number to itself in a fun way. There are games available in the back of the book that would give you an idea of how to play double games.
Once the number of ducks are doubled, the boy must double the number of hay and food needed. This story could be a nice introduction to fraction concepts as well. Students could understand that for every 5 ducks, one boy is needed to take care of them. So what if there were 10 ducks/the ducks were doubled? 5 ducks need 4 stacks of hay. How much would 10 ducks need? Students could express this in fraction form.

[Chelsea Ulrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be helpful in showing how to double numbers under 10. It would be fun to do this with students who are just learning about addition and subtraction as they could try some invented strategies of their own as the farmer needs double the items for double the ducks that he has. Also, the word doubling can be hard for kids to understand but using this book could help them visually understand how the number of ducks changed. I could see using this book with manipulatives and allowing students to work on answers on their own.

[Scott Roark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Use this book to reinforce the introduction of doubling a number for a math lesson. A great activity would be to have students recreate the story using objects from the classroom, this would allow students practice in doubling a number. Students could also use dominoes to practice picking out the doubles. Concentration is another activity that would allow students to pick out doubles. A twist to concentration would be to have a child make a pair, such as 5 and 5, then make them also find the sum, in this case 10. So they would have to find all 3 cards to be able to pick them up.

[Shani Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Double the Ducks is a good introduction to the concept of doubles for children. Two is the equivalent of one doubled and the doubles pattern can be identified as a child counts up. A teacher could instruct their students to play Double Me following the story. Double Me is a game I was introduced to by my professor, Dr. Smith. Each student takes turns rolling a number dice. The students double the number they rolled and cover that number on their board. The winner is the first student to cover their entire board.

[Linh Tong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will let students play a game to help them understand the concept of doubling a number. I will say a doubled number, and the students will guess what the original number was. For example, I will say the number is 10, so students should say 5. For students that need extra help, I will provide them with manipulatives such as blocks, snapping cubes, pennies, or buttons. They will take out ten objects and will divide objects into two groups. They will understand the concepts of doubling a number. This also teach them how to multiply by two.

[Julia B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be good for 1st or 2nd grade to practice making doubles. While the teacher reads the story aloud, the students can have manipulatives and practice making doubles based on the story. The story could be extended into a center where students pull a number card and then practice making that double.

[Seth Lebaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would read this boook to students and then have use dominos to see what doubles kind of looks likes. I like the game my teacher plays with the students when waiting in the hallway during a bathroom break. She calls out a number and then the students have to quickly give what number is doubled. In under one week the students are already movign past teh number 30.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

One little girl is taking care of four ducks on the farm, but now each of them brings a friend with them. There is double the ducks and double the work.
This books can be used to introduce doubling numbers to students. The illustrations help the students understand it better. Students can follow along with their own items to double while the book is being read.

[Maxwoodliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Double the ducks starts out with initial counting and then moves onto doubling those numbers. I would use this book to explain basic multiplication to my students. It would provide good examples for my students to do the math problems as a group and discuss the results that they find.

[Deana Pittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the actual story in this book is a little lacking...very little in the way of plot. It was a cute concept and a wonderful way to introduce and practice the concept of doubles! Abbi made number sentences from each scenario in the book.

[Allison Burke]

This is a great book when teaching about doubling numbers. It provides pictures that show how many ducks there are each time they are doubled. This could also be a great book for introducing x2 and multiplication. Grades 1-3

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Double the ducks means double the work. In this book the little girl on the farm encounters doubles. This is a great book for X2, with great illustrations to help solidify the multilpicaion concepts for young minds.

Ages 4-7.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic introduction to simple multiplication for kids. Very cute!

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to introduce the concept of doubling to kids. There are wonderful extension activities listed at the end of the book to pursue with children to further explore the idea of doubles.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series of math concept books. They're cute and fun and well done.

[Gina Starling · Rating 3 out of 5]

PK-2

Understanding how to double numbers helps children master both addition and multiplication. Fun, friendship, and lots of ducks make learning this essential skill both easy and entertaining.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough for a math based picture book--but not great. . .

[Brittany N · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for a lesson on doubling. It could be incorporated into both addition and multiplication. The characters are ducks so they could help keep childrens' interests.

[bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice counting book with cute illustrations and which also introduces the idea of doubling numbers. Toddler loves it.

[Kelly Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be great introduce doubling. I would have students create their own math problems using objects in the class.

[Thao · Rating 5 out of 5]

- In this book, the math concept is doubling numbers.
- The illustrations help the student to understand and grasp the concept better.
- Grades 1-3

[Daleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great numbers book that introduces doubles

[Haley Sterritt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book can be used to introduce doubling numbers and multiplication.