Math Curse, written and illustrated by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (Viking, Penguin Books. New York 1995) is a fun, fictional story about how math is everywhere we look.
In the beginning of the book, the teacher (Mrs. Fibonacci) tells the class that they could think of almost everything as a math problem. The next day, the child starts seeing everything as math problems. She sees the time it takes to do things in the morning and the time she has to leave as a problem. The number of shirts in the closet is a problem. The quarts in a gallon of milk are a problem. The number of children already picked up compared with the ones that haven't yet, is a problem. Everything is a math problem! The child is sure the Mrs. Fibonacci put a curse on her and she can't stop seeing things in math terms.
It is an exciting, energetic book with many math problems. It is entertaining and it proves the point that math really is everywhere. The illustrations add a lot to the story. At one point, the character turns into a "raving math lunatic." The words start to go around the page and the child is writing all kinds of equations on the board until she finally escapes and the curse is over.
Sometimes math seems so abstract and far away from day to day life. This book makes math exciting and crazy and all over the place. It is a good book to read and has a good message. The book says that it is for ages 6-99. It's a longer book to read and there are actually quite a few equations in the book.
It is unclear whether the child in the story is male or female. I first assumed it was a boy, but after looking through the story again, I realized that it is ambiguous. I think that it is good that it is ambiguous because it can help the children put themselves into the story.
Literary Elements:
Hyperbole - You can think of everything as a math problem.
Foreshadowing - It says, "then the problems really begin," indicating that the math problems are going to get worse.
Mini-lesson:
We can explore the math concepts around us. Where is math in our everyday lives? We could create our own math problems from our own lives and share with small groups.
i really like the mini lesson you have for this book. it is importnant to look at how math appears in everyday life. Perhaps this will spark more of an interest in math when they realize it is everywhere.
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