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Picture book activities

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Relevant and up-to-date teaching resources are being moved to Tāhūrangi (tahurangi.education.govt.nz). 
When all identified resources have been successfully moved, this website will close. We expect this to be in June 2024. 
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Teaching and learning activities to accompany picture books with mathematical content. Each activity is linked to the levels and strands of the NZC.

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A Lion In the Night

Level One
Geometry and Measurement
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the picture book A Lion In the Night
  • Students will be able to give a direction to another person using the vocabulary of position and orientation.
  • Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the vocabulary of position and orientation through modeling.
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Fibonacci’s Cows

Level Four
Number and Algebra
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the short illustrated novel Fibonacci’s Cows . This book may no longer be available for purchase.
  1. Students will be able to identify examples of natural and human made structures that represent the Fibonacci sequence.
  2. Students will be able to explain the relationship between members of the sequence and how the next number is generated.
  3. Students will explore the Golden Ratio and the Golden Angle...
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Equal Shmequal

Level One
Level Two
Number and Algebra
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the picture book Equal Shmequal
  • Students will be able to explain their understanding of fair and equal.
  • Students will be able to record the results of tug of war contests and see-saw balancing in diagrams and symbolic forms.
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Diary of a Worm

Level Two
Geometry and Measurement
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the picture book Diary of a Worm
  • Students will be able to use the vocabulary associated with calendars to accurately talk about the duration and time between events.
  • Students will be able to read a calendar and express the time in standard units (day, week, month, year).
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Twice My Size

Level One
Integrated
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the picture book Twice My Size. This book may no longer be available for purchase.
  1. Students will be able to explain the idea of doubling in measurement (measure it and then add/count on the same number of units to get the new measurement)
  2. Students will be able to measure an object in non-standard units and find “twice” or “double” by counting.
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The Story of Everything

Level Three
Integrated
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the picture book The Story of Everything. This book may no longer be available for purchase.
  1. Students will be able to construct a model of time using metric units of length to represent years.
  2. Students will be able to work accurately with different scales when constructing accurate timelines.
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Maths Curse

Level Three
Number and Algebra
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the picture book Maths Curse

Students will be able to create a contextualized problem and provide alternative strategies for solving it.

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How Much is a Million?

Level Three
Number and Algebra
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the picture book How Much is a Million?
  • Students will be able to express place value amounts in multiplicative terms (for example 10 thousand is 100 x 100)
  • Students will be able to add and subtract whole number amounts to 1,000,000
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The Greedy Triangle

Level Two
Geometry and Measurement
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the picture book The Greedy Triangle.
  • Students will be able to create models of several polygons and determine whether they are regular or irregular.
  • Students will be able to use a geometric vocabulary when describing two-dimensional shapes.
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Belonging

Level Three
Geometry and Measurement
Picture book activities
This is an activity based on the picture book Belonging
  • Students will be able to illustrate units of time using number lines and accurate linear scales.
  • Students will be able to use units of time to calculate the duration of events and make comparative statements.