INCHWORM AND A HALF
Author: Elinor J. Pinczes
Illustrator: Randall Enos
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Number of pages: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Juvenile Books (USA) First published in: 2001 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Elinor J. Pinczes's Math Books) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
What’s a fraction? A puzzled inchworm finds out when she enlists the aid of H-inch, N-inch, and G-inch worms in her quest to measure all the vegetables in their garden. New lengths bring new fractions to conquer, but the clever worms prove equal to every challenge, triumphantly munching their way through this tasty tale of math and measuring. |
“The inchworm said, "One!" and her part was done. Then the little worm looped, "And a half!" "Squirmy, wormy, hoopity-hoop! We measure everything, loopity loop: 7-inch celery, 8-inch corn ears, and 4 1/2-inch asparagus spears."”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
Elinor J. Pinczes's ‘Inchworm and a Half’ (2001) is a humorous story about an inchworm who loves to measure things in her garden. Every loop she takes is one inch. Soon, she however discovers that not everything can be perfectly measured in full inches. Thankfully, she has the help of other worms: a one-half-inch worm, a one-third-inch worm, and a one-fourth-inch worm. With four worms of different lengths, they set about to measure everything in their path! The story does a wonderful job in visually demonstrating to young children relationships between these different fractions. We can see this story being used by teachers and parents to provide a meaningful and fun context for children to learn about fractions and measurement using resources, such as rods of different numbers of Unifix cubes to represent worms of different lengths. All in all, we highly recommend ‘Inchworm and a Half’- it is a wonderful and engaging story to introduce the concept of fractions and measurement to children aged 6+ years old.
Recommended age range:
6 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Fraction; Length & Distance
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
Elinor J. Pinczes's ‘Inchworm and a Half’ (2001) is a humorous story about an inchworm who loves to measure things in her garden. Every loop she takes is one inch. Soon, she however discovers that not everything can be perfectly measured in full inches. Thankfully, she has the help of other worms: a one-half-inch worm, a one-third-inch worm, and a one-fourth-inch worm. With four worms of different lengths, they set about to measure everything in their path! The story does a wonderful job in visually demonstrating to young children relationships between these different fractions. We can see this story being used by teachers and parents to provide a meaningful and fun context for children to learn about fractions and measurement using resources, such as rods of different numbers of Unifix cubes to represent worms of different lengths. All in all, we highly recommend ‘Inchworm and a Half’- it is a wonderful and engaging story to introduce the concept of fractions and measurement to children aged 6+ years old.
Recommended age range:
6 years old +
Relevant mathematics topics:
Fraction; Length & Distance
Possible teaching activities:
At MathsThroughStories.org, we believe that stories can be meaningfully incorporated in mathematics teaching in different ways. Thus, we are inviting you to share your experience of how you have used this story in your mathematics lesson with other members of the community. By sharing your experience with us, you will be added to our team of On-line Contributors here, where you can also find our submission guideline.
