JAYLA NUMBER NAVIGATOR
Author: Lynda Brennan
Illustrator: Richard H. Walsh
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Number of pages: 34
Publisher: Math4Minors (USA) First published in: 2018 Format: Picturebook Is the mathematical focus explicit in the story? Yes Is this story part of a mathematics story series? Yes (Math MileMarkers) Preview and/or purchase this book on the Amazon websites: UK, USA, AUS, IND, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
Math MileMarkers® is proud to present Jayla, the Number Navigator. This mathematical story introduces young readers to Jayla, a young girl with a superpower. Jayla is a Number Navigator. She can navigate the number line, jumping from any number found on a hundred chart to 100 in one or two jumps. With New York City as her backdrop, Jayla highlights the landmarks and numbers she sees and uses them to show off her special talent. As the story unfolds, Jayla reveals the secret behind her powers: her mastery of the combinations that make ten. Readers are invited into the story and challenged to test their own Number Navigator skills. Math MileMarkers® offers “math talk” suggestions and provides visual models that can be downloaded free at www.mathmilemarkers.com. The hundred chart and open number line serve as tools that keep students actively involved as the story unfolds and provide support as they create math stories of their own. |
“See that street sign? we're at 26th Street. [...] I'll begin at the number 26, so you can see me in action. From 26, I jump 4 more to get to 30. From 30, I jump 70 more to get to 100. Looks like I did it again. I passed 74 numbers on my way. Yup, 26 + 74 = 100.”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
‘Jayla Number Navigator’ (2018) is the fourth title in Lynda Brennan’s mathematical story series. It follows Jayla, a Number Navigator, who can jump from any number on a number line or a Hundred chart to 100. The story is set in New York City and provide opportunities for Jayla to demonstrate her number navigating / jumping power in an everyday setting. The visualization of the ‘number jumps’ is very helpful, and the story serves as a great tool to introduce young readers to how number lines and Hundred charts can be used. (To the best of our knowledge, this is currently the only mathematical story in the market with an explicit link to a Hundred chart.) The ‘Big Idea’ section at the back of the book is useful for teachers (or parents) who need a bit of mathematical support. Despite the aforementioned strengths of the story, the context of the story could have been more meaningful like what we find in ‘On My Way to Grandma’s House’ (the third title in the author’s series). For example, early on in the story (e.g. 14-15), it is not clear why Jayla wants to jump to 100th Street, except it being the last number shown on a Hundred chart. (It is only revealed later that Jayla lives on 100th Street) On pp. 30-31 which is set at a baseball game, Jayla said “Wait till you see all the uniform numbers, I can really show off my super power there”. It is not clear why Jayla wants to use her number line navigation power on uniform numbers when the numbers are nominal as opposed to ordinal in that context. Overall, ‘Jayla Number Navigator’ is a useful story picture book to show young readers (5+ years old) how a number line and a Hundred chart can be used to work out addition and subtraction problems, but teachers, parents and the pupils themselves would need to accompany the story by their own meaningful contexts. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Addition & Subtraction
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.
‘Jayla Number Navigator’ (2018) is the fourth title in Lynda Brennan’s mathematical story series. It follows Jayla, a Number Navigator, who can jump from any number on a number line or a Hundred chart to 100. The story is set in New York City and provide opportunities for Jayla to demonstrate her number navigating / jumping power in an everyday setting. The visualization of the ‘number jumps’ is very helpful, and the story serves as a great tool to introduce young readers to how number lines and Hundred charts can be used. (To the best of our knowledge, this is currently the only mathematical story in the market with an explicit link to a Hundred chart.) The ‘Big Idea’ section at the back of the book is useful for teachers (or parents) who need a bit of mathematical support. Despite the aforementioned strengths of the story, the context of the story could have been more meaningful like what we find in ‘On My Way to Grandma’s House’ (the third title in the author’s series). For example, early on in the story (e.g. 14-15), it is not clear why Jayla wants to jump to 100th Street, except it being the last number shown on a Hundred chart. (It is only revealed later that Jayla lives on 100th Street) On pp. 30-31 which is set at a baseball game, Jayla said “Wait till you see all the uniform numbers, I can really show off my super power there”. It is not clear why Jayla wants to use her number line navigation power on uniform numbers when the numbers are nominal as opposed to ordinal in that context. Overall, ‘Jayla Number Navigator’ is a useful story picture book to show young readers (5+ years old) how a number line and a Hundred chart can be used to work out addition and subtraction problems, but teachers, parents and the pupils themselves would need to accompany the story by their own meaningful contexts. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
5+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Addition & Subtraction
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.
