MISS PENNY SAYS PROVE IT!
Author: Lynda Brennan
Illustrator: Gabriele Liedtke
Number of pages: 26
Publisher: Math4Minors (USA) First published in: 2014 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, CAN Synopsis by the author/publisher
Miss Penny Says Prove It! is a heartwarming children’s book designed to connect primary math content (CCLS/State Standards) to real-life learning. Miss Penny’s lively class seeks to find out how many marbles Bobby could possibly have packed into his back pocket. In their quest for an answer, the class encounters important topics such as quantitative understanding of numbers, estimation, counting strategies, and much more. This Math MileMarkers original story uncovers the mathematical journey that young children travel as they work to develop a true understanding of the value of numbers and various ways to count them. Common Core and State Learning Standards clearly outline what children should know and be able to do at each grade. Understanding how children generate meaning from their everyday experiences and use them to foster future learning in light of these standards is what sets this story apart. Children will enjoy and connect with the characters in this lively, beautifully illustrated story about Miss Penny and her class. Each Math MileMarkers publication closes with a section entitled “The Learning Strategies,” which is aimed at helping parents, teachers, and administrators make clear connections to the specific standards that are addressed within each story. |
“"This is a perfect way to start our day," said Miss Penny. "Can anyone guess how many marbles Bobby put in my hands?" Rosa whispered, "Two?" Maggie, with her arms folded confidently, said, "Twenty." Sammy screamed "Eleven."”
Official review by MathsThroughStories.org:
In Lynda Brennan’s ‘Miss Penny Says Prove It’ (2014), Miss Penny learns that one of the children in her class brings some marbles with him to school. The marbles are then used by Miss Penny to encourage children in her class to estimate the quantity and to check their estimation using counting strategies. The pace of the story is just right, and the writing is accessible to young children. The book’s companion website also provides useful downloadable resources (e.g. a storyboard template, a ‘talking points’ guide for teachers and parents).
There are a few aspects of the story to consider. At times, it is felt that the story would have been more pedagogically effective if it has a more refined focus. Currently, the story attempts to lend itself to too many areas of the curriculum: estimation, number sense, counting strategies, etc. The limitation of this approach is that there is not enough space in the story for each of these foci to be teased out properly. Has the story focused on counting strategies alone, for example, it could have incorporated a range of meaningful variations to demonstrate how 16 marbles can be counted in different ways. For instance, in addition to the strategy adopted in the story (i.e. 10 + 6), other variations could include splitting the marbles into groups of 2, 4 or 8 marbles as well as other examples of splitting the marbles into groups with a remainder (e.g. 5+5+5+1; 3+3+3+3+3+1). Through such variations, readers can arguably learn the concept more effectively. Moreover, while it is fully appreciated that the author intends this story to be an instructional story, it is to be seen whether the storyline itself is interesting enough to grab young children’s attention. That said, given the story’s context (a teacher interacting with children in her class), the story could be a valuable teacher training resource for teacher trainees to discuss which aspects of the mathematics teaching found in the story are effective, and which aspects they would have done differently in their own teaching.
All in all, ‘Miss Penny Says Prove It’ is a useful story picture book to introduce the concept of estimation and counting strategies for children aged 6+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
6+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Addition & Subtraction; Estimating
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.
In Lynda Brennan’s ‘Miss Penny Says Prove It’ (2014), Miss Penny learns that one of the children in her class brings some marbles with him to school. The marbles are then used by Miss Penny to encourage children in her class to estimate the quantity and to check their estimation using counting strategies. The pace of the story is just right, and the writing is accessible to young children. The book’s companion website also provides useful downloadable resources (e.g. a storyboard template, a ‘talking points’ guide for teachers and parents).
There are a few aspects of the story to consider. At times, it is felt that the story would have been more pedagogically effective if it has a more refined focus. Currently, the story attempts to lend itself to too many areas of the curriculum: estimation, number sense, counting strategies, etc. The limitation of this approach is that there is not enough space in the story for each of these foci to be teased out properly. Has the story focused on counting strategies alone, for example, it could have incorporated a range of meaningful variations to demonstrate how 16 marbles can be counted in different ways. For instance, in addition to the strategy adopted in the story (i.e. 10 + 6), other variations could include splitting the marbles into groups of 2, 4 or 8 marbles as well as other examples of splitting the marbles into groups with a remainder (e.g. 5+5+5+1; 3+3+3+3+3+1). Through such variations, readers can arguably learn the concept more effectively. Moreover, while it is fully appreciated that the author intends this story to be an instructional story, it is to be seen whether the storyline itself is interesting enough to grab young children’s attention. That said, given the story’s context (a teacher interacting with children in her class), the story could be a valuable teacher training resource for teacher trainees to discuss which aspects of the mathematics teaching found in the story are effective, and which aspects they would have done differently in their own teaching.
All in all, ‘Miss Penny Says Prove It’ is a useful story picture book to introduce the concept of estimation and counting strategies for children aged 6+ years old. (Disclaimer: We received a complimentary inspection copy of this book from the publisher/author)
Recommended age range:
6+ years old
Relevant mathematics topics:
Addition & Subtraction; Estimating
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.