"After lunch he chopped down an acre of trees and split them into fireplace logs and still had time for a nap before supper."

Given an average number of trees per acre, or per square yard, etc., students can calculate the total number of trees cut, and then determine total number of trees cut per hour or other unit of time.

(John Henry, 1994)

"This was no ordinary boulder. It was as hard as anger and so big around it took half a week for a tall man to walk from one side to the other."

Given only the information in the story, students can estimate the actual distance around this enormous boulder.

(John Henry, 1994)

"The boulder shivered like the morning freedom came to the slaves."

This passage can be developed as an introduction to a Social Studies unit on slavery in the United States.

(John Henry, 1994)

"John Henry had come a mile and a quarter. The steam drill had only come a quarter."

Students can now answer the following questions:

How long was the tunnel? How long did it take them to dig the tunnel? How many feet per hour did John Henry dig? How many feet per hour did the steam drill dig? How many steam drills strong was John Henry?

(John Henry, 1994)

"But whether it was a whisper or a thought, everyone had the same knowing at the same moment: 'Dying ain't important. Everybody does that. What matters is how well you do your living.'"

Connections to Life Skills, goal setting, character study

(John Henry, 1994)

Picture Books• Introductions• John Henry• Connections• The Math Curse• Free Fall• Just a Little Bit• Others

The Mississippi River The Mississippi River is about 4,000

kilometers long.

1. Estimate how many M&Ms it would take to measure the length of the Mississippi River.

2. Estimate how many M&Ms you would eat if you had to measure the Mississippi River with M&Ms.

Just a Little Bit

"After lunch he chopped down an acre of trees and split them into fireplace logs and still had time for a nap before supper."

"This was no ordinary boulder. It was as hard as anger and so big around it took half a week for a tall man to walk from one side to the other."

"The boulder shivered like the morning freedom came to the slaves."

"John Henry had come a mile and a quarter. The steam drill had only come a quarter."

"But whether it was a whisper or a thought, everyone had the same knowing at the same moment: 'Dying ain't important. Everybody does that. What matters is how well you do your living.'"

Picture Books: Amazing & Unexpected

Connections for Grades 4-8

Marj Economopoulos

& Diane Wilson

Kennesaw State University

Picture Books: A Literature Connection to Motivate

Middle Grades Mathematics

Marj Economopoulos

Kennesaw State University

& Diane Wilson

East Cobb Middle School