Incorporating engaging books during math time can have a powerful impact on math AND reading in your classroom! Here are some of the best math read alouds teachers can use to build math mastery.
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Why Teachers Should Use Math Read Alouds
Although it may seem odd to be reading during math time, I am a huge advocate for integrating subject areas as much as possible in my classroom.
These are just a few of the benefits of math read alouds:
- Kids of all ages love good stories! Even my older students thrive with read alouds.
- Math concepts that appear intimidating lose their scary-factor when the topic is embedded in a good book.
- I believe in using every opportunity possible to cross-connect subject areas for deeper growth and understanding.
Without further ado, here are of the best math read alouds to use in your classroom!
Geometry Picture Books
Sir Cumference Math Adventures Series by Cindy Neuschwander offers loads of information on geometry topics in a fictional kid-friendly format full of pictures and interesting plot twists.
Sir Cumference is a knight that helps solve challenges along with other characters such as Radius, Lady Di of Ameter, Vertex, and carpenters Geo and Sym of Metry.
Come on now, you cannot tell me that those character names aren’t the cutest ever!
You may get some eye-rolling, “oh that’s so corny” from your older students, but trust me, they will eat these books up!
All throughout my geometry unit, my 4th graders checked these books out from our class library over and over again.
Here are just a few of the books in this series that offer wonderful math content on geometry topics:
- Rounding Numbers: Sir Cumference and the First Round Table
- More Rounding: Sir Cumference and the Roundabout Battle
- Learning about Pi: Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi
Another great book for geometry math read aloud is What’s Your Angle Pythagoras? by Julie Ellis
This math read aloud has pictures of little Pythagoras using right angles in triangles to solves everyday problems. Plus it features key geometry vocabulary which is essential for students to learn.
It has a historical fiction aspect that allows you to also integrate some social studies teaching points for students.
Triangles by David Adler could very easily fit under the geometry topic as well as number sense because it contains tons of vocabulary like obtuse, acute, and vertex.
The pictures of geometrical shapes is a bonus for visual learners who may need additional resources to understand geometry.
Place Value/ Number Sense Math Read Alouds
Speaking of David Adler, he also writes amazing children’s books that cover a variety of place value concepts. Place Value, Triangles, and Money Math: Addition and Subtraction are three of my favorites.
Place Value by David Adler
Max’s Math by Kate Banks
Math Attack by Joan Horton
His book on place value showcases numbers in a way that makes learning this skill funny and non-threatening. The illustrations provide great support for your visual learners.
I have had students tell me after a quiz that they pictured “the monkeys” when they read certain word problems from our place value quizzes! Music to my teacher ears!
Included in this set are the Brian Cleary math books such as The Mission of Addition and The Action of Subtraction , These books have become mega-hits with my students!
Each book shows the silliest looking pictures of cats with funny sayings pertaining to math topics. The series’ tagline is Math is CATegorical…how adorable!
On Beyond a Million by David M. Schwartz definitely made the list because of its balanced mix between fiction and non-fiction fact columns. These are showcased as sidebars on each page.
This is a cool set-up because it addresses number sense with huge numbers in a story with fun characters, while also showing how these big numbers can be found in real life.
Multiplication Books for Kids
Math Attack by Joan Horton (pictured above) showcases a little girl whose brain is spiraling out of control due to a multiplication problem that she cannot solve quickly.
This book feature multiplication problems over and over, so it’s great for kiddos that struggle with their multiplication math facts.
Joan’s book also makes a great segue into using hands-on math games for multiplication.
The Grapes Of Math and The Best Of Times both by Greg Tangare must-haves in your classroom library for great books to use when teaching multiplication.
The Grapes of Math displays portrait-style layouts on each page of math poems and objects arranged in an array. Poems, arrays, multiplication, beautiful pictures all rolled up into one–all I can say is Yeeesssss!
To make this book even more engaging for my students, I give them a basic chart worksheet and have them write number sentences for each array pictured.
Then I challenge them to write their own math poem with an array to drive that critical thinking and application of the concept even more.
Related Post: 7 Quick and Easy Math Center Ideas
Fractions Book Ideas
I am still building my faction book collection, so I only have two for now.
Fraction Action by Loreen Leedy takes the cake for featuring fractions on every page with examples from real life. The book even has actual problems throughout it for students to solve with an answer key in the back of the book.
Like many of the titles included on this list, I use this book during math centers with other hands-on math games.
Fractions: Making Fair Shares by Michele Koomen is my other fraction favorite that has beautiful pictures and real life examples.
A FREE List of Even More Math Read Alouds
There are so many more great math read aloud books that I want to add to this list, but if I did, you would be here reading for days.
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Hopefully, this sampler of books whet your appetite for including children’s literature with math instruction.
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