place value math read alouds

Books that Teach Place Value

2nd Grade Skills , Math , Place Value , Read Alouds

Math is a subject that can be exciting to teach and learn. One way that students can get excited about math is through the use of storybooks. A good book can be the perfect way to grab students’ interest, build on their prior knowledge, build vocabulary, form meaningful connections, and lead into purposeful math talks. I have gathered some of my favorite books to introduce and teach place value in the elementary classroom. By no means are these the only books that can be used for this skill but instead a solid start to building your collection. You can find this book list, as well as additional activities, in our Lucky to Learn Math Unit 1 Overview.

This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase. For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link .

11 Math Books to Teach Place Value

Zero the hero.

The King’s Commissioners

Want to extend the fun? Practice skip counting by 5s & 10s with Skip Counting to the Stars Game from Lucky to Learn Math.

How Much Is a Million?

Two of Everything

Math Fables: Lessons That Count

$Math Fables$

Out for the Count: A Counting Adventure

A Fair Bear Share

One Hundred Ways To Get To 100

A Million Dots

The Chicken Problem

Earth Day-Hooray

Other Place Value Resources

Children’s storybooks are one great resource to teach place value but it’s not the only resource. I also use interactive math notebooks, task cards, and place value videos. AND – I have everything to teach place value with a full unit on this concept in our Lucky to Learn Math 2nd Grade Curriculum ! You can download some of my favorite place value activities, and an overview of the Lucky to Learn Math Place Value unit by clicking on the buttons below.

Download HERE

Lucky to Learn Math

Place value unit.

Buy Bundle on TpT

Place Value Toothy

$toothy task kits$

10 More, 10 Less, 1 More, 1 Less Activity

A great collection of books that can be used to teach place value to your students. 11 different math books, great ideas, place value resources, and some other free resources.

Thank you for sharing such valuable info.

Thanks for the terrific post

Love this! As an avid reader, I can’t wait to share these with my kiddos!

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Submit Comment

Welcome, I’m Angie!

Click to Shop ⬇️

Click to Download ⬇️

Click to Read ⬇️

Aug 24, 2021

5 Math Picture Books about Place Value

Updated: Apr 13, 2022

Do you need a great read-aloud to teach your upper elementary students place value? These math picture books are wonderful because they offer a great story and can also help facilitate math discussions with your upper elementary class! Place value books are also so important to help students relate large numbers to their life and be able to visualize them! Here are my top five math books to teach place value for 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students. Click on the links below to see the books on Amazon (affiliate links).

1. How Much Is A Million?

Written by David M Schwartz and Illustrated by Steven Kellogg

Do your students need help visualizing how much a million is? This book is perfect for that! I always use this book to introduce larger numbers and millions. It gives students concrete examples of how big a million is.

Great For : Introduction to large numbers, specifically millions and billions.

Questions to Ask Your Students : What were you most surprised about with larger numbers? How do you think the author figured out those facts? Why do we need the numbers in the millions and billions? Where do you see large numbers in your life?

2. A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars

Written By Seth Fishman Illustrated by Isabel Greenberg

This book talks about a whole lot of large numbers that are on our planet! I love this book because it is a great introduction to large numbers, and also gives them some real-life connections. For example, the book literally tells students how many trillion trees are on our earth! Another bonus for this book is that it shows these large numbers sometimes in word form and also in number form.

Great For: Introduction to large numbers, relating large numbers to real-life

Questions to Ask Your Students: What are some large numbers that you wonder about? What large numbers surprised you in this book? How could we go about finding out how much of something there is? Why are there large numbers?

3. A Place For Zero

Written by Angeline Sparanga LoPresti and Illustrated by Phyllis Hornung

This book is about the number zero who is trying to figure out where he fits in his number kingdom! This book has some great math puns in it, and is a wonderful introduction to the number zero.

Great For: Introducing Zero as a place holder, 10 Digits, Basic place value.

Questions to Ask Your Students: How do we use zero in place value? Why is it important to have the number zero? What would happen if we did not have a number zero in our number system?

4. Place Value

Written By: David A Adler Illustrated By: Edward Miller

This book is great for introducing place value. I love this book because it shows numbers in a place value chart, which can be directly linked to your lessons! It also goes over very specific math terms and concepts like why we use a comma when writing a large number.

Great For: Parts of Place Value, Introduction to Place Value Charts

Questions to Ask Your Students: Why do we use a comma? Why do we use a decimal point? What does a place value chart show?

5. Millions, Billions, & Trillions

Written by: David Adler Illustrated by: Edward Miller

This book is another great choice to give students a visual of large numbers like millions and billions. My students really like this book because it relates large numbers to things like ice cream sundaes and strands of hair.

Questions to Ask Your Students: What are some large numbers that you wonder about? What large number surprised you in this book? How could we go about finding out how much of something there is? Why are there large numbers?

Need an activity to keep students engaged? Check out my math coloring books ! They are great for students to work on in between activities or when they first come into the classroom! Need something for that dreaded indoor recess the first week? That would work great for that also!

5 Awesome Picture Books to Teach Place Value

Math Picture Books

Skip to primary navigation
Skip to main content
Skip to primary sidebar
Skip to footer

The Butterfly Teacher

Transforming Learning Beautifully

The Best Books for Math Read Alouds

By Tanya Marshall Leave a Comment

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.

$place value math read alouds$

*This post contains affiliate links to Amazon for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, which do not cost any extra for you. Please see the full disclosure here. *

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.

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.

$place value math read alouds$

The Grapes Of Math and The Best Of Times both by Greg Tang are 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.

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.

Hopefully, this sampler of books whet your appetite for including children’s literature with math instruction.

Feel free to pin this post for later use. 🙂

$math read aloud books$

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription and get your FREEBIE.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

Reader Interactions

Find me on Instagram @tanyagmarshall

More results...

Math Picture Books: Place Value & Operations

Post author: Amy Porter
Post published: June 28, 2021
Post category: Math Literature / Operations / Place Value
Post comments: 0 Comments

Here are a few of my favorite math picture books / readalouds for place value, numbers, & operations. Most of my posts on teaching specific topics include relevant books but some teachers/parents have asked for recommended books to be listed in one place. Links on titles will take you to their listing on Amazon.

For math picture books covering geometry and measurement concepts please see this post.

Place Value Picture Books

Place Value is a funny story of monkeys who must get the amounts in the recipe correct to make the biggest banana cupcake ever.

Sir Cumference and All the Kings Tens introduces place value to the tens, hundreds, and thousands with a story about grouping guests for a royal celebration. There are nine other books in the Sir Cumference series as well. I like them because even very young students enjoy the stories and pick up on math vocabulary along the way, but they can also be used as a springboard for discussion of more advanced math concepts. For this reason I have used them with great success in multiage classes and math camps.

How Much is a Million? is an oldie but goodie that helps kids understand how big a million is.

Ready to go bigger than millions? Millions, Billions and Trillions and A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars are both fantastic books for understanding large numbers. A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars was a winner of the Mathical Prize. I love the connection between nature, science, and math.

Concept of Zero Picture Books

A Place for Zero . This is the story of Zero’s adventure meeting Count Infinity, King Multiplus, and Queen Addeleine as he tries to find his place in the number system. It addresses place value and operations with zero. Like the Sir Cumference books, young children enjoy the story and pick up on some of the concepts while older kids can understand at a deeper level. I have found this book really sparks students’ imaginations. After I read it to students at a K-5 summer math camp they had great fun designing their own number people and making up stories set in Number Land.

Another option for teaching about zero is Zero the Hero . According to the author herself, “ Zero the Hero subtly teaches place-holding and arithmetic operations like addition and subtraction. It touches on stuff like rounding up and down, even and odd numbers–and the fact that the number eight looks like a snowman. But all of that is secondary. I just hope it’s a fun story that you and your family or students enjoy!”

Equality and Comparing Numbers

Equal Shmequal is the story of Mouse and her friends using math to figure out how to make equal teams for a game of tug of war.

Addition and Subtraction

Arithemechicks Add Up and Arithemechicks Take Away are fun stories about ten math loving chicks and their mouse friend. These are fantastic for younger students to see addition and subtraction demonstrated.

The Math is CATegorical series offers The Mission of Addition and The Action of Subtraction . Both are rhyming cartoon style books that introduce the operations in a humorous way.

The series Math Fun has books for every operation. These include If You Were a Plus Sign and If You Were a Minus Sign . They are great for introducing word problems and inspiring students to create their own.

Multiplication

Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar

Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream is from Marilyn Burns Brainy Day Books and includes suggested math activities from Marilyn Burns (one of my favorite math gurus.) The story shows students that multiplication is a faster way to add the same number.

The King’s Chessboard is not only a math story but was declared A Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies and Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children. It demonstrates the power of doubling.

Introducing Division

One Hundred Hungry Ants and Remainder of One are rhyming books that introduce the concept of division and division with remainders. The first has ants dividng into different groups as they try to quickly get to a picnic, and the second is a story of an ant trying to divide the bug army into equal lines of marchers.

The Doorbell Rang is another fun story for introducing division. A grandma makes cookies for her grandchildren which must be divided again and again as more friends come to the door. Many teachers introduce this book by giving children Cookie Crisp cereal to divide into groups. (see my post Introducing Division for more resources for using this book.)

Fraction Operations

Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin . This book is great for upper elementary students. It explores through a fun story the differences between multiplying with whole numbers and with fractions. (There is also a sequel, The Multiplying Menace Divides . )

Do you have other favorite math picture books for place value and operations? Please add them in the comments below!

KP Mathematics Ten Frame Grows Up

Picture books about mathematicians, building thinking classrooms liljedahl, leave a reply cancel reply.

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Reset password

Disclosure & Privacy Policy

Math+Technology Lessons
Fractions and Decimals
3-D Shapes Worksheets
Math Art Project
Project idea
Summer Math Camp
Simple Math Card Games
Classroom strategies
Common Core Help
Dyscalculia Resources
Math Teaching
Online Math Resources
Student Help
Course Login

Math Geek Mama

Fun and FREE Math Teaching Resources

FUN TEACHING RESOURCES & TIPS TO HELP YOU TEACH MATH WITH CONFIDENCE

$place value math read alouds$

The Best Books to Teach Place Value and Large Numbers

June 20, 2016

It’s time for another post in my Teaching with Math Story Books series! While I love exploring math concepts through stories, finding just the right books to do that can be a challenge. I have already shared some ways that math books can be used to teach math, as well as my favorite books for teaching addition and subtraction . Today, I want to share resources for another important math concept: place value . As I’ve shared before, there may be other great books out there, so don’t stop here, but hopefully this gives you a great place to start as you look for the best books to teach place value and large numbers .

This is such a helpful list of books that can be used to teach place value and explore large numbers with kids! There are so many great ideas, as well as free resources

* Please Note : Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and help support the work of this site. Read our full disclosure policy here .*

I will be referring to these books as either tier 1, 2 or 3, so if you missed the explanation in the previous post , here it is again:

Tier one books are written specifically to teach a math concept. They may or may not have a story line.
Tier two books have an engaging plot and weave math into the story. While the connection to math is fairly obvious, the story could stand on it’s own.
Tier three books are books that are not necessarily written to focus on a specific math skill, but could easily be used to make connections to math.

The Best Books to Teach Place Value and Large Numbers:

To understand numbers (no matter how small or large), kids need to understand that the place of each digit matters . For example, in the number 356, the 3 does not represent the number 3 but rather, the number 300.

It’s also important to understand the difference a zero can make when it changes places. For example, 305 is not the same as 350, etc.

So included in this list are some books for understanding zero, as well as the difference between ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.

Zero is the Leaves On the Tree (tier 1) by Betsy Franco is a fun book to start with. This explores the meaning of zero as none and includes lots of real life examples and beautiful pictures.

Zero the Hero (tier 2) by Joan Holub is a fun and engaging tale of the importance of the number zero. This book will teach the necessity of zero in building tens and hundreds, as well as what happens when you use zero in math operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It also touches on roman numerals.

Related: 6 Benefits of Teaching Your Kids Roman Numerals.

A Place for Zero (tier 2) by Angeline Sparagna LoPresti is a similar story, but focuses more on place value specifically. It also teaches addition and multiplication with zero, and includes lots of great vocabulary.

Zero: Is it Something? Is it Nothing? (tier 1) by Claudia Zaslavsky is a helpful book to combine all the things kids learn about the number zero . For instance, when zero means none versus holding a place in larger numbers. It covers zero in math operations and rounding, as well as measurement. It also includes some fun riddles to help kids think about zero and large numbers.

Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens (tier 2) by Cindy Neuschwander is definitely a book you will want to include as you explore place value. This fun tale will help kids understand the difference between ones, tens and hundreds and provides helpful visuals .

( Learn more about the book and grab FREE lessons to use with it here! )

Earth Day-Hooray! (tier 2) by Stuart Murphy is another fun story for kids that is clearly designed to teach place value . Great for a review as you celebrate Earth Day (in April) or any time of the year as you explore place value!

Penguin Place Value (tier 1) by Kathleen Stone is a really cute book that would be great for introducing the idea of palce value to kindergarten or first graders. The rhyme is fun, and I think kids will appreciate the hand drawn pictures.

Big Numbers (tier 1) by Edward Packard is a book that draws kids in with it’s fun comic book like graphics. This book looks at big numbers and compares them. It also provides various representations of the large numbers such as using words and exponents . I also like how he explains large numbers in terms of place value. (For example, 1 billion is a thousand million).

A Million Dots (tier 1) by Andrew Clements is another look at large numbers and over the course of the book includes 1 million dots. I loved this book because it has fun pictures, as well as fascinating facts involving large numbers, like “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used more than 416,000 words to tell forty-six of the best adventures of Sherlock Holmes.” (And I will admit that it took longer to reach 1 million dots than I was expecting!) You could use this book to practice reading large numbers , or to re-write each number in expanded form .

How Much is a Million? (tier 1) by David Schwartz is another great book for thinking about large numbers. It includes lots of fun examples of what a million or billion of something would look like. It also includes further explanations of the math used at the end of the book.

I hope this has given you some great ideas and starting points as you seek to explain the role of zero in place value , as well as seeing and understanding really big numbers !

Are there any books that you would add to this list? Share in the comments!

And don’t miss the rest of the posts in this series:

5 Simple Ways to Teach with Math Story Books
The Best Books to Teach Addition and Subtraction

More fun Place Value Learning Ideas:

Equal or Not: Place Value Sort
Place Value Puzzles
Build an Ice Cream Sundae Place Value Set

Free Printable Book Lists!

Did you find this list helpful? Then you'll love the handy printable version I've made! Just print out the book list, take it to the library, and check them off as you read them. Plus, this set includes 2 pages of books not included in my blog series! That's 8 lists of engaging math stories in all.

You will also be added to my email list to receive teaching tips, freebies and special offers.

Success! Now please check your email to grab your free book lists and confirm your subscription. I'm so glad to have you!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

$place value math read alouds$

October 13, 2016 at 12:54 am

I read “On Beyond a Million” to my 4 and 6 year olds who loved it. It starts with a big pile of popcorn and a nutty teacher who “power counts.” Ever since, my 4-yr-old keeps mentioning infinity is not a number 🙂

October 17, 2016 at 9:27 am

OH fun! I love that your kids have enjoyed it and are engaged in math learning! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing!

[…] We personally loved How Big is A Million and How Much is a Million. If you want some other books Math Geek Mama has a great […]

Join 130k+ Parents & Teachers

Who learn new tips and strategies, as well as receive engaging resources to make math fun!

Find Free Math Resources for All Ages:

Need Math PD Hours?

23 Math Read-Alouds for Primary Students

Janessa Fletcher
November 2, 2021
No Comments

Read-aloud time is one of my favorite parts of the school day! Your students are engaged, they get to listen to fluent reading, and everyone gets to rest and reset. There are so many great skills that your students can learn from books. Read-alouds can be an introduction to any topic. So… what about using read-alouds to learn about math skills?!!!

$place value math read alouds$

We’ve broken down these 23 books into skill areas. As an added bonus, we have included some activity ideas you can use as follow-ups to these math read-alouds for your primary students. I just went to the library and checked out #7 for this next week when I teach subtraction.

Math Read-Alouds for Counting

1 – anno’s counting book by mitsumasa anno.

Gentle watercolor pictures show a landscape changing through the various times of day and the turning seasons, months and years, and the activities of the people and animals who come to live there. But the seemingly simple plan of the book is deceptive: look more carefully and you will see one-to-one correspondences; groups and sets; scales and tabulations; changes over time periods; and many other mathematical relationships as they occur in natural, everyday living. The reader is subtly led to see and understand the real meaning of numbers.

Pair this book with a set of counting cubes and your students can model the numbers throughout the book. Or have them fill in ten frames with double-sided counters or color them in with dry-erase markers.

2 – Zero is the Leaves on the Trees

It’s easy to count three of something– just add them up. But how do you count zero, a number that is best defined by what it’s not? Can you see it? Hear it? Feel it? This important math concept is beautifully explored in a way that will inspire children to find zero everywhere–from the branches of a tree by day to the vast, starry sky by night.

3 – Billions of Bricks by Kurt Cyrus

Grab a hard hat and all your tools, and get ready for a construction adventure in counting! This clever, rhyming picture book leads readers through a day in the life of a construction crew building with bricks. A brick may seem like just a simple block, but in groupings of ten, twenty, and more, it can create many impressive structures, from hotels to schools to skyscrapers. This book is a great introduction to skip counting using different sets of quantities.

4 – Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong

When old Mr. Haktak digs up a curious brass pot in his garden, he has no idea what use it can be. On his way home, Mr. Haktak decides to carry his coin purse in the mysterious pot. But when Mrs. Haktak’s hairpin accidentally slips into the pot and she reaches in to retrieve it, the magic of the pot is revealed. Not only are there two hairpins inside, but there are also two purses! Help your students practice skip counting by the different groups of numbers with this cute story.

After reading any of these math read-alouds to your students, you can work on counting strategies . Use these no prep printables in your centers, small groups, as extra practice, or for homework. Your students can practice counting using different math tools as well as recognizing sets of numbers.

5 – How Many? (Talking Math) by Christopher Danielson

Use this math read-aloud as a way to get your students talking about numbers and sets of objects. It is a great introduction to number talks. An innovative book that encourages critical thinking and sparks mathematical conversations. You and your students decide what to count on each page. They have many choices, and the longer they look, the more possibilities they’ll notice. There are no wrong answers in this book. As long as they’re talking about what they see, think, and wonder, they’re talking math!

Math Read-Alouds for Addition and Subtraction

6 – One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre

If one is a snail and two is a person, we must be counting by feet! Just follow the sign to the beach, where a bunch of fun-loving crabs, lounging dogs, gleeful insects, and bewildered-looking snails obligingly offer their feet for counting in a number of silly, surprising combinations — from one to one hundred!

7 – Elevator Magic by Stuart Murphy

Elevator Magic is perfect for teaching subtraction to first through third graders! When the elevator goes down, the subtraction starts, and so does the magic. Ben sees crazy things every time the door opens. Ride along as he subtracts his way down to the lobby, and decide for yourself if it’s elevator magic.

8 – Math Fables: Lessons That Count by Greg Tang

This book encourages kids to see the basics of addition and subtraction in entirely new ways. Fresh, fun, and most of all, inspiring, MATH FABLES is perfect for launching young readers on the road to math success!

9 – Ten on a Twig by Lo Cole

Watch the birds fall as the pages turn in this interactive picture book from the publisher of the Don’t Push the Button series! In this charming, deceptively simple counting book, ten birds sit on a twig. As each falls off, they take a piece of the twig with them, and in the end, they have a new home―just in time to say goodnight.

10 – 10 Gulab Jamuns by Sandhya Acharya

Idu (Ee-doo) and Adu (Aa-doo) are very excited. Guests are coming over for dinner and their Mamma has already cooked a lot. Next, she is cooking Gulab Jamuns, but Idu and Adu don t know what Gulab Jamuns are. Before long, they discover just how good these wonderful golden, sugary syrup-soaked balls are and how quickly they melt in their mouths. But Mamma has only made 10 Gulab Jamuns. Will they last until their guests come?

Your students can put these addition and subtraction skills to good use while you read aloud. We have over one hundred no prep printables for addition and subtraction , so your students get that extra practice they need to build fact fluency .

Part-Part-Whole and Balancing Equations Read-Alouds

11 – seven golden rings by rajani larocca.

In ancient India, a boy named Bhagat travels to the Rajah’s city, hoping to ensure his family’s prosperity by winning a place at court as a singer. Bhagat carries his family’s entire fortune–a single coin and a chain of seven golden rings–to pay for his lodging. But when the innkeeper demands one ring per night, and every link snipped costs one coin, how can Bhagat both break the chain and avoid overpaying? His inventive solution points the way to an unexpected triumph and offers readers a friendly lesson in binary numbers–the root of all computing.

12 – 12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 __ 12 What happened to 11?

Is it in the magician’s hat? Maybe it’s in the mailbox or hiding in the jack-o’-lantern? Don’t forget to look in the barnyard where the hen awaits the arrival of her new little chicks. Could that be where eleven went?

Help your students understand the relationship between addition and subtraction while they balance equations. Start your lesson with one of these read-alouds and then assign one of the dozens of printables from our Balancing Equations math packet.

13 – Equal Shmequal by Virginia Kroll

Mouse and her friends want to play tug-of-war, but they’ll need to use some everyday math to figure out how to make teams that are equal. As Mouse looks at various solutions she is not sure what it means to be equal. Nothing works until Mouse starts to think about it mathematically and divides the teams based on weight. Wonderful illustrations capture Mouse and her animal friends from whiskers to tails as they work to measure and equalize their teams based on size, weight, and effort. A perfect addition to any STEM/STEAM collection that shows readers how math can be used in everyday problem-solving.

Math Read-Alouds for Measurement

14 – who eats first by ae-hae-yoon.

Six animal friends find a delicious-looking peach. All of them are hungry and want to gobble it up. Will Giraffe get the first bite because he’s the tallest? Maybe Gator will be first because his mouth is so big. Each animal wants to eat first, but there’s a hilarious surprise in store! Hands-on activities and elementary math concepts that relate to classifying and placing in order as well as organizing data and measuring expand this lighthearted story about friendship—and competition.

15 – Inch by Inch by Leo Leonni

A small green inchworm is proud of his skill at measuring anything—a robin’s tail, a flamingo’s neck, a toucan’s beak. Then one day a nightingale threatens to eat him if he cannot measure his song. Children will enjoy the clever inchworm’s solution and delight in finding the tiny hero on every page.

Practice measuring objects in the classroom with a variety of materials. Your students can record their answers on these accountability sheets .

16 – Growing Story by Ruth Krauss

A little boy, some chicks, and a puppy live on a farm. They see the first signs of spring growing in the fields and the little boy asks his mother if he and the puppy will grow too. Of course, you will, she assures him, and as spring turns to summer he sees his dog growing taller and the chicks become chickens. But as the seasons change and everything grows around him, the little boy feels like he has stayed the same. Can he really be growing too?

Data Analysis, Time, and Money Read-Alouds

17 – alexander, who used to be rich last sunday by judith viorst.

Last Sunday, Alexander’s grandparents gave him a dollar—and he was rich. There were so many things that he could do with all of that money!

He could buy as much gum as he wanted, or even a walkie-talkie, if he saved enough. But somehow the money began to disappear…

18 – Tally O’Malley by Stuart Murphy

The O’Malleys are off to the beach! But it’s a long, hot, boring drive. What can Eric, Bridget, and Nell do to keep busy? Play tally games, of course—counting up all the gray cars or green T-shirts they see. Whoever has the most marks at the end wins the game.

19 – Second, Minute, Week with Days in It by Brian Cleary

The zany cats introduce the measurement of time, from seconds, minutes, and hours up to decades. Your students will love this playful, fun look at learning about time.

Math Read-Alouds for Place Value

20 – place value by david adler.

You had better not monkey around when it comes to place value. The monkeys in this book can tell you why! As they bake the biggest banana cupcake ever, they need to get the amounts in the recipe correct. There’s a big difference between 216 eggs and 621 eggs. Place value is the key to keeping the numbers straight. Using humorous art, easy-to-follow charts, and clear explanations, this book presents the basic facts about place value while inserting some amusing monkey business.

21 – The Power of 10 by Judy Newhoff

Shooting hoops or mastering base 10 numerations? Hmm, for 10-year-old Doogie, his heart is firmly planted on the basketball court. Even in class, he is daydreaming about his career in the NBA. Unfortunately, he has a rude awakening when he attempts to purchase a leather basketball and finds his understanding of place value is woefully lacking. Fortunately for Doogie, he is in for a mind-bending intervention from an intergalactic superhero, Tenacious Ten, who quickly illustrates the wonders of the base 10 system and the miracle power of zeroes and the decimal point.

Geometry Read-Alouds

22 – triangle , square , circle by mac barnett.

Meet Triangle. He is going to play a sneaky trick on his friend, Square. Or so Triangle thinks. . . . This first tale in the trilogy, will have readers wondering just who they can trust in a richly imagined world of shapes. Visually stunning and full of wry humor, here is a perfectly paced treat that could come only from the minds of two of today’s most irreverent — and talented — picture book creators.

23 – Tangled: A Story About Shapes by Anne Miranda

When the neighborhood shapes go climbing on the park jungle gym the last thing they expect is a tangle . First the circle, next the triangle, and then the square. One by one soon all sixteen shapes are trapped. They push and pull and tumble and cry for help . Who will save them? One special shape can set the others free. Can you guess which one it is? This charming story makes learning the names of sixteen shapes as easy as a day in the park.

Adding literature to your math block is a great way to open your lessons and give your students fun ways to “play” with math concepts and learn valuable vocabulary. You can add discussion questions and math talks by using the topics in these read-alouds. Reading books aloud brings a high level of students engagement during your math time while putting the math skills in context for your students. Not to mention, they help to get your students excited about math!

If you are looking for ways to help your students put these math concepts into practice, we have tons of no prep math printables on all of these topics. Grab the packet that matches your math instruction today!

Written by – Janessa Fletcher

At Education to the Core , we exist to help our teachers build a stronger classroom as they connect with our community to find trusted, state-of-the-art resources designed by teachers for teachers. We aspire to be the world’s leading & most trusted community for educational resources for teachers. We improve the lives of every teacher and learner with the most comprehensive, reliable, and inclusive educational resources.

If you enjoyed what we have to offer at ETTC, be sure to join our email list so that you won’t miss a beat.

Welcome! I’m Emily, Founder of Education to the Core. We are all about helping K-2 teachers by providing unlimited access to affordable printables for every subject area.

Ideas, Inspiration, and Giveaways for Teachers

We Are Teachers

22+ Amazing Picture Books About Math

You can count on them loving these reads.

Books about math for kids are such helpful tools to inject some fun into your math block, introduce a new concept, or reinforce a topic kids have learned in a new way. And great news: There are SO many awesome choices! We’ve pulled together this list of some of our favorite authors and stories, both new and old, to spark great math conversations with students.

(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)

1. The Animals Would Not Sleep ! by Sara Levine (Pre-K-1)

Book cover for The Animals Would Not Sleep as an example of books about math for kids

Marco needs to get his stuffed animals organized before bedtime. He tries sorting them in lots of different ways, but they just won’t settle down. Kids will be clamoring to give him ideas!

Math concepts: Attributes and sorting

Early childhood classrooms will want to add the entire Storytelling Math series to their collections of books about math for kids! Each title introduces math concepts through real-life situations and has gorgeous illustrations featuring characters of color. The extension ideas included at the end of each story are also perfect for sharing with families to encourage mathematical thinking at home.

2. Ten on a Twig by Lo Cole (Pre-K-1)

Book cover for Ten on a Twig as an example of books about math for kids

Ten adorably colorful birds sit happily on a branch—until they begin to fall off one by one! Subtraction is a hard concept to introduce to young kiddos, but this story makes it nice and concrete.

Math concepts: counting, subtraction

3., 4., & 5. Triangle , Square , and Circle by Mac Barnett (K-4)

Book cover for triangle as an example of books about math for kids

Kids love the humor and whimsical illustrations in the sassy stories in the Shapes trilogy. Great for talking about the attributes of different geometric shapes in a fun context.

Math concepts: Shapes, relative size

6. How Many? (Talking Math) by Christopher Danielson (Pre-K-2)

Book cover for How Many? as an example of books about math for kids

This really is “a different kind of counting book!” Each page has a thought-provoking photo in which readers decide what and how to count. If you’re looking for a kids’ book about math to get interesting number talks flowing, this is it!

Math concepts: Counting, explaining mathematical thinking

7. Which One Doesn’t Belong? by Christopher Danielson (Pre-K-2)

Book cover for Which One Doesn't Belong as an example of books about math for kids

Keep the mathematical talk going by talking about attributes of shapes and how they are the same and different. Observations about the shapes on each page can go in many different directions.

Math concepts: Shapes, attributes

8. Place Value by David Adler (1-5)

Book cover for Place Value as an example of books about math for kids

Love the story about monkeys jumping on the bed? You’ll adore this version that tells the story of the monkeys at Banana Cafe making one very large banana cupcake.

Math concept: Place value

Also by this author: Telling Time, Fraction Fun , Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra , How Tall, How Short, How Far Away , Shape Up!: Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons , Perimeter, Area and Volume: A Monster Book of Dimensions , Millions, Billions and Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers , and more.

9. Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! by Marilyn Burns (Pre-K-3)

Book cover for Spaghetti and Meatballs for All as an example of books about math for kids

Mr. and Mrs. Comfort are having a family reunion and need to arrange the tables so that everyone in the family can enjoy their fabulous spaghetti and meatballs. A witty tale by math guru Marilyn Burns.

Math concepts: Area and perimeter

Also by this author: The Greedy Triangle , Math for Smarty Pants , The $1.00 Word Riddle Book

10. Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan (2-7)

Book cover for Sir Cumference and the First Round Table as an example of kids books about math

Brave knights, a strong ruler, and a dilemma that needs to be solved using math. Great for introducing geometry concepts in a fun and accessible way.

Math concepts: Radius, diameter, circumference

Also by this author: The Sir Cumference series explores math concepts from algebra and geometry to measurement and fractions.

11. Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford (K-5)

Delightful illustrations and a dreamy young girl pondering the vastness of the universe make a very difficult concept approachable and interesting.

Math concept: Limitless numbers and infinity

12. Billions of Bricks: A Counting Book About Building by Kurt Cyrus (Pre-K-2)

Watch as this busy construction crew creates impressive structures by grouping bricks by twos, fives, and tens. Kids will love the catchy repetitive verse and charming illustrations.

Math concept: Counting in quantities

13. A Very Improbable Story by Edward Einhorn and Adam Gustavson (2-5)

Ethan wakes up one morning with a strange cat on his head, and the only way it will agree to get it off is if Ethan agrees to play a game of probability with it. This kooky book will entertain your students as it teaches a difficult concept.

Math concept: Probability

Also by this author: Fractions in Disguise: A Math Adventure

14. Zero the Hero by Joan Holub (1-5)

Kids will love this fun story with delightful cartoon illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld that teach the importance of zero as a placeholder in our number system. Without Zero the Hero, we wouldn’t be able to count beyond the number nine!

Math concept: Concept of zero

15. Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy (1-3)

A beautifully illustrated book about math that shows how flips, slides, and turns can create amazing symmetrical images.

Math concept: Symmetry

Also by this author: Missing Math: a Number Mystery , The Great Graph Contest , Fraction Action , Mission: Addition

16. A Second, a Minute, a Week With Days in It: A Book About Time by Brian P. Cleary (1-4)

Book cover for A Second, a Minute, a Week With Days In It

A playful book with silly characters and perfect rhyming that teaches not just the basics of telling time, but the tricky concept of relative time.

Math Concept: Time

Also by this author: Cleary has written a whole series of books called Math is CATegorical, including The Mission of Addition , The Action of Subtraction , A Dollar, a Penny, How Much and How Many , A Fraction’s Goal-Parts of a Whole , and more.

17. Equal Shmequal by Virginia Kroll and Philomena O’Neill (K-3)

Mouse and her friends want to play a game of tug-of-war but have a hard time making the sides fair. This charming story teaches the concept of balance and equality.

Math concept: Equality

18. & 19. One Odd Day and My Even Day by Doris Fisher (K-3)

Two more rhyming tales with colorful, busy illustrations that kids will love. In each of these books about math, a boy wakes up one day and finds that things are kookily out of order. Great as a read-aloud or for independent readers who will love hunting through the detailed pictures to find the odd or even items.

Math concepts: Odd and even numbers

Also by this author: My Half Day

20. Pitter Pattern by Joyce Hesselberth (K-2)

Book cover for Pitter Pattern as an example of books about math for kids

Definitely add this to your list of books about math for kids you use to introduce patterns! This fiction and nonfiction hybrid covers many types of patterns, including simple visual patterns, sound patterns, patterns in nature, and more.

Math concepts: Patterns and variations of pattern types

21. A Remainder of One by Eleanor Pinczes (Pre-K-3)

The 25th Beetle Army Corp is trying to solve the problem of how to divide their troops into equal groups for the parade march without leaving any stragglers. A fun rhyming book about math that will get kids thinking about how numbers are put together and pulled apart.

Math concepts: Grouping, division

Also by this author: Inchworm and a Half and One Hundred Hungry Ants

22. Seven Golden Rings by Rajani LaRocca (1-5)

This story of a clever young boy in ancient India can be enjoyed on many levels. Bhagat must figure out how to stretch his family’s only fortune, seven golden rings, as far as possible—which leads to some creative mathematical thinking! To engage older students, use the afterword to introduce how to write numbers in binary.

Math concepts: Part and whole, addition and subtraction equations, binary numbers

If you’re excited to share these books about math for kids in your classroom, also check out: Why It’s Important to Honor All Math Strategies

Want more articles like this make sure to subscribe to our newsletters .

$22+ Amazing Picture Books About Math$

Elizabeth Mulvahill is a Contributing Editor with WeAreTeachers. She has taught elementary, literacy and small group intervention. She currently resides outside of Boulder, Colorado and loves learning new things, hearing people's stories and traveling the globe.

Is there a list with books on science concepts?

No, but we’ll work on it!

You must be logged in to post a comment.

GET TEACHING TIPS AND FREE RESOURCES

The Brown Bag Teacher

Teach the Children. Love the Children. Change the World.

August 7, 2016

Math Read Alouds

Today I’m sharing some of my favorite math-based picture books for primary grades. From number order, to counting on, to equal parts, I have included lots of books, mini-lesson ideas, and resources for getting your math mini-lessons on the right track! Th roughout the post, you’ll find Amazon Affiliate links, which means Amazon tosses a few nickels my way if you purchase something through that link, at no extra cost to you, that help keep my corner of cyber-space running and helps fund giveaways!

Representing Numbers

Ten Black Dots , 1,2,3 Peas , and One Big Pair of Underwear are three great books for conversations about ways numbers can be represented. Throughout each page in these books, students are able to identify numbers and show different ways they are made (10 peas, 2 shoelaces, 6 bears, etc.). Reading these books aloud during a mini-lesson can initiate a number conversation that translates to the teacher table, as students are asked to show different ways to represent a single number. (Below is a mini-lesson using Ten Black Dots )

Counting On

Number order and counting on are often considered Kinder skills but are important ones for our young learners to master! The Napping House is a great way to approach counting on as people are being added to the bed. While not explicitly a “math book”, it’s a great time to chart a pattern with your class and to make predictions about what numbers will come next. Let’s Count Goats is a simple, silly, and kid-approved book for counting within 10, as well as, Eight-Nine-Ten which is a little more old-school. Finally, When the Doorbell Rang is perfect for introducing equal shares, but can also used for predicting upcoming numbers and number patterns!

Oh making 10 …a critically important foundation for our young mathematicians that is used for YEARS to come – percents, decimals, exponents, and SO much more. Plus, our fluency standard in 1st grade is addition and subtraction relationships within 10 . My go-to mentor text for making 10 is Ten Flashing Fireflies . A beautifully illustrated story in which there are 10 fireflies at night and two friends are collecting them. Every time one firefly is collected in their jar (shown on the left side of each page), this is one less in the sky (shown on the right side of the book, see below). It’s the perfect book for talking about commutative property (i.e. flip-flip facts) within the 10 facts (1 and 9 & 9 and 1). Then, in small groups, it is the perfect text to have students model what is happening with ten frames!

What Does Equal Mean?

The idea of equality – in life or in math – is such a difficult and abstract concept. As teachers we have to find real and concrete ways to show students what “being equal” can mean. Equal Shmequal is a narrative story that offers a group of bickering friends as an adventure for exploring things and situations that center around equality. It’s the perfect story to read during whole-group and then, pull out the math balance during small-group. Students love the opportunity to have hands-on practice with the balance and will be able to easily make the see-saw connection offered by the author. (Note – this story is not explicitly a “math” story so it offers students the opportunity to construct their own meaning and make their own math connections!)

Math in Real Life

For my final favorite, I must admit it has NOTHING to do with Common Core or mastering math skills and all about loving reading. Bugs by the Numbers is a book all about the numbers of insects and bugs. From odd facts to terrifying information about how many creepy-crawlies there are in this world, this book is just fun. It includes ALL kinds of numbers (small and VERY large), is stocked with connections to the real-world, and can easily fill those spare 1-2 minutes before lunch or dismissal.

So, friends – tell me! How do you use read alouds in your math classrooms? What are you favorite books for teaching and modeling in Primaryland? I’m also looking for awesome books and would love to hear what works for you!

Get Free Teaching Resources!

Join me for weekly classroom updates and free resources that are just-right for your guided math classroom!

Sweet! Thanks so much for joining me. Now check your email to confirm your address & snag your freebies. Happy Teaching! -Catherine

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

$place value math read alouds$

Reader Interactions

August 7, 2016 at 2:20 pm

My students are language learners and in order to introduce a new skill in math I use as many visuals as possible. Introducing math through a book not only implements the visual cues but an easier format for them to remember and connect literacy strategies as well.

August 7, 2016 at 3:00 pm

Super books to win!

August 7, 2016 at 3:21 pm

Thank you so much for sharing this! This will be my first year teaching 1st grade and this will be very helpful!

August 7, 2016 at 4:00 pm

Thank you for a chance to win! These will be wonderful as I accepted a kindergarten position on Friday. I gave away most of my kindergarten books and supplies to a new teacher last year when I thought I’d be staying in 3rd at a different school so this giveaway is perfect timing. Fingers crossed! ?

August 7, 2016 at 9:21 pm

I love math read alouds!! They were my favorite part of the day during kindergarten student teaching! ‘My goal is to incorporate them during my first year of teaching 3/4 special education!

August 8, 2016 at 4:28 am

Love love love these!!! As a teacher and a mother and a lover of books, these are right up my ally! They all look awesome!

August 8, 2016 at 12:44 pm

Such great books! I love using literature to teach math concepts. Thank you!

August 9, 2021 at 7:48 pm

Hi Catherine! I too love math read alouds and use them frequently in my first grade classroom! I was wondering if you had a reference list of your math books that you could share. Thank you!

Easel Activity

Also included in: Math Task Cards BUNDLE Addition Subtraction Money Place Value w/ DIGITAL OPTION

Internet Activities

Also included in: Decimal Place Value Boom Cards Bundle (Self-Grading with Audio Options)

Women's History Month Activities and Craft BUNDLE *15 for $15 SPECIAL*

(Must be 18 years old to sign up.)

Place Value (Up to Thousands) - An Interactive Math Lesson

This interactive math practice lesson is all about place value! Students will practice place value up to the thousands. Using 'drag-and-drop' T charts, multiple choice questions, and numbers in written in word form, students will answer questions such as, 'What is the value of the underlined digit?', 'What number is shown?', and 'Drag each number to match the place value in the chart.'

I Know It is designed as an online interactive math practice program for elementary-aged students. Our website features a kid-friendly display screen, whimsical animated characters, and an easy-to-navigate layout. Children will feel like they are playing a fun, yet challenging, math game. Teachers will like how our math lessons cover a wide variety of popular math skills topics.

I Know It math lessons include a variety of features that enrich the overall learning experience children receive when they use our program. Students may click on a 'hint' that shows them how to begin a problem if they get stuck. A progress-tracker shows students how many questions they've answered so far, and a score-tracker beneath that lets them know how many problems they've solved correctly. Whenever a student answers a question incorrectly, a detailed explanation graphic pops up to illustrate the correct way to solve the problem.

All math lessons on I Know It include a read-aloud feature, ideal for ESL/ELL students and for students who prefer auditory learning. Students simply click on the speaker icon in the upper-left corner of the screen, and the question will be read aloud to them in a clear voice.

It is our hope that our interactive math website will help your students develop stronger math skills, including place value up to thousands. Try out this lesson, and remember to browse our other math topics !

2nd Grade Place Value up to Thousands Lesson

Free Trial versus Membership

The best way to get to know more about I Know It is to try it out! You can sign up for a free sixty-day trial and explore the many lessons and features of our website. Students may try out this math game for free, but they will be capped at a total of twenty-five questions per day across all lessons on the website. If you wish to have unlimited access to iKnowIt.com, you will need to purchase a membership.

The benefits of an I Know It membership are many, but to highlight a few, they include the ability to create a class roster, assign individual student logins, give specific math assignments to each student, view student lesson scores, and change lesson settings (like turning off the animated character or limiting the number of hints students may use per lesson).

When a student logs in with his or her unique login information, he or she will see a kid-friendly homepage that displays 'My Assignments' and gives the student the ability to explore lessons at his or her assigned grade level (which will appear discretely as 'Level A,' 'Level B,' and so on), or explore lessons at different grade levels.

2nd Grade Place Value up to Thousands Activity

This math practice lesson is classified as Level B. It may be appropriate for a second grade class or a third grade class.

Common Core Standard

2.NBT.3 Number and Operations in Base Ten Students will gain an understanding of place value. Students will read and write numbers up to one thousand using base-ten numerals, expanded form, and number names.

You might also be interested in...

Comparing Numbers to 99 (Level B) In this second grade-level lesson, students will decide whether a number is greater than, less than, or equal to another number. Students will be asked questions such as 'Which number sentence is true?' and 'Drag and drop the symbol that makes the number sentence true.'

Place Value (Up to Thousands) (Level C) In this third grade-level math game, students will practice determining place value up to the thousands. Children will answer questions like 'Drag each number to match the place value in the chart,' and 'What is the value of the underlined digit?'

Enter your new class code.

Use only letters, numbers or a dash. The code can not begin with a dash (-)

This field is required and can not be blank.

Enter your class code.

Reset Password

Because differences are our greatest strength

In the early elementary grades, students should have learned that the value of a digit depends on its place in a number. They most likely did this by composing two- and three-digit numbers.

With this strategy, students will compose four-digit numbers using manipulatives called place value disks. These place value disks (sometimes called place value chips) are circular objects that each represent 1, 10, 100, or 1,000.

For example, in the number 6,142, the digit 6 is represented by six thousands disks, the digit 1 is represented by one hundreds disk, the digit 4 is represented by four tens disks, and the digit 2 is represented by two ones disks.

Before you get started, make sure your students understand place value with two- and three-digit numbers. (You may want to use straw bundles as a more concrete way of showing place value.) Then, you can move on to this strategy of using place value disks with larger numbers.

Explore topics selected by our experts

Place Value Mat - Thousands PDF

Place Value Disks Printable PDF

Objective: Students will compose multi-digit numbers and explain what the digit in each place represents.

Grade levels (with standards):

Best used for instruction with:

How to prepare:

Gather materials. Give each student a place value mat and a set of place value disks. Have students cut out the disks.

Students who struggle with fine motor skills may find it difficult to cut out or handle paper disks. The disks may also be too small for students with low vision. It’s important for students to be able to use manipulatives in this strategy, so consider these options:

How to teach:

1. Introduce vocabulary. Explicitly review the academic vocabulary needed for the lesson, including place value , ones , tens , hundreds , and thousands . Use the place value mat to point to each of the column headings.

For English language learners (ELLs): Talk about the difference between the terms ten and tens . Explain that ten (or 10) refers to the number that is more than 9 but less than 11. Show ten with a collection of individual objects, like 10 pencils. Then explain that tens refers to how many groups of 10 are used to make a number. For example, the number 60 means there are six tens , or six groups of 10. Ask, “Remember how we have shown six tens in the past?” Show groups of 10 with straw bundles (or other objects) to remind students of previous lessons.

2. Explain place value disks. Explain to students that they’ll be using place value disks to help understand place value. Display each of the disks — 1, 10, 100, and 1,000. Point out the different colors for each type of disk.

Model how to count 10 ones disks and then exchange them for 1 tens disk. Do the same for 10 tens disks and exchange them for 1 hundreds disk. And then again, count 10 hundreds disks and trade them for 1 thousands disk. Students can practice doing the same with their disks. To represent this idea another way, count 10 ones, then write a sentence frame on the board: "____ ones disks make ____ tens disk." Fill in the sentence frame blanks as a class: "10 ones disks make 1 tens disk."

This is a good opportunity to talk about the relationship between each place. For instance, the thousands place is 10 times the hundreds place.

3. Start with the concrete. Use the concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) sequence of instruction to have students compose (or “make”) a number using their place value mat and disks. Model how to put the place value disks on the place value mat to compose a four-digit number. For example, you can make the number 2,418 with 2 thousands disks, 4 hundreds disks, 1 tens disk, and 8 ones disks.

Do a think-aloud as you model how to put the disks on the mat. For instance, you might say “To make two thousand, I know I need two thousands disks, so here’s one thousands disk and here’s another thousands disk” and so on. Then invite students to practice doing the same with several numbers. Give them feedback as they work.

Teaching tip: To connect numbers with real-world uses, you can identify four-digit numbers around your school, like the year the school was built. You can also use numbers that are important to students, like the year they were born.

4. Move to the representational. Once students show an understanding of how to make numbers using the disks, move on to the representational level. Model how to draw circles on the place value mat: Draw a circle in the appropriate column and write the corresponding number (1, 10, 100, or 1,000) in the circle. (If students have trouble drawing circles, they can trace a coin.)

For example, to represent the number 5,642, draw 5 thousands circles, 6 hundreds circles, 4 tens circles, and 2 ones circles. Then, have students draw circles in the appropriate columns on their own place value mats to make a four-digit number.

Provide plenty of opportunities for practice and feedback. Invite students to explain what they placed in each column and say the standard number. Many students will benefit from using sentence frames to share their numbers, including ELLs and students who struggle with expressive language. You can use and display this frame: “My number is ____. It is made up of ____ thousands, ____ hundreds, ____ tens, and ____ ones.”

Teaching tip: To reuse the place value mats throughout the lesson, put the mats inside dry-erase pockets. Have students use dry-erase markers to record their responses. Then they can erase and move on to the next example. You can also put copies of the sentence frames inside the pockets.

5. End with the abstract. After mastering the representational level, move on to the abstract level. On a place value mat, have students compose a number using only written numbers — like 8 thousands, 7 hundreds, 1 tens, and 7 ones make 8,717. They can both write the number and read it aloud.

If students struggle to make the leap to the abstract level, prompt them to go back to using the place value disks and then the drawings. Don’t rush to move on to the abstract until they’ve shown mastery with those scaffolds.

6. Continue to use the disks. Place value disks and the thousands mat can support students as they continue to work with multi-digit numbers. The mat and disks can help students with rounding to the nearest ten, hundred, or thousand. These resources can also help students understand how to operate with multi-digit numbers. For example, you can use the mat and disks to help students with expanded notation when adding and subtracting.

Students who learn and think differently may have trouble making a connection between our base 10 number system and the language we use for numbers. That’s because the language we use for numbers doesn’t directly translate. For example, we write “2,316,” not “2000 300 10 6.”

Composing numbers using place value disks will help students make the connection between the number system and language. The disks show students that a number is made up of the sum of its parts. The disks also help students compare the value of each place, like that the tens place is 10 times the ones place.

Using multiple models, including place value disks, straw bundles, and drawings can help all students understand place value. They also learn from support and feedback as they move from concrete to abstract representations of a number.

When students understand the concept of place value, they’ll have a strong foundation for more advanced math work, including addition with regrouping, multiplication, fractions, and decimals.

Families may be familiar with place value, but they may have learned about it in a different way when they were in elementary school .

In your class newsletter or at a school event, explain how you’re teaching place value. Share resources that families can use to practice the concept of place value at home, including how to use multisensory techniques for place value and other math concepts . If you teach fourth grade, you can also share information about why math at this grade level can be hard .

“The concrete-representational-abstract approach for students with learning disabilities: An evidence-based practice synthesis,” from Remedial and Special Education

“Concrete-representational-abstract: Instructions sequences in mathematics,” from the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network

“Using the concrete-representational-abstract sequence to teach subtraction with regrouping to students at risk for failure,” from Remedial and Special Education

“Using the concrete-representational-abstract sequence with integrated strategy instruction to teach subtraction with regrouping to students with learning disabilities,” from Learning Disabilities Research & Practice

Read alouds are one of the best things about teaching elementary school! Between the start of Spring, St. Patrick’s Day, Holi, and International Women’s Day, March is a super fun month for connecting read alouds to current events. There are so many stories to choose from.

Read alouds give students the opportunity to explore different cultures, languages, and step into other people’s shoes. Plus, bringing in relevant March read aloud books keeps things fresh and engaging for students.

March read alouds and related activities to use during morning meeting and your upper elementary literacy block.

Favorite March Read Alouds

Each of the links below is an Amazon affiliate link for easy browsing, or you can view them all in this spring books list .

How to Catch a Leprechaun by Adam Wallace — This book is such a fun March read aloud. Your students will crack up at the leprechaun’s antics! A great activity to do after reading this book is to have students write their own version of how they would catch a leprechaun. This is a great combination of how-to writing and creative writing. If you want to create a more hands-on experience, have students use materials from around the classroom to set up a leprechaun trap, and then write about how their trap will work. There are so many possibilities for ways to get creative after reading this book.

Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato: an Irish Folktake by Tomie DePaola — This story is an Irish Folktale about a very lazy potato farmer. He makes his wife do all of the work, until one day she hurts her back. He realizes if he doesn’t go out and harvest the potatoes, they’ll have nothing to eat all winter. He stumbles upon a leprechaun, who grants him his wish for the biggest potato in the world.

Your students will love this folktale, and it lends itself to a great classroom discussion! After reading, have students write about what they would do if they had the biggest potato in the world. This could also be a great book to read when talking about character traits , and why it is important to be hard-working. Another way to get creative with this text is to have students summarize the story and rewrite it as a reader’s theater.

Amma, Tell Me About Holi by Bhakti Mathur, illustrated by Maulshree Somani — This is a beautiful book about the Hindu holiday of Holi, or the festival of colors. If you do not have students that celebrate Holi in your class, it’s a great opportunity to teach your students about another culture. Holi celebrates many things, but primarily the arrival of spring! This would be a perfect book to read during morning meeting. The book is told from the perspective of a child asking their mother to explain the holiday.

To utilize this text in morning meeting, have students greet each other by wishing each other a “Happy spring!” or trying their hand at celebrating colors by greeting each other based on the color of their shirt or shoes. For the share portion of morning meeting, students could share about a favorite holiday that their family celebrates, or how they would describe a favorite holiday to someone who had never experienced it.

One Holi tradition is for elephants to be painted beautifully with bright colors and paraded during the festivities. For the activity portion of morning meeting, students could work with their table groups to decorate an elephant printed onto cardstock and then share their creation with the rest of the class. I think it’s always fun to learn about different holidays. Plus, celebrating another culture increases empathy and awareness for students.

Shakti Girls by Shetal Shah, illustrated by Kavita Rajput — This absolutely beautiful book contains thirteen poems about inspirational Indian women and is ideal for Women’s History Month and all the way into April to celebrate Poetry Month . After reading, have students select one of the featured women and complete a short research project on the impact they have had.

Malala’s Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai, illustrated by Kerascoet — Malala Yousafzai is an incredibly important activist and person to learn about. Students will love reading about her life, and this book addresses the terrifying parts of her journey in a way that is age appropriate. Because it is written by Malala herself, this would be a great text to use when discussing primary sources or autobiographies.

After reading the book, you could watch interviews Malala has participated in and have a class discussion about her bravery and impact. Celebrating Malala Yousafzai’s courage is a fantastic way to honor International Women’s Day.

The Iditarod also happens every March. You can read a variety of books, track the mushers, research dogs, and more. We display a large map outside our classroom so other classrooms can follow along too. Here are a few Iditarod favorites:

Seasonal March Resources

Aside from seasonal March read alouds, I also use these other seasonal activities in March.

Candy Math has students practice common math skills using Skittles – yum! This resource is perfect for grade 3-6 and focuses on essential math skills like place value, arrays, measurement, decimals, and more. It's a great resource to use during centers or test prep and can even be used as an assessment. Aside from grabbing some Skittles, this activity is no-prep. Either upload to your LMS or print, and you are ready to go.

$skittles candy math upper elementary$

Spring Math Picture Activity

I have several math picture activities that are always a hit with students! This one has a garden theme.

St. Patrick's Day Math

St. Patrick’s Day is a fun holiday to celebrate with a St. Patricks Day Math Project . Throughout this themed math project, students will use addition and subtraction practice to explore Ireland. Students have to travel on a budget and use elapsed time to plan their travel. Whenever I do this project with my students, they are so engaged and have a great time. Plus, you can even incorporate a mini room transformation.

$St. Patrick's Day math project$

Are your little leprechauns busily practicing their area and perimeter skills? This St. Patrick's Day area and perimeter mini project is perfect for them! My students have adored building their St. Patrick's Day Perimeter and Area Parades, and I hope yours do, too!

St. Patrick's Day Writing

Get students’ creativity flowing by having them write about an imaginary “luckiest day ever”. If they found a four-leaf clover – and suddenly had their luckiest day ever – what would happen?

Maybe they’d bump into Lebron James and he would invite them over for dinner! Maybe they’d win every single Fortnite round they played. Have students create a story of all the lucky things that would happen to them that day, and then have a few students share with the class.

St. Patrick's Day Task Cards

Continue to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with some fun St. Patrick’s Day Fluency Task Cards . These task cards have a variety of sentence types about Ireland to help students practice their oral reading fluency. They’re a great tool to use during small groups, or even to have students use as they read with a partner.

Or use the holiday to practice math with these themed math task cards that cover every single 4th grade math standard! These come in print and digital versions, which makes putting together reviews super simple. Use them for morning work, early finishers, or a review station. You can even display a slide and complete it as a whole group spiral review.

$St. Patrick's Day math task cards$

Spring Math Estimation

Host a fun class challenge with a spring estimation jar. Place several spring related objects into a jar and have students estimate how many are inside. Some great options to include are jelly beans, plastic Easter eggs, flowers, or gummy bears. Give a special prize or treat to the student who wins!

Spring Fluency Task Cards

If you loved the St. Patrick’s Day fluency cards, continue your fluency practice with these Spring Fluency Task Cards . There are 32 task cards total, each with a short passage to keep students from getting worn down. The task cards work great for independent reading centers or as a quick reading warm up. If you need an easy grab-and-go option for a parent or guardian volunteer, have students practice reading these cards to them.

Spring Riddle Inferencing Task Cards

I don’t know about you, but I always associate St. Patrick’s Day with limericks and riddles. Why not bring together inference and riddles with these Inferencing Task Cards ! This is a creative way to engage your students in practicing a critical skill, all while requiring little-to-no prep on your part. There are 32 cards in total, each with their own short inference riddle and a question.

Host a Book Tasting

Remember all those March read alouds we talked about? Display these books and give students a chance to explore them with a book tasting. I wrote a blog post about how to implement book tastings in your classroom , but I’ll share a quick recap here. Give students time to look over the books and rate their impressions. They should select a few that seem really interesting and dig further. Then have students select their top book. You can even give them time to independently read in class.

A book tasting is a wonderful way to get kids engaged in reading and familiarizing them with a wide variety of genres.

I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating the beginning of Spring with your students! If you’re still looking for some spring classroom ideas, check out this blog post with some ideas and tips for teaching during Spring in upper elementary.

The Penguin Family siblings invented a fun place value game. Can you reach the end before Pop? Grades 1 to 3. Read the directions first!

Thrifty in Third Grade

By Cassie Smith - Engaging Elementary Resources

5th Grade Guided Math Read Alouds

June 26, 2020 by Cassie Smith

Read alouds are a great way to incorporate literature into math time. The following guided math read aloud books are suggested books that complement each topic taught in my 5th Grade Guided Math units . However, these are not a part of the lessons and are only suggested as enhancements to your classroom library.

In my classroom, I have math books out and students can read them during independent reading time or during our Guided Reading rotations.

(This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that Amazon sends me a little pocket change, at no cost to you, if you purchase through one of these links. This helps keep my site running!)

$5th Grade Guided Math Read Aloud Books$

Place Value:

Place Value by David A. Adler

How Much is a Million? By David M. Schwartz

Millions, Billions, & Trillions: Understanding Big Numbers by David A. Adler

Let’s Estimate: A Book About Estimating and Rounding Numbers by David A. Adler

Sir Cumference and the Roundabout Battle by Cindy Neuschwander

Multiplication:

The Best of Times by Greg Tang

MATH-terpieces by Greg Tang

Numerical Expressions:

Multiplying Menace: The Revenge of Rumpelstiltskin by Pam Calvert

Math Curse by Jon Scieszka

You Can, Toucan, Math: Word Problem-Solving Fun by David A. Adler

A Remainder of One by Elinor J Pinczes

Divide and Ride by Stuart J. Murphy

The Great Divide: A Mathematical Marathon

Coordinate Planes:

Coordinate Graphing: Creating Geometry Quilts by Marci Mathers

Classifying Figures:

If You Were a Quadrilateral by Molly Blaisdell

Triangles by David A. Adler

Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland by Cindy Neuschwander

Line Plots:

How Long or How Wide?: A Measuring Guide by Brian P. Cleary

Millions to Measure by David M. Schwartz

The Great Graph Contest by Loreen Leedy

Sir Cumference and the Off-the-Charts Dessert by Cindy Neuschwander

Adding and Subtracting Fractions:

Fractions in Disguise: A Math Adventure by Edward Einhorn

A Fraction’s Goal-Parts of a Whole by Brian P. Cleary

Fractions = Trouble! By Claudia Mills

Sir Cumference and the Fraction Faire by Cindy Neuschwander

IMAGES

Fly on a Math Teachers Wall: Place Value
The Best Books for Math Read Alouds
The Best Books for Math Read Alouds
Place Value Worksheets
$place value math read alouds$
30 Smart Place Value Activities for Elementary Math Students
The Best Books to Teach Place Value and Large Numbers

VIDEO

Karl Roemer's "Place Value"
face valu and place value math
Place Value Student Video 1) First Grade
Grade1 Place Value
Place Value Lesson 3
Ch. 1.1 Place Value

COMMENTS

Books that Teach Place Value
This story is a lesson about recycling and the math skill of place value. Your students will be counting by groups of hundreds, tens, and ones as you read to them! Other Place Value Resources Children's storybooks are one great resource to teach place value but it's not the only resource.
5 Math Picture Books about Place Value
Do you need a great read-aloud to teach your upper elementary students place value? These math picture books are wonderful because they offer a great story and can also help facilitate math discussions with your upper elementary class! Place value books are also so important to help students relate large numbers to their life and be able to visualize them! Here are my top five math books to ...
Place Value Read Aloud
Place Value Read Aloud 7,790 views Jul 20, 2020 29 Dislike Share Save Tom Jacobs 219 subscribers Join us to in this read aloud of Place Value to learn about our number system and how it...
The Best Books for Math Read Alouds
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. See full details about each book: Place Value by David Adler Max's Math by Kate Banks
Math Picture Books: Place Value & Operations
This is the story of Zero's adventure meeting Count Infinity, King Multiplus, and Queen Addeleine as he tries to find his place in the number system. It addresses place value and operations with zero. Like the Sir Cumference books, young children enjoy the story and pick up on some of the concepts while older kids can understand at a deeper level.
Place Value Read Aloud
Place Value Read Aloud 13,701 views Sep 4, 2020 74 Dislike Share Save amandasigmon 218 subscribers This book is perfect for a place value introduction. It discusses values, digits, and...
The Best Books to Teach Place Value and Large Numbers
The Best Books to Teach Place Value and Large Numbers: To understand numbers (no matter how small or large), kids need to understand that the place of each digit matters. For example, in the number 356, the 3 does not represent the number 3 but rather, the number 300.
23 Math Read-Alouds for Primary Students
Place value is the key to keeping the numbers straight. Using humorous art, easy-to-follow charts, and clear explanations, this book presents the basic facts about place value while inserting some amusing monkey business. 21 - The Power of 10 by Judy Newhoff Shooting hoops or mastering base 10 numerations?
Books About Math for Kids For the Classroom
Great as a read-aloud or for independent readers who will love hunting through the detailed pictures to find the odd or even items. Math concepts: Odd and even numbers. Also by this author: My Half Day. 20. Pitter Pattern by Joyce Hesselberth (K-2) Definitely add this to your list of books about math for kids you use to introduce patterns!
Math Read Alouds
Math Read Alouds "Do you do any whole-group during your guided math block??" The answer is, "Absolutely, yes." Our math mini-lessons happen every day for 8-12 minutes and help anchor our learning, set the foundation for teacher-table, and establish common vocabulary among my math groups.
Place value tables (video)
Video transcript. - [Instructor] What were going to do in this video is think a little bit about place value tables and sometimes they're referred to as place value charts. In previous videos, we've already talked about the idea of place value, and a place value table or a place value chart is just a way to say how much we have, how much value ...
place value read aloud
5.0. (38) $10.00. PDF. Place Value Activity Pack - Includes Skip-Counting and Comparing Numbers Common Core Aligned! Use this place value activity pack to teach base-ten number sense! The pack also covers comparing one, two, and three-digit numbers; and skip-counting by 5's, 10's, and 100's.
Interactive Math Lesson
Students simply click on the speaker icon in the upper-left corner of the screen, and the question will be read aloud to them in a clear voice. It is our hope that our interactive math website will help your students develop stronger math skills, including place value up to thousands. Try out this lesson, and remember to browse our other math ...
How to Teach Place Value With Place Value Disks
3 (Common Core 3.NBT.A.1: Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100) 4 (Common Core 4.NBT.A.1: Recognize that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right) 5 (Common Core 5.NBT.A.1: Recognize that in a multi-digit number, a digit in one ...
March Read Alouds and Related Seasonal Activities
This resource is perfect for grade 3-6 and focuses on essential math skills like place value, arrays, measurement, decimals, and more. It's a great resource to use during centers or test prep and can even be used as an assessment. Aside from grabbing some Skittles, this activity is no-prep.
Pop Penguin and the Place Value Race
Play Pop Penguin and the Place Value Race at MathPlayground.com! Solve number and place value puzzles to win the game. ... Understand place value. Read and write numbers. Compare numbers. More Math Games to Play. MATH PLAYGROUND 1st Grade Games 2nd Grade Games 3rd Grade Games 4th Grade Games 5th Grade Games 6th Grade Games Thinking Blocks New ...
5th Grade Guided Math Read Alouds
The following books are suggested guided math read aloud books that complement each topic taught in my 5th Grade Guided Math units. Read alouds are a great way to incorporate literature into math time. In my classroom, I have math books out and students can read them during independent reading time or during our Guided Reading rotations.

Books that Teach Place Value

11 Math Books to Teach Place Value

The King’s Commissioners

How Much Is a Million?

Two of Everything

Math Fables: Lessons That Count

Out for the Count: A Counting Adventure

A Fair Bear Share

One Hundred Ways To Get To 100

A Million Dots

The Chicken Problem

Earth Day-Hooray

Other Place Value Resources

Lucky to Learn Math

Place Value Toothy

10 More, 10 Less, 1 More, 1 Less Activity

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Welcome, I’m Angie!

Click to Shop ⬇️

Click to Download ⬇️

Click to Read ⬇️

5 Math Picture Books about Place Value

The Best Books for Math Read Alouds

Why Teachers Should Use Math Read Alouds

Geometry Picture Books

Place Value/ Number Sense Math Read Alouds

Multiplication Books for Kids

Related Post: 7 Quick and Easy Math Center Ideas

A FREE List of Even More Math Read Alouds

Reader Interactions

Find me on Instagram @tanyagmarshall

Math Picture Books: Place Value & Operations

Place Value Picture Books

Concept of Zero Picture Books

Equality and Comparing Numbers

Addition and Subtraction

Multiplication

Introducing Division

Fraction Operations

Share this:

You Might Also Like

KP Mathematics Ten Frame Grows Up

Reset password

FUN TEACHING RESOURCES & TIPS TO HELP YOU TEACH MATH WITH CONFIDENCE

The Best Books to Teach Place Value and Large Numbers

The Best Books to Teach Place Value and Large Numbers:

And don’t miss the rest of the posts in this series:

More fun Place Value Learning Ideas:

Free Printable Book Lists!

Join 130k+ Parents & Teachers

Find Free Math Resources for All Ages:

Need Math PD Hours?

Categories:

23 Math Read-Alouds for Primary Students

Math Read-Alouds for Counting

2 – Zero is the Leaves on the Trees

3 – Billions of Bricks by Kurt Cyrus

4 – Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong

5 – How Many? (Talking Math) by Christopher Danielson

Math Read-Alouds for Addition and Subtraction

6 – One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre

7 – Elevator Magic by Stuart Murphy

8 – Math Fables: Lessons That Count by Greg Tang

9 – Ten on a Twig by Lo Cole

10 – 10 Gulab Jamuns by Sandhya Acharya

Part-Part-Whole and Balancing Equations Read-Alouds

12 – 12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam

13 – Equal Shmequal by Virginia Kroll

Math Read-Alouds for Measurement

15 – Inch by Inch by Leo Leonni

16 – Growing Story by Ruth Krauss

Data Analysis, Time, and Money Read-Alouds

18 – Tally O’Malley by Stuart Murphy

19 – Second, Minute, Week with Days in It by Brian Cleary

Math Read-Alouds for Place Value

21 – The Power of 10 by Judy Newhoff

Geometry Read-Alouds

23 – Tangled: A Story About Shapes by Anne Miranda

Written by – Janessa Fletcher

22+ Amazing Picture Books About Math