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Divide and Ride

Counting on Frank
by Rod Clement
This is the story of a boy who sees the world a little differently than most people. He is always calculating how many of something will fit into a large space. How many of his dog Frank will fit into his bedroom? How long would it take to fill the entire bathroom with water?
Resources for Counting on Frank:
Full Book Review (English)
Reseña Expandida (Spanish)
Brief Book Review (English)
Reseña Simplificada (Spanish)
**Spanish versions coming soon!
Activities for Counting on Frank:
Contain Your Estimation (Englsih)
*Spanish versions coming soon!*
How many Franks would fit in your classroom?
Math Connections:
Measurement Volume
Estimation Multiplication
Rate of growth
Activities To Do Together:
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Use Counting on Frank to introduce the idea of estimation.
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After reading the story with your child, go back to a couple of scenarios and talk about how your child thinks the boy figured out how many would fit. What are some things to take into consideration?
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Ask your child how long they think it will take to fill one cup of water from the faucet, then time it to see how close they were. From that measurement, ask your child to figure out how long it would take to fill the largest pan you have with water from the faucet. Time it to see how close their calculations were.
Extension Questions:
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See if you and your child can make some “calculations” just as the boy in the story did. For example, how many boxes of cereal will fit in a cabinet? How many gallons of water are in a swimming pool? What questions can your child come up with?
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Determine how old you are in months, days, hours, and minutes. How many seconds old will you be when you are 50 years old? Estimate the number and then calculate the actual number of seconds. How close was your estimate?
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If you dropped 15 peas on the floor every night, since you were born, how long would it take for the peas to reach the ceiling? Talk with your child about the measurements they will need and the mathematical operations they will use to estimate the answer to this problem.
Vocabulary for Building Math Concepts:
as big as, average, calculate, even, forty-five minutes, four million times bigger, hours, nine feet tall, one-tenth, seven thousand feet, six feet wide, speed
Please check out the Book Guide for Counting on Frank for more!
Online External Resources for Counting on Frank: