Back to Children's Literature
Tally O'Malley
Super Sand Castle Saturday
by Stuart J. Murphy
Ben meets his mom at work at the end of the day. On their way down to the first floor, he has to use his subtraction skills to help his mom run errands.
Resources for Super Sand Castle Saturday:
Full Book Review (English)
Full Book Review (Spanish)
Brief Book Review (English)
Brief Book Review (Spanish)
As the tide comes in who will build the tallest tower, the deepest moat, and the longest wall?
Math Connections:
Measuring Length
Comparing Distance
Activities to Do Together:
- Explore formal measuring tools like rulers, measuring tapes, yardsticks, and meter sticks. Measure with informal tools like the length of a spoon or the width of a hand.
-
Measure objects together and talk about the process.
-
Pick three items to measure. How many spoons long, hands long, and inches long is the object?
-
Measure the length of a room with your feet. Place your feet heel to toe and count the number of steps it takes to cross the room. Compare the number of steps it takes a child to the number of steps it takes an adult. Does it take the same number of steps? Why do you think that is?
Extension Questions:
-
Why do you think people created rulers and yardsticks?
-
Look at the page on which Juan and Laura are digging their moats. Which moat looks deeper in the picture on the left? Which moat looks deeper on the page on the right?
-
Who do you think built the tallest sand castle? Why do you think this person’s sand castle is tallest?
Vocabulary for Building Math Concepts:
deepest, five, inch(es), longest, measure, more,
nearby, one, seven, size, tallest, three, two, up