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In Times Past
an eBook on CD
by Carol Hurst and Rebecca Otis

Integrating US History with Literature in Grades 3-8.

Enliven your US History curriculum!

Teach US History using great kids books.

More Info

The Mud Flat Olympics

by James Stevenson. (Morrow, 1994 ISBN 0-688-12823-4. Hardcover). Picture Book.
This is a sample chapter from Picturing Math by Carol Otis Hurst and Rebecca Otis (Order from Amazon.com. SRA/McGraw-Hill, 1996. ISBN 0-02-687367-2)

Summary

The animals are having their own Olympics and Stevenson presents their efforts in a mock serious tone. We begin with the carrying of the torch by Burbank. There are three contestants for the Deepest Hole contest, although one elderly mole, Mr. Crenshaw, gives up early. Hardest on the judges is The Smelliest Skunk contest, but they stay the course and rate each on a scale of one to ten. Many of the math activities in this delightful book are obvious but should be kept at the same level of enjoyment that the book projects.

Math Activities

K-Grade 2
Data Gathering & Analyzing
What evidence is there in the first contest that any digging was done? What evidence is there that the two contestants dug deeply? What evidence is there that they went as far as they said they did? What evidence could there have been? What would you have awarded them prizes for?
In the second contest, what evidence is there that the snails went over the hurdles? What evidence is there that they reached the finish line? What evidence could there have been?

PreK-Grade 2
Data Gathering & Analyzing
What do you think happened when Sid disappeared at the top of the hurdle?

K-Grade 2
Estimation
Look at the snail hurdles and the size of the animals. Find an object in your classroom that you think is about as high as the hurdles are.

PreK-Grade 2
Attributes & Classification
Make a list of the different animals in the book. (You might have to guess what some of them are.) Then list the special skills each animal would have. Make up some Olympic contests in which they would do well and others in which they would probably not do well.

Grades 1-2
Estimation & Computation
Read the poem "Ants at the Olympics" in the anthology The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (Random House, 1983. ISBN 0-394-85010-6). Compare their Olympic events to these. Would the ants have been better at the hurdles than the snails? Would they have been faster? What about the other events in the book? Which ones would the ants have failed at? Which events would take longer if you substituted the ants for one of the other animals? How long do you think the digging contest would take if the ants were the diggers?

PreK-Grade 1
Numeration
Which race had the most contestants? Which one had the fewest?

Grades 1-2
Numeration
At the end of the book, Crocker turns up with cookies for everybody. How many cookies should he have if everybody gets one?

To order Picturing Math call 1-800-843-8855 or order from Amazon.com. Item no. 0-02-687367-2.