During our current Mathematics module we were introduced to the idea of using early years picture books to explore mathematical language and the basic concepts in maths. Although I used cross curricular learning when on placement last year, I had never really thought about using this platform to reinforce mathematical ideas, but now that my attention has been brought to it, it makes so much sense!
The best part about using a story is the characters can help guide the children through concepts that a basic textbook maybe could not do. I have chosen to explore a picture book that is close to my heart; one which my mum and dad read to me probably a hundred times when I was younger, one which I have used as a stimulus for children I teach at work and one which I hope to one day read to my own kids – The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. It is so engaging with bright colours, lots of tasty food and themes that everybody can relate to and Carle’s use of repetition is great to allow children to join in. There is an animation on Youtube too which are suitable to use with narration and music playing throughout.
The story covers the basic concept of time, using both day and night as well as mentioning the days of the week. This could be spoken about with young children to help them grasp that every time they wake up it is a new day and there are seven in a week. The story takes the children through each day of the week and what the caterpillar eats and so they could count how many days are in the week. Once they have done this, they may be able to work out how many days the caterpillar was in the cocoon for (however this may be better for slightly more able children).
Counting as mentioned above is heavily involved in the plot of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and each day the caterpillar grows another piece of food is added on. The illustration helps the children visualise this, and allowing the children to draw their own pictures might aid them also. As we discovered last week in a maths input, some children find it difficult to count things that are not identical, so on the Saturday counting the various foods may pose difficult for some, but that is a good challenge if it was done in a class. For a more advanced counting exercise, children could add up all of the pieces of food the caterpillar has eaten throughout the entire week.
The final maths concept I noticed embedded in the story was very brief, but you could talk about the symmetry of the butterfly. I always remember butterflies playing a big part in creating symmetry and it is aesthetically pleasing.
Basic props that I would use would be a caterpillar, because I feel like the children will learn to love the character and if it is physically there it may help them to engage fully. I would also use either laminated pieces of food to put up on the board or actually have the foods – however I feel it would make more sense to use the same pictures of the food as those in the story for younger children as it may confuse them.
