Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
Tired of doing Sudoku or cross words, but you would still like to challenge your brain a little bit. Try reading Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. I had so much fun sitting down trying to figure out these word, no math, no word... oh, well... these problems. The zany stories that go with the problems are very much straight out out Wayside school from Louis Sachar's Wayside School series. The stories in this book are fun to read, and they lead into problems that are fun to figure out. Wayside school does a great job of doing cross-curricular activities because math is done in math class, but we also use math problem-solving skills in English, recess, Geography, Science, and even lunch. I would recommend this book to students in the 3rd-6th grade, but I think I could easily find some middle and high school students who would enjoy working out the problems as well. I could really see a math teacher starting each class with reading a chapter of this book and having the students solve the problems. This book works well with the 4th grade common core standards that states that students need to determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in text relevant to grade 4 topic or subject area. Another standard that this book can follow is that studnets need to interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.In case you get stuck while reading this book, towards the back of the book, there are hints and clues to help get you started on all of the problems. Also, in case you are really, really stuck, there are answer in the very back of the book. These can be helpful, but they can also be too tempting to cheat, so be careful.
Want to help a young kid get on the right track with higher-level math? After they've fallen for the original Sideways Stories from Wayside School, they should give this book a shot. In short, the "reader" finds himself in Wayside School's bizarre math class, where equations all go like this: elf+ elf foolWords + words = words... the thing is, your job is to figure out what the numbers are. For starters, the "f" in the answer has to equal 1, because two single-digit numbers can't add up to more than 20. That makes "l" equal 2, "o" equal four, and "e" equal 7. 721+ 721 1442The storytelling mixed in with the lessons keeps things both goofy and easy to follow. By the end of the book, children will have learned the basic tenets of algebra without even realizing it.
What do You think about Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School (2004)?
Why does elf + elf = fool?How many meals will Miss Mush, the lunch teacher, have to cook for the food to taste as bad as it smells?These Sideways Arithmetic problems may look puzzling at first, but you can use real maths to solve them, and the answers are right there in the book. There are lots of clues and hints; plus all the answers are in the back of the book. Best of all, all the kids you read about in the other books about Wayside School are here to help you!Try solving this, and more than fifty other maths brainteasers, along with the kids from Mrs Jewls's class. You'll learn a lot about maths but you'll be laughing too much to notice!
—Elisabeth
