Looking for some books that will help teach the equal sign? Well, have you considered books on balance and comparing? Check out these books that would be a perfect collection to help you teach the concept of the equal sign, as well as link to science standards and critical academic vocabulary like "compare"!
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Two mice play balancing, however other animals want to join in on the fun! To understand balance and equal, students need to experience what doesn't equal or what is unbalanced. Math is easy to see when there are 6 small animals balancing across from one larger animal.
This nonfiction picture book helps to also teach the National Science Standards on using tools and scientific observation. It compares a balance with a seesaw, showing two girls of equal balance. Again, showing students equal and not equal helps to give meaning to the definition.
Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen is a story about a cow, donkey, pig, sheep and mouse and how they all want to take a ride in a boat together. Students will see that certain animals will help balance one another on the boat. This gives the teacher a chance to have a discussion and make predictions about who would be able to balance one another best. The ending is a fun surprise!
This story has other animals balancing on a seesaw, but we start out with a perfect non-example of balance, an elephant and mouse pair of friends. They will need help with balancing each other with the help of some other friends.
Balance and fairness are themes in this book. Animals go to a fair to play tug-of-war and realize that they need to make the game fair. The line between the two teams relates to the equal sign, with both sides needing to be fair to play a fun game.
Have fun comparing unlike things to see how they balance each other out! What animal weighs the same as 167 hamburgers? To find out this and more, you must read this hilarious book on comparing and balancing equalities! There are two other books in this series that would be great too:
How Tall?: Wacky Ways to Compare Height (Wacky Comparisons)
How Long?: Wacky Ways to Compare Length (Wacky Comparisons)
Being equal means being "the same as" or fair. Using this book as an introduction to fractions will show students how sharing is caring about being equal.
Many primary teachers may have this book in their collections already! The doorbell keeps ringing and more and more come through the door, and the family has to divide up the freshly made cookies again and again. The family is very willing to share and be fair with their visitors.
