Addition Mission!!!

Mathematics is a content area almost every child struggles with at some point in his or her lifetime.  So as a future educator I asked myself, why not make elementary mathematics a fun area for children to explore?  To do so, I found an amazing fiction story titled "The Mission of Addition" written by Brian P. Cleary.  Cleary is so clever in this cute book, where he takes the reader on a journey through addition problems that children see in everyday life.  

For example:

 "6 yellow buses were parked in a line.  3 pulled behind and them and then there were 9." 

 The rhyme and riddles that go along with the story line of addition is fascinating.  There are several examples children could read in this book that they could relate to real life situations.  Another example in this book, reads about the Johnson family.  

"The Johnsons' had 1 babysitter Gretchen was her name.  She cried "Help!" So number 2, Miss Higgenbottom came....5th was Caitlyn Macnamee and 6th was Mr. Lee, and 4 more totalled 10 in all to watch that crew of 3."

Giving these situations where addition is used is a fun way of not only telling what addition means and entails but also gives the read a look into how easy addition can really be.  Through these pages, in almost every instance, the writer refers to addition in other terms such as, plus or and which is a huge aspect in expanding vocabulary as well as understanding addition . 

I would definitely recommend this book for any math lesson that deals with adding obviously, but I would also recommend it to be incorporated when teaching children about word problems.  This story is a excellent example of how word problems work.  This book I believe would really excite the children because it almost takes them on a journey through all of these different addition experiences and does so in a fun way.  Hope you enjoy and add this to your book collection!