Clean Sweep Campers

Math Matters®

by Lucille Recht Penner, Paige Billin-Frye (Illustrator)

Eight messy bunkmates try to figure out how to divide themselves into equal teams to clean up their cabin at camp.

Genres: Mathematics, Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Lucille Recht Penner is the author of many nonfiction books for kids, including Dinosaur Babies and Monster Bugs in Random House’s Step into Reading program. She lives in Tucson, AZ.

Reviews

[Jamie Bye · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is told through letters that Annie is writing to her parents about her summer camp adventures. As she writes she explains that their camp counselors have split the cabin of 8 girls in half, or two equal groups, to clean the cabin. Each team is responsible for their half of the cabin. Then they discover that the bathroom has been forgotten and the begin working through how to break the girls into three teams evenly. They soon discover that 8 can't be split into 3 even groups, so they devise a system of 4 teams of 2 girls! One team to clean the bathroom, one team to clean a half of the cabin, one team to clean the second half of the cabin, and the fourth team to clean the porch and pull weeds. The fourth team gets stung by bees, so the girls give up on teams and decide that they each will be their own individual team and do one single chore. Through this book, children discover fractions that do and do not fit evenly into a whole of 8. They also see that each girl in the cabin in one part of the whole. I thought that the way the story is told is choppy and not very intriguing, but that the overall fraction lesson is very worthwhile! The many fractions discussed illustrate just how diverse fractions are.

[Christian Houseworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this book! The author made this book very engaging for children by using a letter writing format. This book is about a girl named Annie who is writing to her parents about her experience in camp. Annie writes about how she likes camp but she does not like to clean up. The girls and the camp counselors try dividing them into equal teams of two, three, and more. This book is a part of the Math Matters collection and it is an excellent book to use to integrate reading and math together. This is a great book to use when introduces division and fractions. I also love that the book provides visuals for students who may need a picture in order to connect the concepts together. I also like that there is a helpful Fraction Chart on the last page of the book that shows halves, thirds, and fourths.

[Jayetta Carter-mcfarlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will include this book in math lesson plans that address division and fractions. Using this book in a read-aloud experience willp tudents to make connections between diviision and fractions. I would use it in grades 3 - 5. The pictures will also help with ELLs and children with special needs to add additional contextual clues

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

fractions

[Nicoleta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce bună ar fi o tabără deci și pentru a învăța să faci curat, chiar dacă, așa cum asigură copilul din carte, asta nu se va întâmpla și acasă.

[Ashlie Buroker · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was math