Let's Fly a Kite: A MathStart Picture Book Teaching Symmetry and Cooperation for Kids

MathStart Level 2

by Stuart J. Murphy, Brian Floca (Illustrator)

“Kids, young and old, fall in love with math when they see how real-life and effortless it becomes thanks to these books.” —Kimberly D. Mueller, Ed.D., First Grade Teacher, Ashbrook School, Lumberton NJ Let's Fly a Kite is perfect for teaching symmetry to first, second, and third graders. When Bob and Hannah split something, the two pieces had better be symmetrical—exactly the same. But to fly their kite, they'll have to learn something new—cooperation! Kids will love the story and the illustrations by Brian Floca. Parents and educators will love how the story and pictures make understanding the math concepts a breeze—as well as the concrete examples of how math works. The book contains activities for adults to do with kids to extend math into their own lives. Math skills are life skills, and the MathStart series supports success! MathStart's unique combination of stories, illustrations, and visual models helps teachers and parents in the teaching of math and provides all children with the opportunity to succeed. The math concepts taught in MathStart books conform to state and national standards. Level 1 is Pre-K–Kindergarten; Level 2 is Grades 1–3; Level 3 is Grades 2–4. The series follows math topics across grades so there is a foundational path to learning that runs through the levels. Help kids with their math skills  plus  their reading skills with the engaging and fun MathStart series!

Genres: Mathematics, Childrens, Picture Books, Family

40 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2000

About the author

PICTURES & WORDS, STORIES & BOOKS
MathStart http://www.mathstart.net
I See I Learn http://www.iseeilearn.com

I was one of those kids who talked all the time in class. I loved telling stories. One day in the 4th Grade, my teacher said, “You tell such good stories, maybe you should try writing some of them down.” “Wow,” I thought. “She thinks my stories are good.” That’s when I started to really enjoy writing.

I was also the class artist. When I wasn’t talking,I was drawing. When I was older, I studied art at the Rhode Island School
of Design. That’s where I became interested in visual learning—how we decode and acquire information from graphs, charts, diagrams, models, illustrations and other images.

I became especially interested in educational publishing and have worked on the development of over a dozen major textbook programs, championing visual learning strategies from Pre-K through high school in every major curriculum area.

MATHSTART

The inspiration to write math stories for children was sparked by my work on a high school mathematics program. Visual learning strategies helped teens—who had been characterized as “reluctant learners’—understand difficult math concepts. Putting math in the context of stories based on their experiences made them feel more comfortable with abstract concepts. They actually became eager to apply math to real-life problems.
If this approach worked for older students, I began to wonder what might happen if younger children were introduced to math this way!

Even before children can read—or speak many words—they can interpret visual information with ease. The MathStart books use simple stories coupled with diagrams, graphs and other visual models to teach everything from probability and pattern recognition to area, capacity and negative numbers.

The Best Bug Parade, (comparing sizes) was my very first published book. It was absolutely thrilling to see my name in print! I never expected that one day there would 63 MathStart books, split over three levels for ages Pre-K to Grade 4.

Each book includes two pages of review and activities designed to help teachers and parents extend learning beyond the story, along with suggestions of related books by other authors. After all, if a child enjoys learning math through stories, then let’s have more stories!
(Pictures, Words & Math: An interview with Stuart J. Murphy )

THE MAIN STREET KIDS' CLUB: A MATHSTART MUSICAL

Now get out your dancing shoes—there is a musical based on six of the MathStart books! The Main Street Kids’ Club was workshopped at Northwestern University and adapted by Scott Ferguson, who also created the perennially popular production of Schoolhouse Rock Live!
The songs are terrific. The math is spot on. And the club motto makes my heart sing: “Math Skills are Life Skills!”

STUART J. MURPHY'S I SEE I LEARN

My latest series of books is focused on young children—Preschool and Kindergarten age.
I See I Learn books teach social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills, such as how to make friends, build confidence, play safely, work together, manage emotions, and make plans. These skills are important for school readiness and for living happy, healthy, productive lives.

The stories “star” a wonderful bunch of friends who live in See-and-Learn City and attend Ready Set Pre-K. The cast includes Freda, Percy, Emma, Ajay, Camille, and Carlos. And, of course, Pickle, the green bull dog—who happens to have a soft-spot for butterflies—and Miss Cathy, their teacher.

I See I Learn stories are modeled on real-life situations and, just as in real-life, often involve more than one skill. For example, Freda Plans a Picnic is about sequencing, a cognitive skill, but the picnic itself is a social event. Percy Plays It Safe focuses on playground safety skills, but playing successfully in a group also requires self-regulation, an emotional skill.

Each book is reviewed by a tea

Reviews

[Enrique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative read of how lines of symmetry work without being too complex and showing how things can be even in the best way so that it can benefit everyone such as sitting on a towel and each having an equal side or what makes a good kite that can fly effectively. Great illustrations that almost remind of the illustrations that show up in the book Charlottes Web which I found very interesting but with color. I would recommend this book to the 3rd and 4th graders and maybe even the 2nd and 5th as well.

[Vo Khon · Rating 3 out of 5]

LINE SYMMETRY
A story with good drawing to learn line symmetry.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little story that illustrates symmetry by weaving it into a relatable story of two siblings making a kite and flying it at the beach.

[Rykki · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I have to say the squabbling was a little annoying between the two kids, it's definitely something the kids can relate to. The use of lines of symmetry were wonderfully explained. It's simple enough for a kid to understand without being so incredibly simplistic that I want to roll my eyes the whole time.

The exercises in the end are some wonderful suggestions. I've always loved the snowflake project. We might just have to try the nature walk suggestion the next time we go for a walk to the library. It would be great to read this before we head out, then follow up with the nature walk exercise on the walk.

This is the first book I've read in this series, but I think we'll have to look into more of them. I love the way they brilliantly craft the story around a math concept so the learning is completely natural. It's simply making an observation, which is perhaps the easiest way for my kids to learn!

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun story about squabbling siblings and how they and their babysitter use lines of symmetry to ensure that they get an equal share of everything. The illustrations by Brian Floca are colorful and complement the story nicely.

We have read lots of books in the Mathstart series and I love how they teach mathematical concepts within the story, and in easy-to-understand ways. We will continue to search for more of the books in the MathStart Level 2 series at our local library.

[Jenny D]

In this story, 2 children learn about lines of symmetry. Have cut-outs of the shapes from the story (a kite, seat, towel, sandwich) available for students. For the first shapes, have students follow along with the story, making the same folds. Then, have students see if they can find a way to fold the cut-outs so that both sides are the same. After reading the story, have more cut-outs available for students to find lines of symmetry. Give shapes that have one line of symmetry as well as some that have multiple and some that have none. Then, have students search around the school for objects that have lines of symmetry.

[Hailey Dellinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to use in symmetry unit to explain the use of symmetry inside and outside the classroom. This incorporates family matters along with sharing things equally with lines of symmetry. I would use this story to do a mini lesson with cutouts from the story that students can practice their lines of symmetry to make things even. I would give shapes that have one line symmetry that students can fold as well as some with multiple folds/symmetry. I would use this for 3rd grade students to develop math concepts for daily life.

[Maxwoodliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's Fly a Kite would be good for students that are learning about shapes and how to divide things into two equal parts. The back of the book provides a guide for parents and teachers to ask questions to their students about the different shapes and how the shapes are divided equally. I would use this book for a younger group of children who are learning about shapes.

[Linh Tong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really good for teaching symmetry. I will read this book aloud. Students will help me find the different symmetrical objects in the book. We will then create a symmetrical snowflake. We will fold a square sheet of paper into fourths. We will then cut small designs. When we open the paper up, the snowflake should be symmetrical.

[Sharia A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a family at a beach. The family is creating kites. TDuring this process, the children realize that the kite has equal sides. Now that the children realize that, they go to the beach and notice there are many other objects that are symmetric. This book would be a great book for 3rd grade students so that they can develop math concepts for students to use in daily life.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brother and sister learn the concept of symmetry as they make a kite and head to the beach to fly it.

A better math story than a kite story, ink and watercolor illustrations do showcase the beautiful kite the kids create and the other kites in the skies at the beach.

[Chak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Math Start book. Good stuff.

[Rita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be used to teach about lines of symmetry and cooperation. Shapes and sharing is also discussed in this story. There are many examples of symmetry throughout this story.

[Thao · Rating 4 out of 5]

- This book can be used to teach symmetry (for older kids) and shapes (for younger).
- Grades k-3

[Sarah Decarlo]

Symmetry

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book about separating things equally for siblings who want everything to be fair. There's a lot of bickering in it.

Good for older kid and preschool storytimes.

[Esther]

Symmetry / halves / being fair among squabbling children. This one does contain some problem solving in it, as the babysitter does need to split things in half more evenly after the kids complain.