Give Me Half!

MathStart Level 2

by Stuart J. Murphy, G. Brian Karas (Illustrator)

Introduces the concept of halves using a simple rhyming story about a brother and sister who do not want to share their food

Genres: Mathematics, Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Science, School, Counting

34 pages, Hardcover

First published March 27, 1996

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

[Isabel Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really cool book to introduce fractions and the concept of half in relationship to sharing. As the brother and sister learn to share the food each of them have, they are also learning about fractions. I like the fact that the book also introduces a new term, divide, in an appropriate manner. I can see us having a discussion about sharing equally and doing small groups activities that require us to share equally.

[Rebecca Lees · Rating 4 out of 5]

Give me half is a fictional book, the story is about two children: a younger brother and his older sister. The younger brother has a pizza and is asked to share it with his sister, the brother does not want to share his pizza but does so reluctantly in order that the older sister will share her food. They then face the problem of how to share the pizza equally.
Give me half demonstrates how the children can divide and share their food in to half fairly after a number of arguments about the different food that they both have.

I think the book is very useful because it makes good use of poetical rhyming throughout which enables it to be read easily and fluently by the children, this also makes it more engaging because the lines can be turned into a song. Also, the use of children throughout the book means that early years children will be able to emphasise more with the book by putting themselves in the kids shoes. Questions could be asked during guided reading, such as “if that was your pizza how would you share it fairly with your brother?”. It is also very useful of the author to give suggestions of activities that could be done after reading the book to children in a classroom/ at home.

The book is designed for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and it is stated clearly at the end of the book how it fits in with the EYFS target level 2 (building mathermatical skills like adding, subtracting, collecting and ordering data).
Therefore the book could be used in a school setting to teach Mathematics quite easily, it could be used to introduce students in reception about Maths and the skills involved through practical applications (such as sharing a pizza or a cake).

[David Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Text-to-Teaching Connection

Author Stuart Murphy does an excellent job teaching basic fractions in this book. It starts with whole and shows how to divide it into halves and then fourths. The illustrations are fun for kids and helps them to engage in the book. With students now starting fraction in first grade this is a excellent resource to have in the classroom.

As a teacher I would use this book to introduce fractions. As the book is read, students could draw what is being talked about in the book as a way to reinforce what they are hearing. As a follow up activity, I would have the students make a fraction tool kit. This tool kit would be made up of 3 strips of colored construction paper. The first strip would be whole, with the words "whole 1/1" wrote on it. The second strip would be cut into halves with "1/2" written on both pieces. The last piece would be cut into 4 equal pieces with "1/4" written on each piece. I would then have the students use this tool kit as they worked through the basic fraction problems we would be introduced next.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

spreads a bad message by letting the dog eat chocolate at the end

[Emily Tidwell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Give me half is about a little boy who has a whole pizza and doesn't want to share with his sister until his mom forces him to share half. Then the little boy sees things he wants that his sister has, such as juice and cupcakes. But of course the sister doesn't want to share when it is her's. So the mom has to come and tell them again to share and cut it in half. They both learn that one half plus one half equals 1. After they get in an argument they notice that using fractions can make a mess, which leads these siblings to realize "if they each clean up half, it will get done in half the time."

This book wasn't my favorite but It is a simple book that deals with simple fractions. I do however, love the concept of them showing that sharing is not that bad.

I would use this in my classroom for students who are dealing with simple fractions and with younger students who are just learning what a fraction is. I think after I read this book, I would have them each take a cookie and share half with their neighbor.

[Raquel Nunez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I think the author did a great job at incorporating fractions by using a pizza to teach it. I liked how the author paired the fractions with a pizza. I am a visual learner, and for the longest, I did not understand the concept of how two halves could be a whole. When my teacher would draw two circles, it still didn't make sense. It was not until; I could relate it to something tangible in real life that I understood the concept. The illustrations are simple; it looks like it may have been done, with pastel and black pen or sharpie. The book also has a rhyme to it on each page which makes it fun to keep reading. When it comes to applying this in a classroom setting; This is a great way to integrate both Math and English class. A fun way to make it interactive could be by buying a pizza, and each student writes a rhyme to it and write what fraction of the pizza they go to eat.

[Elaina Albarado · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this is great math related book for students learning about half's and fractions. The storyline is very relatable for children who have siblings because siblings are always fighting over things and are always told to share. In the story the two siblings are told to share to split their food, their juice and other things half and half which make one whole. The story not only teaches students about fractions but it also teaches students ways to share. At the end the two siblings make a mess and they know that they need to clean up but they realize if they split the amount of cleaning by half they will finish together using teamwork. The illustrations in this book also are really great which show diagrams about things that they are splitting and how it makes a whole. I think overall that this would be a good book to show students who are learning about fractions and teaching a lesson on sharing.

[Kayla Angeletti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice book that can be used to help kids learn about halves. This book was about two siblings who fought over food, drinks and snacks because one would have a whole while the other sibling would have none. Their mother would then step in and tell them that they needed to split it in half. After breaking half of so many items the two siblings ended up having a food fight which I couldn't really tell until I actually looked at the illustrations and realized what was going on. The book went from using dialogue to only pictures for that one part. Something I loved was that after they were told to share, there was a page with visual explanations of what half of the item looks like. There was also a little rhyming included. The illustrations were nice and the colors were perfect, not too bright nor too dark. I would read this book again but most likely only to teach about halves.

[Paiton Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about a young boy who has a pizza and agrees to share it with his sister. He must share it evenly, according to his father. The boy’s sister has juice, and he says she has to share half. The brother sees that the sister has cupcakes, and again their father makes them evenly share halves.

This book is great for teaching students about halving fractions. The only critique that I have is that it could make the halves a bit more apparent. In the illustrations, it doesn’t clearly show each child with a half of the food item that they are dividing. This would make the concepts of halves more clear for students.

I would bring this book out during a lesson about fractions, but I wouldn't take the time to read it to my class.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute book. This was a really fun and interesting way to explain what a half is. I love that they used pizza because I find that learning how to split a pizza is the easiest way for students to understand fractions. The book follows a young boy and his older sister. The young boy has a whole pizza and is told to share it with his sister. He was told that it must be split in two. I really like have a book broke down the pizza and showed the fractions in order to explain how to make a half to children. I think this book could be a really effective book to use in the classroom. The added benefit is that it teaches math in a really fun and interesting way especially for students that struggle with math.

[Jakelin Barriga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like that this book is fun and related to food and sharing! I would read this to a second grade class and I would recommend it to a teacher friend. I would relate this to my students by asking questions of how they could share certain items based on the quantity of them. I would start a lesson of with this book and then do the planned activity. I would talk about their families and how many siblings they have. I would ask questions of them having to share and how they share with their friends and family. This would relate to math. I would include an activity where they need to split things in half to get a result which can be related to science. I think this is nice way to introduce fractions, as well as numerators and denominators.

[Cassidy Schultes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Give Me Half by Stuart J. Murphy is a cute fictional book about a brother and sister that learn how to share their food by using simple mathematics, specifically factions. I think that this book would be a great hook for introducing a lesson on fractions to students. I think that this book deserves five stars as it covers mathatical standards as well as literacy and social-emotional standards. It introduces young learners to fractions and teaches them how to share with others. I think that my future students would really enjoy this book. I would definitely incoorporate this book in one of my lessons.

[Edna Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Give me half is a fun story of numbers. Two siblings learn how to share almost everything. By sharing they're doing math without noticing. They have a pizza, juice, cookies, and more to divide in half. They do not want to split anything because they want the whole pizza, juice, cookies, and more but their father tells them they have to get equal parts. They obey and they're happy for dividing everything in half. I like this book because it's a good start when children are learning fractions. I do not remember if my teacher read me math books. I will make sure to incorporate them in my classroom and my home with my own children. Illustrations are cute and are well presented on every page.

[Andrew Everson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart Murphy creates a funny, and realistic story between a mother, son, and daughter. The story explains what a half of something is, and in this books case its half of a cookies, pizza, juice, and cupcakes. Something I learned while reading this book was Stuart was trying to convey not only the mathematical message but as well as teaching children that its polite to share, and they you have to work together. I think this would work well when introducing a group project and sharing materials, and I think this book would be best used in a 1-3rd grade classroom.

[Shelbi St · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great way to incorporate math in an ELA setting. This math book entails the understanding of fractions. I really enjoy this book because in a school setting a situation may occur where a student receives a part of a whole that they may think it is not the same share as another pair may receive and they may say "They got more than me, that is not fair". By using this book, it may be a good part of classroom management to teach that it is fair due to fractions. The pictures in this book are really detailed and it shows a fun factor to it.

[Isabella Marrier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah! This story is so silly, yet educational. Throughout the book readers will get a glimpse at how to add halves to make a whole. The illustrations do a fantastic job at keeping math fun by showing fractions and the use of addition. Give me Half! also portrays underlying lessons like sharing and not cheating. At the end of the book *spoiler* the kids have a food fight and understand they both need to clean up half. Overall this story not only teaches addition of fractions, but also how to share responsibilities and fairness.

[Private Account · Rating 4 out of 5]

My six-year-old loved this book. I found it entertaining and excellent for really driving home the mathematical concept of "half." I think 3-6 is the right age group for this book, six being on the tail end i.e. my son was already quite clear on the definition of "half."

Though I think this book teaches the sharing idea that most American parents espouse, it is not the one I espouse, so it was also a good book for discussing with my son the idea of "fair."

[Cynthia Zarate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for young children. The book is focused on something that children struggle with which is sharing. The book can be used for social emotional and math. The book demonstrates how to share evenly by having the characters in the story share the foods in half. There is fractions included so I feel like it could be used to introduce fractions as well. There's also a lot of rhyming which is a great way to keep young children engaged.

[Arianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great at teaching halves to first, second and third graders. There are two siblings, a girl and a boy. The brother tries to eat the pizza all by himself and doesn't want to share with his sister and their father makes him split it up equally to share with his sister. They have arguments throughout the story on things they have but don't want to share like orange juice, cupcakes, etc and their father makes them split every thing up in half for each other. In the end, the siblings learn the benefits of sharing and splitting up in half including clean-up chores.

[Dat Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fun book to teach kids about splitting things into one half. Throughout the book the brother and sister are sharing the things they have with one another. This book can easily be used to show kids how to split different things in half to share with someone. It’s easy enough to understand and can be fun to split things and share with a friend.

[Jami Hines · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to introduce fractions. This about a brother and a sister that need to learn to share and they learn about fractions. They learn about how to share and make a mess and clean it up together in a teamwork effort.
I think this would be fun to do in class when introducing fractions to my class. They would love pizza and this would be a good way for them to rememer them.

[Obryanna Valencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers the standards of fractions. This would be great to introduce fractions to the class. It shows a clear illustration of what 1-half of a pizza and 1 whole pizza look like. It uses math terms in student-friendly terms. Such as divide, half, whole, etc. Overall, I enjoyed it, and I would recommend it to another teacher friend!

[Danna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction or refresher to the fraction of one half. My students identified with the siblings fighting over pizza, cupcakes and cookies. Fun book with colorful pictures. I used it as a refresher to fractions at the end of the term before we made artistic pizzas.

[Arlene D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great math starter for kids!

I need to retell the story for my son's module and he loved it.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers early fractions. It is so much easier to explain new concepts to kids via a picture book.

[Grace H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be forewarned that the siblings in this book have bad attitudes towards one another. I try to pick books with positive family dynamics. Also, the book ends with a food fight which I am not a fan of.

[Jennilee Angeski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an adorable story that makes it easy teaching the idea of "half" to kids. This book would be awesome to use as an introduction to fractions or portions.

[Bee Mycoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun book in the classroom. It kept students engaged and listening. They were very excited about learning fractions and loved the pictures that it included.

[Karina Cortes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A creative way to teach fractions and sharing!

[Fahula · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book provides a very basic introduction to the concept of half for primary students.