Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni Posted by Patricia Ramos

Title:  Inch by Inch            Posted by: Patricia Ramos           

Author and Illustrator:  Leo Lionni   

Recommended Grade Level:  Prek, K, 1, 2

Common Core Mathematics Standards: Measurement and Data

1. Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.

2. Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps.

Summary: To avoid being eaten by a robin, an inchworm tries to convince the robin that he is useful to measure things. So the robin asks the inchworm to measure his tail and other animals. When he sees a nightingale, the inchworm is asked to measure his song otherwise he would be eaten. Unsure of how to measure the song, he decides to measure and measure until he is out of sight.

                       

 Rating ( 1 to 5) I give this book a rating of 4

I really like this book because in a simple form children are introduced to measurement. From this story children can learn about metric units, to compare objects using math concepts such as shorter than, longer than. The book has beautiful colors that catch the children’s attention. This book is also good to teach children problem solving.

 Classroom Ideas:
Some of the activities that can be done after reading this book is to have the children use a cut out of an inchworm adjusted to one inch and measure small items found in the classroom. Children can do a worksheet to record how long an item is. For instance,  The paper is _____ inches long. Then have them compare what item was the shortest one and the longest one.