Beep Beep, Vroom Vroom: Nichole LaramyCollins

Common core standards addressed:Geometry,counting and cardinality, measurement and data.

Summary: Molly loves to play with her brother Kevin, toy cars. He thinks that his sister is too little to play with cars. Kevin lines up all his cars on the shelf. He tells his sister that he wants the cars to be the same way he left them; red, blue, yellow; red, blue, yellow. When Kevin leaves, Molly begins to play with the cars. Mom and Dad hears Molly playing and makes Molly put back the cars the way her brother had left it. When they leave, Molly plays with the cars again. Kevin tells Molly that she'd better not be playing with his cars and he is coming to see. Immediately, Molly tries to put the cars back in the same pattern Kevin left them. At first the cars didn't seem to be lined up correctly; yellow, blue, red. She tries again and put the cars back the way that her brother had left them.

Rating: I would recommend the book to teach basic math skills to children in the early grades from Preschool to Grade 1. It is a good way to teach students pattern recognition, colors, shapes and how to count objects. The book also has colorful and bright pictures so that students could follow along while the teacher is reading.

Classroom ideas: Teachers can have students create their own patterns using manipulative materials in the classrrom such as building blocks, colored tiles and counters. As the teacher reads, she may ask the students to identify the different patterns Molly places the cars on the shelf. The teacher may also ask students to identify the different shapes and colors of the cars in the book.