Storytelling meets math when you write stories in which your hero is a magical, math-ical dragon!

• 1.

  Read picture books and stories such as Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi in which mathematics and solutions to math problems play an important role in the action.

• 2.

  Discuss how the author creatively used math operations, vocabulary, and problem solving to tell a story. Talk about important characters and their roles in the action.

• 3.

  Create your own magical, math-ical story about a dragon or other fantasy character. Choose a math concept (addition, multiplication, fractions, measurement, or money, for example) and think of clever names for the main and secondary characters.

• 4.

  Use Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils to draft, revise, and edit your magical, math-ical story. If you change your mind, just erase the words and rewrite!

• 5.

  Use your imagination to create a poster showing your main character. To make a dragon, cut craft foil into the shape of a dragon using Crayola Scissors.

• 6.

  Attach the foil dragon to dark paper with a Crayola Glue Stick.

• 7.

  Use Crayola Gel Markers to add details to your dragon’s face, back, feet, wings, and tail.

• 8.

  Cut oval scales from foil. Color each scale a different color with Gel Markers. Glue to the dragon’s body.

• 9.

  Use an Erasable Colored Pencil to add fine detail to the Gel Marker colored areas. The pencil tip will gently scratch away some of the marker color so you can add math symbols, numerals, and shapes.

• 10.

  Share your magical, math-ical story and dragon with classmates.

Standards

• LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• LA: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
• LA: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
• LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
• MATH: Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real world problems.
• MATH: Solve real world problems involving multiplication of fractions and mixed numbers, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem.
• VA: Intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of experiences and ideas.
• VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of ideas.

Adaptations

• Classroom resource includes: Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander
• Students experiment with drawing circles by varying the length of the radius in each circle. Students look for a pattern. Can you expect a larger circle, a smaller circle, depending upon the radius?
• Students write an original story reflecting the dragon they have sketched. Name characters, give each dragon a personality, and describe the scene. What is your story's problem? How is it resolved?