Reading Together

Storybook Guide Based on Judy Cox’s “Sheep Won’t Sleep: Counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s”

Explore math while reading and talking about this storybook.

Topic:

Activity Summary

Use this storybook guide with the book “Sheep Won’t Sleep: Counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s”
Many public libraries have this book. This is a Mathical Award winner book.

Reading guide

About the Story

Clarissa couldn’t fall asleep, so she counted sheep, one by one. Still no sleep and she ended up with 10 naughty sheep in her room. What about counting pairs of alpacas, 2, 4, 6…to 20? That didn’t work either; 20 alpacas crowded in, too. She counted groups of 5 llamas up to 20, and groups of 10 yaks up to 50. Again, no sleep and now 100 stinky animals were messing up her room. How can Clarissa get rid of all these animals so she can sleep?

Words to Learn

MATH WORDS
pair, group, add, subtract, patterned, numbers from 0 to 100

OTHER WORDS
stile (the author uses this to mean a fence), perfect grace, ewe, alpacas, lime green, magenta, llama, yak, argyle, cable, Fair Isles, wardrobe, afghan

About the Math

Reading this book, your child can learn:

  • To count by 1s from 1 to 10.
  • To count by 2s to 20: 2, 4, 6, 8…
  • To count by 5s to 20: 5, 10, 15, 20.
  • To count by 10s to 50: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50.
  • To add these numbers(10 + 20 + 20 + 50) to get 100.
  • To subtract these numbers to get to 0.

Math Talk During Reading

  • CHECK THE NUMBER OF OBJECTS IN DIFFERENT PLACES
    “How many sheep are on the floor? How many yaks are near the fence?”
  • COUNT OUT LOUD
    “Can you count by 2s? By 5s? By 10s?”
  • EXPLAIN ADDITION
    “Why did Clarissa write 10 and then +20 +20 +50 = 100? What do those symbols mean?”EXPLORE PATTERNS“What are the patterns on the llamas?”

Try to come up with some of your own questions and comments, too!

Activity After Reading

  • PRACTICE COUNTING AND ADDING
    Ask your child to count out loud from 1 to 10 and then find 10 little objects, such as raisins, to count. Now, count out loud by 2s to 10, and get 10 more objects. Then, have your child count out loud by 5s to 20 and get 20 more objects. Write 10, 10,and 20. Draw plus signs in between the numbers and have your child figure out the total. Their method may surprise you.
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