March 2007 Children’s Books by the Month

Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter
by Cindy Neuschwander, illustrated by Wayne Geehan
Young Radius and Per must unlock the secret of the Isle of Immeter. Hunted by a dragon, the adventurers must use their wits and mathematical skills to make it home.

ACTIVITY
INNERS AND EDGES
Sir Cumference and his family love to play Inners and Edges. Share this exciting tale with students, then create your own math adventure and learn the concepts of area and perimeter. Use bathroom tiles or squares cut from construction paper. Break the class into groups of four. Here's how to play: A player makes a shape out of tiles, calling out the number of squares used. The first person to correctly count all the outside edges keeps those pieces. For instance, Radius arranged nine tiles into a square. "Inners are nine," he said. "Twelve edges," counted Per, gathering up her winnings.Winners continue to play until there is a grand champion like Per of Immeter.

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi
by Cindy Neuschwander, illustrated by Wayne Geehan
Mysteriously, Sir Cumference is transformed into a fire-breathing dragon. Radius must go on a quest through the castle to solve a riddle that will reveal the cure.

ACTIVITY
EASY AS PI
Ask students if the following statement is true or false: The circumference of a circle is approximately three times greater than its diameter. Have students test this statement by choosing three round objects of different sizes. Measure across the middle (diameter) with a ruler. Then measure around the object (circumference). Record results. Students can then check to see how many times you can add the diameter and come closest to the circumference. Use a calculator. Now divide the circumference by the diameter for each object. It should be the same number each time: pi. Remember, March 14 is Pi Day.

Sir Cumference and the First Round Table
by Cindy Neuschwander, illustrated by Wayne Geehan
Join brave knight Sir Cumference, his wife Lady Di of Ameter and their son Radius as they use different math strategies to solve the quandary of King Arthur's table.

ACTIVITY
MEASURING UP
Have students measure and cut an eight-inch by ten-inch rectangle from a piece of construction paper, then draw a diagonal line across its length. Have them cut along the diagonal to make two triangles. Ask students to explore all the ways they can put the two triangles together to make other shapes. Have them measure the perimeter of each shape to find which table shape would seat more people if each inch equals a foot and each person requires four feet of perimeter.

Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland
by Cindy Neuschwander, illustrated by Wayne Geehan
Sir Cumference's son Radius wants to become a knight. With the aid of his family medallion, Radius must go on a quest to find King Lell.

ACTIVITY
LEARNING THE ANGLES
In the Mountains of Obtuse in Angleland, your students will find this riddle: Warning, stranger, friend or foe,/Dangers wait as forth you go./You must make a Knightly Right,/Finding next Big, Straight, and Slight./One wrong turn means lost to all,/In a writhing, screaming fall./Find the Right to reach the king,/Or you will feel the dragon's sting! Everyone must have a protractor (one is available in the book) and a starting point. If a right angle is at 90°, can your students find the king based on the clues in the riddle? Learn how to measure angles, both obtuse and acute.

Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone
by Cindy Neuschwander, illustrated by Wayne Geehan
The knight who finds King Arthur's sword, Edgecalibur, will become the next king. Will it be Sir Vertex or one of your students?

ACTIVITY
IT'S GOOD TO BE KING
Hand out graph paper. Ask students to measure and draw lines to form a 10-inch by 10-inch square box. Have students label the x-axis denominator, the y-axis numerator and number the axes from zero to 10. Show them how to plot the coordinates on a graph.To graph 2/1, count up two squares and over one square. Draw the point on the graph.Have students connect the points to draw a picture of something every king needs. Graph: 2/1 7/1 5/3 7/5 5/7 7/9 2/9.

Find more activities for the Sir Cumference series in Round Table Geometry: 30 Activities to Connect Math and Literature.

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