Caps For Sale

Caps For Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business

Posted By: Alissa Rivera

Title: Caps For Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business 

Author and Illustrator: Esphyr Slobodkina

Recommended Grade Level: Pre-K - 5th grade 

Common Core Standards Addressed: 

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.A.2: Solve word problems that call for addition of three whole numbers whose sum is less than or equal to 20, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem. 

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.C.8 - Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, using symbols appropriately. Example: If you have 2 dimes and 3 pennies, how many cents do you have? 

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.NF.A.1 - Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts; understand a fraction a/b as the quantity formed by a parts of size 1/b. 

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.NBT.A.2 - Explain patterns in the number of zeros of the product when multiplying a number by powers of 10, and explain in the placement of the decimal point when a decimal is multiplied or divided by a power of 10. Use whole-number exponents to denote powers of 10. 

Summary: 

A peddler is out selling caps for 50 cents each. He was carrying them on top of his head; gray caps, brown caps, blue caps, and red caps. No one was buying his caps so he decided to take a rest under a great big tree. When the peddler woke up, the caps were no longer on top of his head. He looked around until he finally looked up in the tree and saw a group of monkeys wearing his caps. He tried to get his caps but the monkeys wouldn't give them back, they only copied what he did (shook their fingers,shook their hands, and stamped their feet). The peddler became angry and threw his own checked cap onto the floor. Right after, the monkeys threw all of the hats onto the floor. The peddler picked up the hats, placed them on his head and went out to try and sell them again. 

Rating: 

**** 

This is a great book to use as part of a math lesson. It can be used for many different grades and math domains, and it it also very entertaining for students. The only thing I dislike about the book is that the peddler has the same amount of gray, brown, blue, and red caps. If there were a different amount of gray, brown, blue, and red caps, I believe it would make the book even more appropriate to use in any of the ways below. Instead, the book could be used as an introduction to the concept (during the procedure and guided practice) and then the students can be provided with a worksheet (having a different amount for each color of the caps) to do during the independent practice. 

Classroom Ideas: 

For Pre-K-2nd Grade: 

- creating patterns using the different colored caps; beginning with AB patterns and moving on to ABCD patterns (to represent each of the 4 colored caps). 

- sorting caps by color, the counting how many of each caps and how many caps in total. 

- beginning graphing activities to represent the numbers of each caps (gray, brown, blue, red, checked). 

- for 2nd grade, creating coin combinations that will enable the student to have enough money to buy one of the caps (.50 cents - so 50 pennies, 5 dimes, 10 nickels, 2 quarters, and other combinations). 

For Grades 3-4: 

- figuring out the fraction to represent each color cap.

- ordering fractions from least to greatest (with the same denominator).  

- different graphing activities on their own to represent the data presented in the book (example: fractions on a number lineP). 

For Grade 5: 

- multiplying the cost of the caps (.50 cents) by how many caps there are all together (and moving the decimal accordingly). 

- I would also change the cost of the caps (a different cost for each color), and have the students multiply to get the cost of each color and then figure out the total cost of the caps.