Book: Spaghetti and Meatballs for all! By Marilyn Burns
Concept: Use the story to develop basic story problems or make long addition and subtraction problems.
Summary: Mr. and Mrs. Comfort are having a family reunion! While Mr. Comfort starts cooking up his famous spaghetti and meatballs, Mrs. Comfort arranges the tables and chairs so that everyone has a seat. Soon the guests arrive – with their own seating plans! The initial focus of this story is area and perimeter.
Note: These activities are in addition to what is suggested in the back of the book.
1. Read the story.
2. For long addition, go back through the book and write the number of guest as they arrive.
The Comforts’ daughter and her husband and their two children arrive first. How many just arrived? Have the students write four on their paper. Continue through the book adding guest as they arrive.
3. For story problem exercises supply each student with a guest list. Have them write a simple sentence addition sentence of two sets of guest arriving.
4. For multiplication and subtraction problems have guest pass a basket of garlic bread.
There is one hundred and twenty pieces of garlic bread. Grandma and Grandpa Comfort each take three pieces of bread. Subtract the total from the original 120 pieces. Have the students go through the guest list writing simple subtraction and multiplication problems for the rest of the guest.
5. From the page 5.
Mr. Comfort made ninety-six meatballs. How many meatballs can each guest have? If Mr. Comfort wanted each of his guests to have 5 meatballs, how many should he have made?
6. Subtraction problem ideas.
It’s time for the guests to leave. If the Comforts daughter and husband with their children left the same time the neighbors did, how many guests left? How many guests remain? Continue until all guest have left.
