Charlotte Morgan and the Great Big Math Problem-Chapter 21 How Many Buses Does it Take?

  This is my next book. 

 It is currently being copy edited, (so there will be the occasional typo in this version) and I am having a few illustrations done.

I am including the tag #steemiteducation because I wrote this thinking like a teacher.  The characters use math and describe their math thinking as they work through problems.  I am a former 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade teacher, so I used my experience and background from those years as I wrote this.

Update: The book is now available for preorder on Amazon.  Click here to get it on Kindle.

Click here for chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20

Summary: Things have changes with Gavin

Chapter 21  How Many Buses Does it Take?

My alarm went off, but I had already been awake for twenty minutes.  It was Monday, and there were four days until the Turing Elementary School Bee.  That’s ninety-six hours.  Less than a hundred hours.

Before I could even begin to eat breakfast my dad quizzed me, “Tambourine, what is four times fifteen?”

I knew that two times fifteen was thirty, so add that twice and you get sixty.

“Sixty,” I said.

“Nicely done!” My dad took a sip of his coffee.

Later that morning, math class started and this time Gavin came and sat next to me.  “You don’t need to travel today,” he said as he sat down.  And he brought his math notebook and a pencil.  Wow!

Mrs. King stood next to the smartboard.  “Class, remember this Wednesday we will do our own math bee.  From there we will determine our two contestents that will go in front of the whole school on Friday.”

Several students cheered.

“So let’s begin,” said Mrs. King.  The first problem was nine times six.  Gavin wrote it down, “Is it sixty-three?” he asked.  

“Not quite, it’s fifty-four. Nine times seven is sixty-three,” I informed him.

The next problem Mrs. King put on the board was eighty-three minus forty-four.  I didn’t do anything.  Gavin wrote the problem down and worked it.

I looked over his shoulder, “You’re going to have to borrow.  You can’t take four from three in the ones place.”

“I know,” he replied without looking up at me.

He put his pencil down and showed me the paper, “It’s thirty-nine.”

“Wow!  That’s correct!  Great job!” 

As usual, the final problem was a word problem, and Mrs. King put it on the board.  “Three classes of third graders are going to the zoo.  There are seventy-five students in the third grade.  How many buses does the third grade need to go to the zoo?”

“This sounds hard,” Gavin put his pencil down.

“Draw a picture how would that work?” I asked.

He looked at me and then he picked up his pencil and started drawing.  I leaned over his shoulder and saw a school bus on the paper.  He put sixty dots in the bus.  He drew a second bus, and placed a dot and counted.  “Sixty-one…sixty-two,” he said.  He put more dots down until he was done, “seventy-four…and seventy-five.”

He showed me the picture, and explained it.  “It takes two buses.  One would be completely full and the other one only has fifteen students in it.  I guess if this were a real life problem they would spread it out a little more evenly.  But it takes two buses to get the third grade to the zoo.”

“Gavin are you able to show us how you solved the problem?” Mrs. King asked.

He stood up and explained it to the class.

Mrs. King smiled.  “Wonderful job Gavin and Charlotte.  He’s correct it takes two buses to get seventy-five third graders to the zoo.  Unless there are any questions lets head back to our seats.”

Gavin never seemed to bully me or The Number Investigators Again.