This is a children’s book I am writing to be used in an elementary math class. |
Super Cooper’s Toy Store Pg 1: Jeremy was so excited for his trip to his favorite store, Super Cooper’s Toy Store. His mom had promised that she would take him as soon as she got off work Friday afternoon. After all, his 11th birthday had been two days ago, and he had a lot of birthday money he was just itching to spend. And it was the perfect day to go to Super Cooper’s because there was a huge sale going on throughout the store. Jeremy knew that he could get a lot more stuff for his money if he could make it to the sale today. Pg 2: Jeremy was so excited that he had spent all day at school thinking about all the cool stuff he could buy with his birthday money instead of paying attention in math class. So, when Mrs. Jackson called his name to answer a problem on the board, he certainly wasn’t prepared. “Jeremy? Are you paying attention back there?” “Uh…yes ma’am,” Jeremy’s voice quivered as he sat up straight in his seat. “Great, then you should be able to tell us the answer to the problem I’ve written on the board.” Mrs. Jackson pointed to a problem on the whiteboard behind her where many already worked out math problems were written all over it. Jeremy stared at the numbers on the whiteboard without making a sound. 5x1/2? 6x2/3? When would he ever need to use that, anyway, Jeremy wondered. “Nothing?” Jeremy shook his head no, looking down at his desk. “Maybe you should try to pay more attention, Jeremy, instead of venturing off into LaLa Land back there,” Mrs. Jackson fixed her eyes on him, raising her brows as she waited for an answer. “Yes ma’am,” Jeremy grumbled as he slumped into his chair. Math was dumb. He would never need this stuff in real life, anyway. And besides, he wasn’t any good at it. Pg 3: When the bell rang signalling dismissal later that day, Jeremy was the first one out of the door. He couldn’t wait to get to Super Cooper’s Toy Store! Finally, after what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few minutes, Jeremy’s mom pulled up to the curb where Jeremy sat waiting. He hopped in the car and buckled his seatbelt. “Let’s go!” he exclaimed. “Geez Louise, are you that excited about getting to go to Super Cooper’s Toy Store today?” His mom asked as she pulled out of the carpool line. “Oh my gosh, yes! I have been thinking about it all day. I want to get a dart board for my room, and this cool ball I saw that bounces on water, and probably this mini arcade machine that my friend Tyler has at his house!” Jeremy said, speaking so quickly and excitedly that he never took a breath. “Wow,” his mom said, a worried expression taking over her face, “that’s a lot of stuff. Do you think you have enough birthday money for all that? How much did you end up getting for your birthday?” His mom asked, nervously. She didn’t want him to get too excited and then not be able to afford what he wanted. “I only have $60. But that’s why I wanted to go today so badly. Super Cooper’s is having a huge sale today. I think I can get everything I want and maybe even have money left over for some small stuff like slime and a new Frisby.” Jeremy told his mom enthusiastically. “Well, in that case, we better hurry before they sell out of all the good stuff!” His mom said with a smile as she ruffled his hair. Pg 4: Soon, but not soon enough for Jeremy’s liking, they were at the toy store. When they made their way inside, they saw that the place was packed with children like Jeremy who were excited for the giant sale that meant they could afford their own toys. Pg 5: Jeremy quickly grabbed a shopping cart and motioned for his mom to follow him before he took off towards the dart boards. That’s what he wanted the most so he could practice in his room and finally beat his dad! When he found the dart boards, he saw a sign that read “1/5 off today only!” Jeremy frowned. The dart boards were originally $15 dollars. If he was going to get it 1/5 off, how much would that be? Maybe he should have paid attention in math class today, after all. Multiplying fractions and whole numbers was exactly what he needed to do to figure out the new price of the dart board. Oh well, he thought as he grabbed the board. He would do the math later when he went to check out. Pg 6: Next, he ran around the store until he found the Extreme Waboba Ball he had seen in a commercial on TV. It was just a tiny ball, but it was supposed to bounce on water. How cool was that? The ball was $10. But the sale sticker said that it was ½ of the original price. Gosh, all this multiplying by fractions! He grabbed the ball and threw it in his buggy. Pg 7: The next thing Jeremy wanted to get might be expensive. His friend Tyler had told him that the mini arcade he had had cost him $40 at a different store. But it was just so cool, and he was dying to have one. Hopefully it would be greatly discounted today so that Jeremy could afford it today since there was such a big sale. The sign by the mini arcade read “Today only, get a discount at ½ price. Then take an additional ½ off the sale price!” Wow, that seemed like a lot. Maybe? He would see later. Pg 8: Now for the other stuff he wanted to get. He found some blue slime for $3 that was 1/3 off and a Frisbee that cost $4 but was marked down to ¼ of the original cost. Pg 9: While he was lost looking around down all the isles, his mom was scanning for toys she thought Jeremy might like, too. She came across a really neat magic set and remembered that Jeremy used to say he wanted to be a magician one day. Maybe he would like a new set of tricks. “Hey, honey? What about this magic set?” She asked, holding up the box so that Jeremy could see it. “That is really cool. I don’t think I know how to do some of those tricks. It would be really cool to learn them and show my friends at school. Tyler will be so jealous when I know how to do more tricks than him, too!” Jeremy beamed as he grabbed from his mom and put it in his cart. “How much is it?” “The sign says that it usually costs 30 dollars but there is a discount of 6/9ths from the original price.” Pg 10: “Ok,” Jeremy said, nodding his head one time, “I think that’s all I want to get today, Mom. I don’t want to pick out too many toys and then not have enough money to pay for them.” “That’s a good idea.” “Plus, I might want to have some left over, if there is any. Let’s go ahead and check out.” Jeremy’s mom smiled and nodded. She was so proud of him for making such a good decision. “Besides, I have to try to do the math for all this.” Jeremy frowned and his mom giggled. “You can do it. I’ll help you if you get stuck.” She put her hand on his back and guided him towards the front of the store to pay for his selection. Pg 11: Now was the moment of truth. Jeremy approached the checkout counter and laid his merchandise down. He took a huge breath. Did he have enough money to get everything he wanted? Hopefully so. How much money would be left over, if any? What portion of his birthday money would that leave him with? Jeremy began to try to do the math. Pg 12: Did Jeremy have enough to buy everything he wanted? Would he have anything left over for next time? If he has money left over, how much of his birthday money would he have left? |