Math Curse by Jon Scieszka

By Nedra Isenberg

After hearing his math teacher say that almost everything can be thought of as a math problem, the boy in this story faces a day in which everything he encounters is a math problem. Will the Math Curse ever end? Readers will quickly become engaged in the story by trying to help the boy solve his problems. 

Possible strategy instruction:

• C: Determine and analyze author's purpose and support with text.
• C: Ask questions throughout the reading process.

• A: Trade a word/guess a word that makes sense.

• F: Read text as the author would say it, conveying the meaning or feeling.
• F: Adjust and apply different reading rates to match text.

• E: Tune in to interesting words and use new vocabulary in speaking and writing.
• E: Use dictionaries, thesauruses, and glossaries as tools.