Hot Rod Hamster

   

 

     I discovered the hot rod hamster 3 years ago, when I saw it in the Scholastic Book Order.  I just thought he was cute, so I got it with bonus points.  It turned out to become one of my favorite lessons to teach.
     Hot Rod Hamster, by Cynthia Lord, is a darling story about a little hamster who sees a sign for a hot rod race posted and wants to join it.  So he goes to the junkyard and the dog who lives there helps him pick out all the stuff to build his hot rod.  It, of course, has flames, and he, of course, must wear a helmet.  But needless to say, fun and excitement ensue once the race starts!  This is one of those books that causes children to shout, "Again!"
     So over the past 3 years, I've tried different variations of math lessons involving hot rods.  I ran off some cars from the Harcourt Brace Blackline Masters Teacher Resource book (quite a useful tool if you use your imagination).  Each student got 12 to cut out and use as counters to model subtraction stories.  Once everyone was ready and the scraps were out of the way, we began.
     I am the first to tell stories, "4 hot rods are racing around the track (make vroom-vroom sounds) but then 2 hot rods screeched off the track! (make screeching sounds), they have been taken away, are gone and not coming back, do we have more hot rods or fewer hot rods?"  Honestly, this sounds completely unnecessary, but you'd be surprised at just how many students tell me "more" and want to add 2 hot rods.  After a few more and after checking for understanding, I let students tell their stories for us all to model on our workmats.

 

      There is usually a lot of talking and my gut reaction is to make them quiet down, but really, they are talking about math, so I have to quell that urge and it's hard!  Last year, I had an idea right in the middle of the lesson to turn on the digital projector and type their stories as they told them.  They became more focused, more quiet, and I think they got more out of it.  But if you don't have a projector hooked up to your computer, the lesson still works fine.
     After recess, I like to end the lesson with an activity that utilizes the counters further.  I don't like to have pieces sitting out, unused, so I have them draw a racetrack, decide how many hot rods to start with and how many crashed, no blood or death please (again, you'd be surprised.  Or maybe you wouldn't).  Once that is complete, students must write a number sentence to match.  Many of them will write 4-6=10, so this is a fantastic way to see who gets it and who doesn't.  Ta-da!!  Teachable Moment...

   
If you would like the hot rods and workmat packet freebie click here:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hot-Rod-Hamster-Subtraction-Activity