Why do you think Miguel Tango titled this book Count on Me?

Miguel Tango tells much of the story through is math-rich illustrations. 

• The main character tells us that her dad has a passion. View the picture (p.1/2) to see what it is. What is her mom's passion? (p.3/4)
• The author tells us that her brother loves music. View the picture to see what instrument he plays (p. 5/6).
• What kinds of things did the main character try as she endeavored to discover her own passion? (p. 7-10)

What might the children waiting for a turn be thinking/saying? (p.21/22)

What is the difficult group problem they need to solve? (p.23/24)

Some words look big and tricky at first, but you can break them into smaller parts to figure them out. Take the word geometric in the sentence: “There are geometric shapes on the playground.” At first it might seem hard to read, but let's break it down: 

• geo — like in geography, which is about the Earth
• met — sounds like “met” as in meeting someone
• ric —sounds like “rick”
• geo-met-ric

By reading it in chunks, it's much easier to say and understand. Next time you see a long word, look for smaller parts you know to help you read it.

The text is simple but provides a perfect opportunity to talk about how commas and ellipses influence phrasing.

There are several wonderful words to attend to: passion, geometric, concentric, infinite, fractals, polygons, trajectories.