Ducks Away! by Mem Fox

This gorgeous picture book by one of Australia's favourite authors, Mem Fox is a must-have for any Foundation to Year 2 classroom, and not just for story time!

Ducks Away! is the perfect springboard for exploring the early number concept of part-part-whole. The mother duck has 5 ducklings and one by one they fall off the bridge (which for some reason doesn't have railings!) into the water. They land safely, but as they fall one by one, we can explore the concept of part-part-whole.

To begin with there are:

5 ducks above and one below, then...

4 ducks above and one below, then...

3 ducks above and two below, then...

2 ducks above and three below...etc.

As one duck after another tumbles off the bridge, children are invited to visualise, count, and predict all while developing conceptual understanding of the number 5.

Whether you're a Foundation teacher introducing part-part-whole or a Year 1/2 teacher linking part-part whole to subtraction, Ducks Away! is an engaging way to connect literature and mathematics.

Here are some simple classroom ideas:

Bridge and Duck Activity: Encourage students to use a simple drawing on their mini-whiteboard and counters to model and record number sentences as you read the book together.

Number Story Retell: Have students retell the story using different numbers of ducks. For example, What might happen if we had 6 ducks on the bridge. What part-part whole combinations could you find?

Predict the Pattern: Pause the story mid-way and ask, “What do you think will happen next? How many ducks will be left?”

Information:

• Ages: 2–5 years
• Format: Paperback (please note in the image a hard copy version is shown, but the final product will be paperback)
• Dimensions: approx. 24 x 24 cm