Little Abigail had a head full of questions and she took all her time asking them aloud. Then came a math test and things got a little out of hand but hey! This is Abigail. It all ended well for her and there was no end to her questions. A great preschool free book that inspires a love for numbers in little ones.
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“Hi! My name is Abigail and I just love to talk. That is how I got the nickname
‘Gabby Abby’. Talk, talk, talk, and … talk. If I am not talking, I am asking questions. I only stop talking when I am listening to the answer.
Other than that: Talk, talk, talk, and … talk! Unless I have to stop to eat,
have a drink, or go to sleep. Other than that: Talk, talk, talk, and … talk!
Oh! I just love to talk. I learn so many new things and then I can then share the information with my friends.
Did you know that spiders have 8 legs? I trip a lot and I only have 2!
When a snake closes its eyes, it sees through its eyelids. How do they ever sleep?
Flamingoes at with their heads upside down. I tried it and it is hard to do
(and a bit messy).
If you shave the fur off a tiger, it has striped skin. I wonder who did that!
I will never wear lipstick. It is made with fish scales. Yuk!
The original name for ‘butterfly’ was ‘flutterby’. I think flutterby is better
because that is what they do!
How do I know? I asked. And because I talk, talk, talk, and … talk! You know it too.
Can a fish swim backwards? Why is the sun yellow?
Does a hummingbird hum or can it sing like other birds? Maybe it forgot the words.
When Abby reached school, she was ready to ask some questions. But Miss Pinkerton, her teacher, had other plans.
“Today we are going to have a test on multiplication tables.” Miss Pinkerton said. Abby and several other students slunk down in their seats. Miss Pinkerton asked, “Are there any questions?”
Now Abby knew that sometimes her questions did not relate to the subject Miss Pinkerton was teaching the class. But she just could not resist asking. Abby raised her hand. “Yes Abby,” Miss Pinkerton said.
“Is a Zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes?” asked Abby.
The class burst out laughing but Miss Pinkerton quickly quieted them by putting her fingers to her lips and pretending to zip her mouth closed.
“Actually Abby,” Miss Pinkerton said. “A Zebra is white with black stripes.”
“I thought so,” said Abby.
“Who would like to start us off with the times 1 table from zero to ten?”
Miss Pinkerton asked.Abby raised her hand excitedly. This one was easy.
One times anything equals anything.
“Tristan, would you please come to the board and write the times 1 table for the class?” Miss Pinkerton said.
Tristan proudly walked to the board and wrote the times 1 table.
1 x 0 = 0 1 x 1 = 1
1 x 2 = 2 1 x 3 = 3
1 x 4 = 4 1 x 5 = 5
1 x 6 = 6 1 x 7 = 7
1 x 8 = 8 1 x 9 = 9
1 x 10 = 10
“Excellent,” said Miss Pinkerton. “McKenzie, would you please do the times 2 table for us.” This continued through the times 8 table and the students did a wonderful job. They had obviously studied hard.
Now Abby was worried. She knew that the times 10 table was easy; all you had to do was to put a zero after the first number. But the times 9 table! That was hard. What would she do if Miss Pinkerton called on her? “Abby,” said Miss Pinkerton. “I would like you to show the class the times 9 table.”
Abby didn’t want to. She knew she had not studied but she had to go to the front of the class and do the best she could. She approached the board and wrote the table.
0 x 9 = 1 x 9 = 2 x 9 =
3 x 9 = 4 x 9 = 5 x 9 =
6 x 9 = 7 x 9 = 8 x 9 =
9 x 9 = 10 x 9 =
Abby looked at what she had written and said to herself. “I know some of the answers like 10 x 9 is 90, 1 x 9 is 9, and 0 x 9 is 0. I will write them down in their equations. She was starting to feel better since she had some correct answers written down.
0 x 9 = 0 1 x 9 = 9 2 x 9 =
3 x 9 = 4 x 9 = 5 x 9 =
6 x 9 = 7 x 9 = 8 x 9 =
9 x 9 = 10 x 9 = 90
Abby thought for a second and decided to count the parts she did not know.
“Let’s see,” she said to herself. “The first one I don’t know is 2 x 9, so I’ll put a 1 next to it. The second one I don’t know is 3 x 9, so I’ll put a 2 next to it. Oh! I think I am in trouble.” She realized that she did not know too many answers. As she thought about each, she wrote the numbers next to the equations she did not know. The times 9 table looked like this.
0 x 9 = 0 1 x 9 = 9
2 x 9 = 1
(First one Abby didn’t know)
3 x 9 = 2
(Second one Abby didn’t know)
4 x 9 = 3 .
5 x 9 = 4 .
6 x 9 = 5 .
7 x 9 = 6 .
8 x 9 = 7 .
9 x 9 = 8
(Eighth one Abby didn’t know)
10 x 9 = 90
There were many snickers and chuckles from the class but Miss Pinkerton said, “Class-quiet down and let Abby finish. Remember that it is not nice to bully a person by laughing or making fun of them.” Well, Abby was almost in tears. She was just about to give up when she had an idea. Maybe, just maybe, if she checked her table, from the bottom up, she could get some more answers correct. She was not going to give up!
Abby thought to herself. “9 x 9 well that’s the first one I don’t know,” and marked the table as she did before. She then thought “8 x 9 … Oh! I don’t know that one either.” So, she marked the table and it looked like this.
0 x 9 = 0 1 x 9 = 9 2 x 9 = 1
3 x 9 = 2 4 x 9 = 3 5 x 9 = 4
6 x 9 = 5 7 x 9 = 6 8 x 9 = 72 (Second one Abby didn’t know)
9 x 9 = 81
(First one Abby didn’t know)
10 x 9 = 90
Abby was really nervous but she continued with the rest. She looked at the equation, realized she did not know the answer, and marked it. When she was done, she had completed the table.
0 x 9 = 0 1 x 9 = 9 2 x 9 = 18
3 x 9 = 27 4 x 9 = 36 5 x 9 = 45
6 x 9 = 54 7 x 9 = 63 8 x 9 = 72 9 x 9 = 81 10 x 9 = 90
“Excellent work Abby,” Miss Pinkerton said. “Aren’t you glad you asked me how you could remember the Times 9 Table?” Abby had a big smile but knew she had to give up some talk … talk … talk for some study … study … study.
She remembered Miss Pinkerton telling her that not everything had an easy trick to help you get through the problem. Before taking her seat, Abby asked. “Miss Pinkerton, can an elephant jump?”
Miss Pinkerton just smiled and said “No.”
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