Kulm Public School, located in Kulm North Dakota, is using the RightStart™ Mathematics curriculum. In November, they had a math day for the entire elementary school with great success. Let me tell you all about it.
About a month before the event, Tami Kramlich, the Elementary Principal, wrote to us and said,
“Last year we had a literacy and fitness event that was very well-received. Each classroom had a fitness station where the kids and parents learned some easy to do fitness activities. At the end we all met in the lunchroom for snacks and read a book together. We would like to do something similar with our math event.”
So the planning began. We set the event on Monday, November 21, 2011. The event schedule was set:
1:00 – 1:30—Introduction to RightStart™ Math
1:30 – 1:50—First Station
1:50 – 2:10—Second Station
2:10 – 2:30—Third Station
2:30 – 2:50—Fourth Station
2:50 – 3:10—Fifth Station
3:10 – 3:20—Snacks
3:25—Regular Dismissal
Each station, held in different classrooms, had a one or two of the math games set up. Games chosen were Corners™ (MCG #A9), What Makes 16 Cents (MCG #M6), Short Chain (MCG #A47), Fraction War (MCG #F7 and #F9), Multiplication Memory (MCG #P10), Swim to Ten (MCG #N34) and Memory with Different Sets of Cards (MCG #N17).
Parents and children were placed on teams and rotated from station to station to learn a new math game and spend a few minutes playing that game. In some situations, the group would watch the video, sometimes the teacher would demonstrate the game, or sometimes the group would watch a select few play the game, then everyone would go and play it themselves.
We had a blast! Parents and grandparents were involved, children were proud of their classrooms and their math skills, and everyone was learning. Laughter was heard up and down the halls. When the buzzer sounded to indicate it was time to move to the next station, I’d hear “Hurry up so I can get a turn!” or “Now that was GREAT!”
I challenge you to create a game day. If you’re in a school setting, we have the plan outlined right here. If you are a tutor or homeschooler, maybe set up a couple hour block and play games, changing the game every 15 to 20 minutes.
Let us know how this goes. Post your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter!
Have a great day and play a math card game.
We are homeschoolers and have done this successfully many times. We had a coop with about 12 kids, different levels, and about once a month we’d do a mathathon. I made sure the kids could do the math required for the games and split the kids into different groups then let them have at it. the winner would get a prize and at the end of the mathathon everyone completed 3 tangoes puzzles and got a prize so everyone went home with at least one prize. Favorite games are one the number one, on the number 10, go to the dump, and multiplication memory.