At least two teachers at DeBeck Elementary School have thrown out the textbooks when it comes to teaching math as they embrace a somewhat new way to teach the often feared subject.
Sara Lai and Cynthia Clarke both teach a Grade 2 and 3 combined class, and in anticipation of the new education curriculum coming in September, the two are already teaching math by using real life examples.
“Many math concepts were previously taught through rote memory and algorithms, but the new curriculum enables us to explore multiple strategies,” Clarke said.
Lai added, “Instead of always sitting inside our classroom and completing math work at our desks, we are going out into alternative learning environments and applying math principles in different ways.”
Recently, the two classrooms worked on a bottle drive project with proceeds going towards purchasing new books. The students collected bottles and cans, estimated the total, classified and sorted them according to capacity, figured out how much each can and bottle was worth, tallied, and represented their numbers in different ways. The teachers then visited a recycling depot and netted $44.70. The exercise allowed the students to learn and practice skip counting, estimating, problem solving, number operations and the basics of money, along with financial literacy.
The students then used book catalogues to “spend” this money. “They learned that buying books in a package was cheaper than buying books separately,” Lai said. “This activity allowed students to think about the value of the money that we raised and how to spend it wisely.”
Another exercise brought the students into the gym but not for a physical education class. They explored different math concepts like measurement by figuring out the size of the gym and various types of equipment, such as the diameter of a basketball.
“We are finding different ways to introduce math concepts to the kids so they can understand them better by relating them to life experiences,” Clarke said. “The new curriculum places more emphasis on real world application of what they learn.”
And the students say they are enjoying it.
“My friends and I are excited to learn math in different ways,” said Vanita. “My friends and I love our new math curriculum because it is really fun.”
“We all love our new math because it is fun to do,” said Gabby. “We feel excited and joyful during math.”
To reassure skeptical parents and show how this slightly different way of teaching math is effective, the teachers and staff held a math night and about 50 families attended.
“Kids are so excited to do math now, it’s amazing,” Clarke said, a teacher of 35 years.
