Kulm Public School, located in Kulm, North Dakota, is uses the RightStart™ Mathematics curriculum. In November, they had a math day for the entire elementary school with great success.
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 date for the event. The 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 one or two of the math games set up. Games chosen were Corners™ (game A9), What Makes 16 Cents (game M6), Short Chain (game A47), Fraction War (game F7 andF9), Multiplication Memory (game P10), Swim to Ten (game N34) and Memory with Different Sets of Cards (game N17), all from the Math Card Games book.
Parents and children were placed on teams and rotated from station to station to learn a new math game and spend time playing the 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.
Everyone 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!”
We challenge you to create a game day at your school. We have the plan outlined right here or maybe set up a couple-hour block and play games, changing the game every 15 to 20 minutes.
Let us know how this goes!
