Students Learn That Math Can Be Fun

William Penn University

William Penn University

Throughout the spring semester, William Penn students in Professor Breanne Garrett’s Math for Elementary Educators class have been pen pals with Ms. Lindsay Gardner’s fourth grade class from James Elementary in Ottumwa, Iowa. The students have exchanged letters about five times over the course of the past few months. Each letter includes general information and updates (“I got a new puppy”, “Tomorrow is my birthday”, “I just finished reading a great book”, etc.) and a math problem. Garrett’s students give Gardner’s students a math problem to solve in their letter and vice versa. Each set of students are asked to answer the problem, explain their answers, and try to provide more than one way to solve each problem. Then, they are required to ‘grade’ the responses from their pals and provide feedback. The project has led to greater communication skills for both sets of students, and has given the fourth graders a purpose to the practice of writing formal letters.

This is the second year in which the two instructors have exchanged letters. Jennifer Romas (sophomore, Elementary Education Major) has thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with the fourth grade students. When asked about the program, she said “I thought that having pen pals was an awesome idea, and I really enjoyed it. I learned through the pen pal letters, and this class, that elementary math has changed a lot. This whole experience has better prepared me for my teaching career.”

On Tuesday, April 29, the fourth graders will get the chance to meet their pen pals in person when they visit the Oskaloosa campus. The group will arrive at 11:30 am and eat lunch with their pen pals, then go on to participate in activities designed by Professor Garrett’s class. The Penn students will set up stations that involve some sort of physical activity, as well as a mathematic component. Through these fun and educational activities, the fourth graders will be able to see how math relates to PE and how learning and practicing math can be fun!

Professor Garrett plans to continue to build the relationship between the two groups of students, allowing each class to develop a deeper appreciation for mathematics and education.

Posted by on Apr 30 2014. Filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Comments are closed

         

Search Archive

Search by Date
Search by Category
Search with Google
Log in | Copyright by Oskaloosa News