Graphing Through the Looking Glass, the Queen of Combinations and the Tea Party Restaurant made up some of the math adventures for Garrett Elementary students and their families during a recent evening of math activities.
All of the student activities followed an “Alice in Wonderland” theme. At the check-in table, students guessed how many objects were in different-sized jars before receiving their “passports” for the evening. First stop was the gym, where students could jump rope and contribute to the school’s Jump Rope for Heart effort to assist the American Heart Association. Staff members stamped students’ passports before they moved to the next adventure.
In the vocal music room, students voted for their favorite Alice in Wonderland character by writing the character’s name on a sticky note and then affixing it to the appropriate section of a wall board. Early favorites were Alice and The Mad Hatter.
Susan Rocco’s classroom became the Tea Party restaurant for the night. Students started with five dollars and could choose five different items to order from the menu. The goals were to track how much money they spent without going over budget and for third- through fifth-grade students to calculate how much change they should receive. Younger students were asked to write down their choices and have their parents help them add their selections.
“How much do you have left?” Ben Kriegel, first-grade teacher, asked student Logan Jaycox, son of Garrett PTA officer Barb Jaycox.
“Fifty hundred dollars?” Jaycox replied hesitantly.
“No, not fifty hundred dollars, try again.” Kriegel said.
In Misty Borgsmiller’s room, students used linkable cubes to measure the length of objects, such as their shoes. Students recorded what they measured, how many units, or cubes, long it is and what they used to measure the object.
Crystal Whitley brought her daughter, Sasha Wiley, a second-grade student, to the event.
“We just arrived so we haven’t seen everything yet,” Whitley said as she stood in the gym doorway watching her daughter jump rope.
“She’s an only child, so events like this let her play with her friends more,” she said.