Saturday, June 2, 2012

24 is the Name and the Game

From left, Barth Third Grader Brian Cowie, Edgewood student Nathan Lang, a parent, and Edgewood student Kishan Patel puzzle over the mysteries of the 24 Game.
Blogger's Note: Yet another submission from John Armato, that busy blogger bee.

From left, Rupert third grader Omar Villagomez and
Brendan Hilbourn from Franklin
For some of us it’s hard to imagine that doing mathematical calculations can be fun.

But for the third, fourth, and fifth grade students in Pottstown School District’s elementary schools, the Math 24 Competition is one of the highlights of the year.

Rupert Elementary School Principal Matt Moyer and staff hosted the school district Math 24 Competition this year.

It included teams of third, fourth, and fifth graders from each of the district’s five elementary buildings.

The competition involves students having to use various math strategies to calculate the same answer  24, thus the name of the game, using different sets of numbers.

The event is attended by many parents who while enjoying watching the event, politely decline the opportunity to try to solve the mathematical problems without the benefit of a calculator, pencil, or paper.

 Assisting the teachers in the judging of the event were a number of middle school students who were previous Math 24 participants.

Rupert fourth graders Brice Cole, left and Tyler Bruton
work the numbers
Throughout the day it was evident that the students simply loved to play the game.

In preparation for the event, several schools organized Math 24 clubs that met before and after school to allow students to practice.

Some of the schools showed their school pride by making tee-shirts for their teams to wear.

The emphasis of the day was on fun and education.

No scores were kept and no awards were given. Students simply enjoyed the fun and educational math game.

“This is an outstanding event and opportunity for our students to recognize that math is not a scary subject and that education can be fun, Moyer said.”

Each student who participated will receive a Math 24 award and a coupon for a free meal at the local Applebee’s.

1 comment:

  1. Props to Rupert for really embracing the 24 game!!

    I started a club there with the staff's assistance and when I left Jamie Faezkas took charge. Warms my heart to see this turn into fun activity and to see Rupert host the competition!!

    The game is SO fun and when kids overcome the I can't of it all they really become good at working the numbers!!

    First in Math is a website that also promotes the game (& other math activities) and kids can play it at home to rack up points. In school competitions can be held and it promotes practice outside school - don't know what costs are to get all the website access and passwords but it might be something to explore in greater detail. As I recall, this was a site the kids would use during computer lab time.

    Just SO thrilled to see the competition at Rupert - hope the kids felt good about their skills! Pretty sure BIG props should go to Miss Faezkas for taking the club to the next level!!

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