“You know it, because you learned it and figured it out!” exclaimed Hazeldale Elementary School curriculum and instruction support member, Heidi Gilbertson.
Educators understood this year’s assignment: make learning fun again and overcome some of the largest learning gaps students have ever faced. Hazeldale’s new Fact Fluency math kits are helping staff do just that.
Filled with manipulatives and videos, the kits help students visualize fundamental skills in interesting ways and move beyond memorization techniques. Thanks to BEF’s crowdfunding platform, Beaverton’s Choice, Fact Fluency kits are now available to every grade level at the school.
Recently we were invited to attend a small group session where we saw the math kits in action. We watched as students gathered around a table, excited to discuss how many cans of tennis balls were needed for a proposed group activity. As the parameters changed, the students worked together to identify patterns and determine different ways to calculate the necessary amount of tennis balls needed.
BEF board member, Kimberly Ogadhoh, explained it best, “ The kit itself seems so simple – visually representation of math concepts using everyday objects to tell a math story – but the real expertise is the way the teacher brings the whole lesson to life, by prompting, questioning and confirming,” adding, “The kids seemed to really enjoy shouting out answers, and just being back in school in general.”