Creative Lessons Teach B-V Third-Grade Students Math Can be Fun!

Students in two third-grade classrooms at Buchanan-Verplanck Elementary School have been given some freedom this month to explore math in groups. The result — Mathematical Mindset Fridays — has led to increased engagement in the subject.

Mrs. Cohen and Mrs. Haviland’s third-graders have been taught innovative lessons developed by Jo Boaler, a British education author and mathematics professor at Stanford University.

“She believes that part of developing a growth mindset involves seeing math as a creative, abstract and relevant subject instead of a subject focused on just learning procedures and rules,” Mrs. Cohen said.

During the recent lessons, students worked with their teachers on tasks that required more than one mathematical method to solve. The students worked to make connections between the different concepts and to connect the solutions to their daily lives.

For example, the students’ first lesson focused on area — the measurement of the space inside a two-dimensional surface. They created shapes on a geoboard and then had to find the area of those shapes they had formed.

The second lesson asked students to examine pixelated letters and figure out how to best use shapes to re-create those letters.

“Students had a wonderful time,” Mrs. Cohen said. “They came up with the idea of breaking the titles in half or putting them at an angle to create the letters.”

“I was in the class, and the kids were so excited and engaged,” B-V principal James Mackin said. “Even more so, they collaborated so well. The teachers deserve a ton of credit. It’s very hard as educators for us to give up control, but this is what can happen when we do.”

The experience led students to develop their own inquiry, which will form the focus of the next Friday lesson. This time, they will attempt to find the area of Mrs. Cohen and Mrs. Haviland’s classrooms and compare the size of the two spaces.

“I’m so proud of Mrs. Cohen and Mrs. Haviland for taking this risk,” Mackin said. “It has certainly paid dividends.”