First-graders construct paper chains as part of a lesson on measuring during math camp at Springmill Learning Center.
A group of boys and girls who just finished third grade were absorbed in inches and centimeters Tuesday in the Gadgets Gallery at Springmill Learning Center.
At the opposite end of the building first-graders constructed paper-chain caterpillars and checked the length of each.
In both rooms – and in several other groups working inside and outside – the learning at Mansfield City Schools’ weeklong math camp was all about measurement. But there’s more to it than simply getting the right answers.
“We have 170 students registered for math camp. That’s 100 more than were registered last year,” said Meg Strong, a district teacher leader. “We are using Algebra Project principles in our teaching this week. We’re asking students, ‘How did you figure that out? What was your thinking?’”
It is important for students to develop critical thinking skills and be able to explain how they approach and solve a problem, Strong said.
Children in kindergarten through third grade are at Springmill from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students in grades four and five are on the OSU-Mansfield campus during the same hours.
Mansfield City Schools has been involved with The Algebra Project, a national nonprofit math initiative, for several years. OSU-Mansfield professors Lee McEwan and Terri Bucci, who have led previous professional development workshops for district teachers, are active in math camp.
About 30 district teachers are participating this week, some getting their first look at how Algebra Project techniques are implemented.
“A group of teachers created the lessons together,” Strong said. “While one teacher presents a lesson others observe. There are pre-class and post-class conferences and suggestions are made for changes and improvements.
“Student learning is the focus of all of the work. Teachers new to these concepts will take what they have learned into their classrooms this fall.”
Bucci said a week of instruction and planning with Mansfield teachers preceded the camp and a similar session was conducted for Lucas Local Schools where 13 teachers and 53 students will participate in an Aug. 4-8 math camp at Lucas Elementary School.
“There are many moving parts during the camp because teachers participating in math professional development are observing math literacy strategies with kids in the camp classrooms,” Bucci said. “Camp is packed with indoor and outdoor experiences around the concept of measurement.”
OSU-Mansfield students and Senior High students participating in the Young Peoples Project, an element of The Algebra Project, are assisting during the camp.