IditaMath: School Project to Engage Students in Math Practice at Home: Project at Larson Elementary School, Alaska

Idita Math, a project from Larson Elementary School, Wasilla, Alaska. 

Quick summary of the project:  Students were challenged to complete math goals at home and ‘race from Anchorage to Nome’ as they practiced their math basic skills.  Teachers created math goals according to the needs of the students.  Overall, the project goal was to help students develop stronger math skills while involved in an Iditarod thematic project.

On the final day of the project, a celebration and activity was held.  Students participated in an Iditarod Race.

For the grade level relays, each class had the students line up in pairs.  The pair ran down to the teacher on the far side of the gym, answered an age-appropriate math equation, received a dog biscuit, ran back to the class, and placed it in the dog bowl at the head of the line.  Then the next pair would take off for their turn.  The classes at a grade level competed for 3 minutes to see how many dog biscuits they could collect in the dog bowl.  The winning class at each grade level received a dog team ornament to display in their classroom with pride.

Review the results of the Idita-Math project in this PowerPoint presentation.

Thanks goes out to Sara Lamont for an update on this project and to the principal,the teachers, and the students, for working hard to keep math a priority at their school!