School Spotlight: Crunching Numbers at Meadowbrook Elementary
A new club at Meadowbrook Elementary in Golden Valley is helping students to crunch numbers and build confidence. Fourth-grade students in the Math Club are getting an extra dose of math before the school bell rings. Each school in the Hopkins School District is implementing research-based strategies to boost learning and close the achievement gap. Meadowbrook’s Math Club is part of that formula.
The accelerated math club started four weeks ago and is free. Club leaders work with teachers, supplementing lessons to challenge students. “So, they’re doing about a year and a half of math in one year,” explained Math Club Leader Therese Weil.
Real Math, Real-World Concepts at Meadowbrook Elementary
The young scholars get hands-on experience, applying real-world concepts. On Wednesday, Chef Paul from the school cafeteria led the conversation. “I have 185 servings in each case of meatballs, four meatballs go into each meal,” he told the class as part of a lesson on division.
“I like it because you don’t really like, just learn math. You just learn how to like, have fun with math,” said student Tessa Mercer.
Teachers say that’s the idea.
Building confidence is a big part of the equation too. “I think kids are afraid to speak up, they’re even afraid to write down on a piece of paper an answer unless they know it’s right. I want to encourage them to take chances,” said Weil.
Although the Meadowbrook club is relatively new, it seems to be making a difference with students like A.J. Bean, who struggled in the past with division. “In third grade, I couldn’t understand what it was, because I thought it was just the same as multiplication. But, it was actually the number of times the number went into the other number,” said A.J.
For these kids at Meadowbrook, subtracting math confusion and adding confidence, equals student success.
To learn more about Meadowbrook Elementary, click here.
