Mathematics Cunningham Park Elementary School

When formulating objectives for math lessons, teachers incorporate many learning experiences into the teaching process. Children learn when a new term or concept is introduced that can be identified with and assimilated into their schema.  Not all students learn the same thing at the same time.  Therefore, when developing lesson plans, the teachers at CPES actively involve students.  The math closet at our school is stocked with many manipulatives and math games that encourage student exploration of math concepts and engage students’ various learning modalities (visual, auditorial, and tactile).

Teaching students mathematics means being able to present core concepts in a meaningful and purposeful way.  Students who realize that they can use the information presented are likely to learn it.  Thus, a major objective when teaching mathematics is to guide students in constructing personal knowledge that comes from meaningful experiences learned inside and outside of the classroom.

When learning the concepts of decimals and money, students are given play money to purchase and pay for meals they choose at a classmate’s “restaurant”.  Students then engage in actual payment for their dining selections. The restaurant owner must count payments received and often must make proper change in return. Students are encouraged to help mom or dad count out the correct change when dining out in real life situations.

In addition to daily math lessons, first graders count down to the 100th day of being in school!  Each day students graph the weather, record how many days they have been in school, and draw or write about something that was learned that day in school.

These examples of hands-on, everyday math happenings incorporate The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards, which are centered on five general goals for all students of mathematics: that students learn to value mathematics; that students develop confidence in their ability to use mathematics; that students become problem solvers (as opposed to simply answer finders); that students learn to communicate mathematically; and that students learn to reason mathematically.