Kentwood — It was a half day turned math extravaganza, complete with rolling dice, stacking blocks and scuttling robots during Math Games in the Crestwood Middle School gymnasium.
Eighth-grader Carter Elias explained the game he was leading, called “The Best Decision,” while challenging his sixth- through eighth-grade peers to play. He soon had them adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing after each roll, following the rules of the game and winning bags of candy.
“Math is one of my strongest subjects,” Carter said. “It actually is fun that I get to share my math skills with other kids.”
Brianne Daye, Crestwood math instructional coach, created the event as a way students could enjoy math by playing with numbers. Students from different classes spent time at several stations, competing at games and applying what they’ve learned in class.
“What a way to utilize a half day, to get kids in here playing games that involve math. The joke’s on them; they might not know that they are doing math, but they are,” she said.
Students led stations, using their own math skills to keep things running smoothly. “It’s student led, student fun,” Daye said “They don’t want to hear our voices the whole time; they get to hear from their peers.”
Derek Smith ran a game called “What are the odds?” focused on adding up odd and even numbers.
“It’s pretty interesting because you get to see how much people understand it and you get to help them learn.”
