Kohl Fitzsimmons, Katie Wade, Dayton Griffith, Morgan Hollis, Jordan Hubbard and Lauren Day, from left, do a dance as they perform math exercises in Kristy Kimball’s fourth-grade math class Thursday.Rather than sitting still at their desks, students at McConnell Elementary School are hopping and skipping across colorful mats. Some groups are clapping, whispering and yelling. Others bend, twist and reach their arms from their toes to their heads.
At first glance, the lesson looks like an aerobics class. But it’s actually a new way of teaching math, called “Math and Movement,” in which teachers say they can achieve two goals: keep kids physically active while teaching and reinforcing math concepts in a new way.
And locally the program is gaining ground.
McConnell teacher Kristy Kimball introduced Math and Movement at another school two years ago. It’s now expanded from one classroom to five schools as more teachers have jumped on board and grant funding has been made available. And if pilot tests show continued results, school officials hope eventually to roll out the program to all Hamilton County elementary schools that want it.
Large mats help kids learn decimals, fractions, time, multiplication and place values. Kids practice multiples of eight by hopping on the mats landing on every eighth number. Across the room, others explore mixed numbers and fractions by stretching across a mat.