The Learn-Explore-Achieve Program (LEAP) at Sacred Heart Academy in Redlands allows me the gift of teaching math as a challenge component to students in grades three through six. LEAP is a unique daily, small group, pull-out program which focuses on high level thinking skills in a collaborative, interactive learning environment. The goal of our program is to provide students with continued challenges, technology-based activities, and the ability to link math concepts to real-world application.
We begin each class with a few moments of prayer. After prayer, the classroom begins to buzz with energy and activity. Then, the real work begins, however it does not always feel like work.
-Third graders may be writing scripts and designing costumes for the annual video production that showcases their knowledge of geometry.
-After reading the novel The Lemonade War, fourth graders might be working on a business plan for their own lemonade stand.
-In fifth grade, students may be playing the board game Battleship as they learn graphing on a coordinate plane.
-Students in sixth grade might be hunched over an iPad as they compete in the Perennial Math National Competition, which is comprised of challenging critical thinking and logic problems.
LEAP also loves holidays, any holiday! Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras - we always find a way to put our math skills to work. We can design bar graphs after counting our Halloween candy. Before Thanksgiving, we shop online advertisements as we plan and budget for our feast. Valentine’s Day finds us discovering a mystery picture from math problems. On St. Patrick’s Day we plan a trip to Dublin, Ireland including budgeting for attractions. For Mardi Gras we count and classify beads and doubloons in a small group activity.
On any given day in the month of March, the action surrounds our annual “March Madness Basketball Math Challenge.” A typical day may find students checking game scores on their iPads, making calculations to determine points earned and lost, and updating their brackets. Although adding and subtracting positive and negative integers is the focus of this activity, I have noticed two benefits that I did not expect. First, students begin discussing universities; where they want to attend and why. In addition, this project becomes a family event. Moms, dads, siblings, and even grandparents track teams with our LEAP students.
Mathematics is not merely numbers taught in a vacuum. I share with my students, “Look around. Math is everywhere. At the grocery store, on freeway signs, at sporting events, while cooking and baking, in the design of buildings, and even playing with Legos.”
I expect a great deal from my students and I set the bar high for their achievement. Students learn that challenges are not meant to be easy. When difficult tasks are mastered, there is never a shortage of cheers, high-fives, fist bumps, and “Wow, you’re a rock star!” I witness their success and see their confidence soar. I share in the dreams of “my kids.” Yes, I will indeed tread softly!