Hey everyone! I am linking up with Miss Math Dork for her Math is Real Life monthly linky.
Today I wanted to share an incredible GROWING resource that I am working on with my fellow ITRT clan. It is called...
This is a place our teachers (grades 3-5) to go to find REAL LIFE videos of math in action in the world around us. We (ITRTs) are the actors and actresses so we aren't talking Oscar winning flicks. However, the kids are LOVING the scenes and even the MATH involved!
For instance, our Yogurt Probability movie was filmed at our local Sweet Frog. What child doesn't love Sweet Frog (besides the lactose intolerant)? We explore probability and making different combinations of ice cream flavors, something students do all of the time without realizing it. I actually had a child tell me the other day, "Mrs. Smith, I went to Sweet Frog last night and couldn't stop thinking about that Math on the Spot video". YEEEEES!! This is EXACTLY what we wanted to happen...awareness of math in the world around us.
The other day I was "hanging" with a small group of 5th grade students during our Tech Takeout Day at one of the elementary schools. We were just randomly talking and one of the girls brought up Sweet Frog. The others in our group jumped on the topic and I KNEW that would be such a great time to introduce them to our site. After explaining what we had done at Sweet Frog this year, they were anxious to see the video. We started watching a little bit and then had to move onto our next activity for Tech Takeout. Those kids were so disappointed to turn it off. They quickly got out scraps of paper and wrote down the web address. Apparently it was "so cool" that we had created videos in our community and they couldn't wait to check them out at home. YEEEEES!!!
Also included with these videos are "Spot Checks". These digital activities can be carried out if your students have Google accounts.
For instance, our "Hooray for Arrays" video, in which we visit one of our local high schools to bake cupcakes with some students who won our county's "Cupcake Wars", has a Google Slides presentation as the Spot Check in which students drag cupcake tins and cupcakes to make an array match a multiplication word problem.
Like I said, this is a GROWING resource. We have three videos and Spot Checks posted so have fun checking them out with your students. Click {HERE} for the link to the Math on the Spot site!
A huge SHOUT OUT goes to Henrico's Education Foundation for providing us with funds to purchase high quality video equipment to film our next episodes :)
