Background

How Our Journey Started
During year two, teachers wanted students to learn how math was used in every day life; so In the summer of 2010 fourth through sixth grade students maintained and collected data in a Kansas State University garden. When school started in August, sixth graders started learning about business and how math was used in business by marketing and selling salsa packets using the vegetables from the garden. The fourth grade students in the building picked the vegetables while fifth graders weighed and packaged them into salsa packets. The sixth graders made posters using Comic Life to advertise the products and sold the packets each Friday.

Next, the sixth graders Skyped with Cottonwood Quilts (a local quilt shop) about how math was used in their store. After the Skype session, students created their own quilts using Pages. Students found elements of geometry in their quilts, calculated the cost of their quilt and found the area and perimeter of their quilts.

Sixth grade students collaborated with Hutchinson Credit Union by starting a credit union branch at school. Students completed an application and interviewed for jobs at the school branch before they were hired. In October sixth graders and credit union employees held a ribbon cutting ceremony; then the first deposits were made at the Prosperity Save @ School Branch. After the Savings Branch opened, student employees Skyped with credit union employees about marketing techniques. Students also held monthly face-to-face meeting with employees of the credit union. In addition, students created commercials and posters to advertise for the Save @ School Branch.

Next, Teachers read the book "A Day With No Math" by Marilyn Kaye aloud to students. This sparked a deeper discussion about how math is used in our everyday lives; therefore, the TRC team started looking for businesses that students could shadow. With the help of many parent volunteers and various businesses in our community, students made connections between the math they learn at school and how it is applied to real life situations. When students returned from their shadowing experience, they wrote digital math stories and a Mix Book about their experience.

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