Math Is More Than a Workbook at South Seneca Elementary Second Grade this Fall

Second graders moving as sleepy trees, jaguars, cats and the zero monster:  little do they know they’re learning their multiplication tables already!  South Seneca Elementary second grade is the recipient of a grant to have Suzy Koontz in residence for two months.  Her goal is “to keep kids feeling good about math.  No more saying ‘I don’t like math’, or ‘I’m not good at numbers.”  Suzy’s proven activities are fun for math learners as evidenced by the kids’ excitement when she visits.  Built on extensive brain research together with practical field testing, the activities incorporate body movement reaching across lateral sides of the body to trigger neuro-transmitters that help kids learn in a different way.  The focus is repeated addition, skip counting and basic multiplication facts.  It includes such activities as the multiplication dance that uses movements such as sleepy trees, jaguars and cats to show that factors of a certain number have the same movements.  During the number three jaguar multiplication dance, students whisper the number one and two as they cross their left and right ‘paws’, then clap and yell ‘3’ and for all multiples of 3 thereafter.  Other activities include ‘tapping at the table and sit-down math which engages students in imaginative, stretching exercises while practicing the whisper/loud counting technique.  Math n’ Yoga and the skip counting train round out the many activities taught that promotes equity, encourages wellness and strengthens one-to-one correspondence.  The students become easily engaged and easily learn the movement activities. 

A family night on Thursday, December 17^th was well attended, followed by desserts in the cafeteria.  Hosted by Suzy Koontz, second grade students demonstrated their new skills and the varied math and movement counting techniques. 

South Seneca Elementary Students are 100 Days Smarter!

One hundred Lincoln pennies, all face up, in the shape of the number 100, 100 stars in a star, 100 hearts in a heart were just some of the unique projects students brought in for the seventh annual "100 Day Celebration" at South Seneca Elementary.  It's all about making math fun! Each student was encouraged to create a project at home with a friend or family member to be displayed in the auditorium on Monday, February 23rd.  Projects included creatively making the number/word 100, gathering and organizing a collection of 100 items centered around the Lincoln Penny Centennial, written 100-word stories and a Matchbox car collection that sported cars with numbers on them.  Todd Kurzweil, organizer of this celebration stated "I'm always amazed at the students' creativity in the 100th day projects.  In the seven years that we've been doing this, there is always a wide variety of creative ideas."    Prizes were awarded to each participant and a Family Night for viewing the projects was well attended. Kurzweil, a Primary remedial math teacher starts planning for the next year's celebration the day after this one to make it ever evolving and exciting for students each year.

The cafeteria joined in the fun with a special 100th day bag lunch.  Other celebrations throughout the day included the whole school counting to 100 on the 100th minute of the school day!   Some classes completed the 100th page of their workbooks and had guest readers that read a math-themed book.  The student council held a 100 items for 100 days of school Food Pantry drive and collected 262 food items!

Each year, the 100th day celebration has highlighted a different theme centering around the number 100.  Past themes have been, Dr. Seuss’ 100th birthday, 100th anniversary of the Teddy Bear, 100th anniversary of the popsicle, the winter Olympics and “Collections of 100”. 

This year a community service corner was introduced.  As teachers brought their classes to view the projects in the auditorium they could utilize  the service corner and students could think for 100 seconds  (using a stopwatch) about how they could help others.  Some ideas from Mrs. Blum’s class included:  donate clothes; help at the public library, donate food, help recycle, help parents with chores, and find shelter for those who need it. For more information on this annual celebration, please contact:   tkurzweil@southseneca.k12.ny.us.