Montessori Charter School Demonstrates Hands-On Approach To Math
FREDERICK, MD — On February 7, 2008 from 7-8PM, Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School (MVMPCS) will hold its first Build It! Festival, inspired by the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) program from the University of California at Berkeley, California. MVMPCS families and students will participate in various learning station activities that emphasize construction, geometric challenges, and spatial visualization.
As the school prepares for the Maryland State Assessments (MSA), organizers hope this creative approach to geometry will reinforce understanding of shapes and relationships to structures students see in real life. The Festival will connect mathematics to direct, hands-on building experiences.
“Each BUILD IT! activity has key math concepts at its core. A portion of the MSA is focused on geometric art and concepts of symmetry, transformation and reflection,” says MVMPCS teacher Ingrid Sherwood. “BUILD IT activities mirror these concepts. Our students have been working so hard to prepare for the MSAs, we thought we’d inject some fun in the process and apply math to something creative and interesting.”
Stations include “Create-A-Shape”, “Dowel Designs”, and “Polyhedra” where families can construct three-dimensional creations using snap-together triangles, squares and pentagons. B uilding materials include pattern blocks, polyhedra, and newspaper dowels. Template patterns for folding and constructing shapes and creating tangrams are provided.
Students will also demonstrate how to solve every day math problems using Montessori materials and apply them to real world applications. According to Mrs. Sherwood, “This event meshes well with our Montessori foundation. It provides a new twist on Parent Night that engages the whole family in fun, learning and math discovery.”