Oswego School Officials Get Moving On Math & Movement Program

OSWEGO, NY –The National Math Foundation (a not-for-profit national charity) is hosting a Summer Institute teacher training and the Super Fun Math Youth Program through August 10 at Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center in Oswego, featuring the Math & Movement Program.

The NMF announced Tuesday that the Oswego City School District is the first recipient of its Math Corps II Program Award. The program is for the entire 2017-18 school year in both Minetto and Charles E Riley elementary schools, the two largest elementary populations.

NMF Executive Director Cara-Leigh Battaglia made the official announcement.

Read about the National Math Corps Award here

NMF had previously partnered with the Shineman Foundation on a smaller scale, she told Oswego County Today. They sponsored teacher scholarships and then more in-depth programming throughout the district.

“The response from teachers and parents was tremendous,” she said. “The district was nominated for the Math & Movement pilot program, which will be a model for our national program expansion.”

Oswego was one of 10 districts in the running for the award.

NMF will coordinate the program from September- June to develop and implement programs, events, trainings, materials and will provide resource development via a Corps Member shared by the Minetto and Riley elementary schools to assist teachers, volunteers, students and parents while developing independence and sustainability for techniques and programs in the district, she said.

The program is valued at $180,000 – $200,000, Battaglia said, adding that more funding is pending.

Data will be gathered through 2020 to track results of the program.

“It’s amazing. It’s another opportunity for us to work with Shineman to bring something innovative into the district,” Oswego Superintendent Dr. Dean Goewey told Oswego County Today. “It’s an opportunity to do something exciting and a great movement, that we all know is important for elementary kids with math, which is at times a struggling area for kids.”

The program will be implemented K – sixth grade at Minetto and Riley.

“There are a lot of different things (‘games’) that they do in the program. They integrate movement, games and fun. It makes learning (math) fun. Some times they use these,” he said indicating the myriad mats scattered about the floor. Each had its own special mathematical markings. “They integrate math and literacy with movement.”

Some of the mats depicted the planets, some had math challenges, others helped students understand the difference between two similar words (such as its and it’s) the next mat explained three similar words (such as their, there and they’re).

Students hopped, skipped and jumped to the answers.

There was even a Greek alphabet mat and other foreign languages. Not all students speak English, Battaglia explained.

“We’ve used mats like these in districts where there is a large population of Spanish and Cuban students,” she told Oswego County Today. “If the students don’t understand the language, it makes it difficult for them to learn. This program is all about enabling students, getting over their fear of math; not putting up roadblocks.”

“I’m very excited to get going on this program,” Dr. Linda R. Doty, the Riley principal, said. “These ‘games’ re-enforce the math skills the students learn in the classroom in such a fun way that they know it. This is a chance for the kids to put all these math skills into their long-term memory.”

The training will be done right in the classroom, she added.

“Our math scores are really good right now. I am excited because we want to be a blue ribbon school and I think this is what we need to bump it to that next level,” Dr. Doty said.

Jennifer Sullivan will commence her duties as principal at Minetto at the start of the 2017-18 school year.

“I’m excited to be coming in and having such a great program starting at the same time,” she said. “Any way to get kids to be excited and have a positive experience with math is a good thing. You need the visual aspect, it’s more engaging that way.”

So, what’s next?

We get better next year; every year, we get better and better, the principals said.

NATIONAL MATH FOUNDATION / MATH & MOVEMENT

Led by Suzy Koontz, director of the National Math Foundation, who also founded the Math and Movement Program, students at this week’s institute and program will explore math concepts and teachers will become certified in the Math and Movement program.

The NMF has previously sponsored Institutes in Oneonta, Ithaca (3 times), Chattanooga, Tenn. (2 times) and Nashville, Tenn.

“Math has become an increasingly stressful experience for children and parents, and school districts have lost funding for innovative program development at the same time that standards have been raised,” Koontz said. “We are working to help everyone, students, parents and teachers, to make learning math fun and successful.”

The institute will offer teachers and students a new way to learn math by hopping, skipping and jumping to the answer.

With eight out of 10 children identified as kinesthetic learners (students who learn best through movement), it’s no surprise that Math and Movement is a highly effective program for building foundational math and reading skills.

It’s active, fun, and easily customized to each student.

It is exceptionally helpful for kids that are struggling with understanding basic math concepts.

Math and Movement is a multi-sensory approach to teaching math and reading that incorporates exercise, stretching, cross-body movements and colorful floor mats that allow children to practice basic skills while using visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning methods.

It is aligned with Common Core standards and NYS regulations.

The program also harnesses children’s natural kinesthetic learning style to foster positive feelings towards learning.

Students gain confidence and have fun.

The program is based on research that shows that moving during learning facilitates muscle memory, an important factor with younger children whose abstract thinking skills are not fully developed.

“In fact, with changing academic expectations, it’s more important than ever to have a learning alternative to traditional memorization and to foster positive feelings towards learning,” Koontz added.

The program also fulfills physical education requirements.

According to the CDC, obesity affects 17% of all children and adolescents in the U.S., triple the rate from just one generation ago.

That’s 12 million obese children.

Math and Movement promotes physical activity while simultaneously increasing learning.

Math and Movement efficiently helps students to receive the recommended daily 60 minutes of physical exercise, and physical education teachers are just as likely to implement the program in their gyms as grade-level teachers are in the classroom.

The end result: physically fit children, enjoyable learning experiences, and increased test scores.

Clearly, it’s a win-win-win situation.

It’s easily modified to be implemented as a before/after school program, recreational program, PTO event, enrichment program, mentoring program and can be used in park settings and summer camps.

No matter how it’s used, it is an excellent method that supports the current curriculum.

Not all school districts have found funding for the program, but the program is innovative in its approach to providing resources to schools that wish to implement the curriculum.

“The Math and Movement Program and National Math Foundation always try to help schools obtain grants or sponsorships to implement the curriculum” said Koontz. “We are currently about to launch a new funding initiative to bring the program to as many school districts as we can in the Southern Tier and Western New York with the help of banks and other sponsors.”

Often, community organizations or businesses sponsor grants for elementary schools to purchase materials and training or to introduce the method to their community.

People throughout Central New York are attending as are teachers from Maryland and Virginia and New York City.

“Participants in the program are consistent in praising both skill development and are pleasantly surprised at the soaring confidence levels of their children,” Koontz said. “As more people discover the program, more organizations want to support their schools by offering Family Fun Nights or the full program.”

Interested community members may observe the students’ engagement, the teachers’ strategies for boosting achievement, and see first-hand how Math and Movement supports solutions to the dual national concerns of obesity and math scores.

“More and more community members are willing to take an active part in creating a math literate community, so we welcome observers to the institute,” Koontz said. “We invite people to visit and observe the program in action.”

Visit the Math and Movement website for more information and to see how much teachers and students enjoy the program:
http://www.mathandmovement.com.

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