Danville freshmen find math can be fun

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September 12, 2008

BY ANNA HERKAMP The Commercial-News Fri Sep 12, 2008, 10:16 AM CDT

DANVILLE — A group of Danville High School ninth-graders is making fun of algebra.

A new elective enrichment course for freshmen uses games and projects to sharpen the skills learned in first-year algebra classes.

Those in Projects in Algebra say it’s different from the math classes of middle school — and it has an added bonus: There’s no homework.

So far this year, freshmen have reviewed their middle school math lessons from eighth grade.

To review the concepts in a fun way, the Projects students have designed math board games complete with moving pieces, game cards and a decorated playing board.

One group named their game after Frooties candies and used pieces of candy as game pieces.

Another group of students, Trent Lomax, Travis Sentelle and Bailey Reese, called their game “Math Walk.”

Players select a card, do the problem written on it and then move the number of spaces the card says if they get the answer right.

“I like that I have two math classes,” Reese said.

Sentelle said they prefer the class’s format because it lets them work in groups on projects in class rather than outside it.

Their teacher, Samantha Schwartz, said the class is designed to be a skills booster — not something that gives them more work to do.

“It’s not a study hall,” Schwartz explained. “We didn’t want this to be an extra burden.”

She said the class is designed to give students enrichment as they need it and show that math can be fun and practical.

Reese and Sentelle both said math is the hardest subject for a lot of people their age because of how much work is involved. Lengthy homework assignments take more time than homework for other classes.

If you miss anything in class, the work gets more and more difficult and you don’t know what’s going on, Sentelle said.

Lomax agreed.

“It takes a long time to do it and then they want you to show your answers,” he said.

“This class makes math more enjoyable,” Reese said.

“I kind of like it,” said Jessica Driver. “You make up games and projects. You couldn’t do that in middle school.”

Bethany Taylor agreed.

“I think it’s (more fun) than regular algebra,” she said.

“I think it’s really nice you can have fun in class, because some people just don’t like math because they think it’s dumb and boring,” said Jessica Winslow.

“This shows it can be fun.”

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