Multiplication enthusiasm at Brentwood

Posted on: Staff Writer

From edition: February 10 2017 Strathmore Times

S3F10

Adelle Ellis
Times Reporter

 

École Brentwood Elementary School has stumbled upon a fun and cheery way to help students learn by decorating white space in one of the hallways with brightly coloured multiplication charts.
The previously bare wall above a stairwell in a hallway in the school is now lined with colour-coded multiplication charts the students can look at while walking down the hallway.
This new décor is having some unexpected but warmly welcomed consequences for the students: their multiplication and math skills are drastically improving.
“The colourful multiplication facts are a creative way to benefit students,” said Amorin Ericksteen a student at Brentwood Elementary. “This is a brighter way to learn your multiplication facts that is not just boring, old math.”
Not only is the walk to class now a bright and colourful one, but students are memorizing and learning the multiplication tables. They are even quizzing themselves and each other on their way to class.
“I can take quizzes with myself and if I get stuck, [the charts] can help me figure it out. It helps me a lot in my multiplication and is super helpful to other people too,” said student Kaylee Graham. “This is a good way to practice your multiplication all the time.”
Not only are the students having a fun time with the new bright charts, but teachers are also noticing a difference in the students’ math skills.
“We are always looking for creative ways to help students learn their basic math facts. We are hoping this display will not only help to brighten up our grade 4/5 hallway, but it will also be meaningful for our students,” said Debbie Fule, Grade 5 teacher. “The majority of people are visual learners, so we have strategically arranged our fact families in a specific order with carefully chosen coloured backgrounds so facts that children struggle with most will stand out,” she said.
The same style of learning can be used to teach students other things such as division, and different homonyms and homophones.