Family Math Night Adds Up to Fun at Pleasantdale School District 107

On Jan. 25, families descended on Pleasantdale Elementary School in La Grange to take part in Family Math Night. Parents and students were able to explore the wonders of math together and enjoyed an exciting evening of hands-on learning activities and games. The evening was set in a rotations based format in which a variety of math activities occurred simultaneously. Organized by the Curriculum Council and with help from district staff members and middle school student volunteers, the goal of Family Math Night was to enhance the home/school partnership and infuse fun into math activities. 28 sessions were set up throughout the building that ranged from targeting pre-k students through grade 8 students and families were able to select the sessions that most interested them.

“It was exciting to listen to all of the math conversations occurring throughout the different stations,” said Candy Kramer, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. “The smiling faces were evidence of the fun families were having as they explored the many facets of math together.”

Photo Caption 1: Third grader Jack Stojetz takes part in the 2D and 3D Marshmallow Shapes session where participants built figures using marshmallows and toothpicks.

Photo Caption 2: Meg Knapik, assistant principal of Pleasantdale Middle School, leads students, including seventh grader Terra Payne, in the Deep Sea Data Diving activity that included problem-solving with median, mode, range and mean.

Photo Caption 3: Kindergartner Alex Kobylarczyk gets measured in the How Tall Are You? session at Family Math Night.

Photo Caption 4: First grader Macayla Gainer watches her sister, third grader Emma Gainer, playing with third grader Isabella Wojtulewicz in the Make 10 session where players needed to get to 10 by using as many playing cards as possible.