We are pleased to announce a new award for all teachers who make a National

Math Trail Submission: You can choose one from a selection of videos from

the award-winning archives of FASE Productions.

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Are you planning to create a Math Trail yet have some concerns? Here is a

problem that one teacher expressed to us:

Problem: I would like to create a Math Trail, but I don’t have time to take

my students out into my community.

Solution: If time is an issue, you don’t really need to send your students

into the neighborhood. You can create a Classroom Math Trail or even a

School Campus Math Trail. Since math exists all around you, there is no limit to

the math you can find right where you are. Students can also work on a math

trail as a homework assignment. Let them find the math that exists on a

“Trail” from their home to school, or even in their own homes—perhaps with

their parents. Have them do it as a home project over a weekend. It’s a

good opportunity to have them team up with their classmates. See what they come

back with. Below is a letter from Roxanna Kerns, a 4th grade teacher, who addresses

this problem:

“Our area has cold, snowy, winters, which make going out on a math trail in

the winter rather hard. I will give these problems to my students to work in

class. This will help us with Missouri history while integrating mathematics. Then

in May we will walk to a nearby park to create our own Math Trail booklets

using the math they find on the trip to and at the park.

“I have taken students on a Math Trail for the last four years (ever since I

saw the Kay Toliver video). It always amazes me to see the excitement in my

students as they discover the math around them. After the excursion they then tell

me about math problems the find at recess, at lunch, on field trips, etc. for weeks.

“I also have done Math Trail workshops and it is just as exciting to see

teachers who have just been introduced to this concept get as excited as the

students.

Thank you for letting me share this wonderful and exciting way to teach

math. Math is everywhere; it just takes a trail to find the child’s thrill in

learning!”

Sincerely,

Roxanna Kearns

Gil Bandel

National Math Trail

Outreach Coordinator

FASE Productions

4801 Wilshire Blvd.

Suite 215

Los Angeles, CA 90010

323.937.9911

323.937.7440 fax

gil@fasenet.org