A group of fourth graders at Elsmere Elementary School recently outperformed thousands of students from across the U.S. and Canada to win a first-place prize in Tang Math’s Halloween Tournament.
The class finished #1 in the fourth-grade competition and #6 overall.
Tang Math is a curriculum program that provides teachers with games, puzzles, and real-world scenarios to help students develop math skills. Tang Math emphasizes problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and conceptual understanding in mathematics education.
The students in Alix Messier and Katie Russell’s classroom were treated to a pizza party for their win but the real prize, according to Mrs. Messier, was learning and a whole lot more.
“The prize was confidence. The prize was feeling a sense of pride and completing something they didn’t know they could do,” said Messier, who calls herself a Tang Math superfan. “When they saw themselves on the leaderboard, the look on the students’ faces and pure delight and joy in themselves as individuals and as a class was something that can’t be beat.”
Messier said the two-week-long Halloween challenge was the first Tang competition of the year for the class but it probably won’t be the last. The competition scored students on their individual progress. Those scores were added up to give the class its big win.
“Students could set their own pace but came together as a class and encouraged and pushed each other,” said Messier. “It’s a unique way for students to become more fluent with their math facts in a fun and engaging way.”
Congratulations to the following students:
- Amelia B.
- Anna L.
- Brayden M.
- Camden L.
- Christopher P.
- Devin S.
- Gage P.
- Harper L.
- Hazel N.
- Hunter P.
- Isla H.
- John R.
- Julia K.
- Mackenzie R.
- Madison C.
- Micah R.
- Mounya B.
- Nora B.
- Oliver K.
- Oliver O.
- Rhys C.
- Scarlett R.
- Sophia C.