How animations, activities and assessments meet the common core Ratey the Math Cat Lesson Introduction to Math Snacks Common Core Connections Website Overview Math Snacks Games

Math Snacks: Summer Camp 2012 Description of Camp Summary of Quantitative Data Description of Game Over Gopher Teacher Perspectives Student Perspectives Research Team Observations Future Research

Summer Camps 2012 Las Cruces June 4-8 Gadsden July No of Students9715 No of Teachers106 Camp HoursMTWRF 8:00-12:00 MTWR 8:30-3:00 Camp SettingClassroom, computer lab, ipads,ipods. Two classrooms, Computer Lab, ipads Outside Evaluator Observed the whole camp and provided feedback Observed the preparation DebriefDaily

Number RightsOverruledScale Ella Atlantean Dodgeball Ratey the Math CatBad Date Math Snacks Animations

Math Snacks Games Game Over Gopher Gate Pearl Diver Ratio Rumble Monster School Bus

Summary of Pre-Post Student Assessment Math Snacks Camp (June 2012) Results of the Pre- Post Student Assessment Part I – True/False & Computation (Total Possible Points = 13) Part 1: True/False and Computation (13 points possible) Group # (n=# students) Student Grades 2012 Pre Mean Change Post Mean #/% student gains Group 1 (n=13) 5 & /46% Group 2 (n=13) 7 & /54% Group 3 (n=13) /46% Group 4 (n=14) /64% Group 5 (n=15) /73% Total (n=68) % /57%

Summary of Pre-Post Student Assessment Math Snacks Camp (June 2012) Results of the Pre- Post Student Assessment Part II – Definitions (Total Possible Points = 20) Part 2: Definitions (20 Points Possible) Group # (n=# students) Student Grades 2012 Pre Mean Change Post Mean #/% student gains Group 1 (n=13) 5 & /77% Group 2 (n=13) 7 & /54% Group 3 (n=12) /92% Group 4 (n=14) /86% Group 5 (n=14) /86% Total (n=68) % /79%

Game Over Gopher

Coordinate Plane Tower Defense Game Various levels: Easy entry-high ceiling Intermediate rounds Bonus Levels Star Rating Vocabulary Game Over Gopher

Student Perspectives ItemsFrequencyPercentageExample Have fun2132% “It was really fun” Educational1421% “I like this game because I learn about coordinate grids” Strategy1421% “It makes me feel like I’m really protecting a carrot and fighting gophers” Like other games711% “It is like plants vs. zombies” Challenging69% “Because it is exciting going through all the levels and every one is a challenge” Other46% “It is because I like the story” TOTAL66100% 85 students participated in the camp 52 (61%) students explained why they like GOG

Data: – 16/16 said students were “very engaged” playing GOG (not en., somewhat en., en., very en.). – 15/16 (94%) GOG helped students understand the concept. – 6/16 (38%) GOG best game at introducing the content Comments: – “This game was good at starting out slow and building on knowledge” – “Students loved this game and it really helped with the concept of graphing” Teachers Perspectives

Research Team Observations of Teachers Teachers previous experience of teaching with games – Several of them had no previous experience – Games are used as reward for good students or to keep students busy Several teachers expressed anxiety about teaching with a game

Research Team Observations of Students Students were immediately engaged When it was time for discussion they were able to identify the math in the game and were very willing to participate in the discussion Students very readily helped each other with strategies

Impact of Research Feedback from students to test adjustments made to game Inform development of teacher support materials

CCSSM Mathematics Practices Math Practice 1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them Math Practice 2: Reason abstractly and quantitatively Math Practice 3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others Math Practice 4: Model with mathematics Math Practice 5: Use appropriate tools strategically Math Practice 6: Attend to precision Math Practice 7: Look for and make use of structure Math Practice 8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning

Future Research Implications Informs the development process Informs the development of resources – Teacher guide – Bonus activities – Development of instruments to assess how students learn by playing games

Contact Us You can download all Math Snacks materials at You can download all animations and materials from iTunes or the website You can download Pearl Diver from iTunes Like us on Facebook—Math Snacks Sign up for our mailing list for notifications of changes Karen Trujillo Valeria Aguirre Holguín Kerry McKee Jesús H. Trespalacios