The 24 Game is a teaching tool that engages students to find strategies that give you the total value of 24. You may use any of the four math operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division and state them verbally in three equations. The students are able to use First In Math created by Robert Sun. The game incorporates technology and learning that works well in a math classroom or as a competitive game of speed and strategy. “I really enjoy the 24 Game competition because it really forces me to think about how to get 24 by using the 4 numbers on the cards. It’s a fun activity we get to participate in”, Grade 8 student Christopher Perez shares. Jairo Carrasco articulated, “It (24 Game) also makes you want to practice and it makes you want to win. Also, it is a great way to teach math to other people because you can use multiplication, division, subtraction, and addition and it is a great game for kids to learn a lot about math.” Our students grades 6-8, have been preparing for the district-wide competition starting on March 4, 2020. Grade 8 student, Arturo Bruniz, wrote in his summary experience, “I also like how much skill it takes. At first, it seems pretty simple but the more you progress, the more difficult it gets. Getting to 24 with single digits is easy, but double digits are harder. Then variable cards come along and they are the most difficult part of the game. It also has to do with reaction, once you get the answer you must quickly tap before others can guess the answer, but you also have to recite your equations that get to 24 which at times could be hard to remember.” Kimberly Morales Herrera, a Grade 6 student, expressed “ I love being competitive. I love competing with 7th and 8th-grade students. This helps your mind go quicker. Math has always been my favorite subject. This is a fun game you can play.”

Mrs. Castellano, the Mathematics Specialist at NBMS states, “I am very fortunate to work with an eager and talented group of young people at the middle school. I enjoy talking about the strategies and not just the mathematics that supports the game’s educational concept. As a district, we strive to push our students to explain their work, and 24 allows us to do this”. Another goal of utilizing this game as a learning tool is to build our students’ confidence. Brianna Alegria, in grade 6 explains that “The game can get really confusing with the two-digit cards but I feel really proud when I get them right.” Allowing students to make mistakes as they learn, creates a safe learning environment but with a competitive flare as they improve. My students are very excited for the final competition, win or lose, we are a team, a family here at NBMS. Denise Blanca shared “Our team couldn't come this far without our teamwork when we play against other 6th graders. I am determined to win for our school.”

At the middle school, we dedicated a whole day to practice competing. Grade 6 student Jericho Ortiz communicated that “Today (2/27/2020) was a really fun day and it was a nice experience. I like the food we ate and that it was like a mini-tournament to practice for the big tournament. I like the shirts we got. It was a nice gift and I feel like we are going to look nice with our new shirts on the day of the competition. I liked the chocolate and how we all had a conversation of strategies and I like how we had a possibility to make 24 with our chocolate numbers”. Students were provided with a pizza lunch and chocolate snacks in the shape of numbers. Each student was able to practice at home with the 1:1 Chromebook ratio and Wi-Fi services provided by the school district.

Authored by JoAnna Castellano & the NBMS math competitors

For anyone who doesn’t know, the Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science designed to show that anybody can learn the basics of coding. I used different levels of the basics with my 4th-8th grade classes during the entire week of Hour of Code (December 9-15, 2019).

Since I hosted an hour of code at Lincoln Annex, I was sent an email invitation to participate in a Code.org Hour of Code Survey and was entered into a robotics giveaway*!

*Robotics partners of Code.org were offering a giveaway to a select number of classrooms that participated in the Hour of Code. I completed the survey before the deadline and we were one of the lucky 75 classrooms to receive brand-new robotics or physical computing kit from Sphero!

We will be receiving 6 BOLT Robots sponsored by Sphero. We will be able to continue using Code.org for resources with our new Sphero bots.

https://code.org/learn/robotics

From the ease of using code.org in the classroom, the extensive lesson plans available, amazing free professional development, and now this giveaway, Code.org is without a doubt an amazing educational tool for us to have and use!

Jeanna Anzalone

Library Media Specialist

According to BrainPop...

"Creative Coding invites students to apply their understanding of BrainPOP topics across the curriculum through an array of coding projects. Don’t know how to code? No problem! Creative Coding is for ALL students and ALL subjects — there’s endless potential!

To support your use of Creative Coding in the classroom, we’ve put together the following resources ranging from video tutorials and lesson plans to differentiation tips and assessment rubrics. We also provide Creative Coding standard alignments for CCSS, NGSS, and CSTA and some sample projects to help you get started."

*Please, be mindful to only post images of students who have a signed media release forms.

For ALL technology related issues, please submit a Technology (IT) Work Order. This includes computers not working, printers, interactive whiteboards, LCD projectors, Chromebooks, staff laptops, wireless issues, login issues, email, setting up projectors for PD opportunities, etc. Please DO NOT use SchoolDude to submit technology work orders.

In addition, if you require assistance in setting up an LCD projector for a presentation, PD or outside presenter, please submit a Technology (IT) Work Order and as a backup "reminder" please email your building tech a day or two before as a reminder.

You can ONLY access the Technology (IT) Work Order system from within the district. Your username is firstname_lastname and use your network login password