SECOND WEEK MILES OF MATH KIDS' CLUB Sponsored by CNC Software, Inc. and Nerac.com Footprint charts: Top made by our sighted children, bottom chart made by our visually impaired student (the hundred chart is embossed and the footprints are made out of foam stick-ons). Next week our 86 cumlative miles will be recorded on the hundred charts. A Group Goal There is no place, in an elementary school-wide kids' fitness club, for typical competition, but there is a place for goals, both personal and group. Our group goal is running and walking 500 miles this spring. We will be tabulating our mileage and posting it on a classroom bulletin board. At the same time, each child will have their own "footprint" chart to track our mileage and practice math at the same time.                                                                 -Carol Goodrow April 3 , 2004 SNACK TIME We started out with snack. The kids were prepared. The room was full of healthy stuff. I saw orange wheels, banana bread, apple slices, grapes, and strawberries, and that was just in the front row! With all the negative press in the media, about the poor eating habits of children, I was doubly proud of the children in the Miles of Math Kids' Club. GROUP EXERCISE Our second week at the club! The kids in the first session were lucky. The weather was mild and we went outside to the field. The field is a bit larger than a 100x200 rectangle. We walked across the width and back (over 200 meters). Next we jogged back and forth (another 200). Finally we had a little relay practice. We grouped the kids into teams of 5 or 6, handed out tiny stuffed animals and foods, so each time had a name: foxes, ducks, apples, etc. and then we relayed, allowing each child to sprint, and enjoy the feel of fast running. We then headed back to the classroom; the distance we ran plus our trek to and from the field, pushed us way over our 1/2 mile of exercise for the day. IN THE CLASSROOM After a quick drink of water, we got out our journals. This week's page was about "walking". I told the children about my 94 year-old teacher, who wrote me a note in a very shaky handwriting, after she received my book. The note said "I am 94 years old and I still walk the corridors every day." Click here to look inside Happy Feet, Healthy Food. FOOTPRINT CHARTS The most popular program on the kidsrunning Web site has been the Log-a-Mile program. Kids love to color in our footprint charts so it was logical that we would track our mileage on footprint charts. However, to best incorporate math, I wanted to use the concept of tens and ones. Thanks to a parent volunteer, we were able to provide each child with a folder and 5 pre-cut hundred blocks. The embossed hundred blocks were prepared by one child's Braille teacher. Today, the children only had time to glue on their hundred blocks. Next week we will start recording our mileage on the hundred blocks. But first the fun part, designing! Each chart will be different, creative, and attractive. It's fun to give children an idea, the art supplies, and then just let them go! The embossed chart came out so attractive that my classroom aide commented that the child must be able to see. But he can't see his footprint chart, nor can he see the objects he placed on it. It's his fine sense of space and design that enabled him to place his varied shapes such that they made a pleasing design for everyone to enjoy. FUN RUN At the beginning of the week, I found out that there would be a town fun run/walk this weekend. The distance was 2 miles. I decided to send home a notice asking my children to attend. I offered my services as a "pacer", for a 2-mile distance is long for most first and second graders if they haven't trained for this. This was my very FIRST fun run/walk. I usually just enter the adult 5- or 10-K, but getting my children to attend the fun run seemed more important to me than the adult race. A few club kids showed up and did just great. Two little boys didn't need my "pacing" services and ran at kids' record pace for the entire two miles. But I had the most fun running with a few of my little girls, taking walking breaks when they needed them and seeing the excitement with which they approached the run. And I enjoyed seeing other club members at the fun run, walking and running with their parents. This fun run/walk comes once a year, but why not have one every week, or every month? Hmmm....it's a thought. It was another great week at the Miles of Math Kids' Club. I had originally planned the club for an hour, but the children are in my room during bustime, making the hours spent with me 1 1/2. Still the time is packed with things to do. There is no down time at the club. It's just hustle and bustle of kids having fun. LINKS First Week at Miles of Math Second Week at Miles of Math Third Week at Miles of Math Fourth Week at Miles of Math Fifth Week at Miles of Math Sixth Week at Miles of Math Seventh Week at Miles of Math Eighth Week at Miles of Math Ninth Week at Miles of Math Tenth Week at Miles of Math