Place value is a piece of cake with spooky math as Brittany McCullough’s 1st graders at Oak Grove Elementary put a Halloween twist on a key concept.

The first day, students used glow sticks to represent tens and glow in the dark eyes to represent ones. They turned the lights off, and students modeled numbers with their spooky place value tools. On the second day, they built equations and solved for the unknown using the spooky tools. Students used “turn and talk” to discuss their strategies and clarify understanding with partners.

“Students who had previously struggled seemed to grasp it better after this two-day hands on lesson,” said McCullough. “Hands-on math is the best way for young learners to interact with the content, and a fun, thematic activity builds instant interest! I saw that this had a huge impact on their understanding of place value.”