Using Pancake Day in the Classroom

Pancake Day this year will be special for some students at Zane Grey Intermediate School.

That’s because Sertoma donated 100 tickets for students to get their own pancakes Wednesday. Math Coach Jodi Bainter took Pancake Day as an opportunity to have students in 4th through 6th grade learn about problem-solving.

"We took the math involved in that activity and took it to 4th, 5th and 6th graders to challenge them to consider what if they put all the sausage links together, would it be a mile of sausage, or if you stacked the pancakes up would they have, how many would it take to fill the room," Bainter said. "So really looking at ratios, looking at all that context we can to add in the mathematics."

Bainter said students are encouraged to use each other as resources to work out problems together. And then once the challenge is done students will get to go to Pancake Day.

"Kids are leaving today with 100 tickets to be able to attend tomorrow, so that’s motivation in itself," Bainter said. "So it’s fun to see them engaged in the mathematics, but then also to have something to take away."

Bainter said students are excited to figure out the problems they are presented with.