Making Math Tangible With a Dream House Project
When students work together to calculate construction costs and negotiate design choices, they develop skills in math and collaboration—all while letting their imaginations run wild.
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Go to My Saved Content.Whiting Lane Elementary School, in West Hartford, CT, has been recognized for their outstanding work in student growth. Their students come from diverse backgrounds, socio-economically, culturally, and educationally. One of the ways they support all students in pursuing academic rigor is by presenting them with highly engaging projects that require collaboration, problem-solving and attention to detail. In Kim Hannan’s third grade math class, small groups of students work together to design a dream house, where they wrestle with square footage, unit costs, budget constraints, and negotiation skills—and have a great time doing it.
Download the dream houses lesson plan developed by Kim Hannan and West Hartford Public Schools. It also includes a performance task handout for students with a rubric, a sample floor plan, and printable worksheets for flooring and paint calculations.