George Lucas Educational Foundation

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.

July 26, 2024

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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.

Schools That Work

Whiting Lane Elementary School

Public, Suburban
Grades PK-5
West Hartford, CT
  • Designated a School of Distinction by the Connecticut Department of Education 6 times in the past 9 years. 
  • Recognized as a national Blue Ribbon School in 2022 for academic performance and strong efforts to close the achievement gap amongst all subgroups of students.
  • School survey data collected in the 2023-24 school year reflects that 95% of students feel safe at school.

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Filed Under

  • Student Engagement
  • Collaborative Learning
  • Math
  • 3-5 Upper Elementary

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