Math on the Menu: Alcova Elementary students turn recipes into tasty lessons
Math on the Menu: Alcova Elementary students turn recipes into tasty lessons
![Alcova ES Math Night Check-In Table]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1762970985/gcpsk12org/hzyvutfgtwp1ylcweoed/AlcovaMathNight-FS.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1762970985/gcpsk12org/hzyvutfgtwp1ylcweoed/AlcovaMathNight-FS.png","width":350}])
An exercise in combining grocery shopping and recipe planning helped students from Alcova Elementary School transform everyday tasks into hands-on math lessons that blended problem-solving with practical life skills. During the recent Digital Learning Day, families gathered at the Martins Chapel Marketplace Kroger® for the school’s first-ever “Math Day at the Market.”
“The Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) vision is to produce confident and competent problem-solvers, and what better way than through real, authentic work problems,” says GCPS Instructional Math Coach Kambrietta Payne.
The Alcova Elementary Math Committee created grade-level worksheets for students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. From fruit kabobs to trail mix and cheesy chicken quesadillas, students were asked to walk through the store with their families to find the items needed for the recipes. They participated in various math activities, including identifying patterns, calculating costs, doubling recipes, and working with fractions as they selected items to buy and prepared their grade-level recipe.
“The goal of all our workshops is to educate parents on how they can support their children at home—many parents take their children grocery shopping, which can be a valuable math teaching opportunity,” says Alcova Elementary Principal Jacquetta Baldwin.
The school’s Parent Liaison, Andrea Benjamin, reached out to the Kroger manager to pitch the idea, and she shared that the store was more than willing to help with the unique hands-on assignment. The school regularly hosts parent workshops, and staff continually reflect on ways to increase parent participation. Math Day at the Market has become a unique and fun opportunity to help families see how shopping together can align with lessons that students are learning in the classroom.
“When schools and families work together as true partners, our students don’t just succeed, they thrive,” adds Baldwin.