Maya McFadden pHoto
Seventh grader Laila Washington: "You get to learn a lot" at Math Counts.
Sohan Bendre (right) refreshes students on what a variable is.
If you write out the numbers from 1 to 1,000, how many times will you write the number seven?
That question was posed to a group of 6 – 8th graders at Edgewood School — who had shown up to a voluntary after-school program for students interested in further developing their math skills.
That meetup took place Tuesday; they solved the problem in just a few minutes.
The group of 12 students make up the Westville middle school’s Math Counts after-school program for students at all academic levels.
For one hour once a week, the group meets with seventh and eighth grade math teacher Amari Hall, math coach Sarah Clarke, and Yale undergrads Bill Qian and Sohan Bendre, who volunteer as tutors for the group.
Tuesday’s gathering began at 3:15 p.m. The students were assigned to small groups to work on three “low floor high ceiling” math problems then debriefed towards the end about how they each solved the problems differently.
The Math Counts group this year is the largest compared to recent years, Clarke said. Access to the weekly program is not based on academic scores or grades; it’s based just on the interest of participating 6 – 8th grade students.
A group of four were the first to tackle the 1 to 1,000 math problem, as written on a large poster paper. The students first decided to write every number between 1 and 1,000 on the poster, and then to cut out each seven that appeared. However, after the group reached the 50s, they had decided that process would be too long.
Next, some guessed answers like 108, but couldn’t explain how they got their answer — because they were guesses.
“What if we fail?” Clarke asked the group Tuesday. “Then we start over,” sixth grader Brandon responded.
Meanwhile, after solving his first problem with a partner, seventh grader Eamon went on to figure out the 1 to 1,000 math problem in just five minutes.
He began by figuring out how many times the number seven appears in the ones, tens, and hundreds place values. For each place value, Eamon multiplied ten by ten to get 100. He then added each 100 from each place value to get a final answer: there are 300 number sevens between 1 and 1,000.
Some students explained that the hardest part of each exercise Tuesday wasn’t so much the math problems but rather having to explain their thinking and show their work for each solution.
Students attempt to write all numbers with 7s from 1 to 1,000.
Edgewood seventh graders and math lovers Nikolai, Eamon, and Albert.
Seventh grader Nikolai Petrovich said Math Counts helps him and offers “something else that I could do instead of being bored at home.” He recalled discovering his interest in math in first grade when he had more interest in doing second grade multiplication. He said he still keeps that booklet provided by his first grade teacher in his bedroom today.
Eamon said Math Counts allows him to get his mind working and think of things differently. He’s loved math since elementary school, because he enjoys “thinking hard about complicated things.”
“It’s a nice resource to be able to get introduced to more complicated things,” he said.
Seventh grader Albert Sanchez said Math Counts pushes him to tackle new concepts he doesn’t always learn in the classroom. “One part of Math Counts I actually like in particular was the fact it really pushed me to be able to explain what I was learning and understanding and how I understood it,” he said Tuesday.
He said he too recalled being in first grade and telling his teacher the three digit addition they practiced was too easy, and so he began multiplication. “It makes me feel like I’m spending my time efficiently instead of just staying home,” he said about the after-school program.
The seventh graders all concluded that they enjoy having the Yale tutors visit each week because it offers them the chance to work one-on-one with them.
Yale junior Bill Qian and freshman Sohan Bendre told this reporter Tuesday that their volunteering with Edgewood’s Math Counts students is the highlight of their week.
Bendre said he enjoys watching how quickly the students pick things up and how willing they are to prove why their solution is correct each time.
Qian agreed, noting that it’s rewarding for him to see the students have lightbulb moments while solving problems.
The two concluded that, since the start of the year, they have seen the students’ enthusiasm with math — as well as their confidence in their math skills — grow.
Clarke has been overseeing Edgewood’s Math Counts program for the past four years. She said the program, which also operates at other middle schools, has been offered for decades.
When Clarke began overseeing the program she decided to open it to sixth graders rather than just seventh and eighth graders, as it was in the past. This has allowed the middle schoolers to practice higher order thinking and have fun with math. Clarke also noted that the math concepts the group tackles are typically not a part of the middle school math curriculum.
When asked about the program’s goal, Clarke said she aims for the students to “leave with smiles on their faces” due to feeling successful in their developing skills like perseverance and resilience.
Bill Qian at Tuesday's after-school program.