SEATTLE — During a math lesson on dividing decimals at Hawthorne Elementary School, 11-year-old Imran Ali said the material didn't click for him until his fifth grade teacher taught it using felt blocks. It was easier, he said, to count out real-life objects instead of grappling with abstract numbers in his head.
For 10-year-old Aliayah Smith, the lesson made sense when she worked out a word problem on paper. And Ryan Jackson, 10, said he understood the work better after his teacher showed the class a video explainer.
These are all the ways Rachel Pitts teaches math lessons in her fifth grade class, in a school where the majority are students of color. "It's fun the way Ms. Pitts teaches it," Ryan said. "It's hard at times but overall good."
