The numbers don’t lie

Marisa O’Neil

At Christ Lutheran School in Costa Mesa, Linda Gardiner teaches

first-and-one-third graders.

Friday, her class calculated that they had been in the first grade

for 60 days, one-third of the school year. Garrett McCarthy, 7, had

the honor of counting the days, using six stacks of 10 Legos to help with the calculations.

“You’re that much closer to being second-graders,” Gardiner said,

eliciting an excited cheer from the class.

But the students still had more math to learn. At Gardiner’s

request, each took out a stack of cards printed with simple addition

problems and lined them up carefully, covering the tops of their

desks.

“I want you to pick each one up, say the number quietly to

yourself and look at the answer on the back,” she said. “If it’s

right, keep it in your hand. If not, put it back on your desk.”

Like wildfire, 7-year-old Carolyn Brandt blew threw her deck with

time to spare, then waited for the next order of business -- a long

red number line.

The line, numbered zero to 20, stretched across the classroom

floor from nearly one end to the other. Gardiner called students up

one at a time to stand on zero, two, four, six and eight and

explained to them, for the first time, the idea of even numbers.

“Gunnar, are you still seated?” Gardener called to 6-year-old

Gunnar Teachman, watching the demonstration quietly.

He nodded back.

“Bless your heart,” she said. “Now if it ends in a zero, two,

four, six or eight, it’s a ... ?”

He thought for a second.

“Even number,” he replied.

Next, Gardiner called on students to fill in the odd numbers,

first asking them which one they thought came next. Some eagerly

hoped she would call on them, while others, such as 6-year-old

Savannah Lopez, had other things on their minds.

“We need one more,” Gardiner said, looking around the room.

“Savannah? What number comes next?”

Savannah, who had been carefully studying her Sponge Bob watch,

looked up in horror as Gardiner’s voice drew her back into the

lesson. She searched her mind for the right answer

“Seventeen?” she guessed.

“Come up and see if it’s right,” Gardiner replied.

Savannah slowly walked up and saw the only remaining spot -- at

19, only one odd number off from her answer. She smiled and took her

place, completing the lineup.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot

education writer Marisa O’Neil visits a campus in the Newport-Mesa

area and writes about her experience.