Eye on Kids: In step for ISTEP

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Remember math class of your childhood - the drills, the memorization, the monotony? Those days are gone. Schools like North Wayne Elementary are finding creative "out of the box" ways of teaching math.

Malke Rosenfeld, a guest instructor has spent the week with 4th graders, exercising their brains while using their feet. Geometric principles all taught through dance.

First, they perform a pattern of steps together or congruently, then a bit of a brain twister. Using reflection symmetry one partner does the same move using the opposite foot.

"Some of us weren’t good at it at first. We kept falling," said Sierra Hill.

After three days of learning math with their feet, no one is falling now. They're hopping, clogging, shuffling, and learning.

"We learned like turning like 90 degrees this way and up and down," said Sierra.

It's not easy for a 10-year-old to understand angles. But, for the kinesthetic learner, the child who needs touch and movement to stimulate learning, this is perfect.

"They deal with how those angles are related to fractions and the students can see those fractions in their squares," said Teacher Candice Baggett, North Wayne Elementary.

And this is as much fun for the instructor as the kids.

"I love watching their little faces go wow look what I can do and being so proud of themselves by the end of the week," said Malke Rosenfeld, Math/Dance Instructor.

Rosenfeld teaches through the group "Young Audiences" which connects the arts to curriculum. To learn more about Rosenfeld and artists like her click here.