Today we took a bit of time out of our regular math routine to celebrate the wonder of math. It was Pi Day (3/14) and we gathered together to wonder at the number that is pi — it may be an irrational way to spend the morning, but hey. We began in the art room where there's a round carpet. A student measured his steps across the carpet and I "magically" determined the number of steps it would take for him to get around the carpet. And I nailed it (and although I wanted to take all of the credit, I made sure everyone knew the real reason for my success was pi.)
Students made pi chains, wrote out pi on adding paper rolls (over 400 digits!!), created circle constructions and fractals, made pi buttons, and made pi music and art. All were a way to have fun with number. When we get back to our "regular" math, students have to be willing to play and invent with numbers in order to learn new ideas — days like this help them engage with mathematical play later on.
We ended with pi recitations. Every person who has memorized some can share their digits. Some students opt for our competitive recitation. This year, one Kestrel rocked the house with 150 digits…a new PCCs record as far as any one can remember. Sigh. The Herons were contenders this year but we couldn't vanquish the Kestrel juggernaut. They've one the last five years of pi contests! (We won the first two.)
The Rookery 
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