Order up! Fifth graders at Lakewood Park Elementary recently transformed their classroom into a bustling restaurant as part of their decimal unit. Students stepped into the roles of servers, cashiers, and customers — greeting guests, taking orders from a hand-picked menu, totaling bills, and counting back exact change, all using decimal numbers. Every check had to balance, which meant careful adding and subtracting of decimals, double-checking a teammate’s work, and solving problems on the spot when an order changed at the last minute. Along the way, students strengthened their teamwork, communication, and real-world financial literacy skills, discovering that the math they practice every day shows up in places they visit with their families. The hands-on experience made learning meaningful, fun, and deliciously memorable — and left our young mathematicians hungry for more!
