Oct. 30, 2025
What makes math more fun? Doing it at the top of an “active volcano!” Principal Rebekah Johnson transformed a regular classroom in McGregor Elementary into Volcano Land where students are challenged to answer questions as they traverse a lava floor.
Students must climb through a tunnel to enter the Volcano Land where they navigate the lava floor by answering questions. The questions were all related to one of their power standards, the essential Missouri Learning Standards that students must master at their grade level to be ready for the next grade.
“All standards matter, but these standards are our main focus to ensure students are prepared for next year,” said Cary Sikes, data-driven instructional specialist. “This is a fantastic student engagement project that shows Mrs. Johnson’s incredible creativity and the students' hard work.”
Kindergartners answered simple math questions to earn a spot on the lava. The different color safe spots in the lava correspond to different point levels. This meant the students had to relate the colors to numbers and remember which numbers earned the most points.
This classroom transformation encouraged significant practice of essential standards and focused work in Response to Intervention (RtI) leading up to the activity, ensuring students were ready to compete in the game's academic challenges.
