To Market, To Market
February 26, 2004
Santa Cruz, CA — Learning in Motion, Inc. is releasing a new signer version of To Market, To Market for hearing-impaired children! This new version features animated sign language, closed captions, and other visual cues to assist deaf and hard of hearing children in developing their math skills through playing the game.
The new program has been met with enthusiasm in the deaf and hard of hearing educational community. Teachers commented that deaf and hard of hearing students were naturally drawn to the animated signer and thus motivated to play the game.
When tested in a school setting, a group of deaf and hard of hearing students at all initial skill levels improved their math skills through playing the game over a period of two months. They also improved their problem solving strategies by using tools such as grouping, manipulating number lines, redistributing between two sets, and adding or subtracting by 1 or 10 more effectively within the context of each problem.
To Market, To Market builds on a child’s basic ability to compare two objects and guides children through exercises using numbers up to 100. Students work with “big” numbers right away, expanding on their ability to compare and make equal. Gradually, numerals are introduced.
The program does this within the context of students helping whimsical hosts in a marketplace. If needed, the hosts give hints along the way. Each stand presents new challenges with different math tools such as grouping, number lines, dragging and dropping, and adding or subtracting by 1 or 10.
To Market, To Market is based on research on children’s learning. Motivation and rewards are built into the program to keep children advancing. In addition to encouragement from the host characters, when students reach a certain level, they can make and publish their own mathematical “video-stories.”
Butterfly’s Stand
 | Ms. Butterfly invites children to compare sets of objects and tell which has more. Students do not need numerals to solve the problems—they solve them visually. |
Dragonfly’s Stand
Mr. Dragonfly challenges children to work with two sets to make them equal, or make one set more or less. Children use grouping tools, add or subtract tools, and dragging and dropping to redistribute the objects. This stand requires students to use mathematical representations to solve the problems. |
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Ollie’s Stand
 | Ollie the Octopus asks children to assist customers who want to make a purchase equal to or greater than/less than a previous purchase. This type of problem leads to a single right answer, but many ways to solve it. Students can demonstrate different strategies to find the solution. |
Jamal’s Movie Studio
Jamal’s Movie Production Studio allows students to create their own mathematical stories. They use Magic Math Machines and characters like Ms. Butterfly to create movies, which are shared in the Viewing Stage. |
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With this new software, pre-k through 3rd grade students, including the deaf and hard of hearing, can have fun practicing mathematics in an interesting and imaginative setting.
For more information on To Market, To Market, see About To Market, To Market, or contact us at (800) 560-5670.
New from the developers of the award-winning Piggy in Numberland, this software title teaches children about number sense. Students visit open-air market stands where they compare amounts of items being sold, recognize patterns, and learn to use number lines and operational symbols.
As children play the activities, they are rewarded with Magic Math Machines to use at a special movie production stand. Students can create their own movies involving math and grouping. These movies can then be saved or shared with other students at the market’s Movie House stand. Kid-testers loved this reward system!
—Jinny Gudmundsen for Computing with Kids (http://www.ComputingWithKids.com)
The activities included in the software are engaging and entertaining. The program is designed to build on children’s intuitions about the nature of number. This reflects what mathematics educators and researchers have learned about how children construct concepts of number.
...The guide of “To Market, To Market” contains valuable information for teachers. ...
I particularly appreciated the chart showing how the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards and principles are addressed by various games in the program. A matrix of specific concepts and skills matched with games and levels of games allows teachers to direct students to appropriate places for students to work.
—Dr. Cindia Stewart reviewing in March 2001 for Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media
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