O.R.E.O. Project takes learning to the next level for pre-k students

DAINGERFIELD – Since 1999, students around the world have taken part in the O.R.E.O. Project, which stands for “Our Really Exciting Online Project.” Since 2000, students in Mrs. Pam Spann’s classes have been a part of the project.

Jennifer Wagner, a teacher in Southern California, has hosted the project since 1999. According to Spann, students from all 50 states, as well as many Canadian provinces and other countries, participate in the program. This year, Spann’s pre-kindergarten classes took part in the project.

The purpose of the project is to help reinforce math skills in the classroom. According to the project’s website, the project can aid in hand-eye coordination, simple and complex math skills, collaboration, and more.

“Each student, and any others who wish to be involved, will have one or two chances to stack as many Oreos as they can,” says Spann. “After every participant has recorded their stack counts, we will take everyone’s highest count and average them together for one class average.”

There are rules that participants have to follow when taking part in the project, including the following: only using one hand to stack the cookies and not being able to move or stabilize a cookie once it has been placed.

Once all participants have their opportunities, Spann and other participating teachers take the highest for each participant and use it to find the class average, which is submitted online for the project.