An M&M Minefield

One of the funnest math lessons that we do every year in 2nd grade is learning about graphing using M&M's.  The kids really love it.  They get very excited about eating the M&M's, but they also get excited about the math.  Here's what today's lesson entailed for my kiddos:

-Estimate the number of M&M's in your dixie cup.

-Count the number of M&M's in your dixie cup.

-Determine the difference between your estimate and the actual number of M&M's.

-Spill some of your M&M's on the floor and then proceed to ground them into the carpet before you bother to pick them up.

-Determine the number of each M&M's of each color set.

-Use <, >, and = to compare the color sets of M&M's.


-Sneak a few of the M&M's though you're not supposed to eat them yet, and try to fool the teacher....oops, that didn't work.


-Cry when the teacher takes your cup of M&M's away.

-Find the sum of 2 color groups of M&M's (that's the answer to an addition problem for those of you who have forgotten your 2nd grade math vocabulary...I know you're out there.)

-Put the M&M's into different skip-counting groups of 2's, 4's, 5's, etc. and see how many groups they make.


-Profess your undying love for the teacher and that you will never again fail to follow directions regarding eating M&M's before you're instructed to, even though they smell so good that you feel you can't help but sneak a few.


-Cry again when the teacher doesn't fall for your fake sincerity.

-Create a graph of the different M&M colors.

-Watch your friends get to Eat the M&M's.


-Give your teacher a big hug when she gives you back your cup of M&Ms to finish the worksheet, and to eat.

There really was some math in there, I promise.

So for the kids, it was a fun lesson.
For me, it was torture.

As soon as I started pouring the M&M's into the cups, I knew I was going to be a gonner.  The sweet, heavenly aroma of chocolate surrounded by a thin candy shell wafted gently in the air as I passed from desk to desk helping kiddos remember what greater than, and less than means.

Thankfully, I had prepared.
I was a Girl Scout long ago, afterall.

When I stopped at the grocery store this morning to buy the M&M's, I also bought a bag of Weight Watchers chocolates just for me.  I knew that if I didn't have any chocolate I would totally cave and eat the M&M's by the cupful.  So I bought some chocolate that I could have, and I also bought a big ol' pack of sugar free gum.  As soon as the chocolately delicious odor began slinking its way through the room and to my poor, overactive olfactory senses, I ate a WW chocolate and popped in a stick of gum.

The kids are starting to get used to seeing me chew gum at school.  At first I felt bad about it, because they're not allowed to have gum at school, and they called me on it.  But, they're also not allowed to bring a soda, and I proudly drink that everyday.  I once had a kid ask me why I got to drink soda when they couldn't.  I told him that as soon as he got his bachelor's degree and became a teacher, he could bring all the soda he wanted to school.  Until then, it would be a coveted privilege that I wasn't going to share.  He gave me a funny look and went back to reading his book.  So now I take this same approach with chewing gum in front of the kids.  I don't do it all that often, but if I need a piece of gum to keep me from making choices that could hurt me (and I mean I NEEDED a piece of gum today), then I am not going to feel bad about doing it.

So my gum saved me.
The Weight Watchers chocolate also saved me too.  I didn't feel deprived.  In fact, I didn't deprive myself at all.  I allowed myself to eat as many WW candies as I wanted, as long as I stayed within my points.  And now, I'm actually paying for it, or at least my intestines are.

WW candy, like all sugar free candy, is made from sugar alcohols.  If you read the back of the package there is a warning, "Consuming too many may cause laxative effect."  Ooops.  I really felt bad for those poor people at the gym who were next to me on the elliptical machines because I had my headphones on and was watching my show and didn't care one bit about letting it all out as it came.  It's no wonder then that by the time I was done I was the only one left on the row of machines I was using.  I think it was just a coincidence, but it sure was a funny one.

So I got through the M&M day.  They melted neither in my mouth, nor in my hand.  And I have the bloated, gassy belly to prove it.