Fernando Abárzuza
Do you know the Bmaths? They are the main characters of the Adventures that Innovamat students experience in Elementary school. When classes come with narratives, we are offering two things in one to the students: context and emotion.
The context is fundamental in connecting the concepts worked on in the math classroom, abstract in nature, to real life situations. The emotions give meaning to what has been learned. With these two ingredients, it is easier to achieve the students being able to construct and retain lasting and solid knowledge.
In this way, the Bmaths are in charge of accompanying our students throughout their learning in the Adventures. They are a group with 5 members, Newt, Ada, Gali, Leo and Tina together with their pet Broo. They aren’t very different from the students themselves, they are young, inexperienced, curious and always ready to help others. They have doubts and disagreements, they get upset too, they can be happy, sad, they can laugh and they persevere. The Bmaths act as an example to our students, they are essential for the students to be able to immerse themselves in the story and share the challenges faced with them.
Goodbye Samuel and Martina
The Bmaths have a long story but they don’t show up until 3rd grade. What happened? One of the main bits of news from this year is that the 1st and 2nd grade Adventures will also have the Bmaths as their main characters. So, it’s time to say goodbye to Samuel and Martina, the two close friends who, until now, had filled this role.
Extending the Bmaths’ narrative context to 1st and 2nd grade allows us to unravel some mysteries that, until now had kept students and teachers guessing – How did the characters meet? Where do they come from? What is the meaning behind their existence? We don’t want to spoil the beginning of the series for anyone so we’ll only reveal two details.
Firstly, the fundamental role of Aunt Hypa. This character who up until now had appeared in a few occasions in the plot, is responsible for finding disciples and training them so that they can help others through math. Hypa is a mentor, a guide that supervises and observes our friends from a distance.
Additionally, we should also attribute the genesis of the four fairies or spirits who help and advise our protagonists to Hypa, Solver, Logos, Link and Graf, who personify the mathematical processes of problem solving, reasoning and proof, connections, and communication and representation, respectively. These spirits join the group in all challenges and they are in charge of making sure that no mathematical stone remains unturned in each activity.
More Current Videos
The new videos from lower elementary maintain, more or less, the same structure as the old ones. The first part serves to introduce the narrative and invite the children to immerse themselves in the Adventure. Afterwards the video stops to give way to an introductory activity, often involving movement or objects, and then, resumes to provide context to the main activity, solving the Adventure logbook page. We also want to highlight the importance of the last part of the videos, the challenge wrap up. The students deserve to enjoy the end of the story and finish the math class feeling good and satisfied with the work completed. After all, they enjoy the adventures as much as the Bmaths.
But the narrative news isn’t the only change you’ll find in the 1st and 2nd grade videos. It has been a while since Innovamat’s animation team completed the Samuel and Martina videos so it was time to update the style and technology too. They have included more advanced techniques and engines so the videos are now much more dynamic, realistic and attractive. We are sure you’ll love them!
Laura Pavón
Innovamat
Albert Vilalta