McKinley’s Immersive Storytelling Academy: Math in Action

Article and Photos courtesy of McKINLEY SCHOOL OCTOBER 20, 2025

At McKinley Elementary School, students in the Immersive Storytelling Academy are engaging in a dynamic approach to mathematics that combines creativity with critical thinking. Through hands-on activities and collaborative group work, students are learning to read, write, and evaluate mathematical expressions in ways that connect directly to real-world problem-solving. This unique program encourages students to see math not as isolated equations, but as part of a broader narrative. By integrating storytelling techniques into their lessons, teachers help students understand how mathematical reasoning can be used to describe situations, explain outcomes, and solve challenges within a story’s context. For example, students might calculate character budgets, determine distances traveled in a plot, or use algebraic expressions to represent decisions made by story protagonists.