The goal of The Flagway™ Game is to create environments where students can practice and celebrate learning math. There are many different ways to create a cultural context in which mathematics emerges naturally from students’ experience. One method used by the YPP and the Algebra Project is to create mathematically rich games and experiences. The FlagwayGame was developed by Bob Moses in 1995 and patented in 1996 (Moses, U.S. Pat #5520542 & 5704790). 

THE GAME

Flagway™ is a game that is played with 5th - 8th graders. During game play students navigate a Flagway or course of radial “paths” based on the Flagway rules (derived from the “Mobius” Function). Speed counts, so as students develop into skilled players several may be running through the course simultaneously, creating dynamics similar to that of a sporting event. Part of the beauty of Flagway is that students can play the game without knowing the rules, allowing all students access to the game and the underlying mathematical principles. 

LEARNING GOALS & PRINCIPLES

Research indicates that students performing in the bottom quartile begin a descent from mathematical competency somewhere around Grades 3 and 4. The addition and subtraction of whole numbers seems to be a manageable conceptual task, but the beginnings of multiplication, culminating in division and the arithmetic of fractions, seem to be the Rubicon for this population of students. 

Cognitive science recognizes two basic mechanisms of memory acquisition: repetition and elaboration. Repetition, the most frequently used method for acquiring multiplication facts in young children, as an empirical matter, has not succeeded with this population of students. Elaboration, as a mode of memory acquisition, is why we remember stories for years but a phone number for only minutes after we first hear it.

Flagway™ constructs a meaningful elaboration upon basic number facts by incorporating those facts into a game where students guess, conjecture, reflect on the options in the game, and also tie these mental operations into the kinesthetics of running the patterned network of the game. YPP has created board games and physical games that capitalize on young students’ propensity for running, the galvanizing energy of team competition, and the intrinsic sense of achievement when the team has figured out the correct category for a given number.

OUR VISION FOR THE NATIONAL FLAGWAY LEAGUE

Our vision is that the tournament becomes an annual event and that young people and
communities begin to relate to FlagwayTM as a sport. The FlagwayTM games combine speed,
athleticism, precision, with mastery of mathematics. FlagwayTM has the same elements that
most sports have: running, scoring points, teamwork, coaching, training, competition,
collaboration, and fun. Because of this, people of all ages are naturally attracted to the game. To
be good at FlagwayTM however, also requires mastery of mathematics. We envision that
FlagwayTM will target students who typically are not recognized for mathematical achievement
and will provide a vehicle for them to shine in this arena.

Through their engagement in the National FlagwayTM Tournament students and community
members will develop a sense of being part of something big and important. As the students
and their parents begin to feel that they are part of a bigger picture, they will become more
engaged, leading to larger local competitions and community involvement. We want parents
and communities to celebrate their children for doing math in the same way that they celebrate
and organize around their children to do football, basketball, baseball, and soccer.

The primary objective of the concept of The Flagway™ League in cities and communities around the country, is to create opportunities for teams, coached by high school and college students, to compete locally, regionally and nationally. Schools, churches, community based organizations and centers are invited to enter teams into the national tournament once they have completed a flagway training, lead by YPP and a course of local practice sessions.