West End Elementary School second and third grade Math AIS classes created snowman glyphs to design winter themed symbolic representations showing the importance of numbers in their lives. Glyphs are pictures that communicate ideas and stories.

Each unique snowman’s different colored scarves, hats, buttons, noses, and eyes tells the story of the student who created it. The display of snowman glyphs includes a key to identify the meaning of each glyph. For example, the snowmen’s eye colors indicate the number of siblings the student who designed it has in his or her family. The styles and colors of the hats symbolize the months of the students’ birthdays. Using the glyph key, an observer can also learn how many, and which kind of pets each student has, how many syllables are in their names, or how they travel to school each day.

Many other interesting facts about some of the West End students can be uncovered by reading the glyphs on display outside the Math AIS classroom. Symbolically telling stories and using the key for clues to learn more about classmates was a great way for students to use critical thinking skills and have some winter themed fun!