iLearn Technology

Make 5

What it is: Make 5 is a fun interactive tic-tac-toe type game (it actually reminds me of Connect 4) that I learned about this morning on Twitter from @annemarie80. This game is a great way for students to practice math facts and to recognize relationships between numbers. Students are given a target number, they choose an equation on the grid that equals the target number. The goal of the game is to get 5 squares on the grid in a row in the least number of tries. The game has several play options; students can play the game with one or two players, set up the game to get 5 or 3 in a row, and can play to practice addition, subtraction, or multiplication. How to integrate Make 5 into the classroom: Make 5 is an excellent little game that students can play to practice math facts. Use Make 5 as a math center on the classroom computers. Students can visit the center in groups of two and play the game together. In the computer lab setting, students can play Make 5 individually. Make 5 would be a fun whole class game using an interactive whiteboard. Split the math class into two teams. Students take turns coming to the board as representatives of their team. Give teams 30 seconds to plan their move before sending up their representative. Make sure that every student has the opportunity to be at the board (you may have to play more than once). Tips: Send this site home to parents, this is a great way for students to practice their math facts at home, too! Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Make 5 in your classroom. // //

Wix

Posted by admin | Posted in Blogs, Fun & Games, Middle/High School, Primary Elementary, Secondary Elementary, Teacher Resources, Web2.0, Websites | Posted on 09-07-2008

Tags: Blogs, classroom, communication, school, students, teacher, teacher websites, tenkely, Websites, wix

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What it is: Okay, if you have shied away from creating your own classroom website in the past, today is the day to take a deep breath and plunge in. Wix is the most amazing online website builder I have ever seen. Why is it so amazing? 1) It is simple to use and learn, you truly don’t have to know anything about website development. 2) It produces amazing results with a small amount of effort, I am really blown away by the possibilities here. 3) The sign up process is completely painless. 4) You have an unbelievable amount of control when you are feeling creative (still extremely easy!). 5) It is free, and what could be better than free for a teacher?! 6) It is web-based which means that you can update your website from anywhere. I could go on and on about Wix. I put it in my list of sites to visit this week when I ran across it and I am so glad I came back to it today while I was waiting for computers to clone…it made my day (maybe even my week!)

How to integrate Wix into the classroom: Well, if you haven’t already guessed by the description above, Wix is the perfect tool to use to create a classroom website for your students. Post classroom rules, homework assignments, links for your students, units you are working on, school information, parent newsletters, etc. Wix is also a great place for your students to create a website. They will go nuts with this (trust me!), Wix is one of those assignments they will continue to work on at home without being asked! Instead of having students display knowledge of a subject in traditional ways, invite them to create a website about it where they can be the classroom “expert” on the subject. Be sure to ask your students what non-school websites they are creating too (I know from experience they will take off with this!) you will get to know your students more personally by viewing websites that they create both in and out of class. You could also create Wix websites as a class if you have limited computer use. Have your students prepare a website to teach other classes about a subject that they have been studying.

Tips: I created a website using Wix today from sign up to publish it took me a total of 5 min. Seriously! I have never used this program before, that is how easy it is to use. Take a look at my site and see what you think: www.wix.com/ktenkely/ilearntechnology.

Leave a comment and share how amazed you are with Wix.