Tag: mathematics

Math Glossary

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Math Glossary2617 views

 

What it is:   I am on a little bit of a math resource kick.  It happens from time to time when someone asks about a resource for a particular project they are working on.  I get searching and find outstanding resources for whatever the subject is.  This week I was on a math quest.  Math Glossary is one of my great finds of the week.  This glossary, created by Harcourt, will help students in grades kindergarten through sixth understand math vocabulary.  The glossary is easily searched by grade and alphabetic order.  The glossary doesn’t just define math vocabulary for students, it shows them what it looks like!  Each word and definition can be read to students by clicking on the speaker icon next to the word.  

 

How to integrate Math Glossary into the classroom:  Math Glossary is the perfect place for students to learn and discover math vocabulary.  The visual representation is especially perfect for your visual learners.  Use the Math Glossary as a beginning place to introduce math concepts.  Students can look up key vocabulary for the new math concept in the Math Glossary.  Have them describe what they are seeing.  Having a good base to build on makes all the difference!  Keep the Math Glossary up on one of the classroom computers during math class as a math resource center.  Students can use the Math Glossary as they need during math class.  

 

Tips: Bookmark the Math Glossary on your class computers for easy access for students.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Math Glossary in your classroom.

Math Playground

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Math Playground2409 views

What it is:   As promised yesterday, today’s post is all about Math Playground.  This is a great site packed full of games, videos, and puzzles all centered around math for elementary and middle school students.  Math Playground features some great games touching on topics from money to graphing.  The games are interactive and a fun place for students to practice those math concepts they are learning.  The word problem sections are divided up by grade level, ensuring that your students are challenged at an appropriate level.  The logic puzzle section contains some awesome online traditional logic puzzles (I love these!).  The Math video section contains videos introducing students to math concepts (all I have used are very good).  The Math Videos are generated after students submit a math question to be answered.  Students can ask their own math question…who knows, their question may generate the next Math Video!

 

How to integrate Math Playground into the classroom:  The more I use Math Playground with my students, the more I am convinced that no math class should be without it!  Use the Math videos to help introduce or review concepts with your math class.  Use the games and word problems as a center or whole class practice.  The logic puzzles are fun to bookmark for year round problem solving and playing.  We use the logic puzzles often on snow days or when students are finished with work early.  Your students will enjoy the activities on Math Playground, my students often come to tell me the latest game or puzzle that they played at home.  Voluntary math practice, what a concept!

 

Tips:  Math Playground usually has one banner advertisement.  As I have mentioned before, I use advertisements on websites to teach students about how to spot an ad and why sites feature ads.  

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Math Playground in your classroom.

Math TV

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Math TV2563 views

 

What it is:  Math TV is a series of video word problems for math.  Each math problem comes with a step by step video solution, follow up problems, an online calculator, and sketch pad.  Word problems include topics such as fractions, percentages, ratios, probability, geometry, averages, and algebra.  I would have been a completely different kind of math student if I had tools like this one in school.  I could solve a math problem without any trouble but a word problem was a different story all together.  I think for the majority of students, word problems are a source of anxiety and frustration.  Math TV is an incredible solution, it is perfect for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners.  You can’t go wrong!

 

How to integrate Math TV into the classroom:  Math TV is the perfect way to teach your students the method for solving both simple and complex word problems.  Use the videos for whole class instruction with a projector (an interactive whiteboard would also be great for the problem solving portion but is not necessary).  The videos are also perfect for individual student practice.  Set up Math TV on a classroom computer to reinforce the math skills being practiced in class.  Each student (or group of students) can take turns at the Math TV center to solve the problem.  Come back together as  a class after each student has had a chance to solve, and go through the problem together.  I love the interactivity of this tool and the ability to reach multiple learning styles which can be difficult in a math class.  As an alternative to the traditional math homework, assign a Math TV episode for your students to watch and solve.  

 

Tips:  The Math TV videos are a part of a larger math site called Math Playground.  Because the site is so comprehensive, I’ll be breaking it down into a few separate posts.  Stay tuned for other math videos, math games, word problems, and more!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Math TV in your classroom.

Count Us In

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Count Us In1745 views


What it is: Count Us In is a fun basic math skill site with 15 interactive games that teach kids basic math skills. These include counting, patterning, counting, ordinal numbers, representing number with words, addition, subtraction, sorting and grouping, time, numbers, chance, halves, length, and volume. The flash based games can be played online or downloaded to a Mac or PC for offline play.

How to integrate Count Us In into the classroom:
These are great games to teach kids basic math concepts. The site is good for individual use in a computer lab, or center group use in a classroom setting. Students can work at their own level, going onto the next game after they have mastered one. The games can be used to help teach concepts or as review and practice for math skills. The site is best for k-1 students or struggling math students in second grade. The site is also perfect for an interactive whiteboard. Call students up to the board to interact with the games individually or split your class into teams to play the games.

Tips: Visit the “other activities” section of the Count Us In website for some great teacher resources including well thought out activities to use with the games on the website.

Leave a comment and share how you are using Count Us In in your classroom.

GeoGebra

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on GeoGebra2012 views

 

What it is: I’m not generally one to get excited about math especially algebra, geometry, and *uggh* calculus. But, I think if I had access to a tool like GeoGebra I might have enjoyed them (or at least understood them) more. GeoGebra is a free dynamic geometry system that lets students complete constructions with points, vectors, segments, lines, conic sections, and functions and change them dynamically afterward. Equations and coordinates can also be entered directly; this means that GeoGebra has the ability to deal with variables for numbers, vectors and points, finds derivatives and integrals of functions and offers commands like Root or Extremum. (If you didn’t catch that you are not a high school math teacher *wink*). If you are a high school or college math teacher or know someone who is…that description just made you feel a little excited. GeoGebra is a free multi-platform download.

How to integrate GeoGebra into your curriculum: Use GeoGebra to help your students understand complicated or abstract math concepts. This software is amazing for your visual learners…again a reason this should have existed when I was in school! Allow your students to explore math concepts with this software and to practice their learning. You can also use GeoGebra to create dynamic math worksheets for your students. Very cool!

Tips: Make sure to check out the examples section for some great GeoGebra uses. You can also attend free online workshops to learn how to use GeoGebra. For some great ideas and further explanation of GeoGebra check them out on Wikipedia.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using GeoGebra in your classroom.

Math Magician

Kelly Tenkely2 Comments on Math Magician2241 views

 

What it is: After playing against other students on the World Math Day site my students were asking where else they could play similar games when World Math Day was over (students asking to play math games…gotta love that!) I did a basic Google search to see if I could find something similar and came across Math Magician. My students loved racing against the clock on this very basic math fact site. The students can choose from two levels and choose to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication or a mix. They had a great time racing against each other in class to see who could finish each set of facts the fastest. This is a good basic site to practice those math facts.

How to integrate Math Magician into your curriculum: Math Magician can be set up as a math practice center in the one or two classroom or played individually in the computer lab setting. We set up a Math Olympics where the students had some practice time and then raced against each other for the gold, silver, and bronze medals.

Tips: Let parents know about the Math Magician site, they are always eager for an alternative to practicing with the traditional flash cards!

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Math Magician in your classroom.