Tag: maths

Collection of Math Flash Games

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What it is:  This collection of Math Flash Games is free to download or use the source code to embed the games on your website.  The collection of Math Flash Games includes Maths Hangman where students guess the math words before kicking the bucket, Mathionaire where students play the popular TV game with math questions, Higher or Lower where students use knowledge of probability, Countdown-a popular number and letter game, Numbers and Letters- another version of countdown with extra classroom controls, Maths Word Search where students hunt for hidden math words, Decanting puzzle -the classic jugs problem, Broken Calculator which challenges students to solve a problem with a broken calculator, Matching Game- memory matching up geometric shape and their names, and Hexagons where students put seven hexagons together like dominoes.

How to integrate Collection of Math Flash Games into the classroom:  This collection of Math Flash Games is perfect for use with an interactive whiteboard, set up as a classroom math center, or played individually by students in a computer lab setting.  The games will emphasize math vocabulary, problem solving skills, and several math concepts.  Split students into teams and play games as a whole class using the interactive whiteboard.  Embed games in your classroom website for students to play at school and at home.  Hold a math challenge once a week where students can compete and play these Math Flash Games.

 

Tips:  All of the games in the Math Flash Games collection are free to download and play.  Every game requires a flash player.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Collection of Math Flash Games in your classroom.

Illuminations Resources for Teaching Math

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What it is: Illuminations Resources for Teaching Math is a gold mine of interactive activities for the math classroom. The site has over 100 interactive math activities for teaching and practicing math in kindergarten through twelfth grades.  These are high quality games, interactives, and simulations for the math classroom.  You are sure to find something to use in your math class that will increase understanding!

How to integrate Illuminations Resources for Teaching Math into the classroom:  This site is ideal for use with an interactive whiteboard in the math classroom.  The activities help students understand concepts that can be difficult by inviting them to interact with the concept.  If you don’t have access to an interactive whiteboard, you can demonstrate math concepts from a teacher computer connected to a projector.  Students can practice and interact with concepts on classroom computers set up as a math center or individually in the computer lab setting.  

 

Tips:  To narrow the list of activities, choose a grade level to narrow activity results.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Illuminations Resources for Teaching Math in your classroom.

Learning Clip

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Learning Clip2661 views

 

What it is:  Learning Clip is a site that I reviewed in Nov. 2008 that I took another look at today and was even MORE impressed than I remembered being the first time I saw it.  Learning Clip is a collection of interactive whiteboard resources for primary math.  Resources and activities include topics such as: using and applying math, understanding numbers, number facts, calculating, understanding shape, measuring, and handling data.  Each activity is interactive and encourages students involvement and discovery in math.  Each activity comes with a brief description of the activity, a pdf of notes that accompany the activity, the age appropriateness, and a corresponding worksheet that can be printed out.  Each topic has several sub-topics and each sub-topic has several interactive activities.  When an activity is loaded, a video clip explaining the math concept will play.  Each activity includes a game or interactive activity space for students to practice what they are learning.

How to integrate Learning Clip into the classroom:  Learning Clip is an outstanding resource for interactive math activities!  The video clips help students understand the math concept that can be practiced in an interactive environment.  This site is perfect for use with an interactive whiteboard and whole class or small group instruction.  Students can take turns interacting with the content to strengthen understanding of math concepts.  Learning clip could also be successfully used in a computer lab or on classroom computers for individual student learning and practice.  One thing that Learning Clip has added since I visited last is the ability to choose what currency you would like students to practice with in the Money activities.  This site was created in the UK so this feature makes it very user friendly for us Yanks. 🙂    The activities are all wonderful!

 

Tips:  Registration is required but it is free.  If you create a username and password, consider creating one that is class friendly.  This way if you do decide to use the activities in the lab setting, students will be able to logon and access activities easily.

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Learning Clip in your classroom.

TutPup

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on TutPup2212 views

 

What it is:   TutPup is an outstanding, free math and spelling practice website.  At TutPup students can compete in fun, educational games against kids from all over the world live.  The site reminds me a lot of the World Math Day competition.  Students are matched up with other students from around the world where they play fact games and compete in real time to see who best knows their stuff.  I love that TutPup is available to students all year long (unlike the World Math Day site), it doesn’t collect personal information about students, and there are several games to choose from each with multiple levels.  TutPup helps students build math skills in the areas of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, algebra, and a mixture of those skills.  TutPup also helps students build spelling skills with a spelling game, students listen to a word and have to spell it before their opponent.  The site is highly motivating, takes into account different learning levels, and builds a variety of skills.

How to integrate TutPup into the classroom: My students absolutely love this website.  Any time they can take part in a little friendly competition they are ready to compete.  The great thing about TutPup is that it can be differentiated for your different levels of learners.  Each student can play games at their own ability level.  This keeps the lower math students engaged and feeling successful and the higher level students challenged enough to hold their interest.  These types of sites have my students asking, “can I play this game at home too?”   When have you ever had a student ask if they could practice math or spelling facts at home?!  They truly love the competition of this site and get the added benefit of increasing their math fact recall skills.  Use TutPup as a math center in the classroom where students can practice math facts, or a practice center in the literacy block for additional spelling practice.  This is also a fun whole class activity with an interactive whiteboard or projector, students can call out the answers to the questions as a class for the teacher to enter.  You won’t have to assign this site for homework, students will ask to play from home.  Tell parents about this site as an alternative to flash card math fact practice.  

 

Tips:  TutPup offers teacher accounts and student accounts for free.  However, right now their are no available login ID’s.  I contacted TutPup about this dilemma and they are working on a solution.  In the mean time, students can access all the games as a guest player.  I’ll update this post when TutPup has solved the registration issues. 

 

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

Ideas to Inspire

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Ideas to Inspire2648 views

 

What it is:  Ideas to Inspire is a truly wonderful site and wealth of resources for teachers.  On this site you will find a collection of Google Doc presentations that include a number of ideas for engaging lesson activities in a variety of curriculum areas.  The collection comes from inspiring teachers from around the world.  You can find Ideas to Inspire on Writing, Interactive Math, Incredible Science, Amazing Art, Marvelous Music, and learn interesting ways to use Google Docs, Pocket Video Cameras, Interactive Whiteboards, Google Earth, Twitter, Netbooks, Webcams, and Visualizers.  Ideas to Inspire also has great tips for non-techy teachers (I remember being one of those once-upon-a-time).  Ideas to Inspire is very easy to navigate and each presentation is jam packed with truly inspiring ideas.

How to integrate Ideas to Inspire into the classroom: It happens to the best of us, we get settled in our ways and fall into a teaching slump where we can’t come up with a creative lesson idea to save our lives.  Sound familiar?  Ideas to Inspire is the place to go, here you will find inspiration, helpful tips, and get those creative juices flowing again!  Take a few minutes and look through some of the presentations, you will be happy you did. 🙂

 

Tips:  This is my last post for the day, head over to Ideas to Inspire and be inspired today!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Ideas to Inspire in your classroom.

Toy Theater

Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment on Toy Theater3394 views

 

What it is: Toy Theater is a fun place for students to practice math, reading, art, and music through puzzle type games.  Toy Theater encourages students in k-4 to get their problem solving brain cells working as they explore and discover the games in Toy Theater.  In the art section, students can animate their own cartoon character, put on a puppet show, or make a Matisse.  In the music section, students can make music with the Composer, interact with notes with The Music Maker, or go on a pounding mission with the Drum Beats, you will have miniature maestros in no time.  In Math students can practice math facts with flippy flashcards, or feeding Freddy, and take a math practice test to put those math skills to the test.  In the reading section students can enjoy a good joke, play with words with a sliding crossword puzzle (highly entertaining for teachers too), write their own road sign, or practice their typing skills.  In the puzzle section students brains gt put to the limit with tic tac toe and memory games.  In the playset section, students can create their very own virtual diorama about cars, sea creatures, plant, insects, ships, characters, aircraft, blocks, dinosaurs, and buildings.

How to integrate Toy Theater into the classroom: Toy Theater is a great website to use as a learning center in your classroom.  The short, easy to play games are perfect for short center activities.  I love the puzzle type environment that encourages problem solving and bends the brain a little.  The playset universe would be a great section to use with an interactive whiteboard, students could take turns creating a ‘universe’ to showcase learning on a topic such as ocean, plants, insects, dinosaurs, geometry, etc.  Students can work together to show what they know together.  After students create a playset, have them pull out a writing journal and journal about the playset the class created.  Being a computer teacher I am constantly looking for fun ways to let students practice typing skills.  In the read section you will find a game called letter fall, letter blocks fall from the sky, students have to type the letter before 5 blocks can stack up. There are multiple speeds to make the game a challenge for your different typing levels.  In the computer lab setting, see who can last the longest before 5 letter blocks stack up (there is a timer at the bottom of the screen).  

 

Tips:  This is a great site to send your students to when they finish work early and are asking “what can I do now?”  

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Toy Theater  in your classroom.

Number Gym

Kelly Tenkely1 Comment on Number Gym3917 views

Number Gym is math software that can be purchased for the math classroom.  However, they have a number of free online activities (examples of their software) that are perfect in the math classroom.  I want to review each of these freebie mini-math games:

Exploring Fractions

What it is:   Exploring Fractions is an interactive way for students to learn about fractions.  Students see the fractions represented graphically and numerically.  As students change the numerator and denominator of the fraction, they see the graphic change accordingly.

How to integrate Exploring Fractions into the classroom:  Exploring Fractions is a great interactive site to teach your students about fractions.  This is a wonderful website to use with an interactive whiteboard for whole class fraction instruction.  Invite students up to the whiteboard to take turns adjusting the numerator and denominator of the fractions.  Have students observe the graphic changes taking place and describe the changes as a class.  Exploring Fractions is also very useful as a math center on the classroom computers.  As students are learning about fractions, they can visit the computer as a visual manipulation center.

 

Tips:  All parts of the Exploring Fractions website can be hidden (hide the numerator, denominator, or graphic).  This is a nice feature for having students “fill in” the missing information.

 

Mr G’s Place Value Chart

What it is:   Mr G’s Place Value Chart is a great mini-site to teach students about place values.  The chart has a thousands, hundreds, tenths, and ones column.  Students can drag counters up and down the chart to create numbers.  Every portion of the Place Value Chart can be hidden from view depending on what you are using the chart for.

How to integrate Mr G’s Place Value Chart into the classroom:  The Place Value Chart is an excellent visual manipulative to teach students about place value.  Each time a student moves a counter, the number at the top of the screen adjusts accordingly.  Use the Place Value Chart to teach your whole class with an interactive whiteboard.  Call students one at a time to adjust the number with counters.  Encourage students who are at their seats to observe how the numbers change.  Hide the number at the top and have students move counters and say what the number is aloud as a class.  This is also a great mini-site to set up as a math center in the one or two computer classroom.  As students are working on place value, they can visit the math center for a visual manipulative.  

 

Tips:  Hide the columns that are not being used to teach with so students aren’t confused by all the ‘extras’.  

Bond Builder

What it is:   Bond Builder is a mini-game that gives students a ‘dot spotter’ that looks like a dice, students add the numbers on the dot spotter and drag it to the correct sum on a dial.  They are timed as they drag the dot spotter cards to the correct location.

How to integrate Bond Builder into the classroom:  Bond Builder is a fun basic addition or counting reinforcement game. This game could be played as a center activity in the one or two computer classroom or whole class with an interactive whiteboard.  See who can get the fastest time and practice those addition facts at the same time!  

 

Tips:  There are two levels of dot spotters (really just different sets of dot spotter cards).

 

 

Table Extender

What it is:   Table Extender is a multiplication game that gives students a challenging multiplication problem and asks them to drag the problem on top of the correct answer.  Students are timed as they go through the various challenges.

How to integrate Table Extender into the classroom:   Table Extender is a  good way to get students practicing their multiplication.  It makes them think quickly and attempt to beat their own fastest times.  Split students into teams and take turns sending students to the interactive whiteboard to solve the problems.  This mini-game would also make for good practice as a computer center in the classroom.  

 

Tips:  There are three different levels of Table Extender for students to work on.

Getting to Grips with Graphs: Trigonometry

What it is:   Getting to Grips with Graphs: Trigonometry lets students explore the equation y=aSin(bx*+c*) through adjustments to a, b, and c in graphical form.

How to integrate Getting to Grips with Graphs: Trigonometry into the classroom:   This mini-site is a wonderful visual representation of Sin.  Students can adjust a, b, and c and watch the affect of changing numbers on a graph.  Use an interactive whiteboard and call students up to change the values of a, b, and c.  Encourage other students to observe and describe the changes of each value that is adjusted.

 

Tips:  The scale of the graph can be changed to fit your classroom needs.

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Number Gym  in your classroom.

Math Doodles

Kelly Tenkely5 Comments on Math Doodles2656 views

 

What it is:  Math Doodles is a set of math games created by Daren Carstens that help students learn the most important aspect of math…it can be fun!  Daren created Math Doodles as a place where students can “discover the joy, wonder, and fun of mathematics.”  I have to admit that I would not have classified math as a “fun” subject.  However, I think that math can and should be a fun time of exploration and learning for students.  Math Doodles provides this place.  Kids can interact with math by playing games like Connect the Sums, Number Jump, Polyomino Shift, Double Traits, Sums Stacker, Hydro Maze, Time Shuffle, and Angel Fish (coming soon).  These games encourage students to interact with math and learning….and they are a lot of fun too!

How to integrate Math Doodles into the classroom:   Math Doodles is a collection of amazing games for elementary school students.  Students will learn through play (the best way!)  Math Doodles would be an excellent math center in the one or two computer classroom.  Students could play the games in teams or individually.  In the lab setting students could work on skills specific to their individual learning needs in the math classroom.  Math Doodles could also be used with an interactive whiteboard for whole class participation.  Split your class into teams and take turns solving the games.  Math Doodles games would be a fun way to start math class as a pre-thinking activity.  

 

Tips:  Right now Math Doodles games are only available in Demo version (since this version is free to use that suits me well!), but it looks like eventually the full version of each game will be available for purchase. 

 

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

Lure of the Labyrinth

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on Lure of the Labyrinth2482 views

What it is:   Lure of the Labyrinth is a interactive math game created by Fable Vision, MPT, and MIT.  In the game underground monsters come to life as students plunge into a shadowy factory on a mission to rescue a missing pet.  Students take on a monster persona and disguise themselves as monster insiders to maneuver through math problems.  As students work through the game, they will work with proportions, fractions, ratios, variables, equations, numbers, and operations. 

How to integrate Lure of the Labyrinth into the classroom:  Lure of the Labyrinth can be played individually or in team play.  This game is excellent for students who may not otherwise feel successful in math.  The game encourages critical thinking and problem solving and is aligned to math standards.  This would be a great way for students to work through problems and show what they know.

 

Tips:  Be sure to stop off in the educator section on Lure of the Labyrinth for an explanation of the game, lesson plans, standards, and the math behind each puzzle that needs to be solved.  With all of the resources and guidance, this is a fail proof game to introduce in your math class!

 

Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Lure of the Labryinth  in your classroom.

World Math Day 2009

Kelly Tenkely4 Comments on World Math Day 20093670 views

What it is:  World Math Day is March 4, 2009!  If you participated in World Math Day last year with the World Math Day website, you know how motivating and fun it was.  If not, this is your year to join in the fun!  Students play against other students in countries around the world in real time mental arithmetic games.  Each game lasts for 60 seconds.  Students can play as many games as they want to.  When you sign up your class, you will choose the level of difficulty based on age and ability.   World Math Day is best for students who are 5 to 18 years old (k-12!).   There are even prizes awarded including student prizes, and school prizes for highest achievers.  Registration for World Math Day is open (and free), your students can start practicing right now!

 

How to integrate World Math Day into the classroom:  World Math Day was one of the highlights of math class last year.  The students who participated had a great time competing against other students from around the world.  I have never seen students so excited to practice math facts and many asked, “can we do this at home too?”  How often do you get students asking for more math practice at home?!  Get your students excited about competing on March 4 and start practicing now.  If you have one or two computers in the classroom you can set up a training center.  Reserve a computer lab during math class to practice as a class.  You can also split your class into teams of 3 to complete the 60 second games using a projector or interactive whiteboard.  You will not believe how motivating this site is for students!

 

Tips:  This is an amazing development, World Math Day 2009 is available on the iPhone and iPod Touch!!!  Woot, woot! Students can join in the fun of the practice period and work on their skills against other students before the big day. 

 

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