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Living Math Book List: Fiction for (almost) every math concept

January 3, 2012January 3, 2012Kelly Tenkely1 Comment4633 views

Happy New Year!! You may have noticed…I took a tech break for the holidays! There may not have been an abundance of posts and sharing happening, but I was still collecting away and have more resources than ever to share in 2012. Thank you all for making my 2011 such a wonderful year to be a part of!

What it is: You know what I love? Reading and books. Particularly fiction. Living Math Book List is a fantastic site that introduces books (mostly fiction) for every math concept (okay, almost every math concept!). The site is SO easy to use, just click on the “Search categories” tab and choose the math topic your students are working on. A list of books with links to Amazon is at the ready. The site is being updated regularly so new books pop into the different categories on occasion. Isn’t it great to stumble on a new jem-of-a-book that you can use in your classroom? I love teaching through story, and Living Math Book List makes it easy to bring stories into your math class. Including books in math gives students who struggle with math concepts a new vantage point and understanding. It makes math meaningful by showing students why they learn the math concepts they do and how math really is all around us. You have to love that! Topics include: addition, angles, area, calendars, capacity, combinations, comparisons, counting, skip counting, data collection, division, doubling numbers, equal sets, equations, estimation, even/odd, fractions, graphing, making predictions, matching, measurement, metrics, money, multiplication, negative numbers, opposites, ordinal numbers, patterns, percentages, perimeter, place value, positional words, probability, problem solving, proportions, ratio, reading a schedule, regrouping, rounding, sequences, shapes, sizes, sorting, subtraction, symmetry, time, and weight. So yeah, something for everyone!

How to integrate Living Math Book List into the classroom: As I said, I am a big fan of reading and books. Any time you can tie learning back to story is a win in my book. Use the books you find on Living Math Book List to introduce new concepts, to enrich students interaction with a concept, as a launching point for writing their own math-related fiction, or just to expose students to a new way of thinking about the math they are learning. The books make a great classroom read-aloud or can be used as a math center during a unit.

At Anastasis Academy, we made sure to have plenty of these types of math books available to students during silent reading. They really enjoy reading them with a partner and pointing out the math concepts they recognize along the way.

Tips: Embed the link to Living Math Book List on your class website or blog, this will make it easy for you, and your students, to find math-related books any time.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Living Book List in your classroom!

Sumdog: Fun Math Practice Games

October 6, 2010Kelly Tenkely2 Comments4803 views

What it is: Sumdog math is a site with an outstanding collection of math games covering over 100 numeracy topics and split into 10 levels. The games are free to play for home and school math practice. Sumdog games can be used as an engaging anticipatory set for mental math, or to reinforce a specific math topic. The games can be played individually or in multi-player mode. Teachers can create school accounts and upload classes to the program. For a low-cost school subscription you can also have detailed class and student reports, set up class competitions, and set a minimum level for a class. The free features of this site are more than enough to get your class having fun interacting with math. With 100 numeracy topics, you are bound to find games to help your students practice exactly the skill they are working on. Topics range from ordering numbers, addition, subtraction, doubling, rounding, multiplication, and division, to positive and negative numbers, advanced number sequences, prime numbers, and adding and subtracting negative numbers. Each game asks targeted questions based on the level chosen, provides immediate feedback to students based on their answers, allows students to review any questions they got wrong and lasts about a minute. Multi-player games let students compete against their class or students online worldwide, and provide an option for playing solo or against the computer. Students can play athletics where they sprint against players worldwide to get the most questions correct; Street Racer where they are head to head in a car race against other players to cross the finish line first, Alien Invaders where students compete against another player to see who can survive the longest against alien invasion; Penalty Shootout where students compete against another player in a soccer penalty shootout of math questions; Tennis Tie-break where students trade volleys with a real opponent; Talent Show where they answer questions correctly to please judges in a talent show (think American Idol); or Canal Clear Up where students clean up trash from a canal by matching questions to answers.

How to integrate Sumdog into your curriculum: Sumdog is a fun way for your students to practice mental math. The 60 second time limit of each game makes it a great math center activity. If you have one or two computers in your classroom, students can sign into their account, choose their level and practice mental math for 60 seconds; when they are finished with the game, the next student can rotate into the center. In a computer lab or 1-to-1 classroom setting, students can save and track their progress as they practice with a variety of games. Sumdog is a welcome break from timed worksheet exercises and flash cards. It lets students compete with kids around the world in a safe environment while helping them with faster number recall.

Tips: Don’t forget to tell parents about Sumdog, they are always looking for new ways to help their kids with math fact practice.

Please leave a comment and share how you are using Sumdog in your classroom!

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Number Nut

June 19, 2009Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment2111 views

What it is: Number Nut is a site all about math. I love their catch phrase: “enough math can make anyone nutty”. This site certainly has enough math for that! Topics on Number Nut include: shapes and colors, numbers and counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, order of operations, dates and times, fractions, decimals, percent values, estimation and rounding, ratios, and money math. There is something for every math class here! Each topic gives an overview of the math concept (kind of like the break down students would find at the beginning of a new math chapter). This is followed by two interactives where students can practice their new found knowledge. Number Nut is standard aligned and has a great math glossary.

How to integrate Number Nut into the classroom: Number Nut is truly like an interactive math textbook, there are multiple pages for each concept and each page is followed by two interactive practice areas. I love this as an alternative to math textbooks because students get immediate feedback as they work. They know whether they have mastered the concept or need to keep working at it. With traditional math textbooks, a student doesn’t know if they understand a concept until they turn in their math worksheet and get it back a few days later full of red marks. Number Nut is good for teaching new math concepts on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Students can read along as you explain and demonstrate new math concepts. Then, students can practice on their own. Ideally, Number Nut would be used in a computer lab setting where every student is using a computer. This would allow students to work at their own pace and on the skills they need the most practice on. Number Nut could also be used as a math center where students take turns visiting and solving problems.

Tips: I learned about Number Nut from a tweet by @kellyhines she is full of great classroom resources and one of my favorite education follows! Number Nut does require flash so make sure that you have the appropriate flash plugins before using this site with your class.

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

ict Numeracy Games

August 25, 2008Kelly TenkelyLeave a Comment1902 views

What it is: ict Numeracy Games are created by educator James Barrett. These flash games are excellent for primary and beginning secondary elementary students to practice math. You will find game themes for number facts, counting, bridging through ten, time, shape and measures, greater than and less than, multiplication and rounding, money (this is UK money), addition, subtraction, odd and even, place values, doubles, and equivalence. Each math or numeracy theme has several games to play for practice. Each is interactive and has instructions for integrating the game into the classroom. All great ideas!

How to integrate ict Numeracy Games into the classroom: The ict Numeracy Games are perfect for use with an interactive whiteboard or projector and whole class instruction. Several of the games are also great practice for students working on individual computers. The games are all very engaging. They teach and provide practice for basic math skills. This is a great stop when you are looking for an interactive activity to practice a math concept. The descriptions next to the game are very helpful and you are bound to find new ideas for integrating technology into your classroom.

Tips: There are advertisements on this site but they are unobtrusive, your students probably won’t even notice. The games are high quality enough that this shouldn’t be a deterrent.

Leave a comment and share how you are using ict Numeracy Games in your classroom.