math

Aug

2011

Sunshine Math

A friend of mine told me about Sunshine Math. It is a resource that can be found on the website for Saint Mark Catholic School in Florida. When you click on a grade, it opens a zip file with about 20 different math problem sets. Each problem set has 10 questions, and the questions are marked with stars. The more stars beside the question, the harder it is. The problem sets are not “pretty” – they look as if they were scanned.

I mention this site because I am always looking for good bell ringer questions. These question sets are already labelled with difficulty levels, allowing students some choice as to how much of a challenge they want to tackle. And if you really hate how they look, then you can retype them before use (as I probably will).

Have a great week.

**Sunshine Math worksheets are no longer available on the above link…go here instead.

Jul

2011

A Great Site: Jefferson County Schools

I came across this math website and thought it worthy of sharing. It is the Middle School Math site from Jefferson County Schools in Tennessee. It does have a lot of math resources, but it also includes resources for other curriculum areas, as well.

There are a lot of links here, and I wasn’t quite sure where to explore first. They have links to sites for algebra, geometry, statistics and also general math sites that cover a range of topics. Then there are also various PowerPoint presentations on the main page that go through math topics and are ready to use with your class.

If you scroll down and click on More Math Presentations, you are taken to another page of PowerPoint resources for K-5 and 6-12 in math, language arts, science, social studies, the arts, health, and library. Some of the presentations are very basic, but others have been developed into Jeopardy and other games. While on that page, look over to the right sidebar for the Quick Links. There you will find other goodies, such as the “Daily Dose of Math”, Game Board links, Science Fair resources, Tech Tutorials, a link to their Dynamic Curriculum site (which has even more resources), to name just a few.

I would recommend spending some time to explore this site. I have found many things that I can incorporate into my lessons, and hopefully you will, too.

Update: Unfortunately the links no longer work and the site is now password protected.

Jul

2011

Connecting Math

I am continuously looking for ways to connect math learning meaningful and connected to the outside world. Here are a few resources that I have found along the way:

Real World Math – This site offers ideas for incorporating Google Earth into the math curriculum.

mathalicious – This site strives to provide real-world connections in all areas of math learning

Yummy Math – This site offers various ideas, organized by math strands

Radical Math – A resource to integrate social justice issues into the math classroom

Bowland Maths – A good resource for real world assessment tasks

Jun

2011

Sketch Away

I have not spent much time exploring Geometer’s Sketchpad, and I have put it on this summer’s “to do” list. For those of you who are already using it, here are a few websites to help you along:

The Geometer’s Sketchpad Website This should be your starting point. Offered by the makers of the program, Dynamic Geometry, this site includes information about the program and its use around the world, various classroom ideas, projects, a Sketch Gallery provided by users, links, PD information, and a downloadable how-to guide.

Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board – Provides a variety of Geometer’s Sketchpad resources and lessons for grades 2 through 8 – a great list. It also includes tutorials and information about the program. (Update – link to longer active.)

Targeted Implementation and Planning Supports – This website provides a series of lessons for Ontario Curriculum topics in grades 7 through 10. Many of the websites are pdf’s and word documents, but there are several Geometer Sketchpad files included in the mix.

As always, I would love to hear of other sites that would be a good addition to my list.

Have a great week.

Jun

2011

studyjams

This week’s post is credited to two people, Pete MacKay and Mark Sheridan. Pete MacKay maintains theteacherlist, a daily mailing that recommends various educational websites, as shared by his subscribers. Mark Sheridan sent in this website, which Pete then sent out to his subscribers.

The site that is being highlighted is called studyjams, which seems to be maintained by Scholastic. It has a math and science section, each of which are interactive whiteboard friendly. The math section seems to cover a range of topics, including various concepts within number sense, geometry, algebra, measurement, data analysis, probability, and problem solving. There are options to have the math problem read aloud, to test yourself or work step-by-step, and to review key vocabulary. The science section also covers a variety of topics which seem to support the grades 4 and 5 Ontario curriculum (amongst others), including light and sound, the human body, ecosystems, rocks and minerals, weather and climate, matter, and the list goes on. With the science topics you can watch slideshows and videos, test yourself, and review key vocabulary.

…a good website to add to your links.

May

2011

Fun with Applets

This week I am beginning Pythagorean Theorem with my students. They will have the chance to explore some applets. Here are the ones that I will be using:

IES Applet This is one of a series of applets on Pythagorean Theorem on this website, but it is my favourite of the group. In this applet squares a and b get broken into pieces, and then all of the pieces from both squares must be rearranged to fit into square c. (Update – link to no longer active)

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives There are two different puzzles to solve in this applet. In the first puzzle, there is a shape that has an area of c² and another shape that has an area of a² + b². The same pieces are used to fill each of the two shapes, thus showing that the shapes have the same area. The second puzzle is similar in nature to the first, but the pieces are different and the two shapes are the same.

Nova Applet This applet allows the user to drag all of square a into square c, and then break apart square b so that the smaller squares fill the empty space in square c.

Davis Associates This demonstration moves pieces around to show that the area of square c is equal to the area of squares a + b.

After they explore some applets, they will choose their favourite one and attempt to use the concepts to create a hands-on interactive activity. Please feel free to use and modify the following assignment sheet:

Pondering Pythagoras

If you have other Pythagorean Theorem ideas that I could incorporate into my lesson, I would love to hear from you.

Have a great week.

Apr

2011

Doodling in Math Class

I let my students doodle in class.

Some students just need to move their hands in some way or another, and so instead of them tapping a pencil or ruler on their desk, I tell them to doodle.

Then last week I was introduced to the queen of math doodles, Vi Hart… from one of my students, no less. If you read math blogs, then you have probably come across her work already. I, however, do not get to read as much as I would like, and so I am thankful that I have an aspiring doodler in one of my classes who is, apparently, more informed than me.

The first video of hers that I watched was ‘Infinity Elephants’. Yes, you will have to listen to her quips about boring math class, but it is worth it to see her doodle and hear her accompanying explanations. (And despite our best planning and intentions, I am sure that we, the collective math teachers, have managed to bore some of our students at one point or another.)

She has four doodling videos on her blog – Infinity Elephants, Binary Trees, Stars, and Snakes and Graphs. I have watched all four videos, and enjoyed all of them. One of the extra perks for me were the little snippets from the “The Little Prince“, which you would only notice if you have actually read the book.

When I googled Hart to find out more about her, I came across a video that she had created with references to the original Flatland story. This one, titled “Mӧbius Story – Wind and Mr. Ug”, takes place along a Mӧbius strip – a surface with only one side and one boundary component. Check out her blog and watch her doodle, then come back to see her story along a Mӧbius strip. It is worth a few moments of your time.

Apr

2011

Numbers, numbers, everywhere.

It’s a math day.

Every now and then I like to find new sites to help enrich my math program. Here are a few of my old time favourites and some new ones, as well.

Bridgeport Mathematics – This site has resources for pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. Clicking on each topic brings you to an set of resources for each, complete with unit overviews (they call them pacing guides), online practice, worksheets, and additional links. There are also math cartoons and math magic games, as well as a direct link to the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives.

mathcentre – Another good resource site for math videos, worksheet booklets, games, and so much more.

Yummy Math – This sites brings in real world connections to various topics across the math curriculum. (I also like the mathalicious site for real world connections in math, but they are currently under construction – should be up and running soon.)

Mathwire – A great site for math enrichment activities.

nrich – This site provides Rich tasks for the math program. It is based in the UK, so look to the key stage/age equivalencies on the help page.

The last site I will highlight today is from the Utah Education Network, which provides math interactive activities across the curriculum.

And if you find yourself with a spare moment or two (or nine), you can always enlighten yourself with a bit of global population statistics from the educated mind of Hans Rosling.

Feb

2011

Provincial Resource Documents Gaining Strength

I have been following the Ontario MathGains website for some time now. At first there were only limited resources available. Recently they have improved their website, and they now have some resources that are worthy of checking out.

A bit of background, the Math Gains website is part of the Ontario EduGains website, which was designed to improve teaching and learning in Ontario. When initially started, I believe that its primary focus was on math and literacy. It now appears to contain other resources, as well. There are support documents for differentiated instruction, assessment, evaluation and reporting, English language learners, and International languages, in addition to those for math and literacy. But I digress…

The Math Gains website has a variety of different resources available for teachers. First and foremost (in my mind, at least), are the resources that support the curriculum itself. These include the following:

CLIPS (Critical Learning Instructional Paths Supports) – These are web-based interactive learning modules for students in grades 7-12. Not all curriculum topics are currently covered, but new CLIPS continue to be added.
Links to the TIPS guides (Targeted Implementation and Planning Supports) – These guides are designed to help develop math instruction and assessment by providing teaching ideas and suggested questions to help foster an enriching math learning environment.
WINS (Winning with Instructional Navigation Supports) Learner Think Books – These appear to be draft versions of topic specific learning guides, designed for the student. There is a teacher’s guide as well.
Ideas for using manipulatives in the classroom
Technology Integration (with a specific emphasis on Geometer’s Sketchpad)

Within the learning resources, there are also links to Ontario Curriculum documents, EQAO support material, and a continuum for the math curriculum from grade 6 through grade 10.

There are a variety of other resources listed on the MathGains page that provide support for the learner, but I must admit, I have not explored them in depth.

But tomorrow is another day.

Sep

2010

Real Life Applications

Okay.

The first few weeks of school have taken over my life. No surprise.

I am still trying to find a balance, but in the meantime…..

I came across this website through my Twitter network. Mathalicious tries to address the never-ending question of “but when are we ever going to need this?”. As teachers of mathematics, we know that there are many parts of the math curriculum that are easy to connect to the outside world. Unfortunately, there are other parts where we struggle to explain to students when the average adult would ever need that particular information. Mathalicious strives to take math curriculum subjects and connect them to the world in which our students live.

Upon entering the Mathalicious site, the first step is to choose a particular strand of the math curriculum. You are then taken to a series of activities that support that strand, each presented in a slideshow view. Under the slideshow are additional resources for the user, including the big ideas of the lesson, essential questions, and potential performance and assessment tasks.

Worth a few moments of your time.

math

Sunshine Math

A Great Site: Jefferson County Schools

Connecting Math

Sketch Away

studyjams

Fun with Applets

Doodling in Math Class

Numbers, numbers, everywhere.

Provincial Resource Documents Gaining Strength

Real Life Applications

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