Whattauthink?

Title- Word Problems

URL- http://www.mathplayground.com/wpindex.html

NY State Performance Indicators-
PI MST3.02.PS1.02: Students interpret information correctly, identify the problem, and generate possible solutions.

Only for certain activities:
PI MST3.02.PS1.09: Students use drawings/pictures to model the action in problems.

Instructional Objective- SWBAT (complete) an addition word problem activity with 100% accuracy on this site.

Summary of site- This site is great for word problems. There are over 600 activities here and there are a lot of different levels. You can also choose which type of word problems to solve and if they come with or without pictures. The pictures are great for students who are having a hard time with or are just beginning to learn how to solve math problems. You can also teach that students can make their own pictures to go along with story problems. This site is great for all elementary grade levels.

Title- PBS Kids, Dragontales “Dragonfair”

URL- http://pbskids.org/dragontales/dragonfair/s_cassie.html

NY State P I – MST3.01.GE8.01: Students match shapes and parts of shapes to justify congruency.

Instructional Objective- Students will (locate) a similar shape somewhere in the picture for each card Cassie is holding up at the Dragonfair.

Summary of Site- This site is ideal for pre-K through second grade. It is very basic, but colorful, with good content. This site is great for shape recognition. I have been looking at a whole lot of math sites and there don’t seem to be many good sites for younger children. This site also has additional games on it. The Dragontales characters seem interesting and the site is very kid (user) friendly.

Title- Learning about Number Relationships and Properties of Numbers Using Calculators and Hundred Boards: Displaying Number Patterns.

URL- http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap4/4.5/index.htm#applet

NY State Performance Indicators-
P I MST3.02.NO6.05: Students compare and order numbers to 100.
P I MST3.02.NO6.01: Students skip count to 100 by twos, fives, and tens.
P I MST3.02.NO6.02: Students count back from 100 by ones, fives and tens

Summary- This web- site is great for students to explore. This site teaches you how to use two tools (100 chart and a calculator) simultaneously to better one’s number sense up to 100. Students who are not generally involved because they are unsure of their facts may thrive with this because of the calculator tool. Students can use this site to look for patterns when using multiples/repeated addition. This site goes great with the Investigations series that Buffalo Public Schools uses from K- 5. This site is also great for teachers/parents. It has information and links to help you understand the goal of learning from and with these tools.

Title- Math Magician Addition
URL- http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Mathmagician/mathsadd.html

Title- Math Magician Subtraction
URL- http://oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/mathmagician/mathssub.html

NY State Performance Indicator MST3.E.OP3A: Students add and subtract whole numbers.

Instructional Objective- Students will (solve) 20 addition/subtraction problems from the Math Magician website at the appropriate level in 60 seconds with 90% accuracy.

Summary of site- This site is great to use in addition to the math flashcards site because it is timed. You only have two levels to choose from, but you can choose the types of problems. For example, you can choose “mixed level 1″ and “+0″ and all of the problems will be in a “_+0″ format or “0+_” format. This is a good program for younger aged children. They can practice specific number facts (like adding 7 ) and challenge themselves against the clock. I would reccomend turning the sound off because it may cause students to get distracted, nervous and flustered.

Title- Math Flashcards
URL- http://www.factmonster.com/math/flashcards.html
NYS Performance Indicator – MST3.E.OP3A: Students add and subtract whole numbers.
Instructional Objective- Students will correctly (solve) fifty addition problems , at the appropriate level, with 90 percent accuracy.
Summary of site- Students are able to choose levels from 1-7 (with 1 being the easiest and 7 being the hardest). Then they are able to choose multiplication, division, subtraction or addition. Then they are asked questions at the chosen level for the chosen operation. There is not a time limit or a set number of questions, which is a big reason that I like this site. This site would be excellent for differentiating instruction. Benchmark students can try to solve as many problems as they can in the time allotted on the computer by their teacher. Intensive students do not have to worry about time and get used to remembering facts at the lowest level without moving up until they feel ready.

I wonder about classroom websites and copyright. I also am unsure about multimedia like music, videos, pictures and podcasts.

I know that copyright is a law that basically means that you cannot pass of someone else’s work as your own and you need to give credit to the author when credit is due. Students can have their work published and copyrighted as well.

I learned that almost everything is copyrighted. I learned that with technology it is really important for teachers to stay on top of copyright issues. I learned that there are websites out there like, citationmachine.net that help you organize data to make citing sources and following copyright laws easier. I learned that internet sources are also very protected by copyright laws.

David Rose proposed…
1. UDL can help students become better learners by catering to their learning styles.
2. UDL can help teachers become more effective at assessing, by assessing only what you want to.
3. UDL is a work in progress and the way they are keeping current is by posting the book on the web and adding ideas all the time.

Reflection on #2:
David Rose explained that when teachers have given word problem as math assessments that students were also being tested on reading. In other words, if the student can’t read the problem (or mis-reads) they may get the problem incorrect or have a harder time getting the answer when they may actually know the math skill(s) being tested. I think this is good and important. This year, while preparing for the NY Math Assessment for 5th grade I realized that a lot of my students did not know what a column is. They have only heard of it when referring to graphs or tables. They were asked what tool they would use to measure a column and most picked a ruler. This was because a column to them was a vertical row on a chart, which you could measure with a ruler. When I drew a picture on the board and showed them a column in front of our school they all figured out that a tape measure would be the best tool to use. This is unfair because the students knew the skill they were testing for, they just knew a different definition from that of the assessment. UDL could provide a picture on the computer of a column and more students would be able to get the answer correct and master that skill.

An advantage of using Googledocs with my students:
An advantage of using Googledocs with my students is that they could all show different examples of the same thing. Also the kids are under less pressure to perform.

A disadvantage of using Googledocs with my students:
A disadvantage of using Googledocs with my students is that they can see each others answers and may mock someone else’s answer.

The purpose of del.icio.us:
The purpose of del.icio.us is to bookmark websites. This way whatever computer you may be using (school, home, work, friends…) you can quickly have your bookmarked sites at your fingertips (so to speak).

Why must we insist today on giving students a deeper number sense, instead of teaching them to remember certain facts first (or simultaneously)? I agree that number sense is good, but I have never seen so many fifth and sixth graders that don’t know 8 times 4 (for example). Shouldn’t building a strong number sense be easy if you knew a lot more facts, multiples….