The below list contains math instructional websites that are high quality and provide students with a variety of options for learning and practicing mathematics.
ABC Ya is a site filled with games and activities for students in grades
Pre-K to 5th. The games are brightly colored and exciting, they move at
the students pace, have hints where needed and clear and concise
instructions. This site is contains both problem solving and
instructional games. This is a combo of direct and constructivist
theory since the games are really "drill-and-practice" disguised as
fun-n-games! The games do provide the students with immediate feedback
on correct and incorrect answers.
This site also contains games/practice for Reading and literacy as well as math.
Here is a Jing I made for this website.
IXL is not a free site but offers a variety of subscription options for both educators and parents. This site would fall under the "drill-and-practice" category of instructional software. It definitely falls under the directed strategy category. It provides both the student and the teacher with immediate feedback. Teachers can set it up to get weekly reports on how much time and how many problems the students have completed during the week as well as which problems they are having issues with.
I learned about this website through my Block II field experience. They use it at the Pilot Knob STEM School and keep a school wide record of problems completed on a chart in the hall. The students get very excited about watching the numbers go up each week and knowing they played a role in it.
FunBrain is not just a math site, it also has a ton of reading/literacy activities. I like this site because it is mostly instructional games. All the the "drill-n-practice" is disguised as something that students would rather do - PLAY! Many of the activities appear to be more like simulations than drills. There are a wide variety of games for students to choose from and they are categorized by grade level and by game type. There isn't much feedback given other than "you won" or "game over" but I believe that any method of getting kids to practice is beneficial to them.
CoolMath4Kids is almost entirely drill-n-practice type math work. The one thing I found really interesting about this site is that there are parts that will warn a student about where they will be frustrated if they don't know other more basic math facts. This is especially prevalent on the "long division" games. One of my favorite part of this site is that it includes a section called "Geometry & Art." They have included a gallery of Tessellations, Polyhedrons, and Fractals. Students being show that math can be pretty and artistic is a nice twist on typical mathematics instruction.
MathPlayground is a site with simulation and instructional activities that require students to build their problem solving skills. Students "play" games where they need to be creative in their approach in order to solve the problem at hand. Probably my favorite activity on this site is also an app that I have on my tablet - Sugar, Sugar. The student has to draw in barriers to guide the falling sugar into cups. Each level gets increasingly tougher by adding upside down cups, additional cups, and the need to reverse the sugars direction. The simulations on this site would be a very good tool to improve a student's ability to remain calm, not get frustrated, and to solve problems creatively.
REFLECTION:
Wow, there is a lot of information on the web aimed at kids and it is definitely not all quality. It was interesting to find so many sites that really weren't very well thought out or appealing. I was happy to find the sites I did, where I felt they were providing valuable information to students that would actually get them excited about Science, Math, and Engineering. In my search I found many more free sites aimed at teachers to help them teach these topics but most of the quality sites that were meant for students to use on their own cost money. They have subscription fees or one time costs. It frustrates me to see that in order for students to get quality practice/experience their parents have to spend money!
No comments:
Post a Comment