Saturday, June 30, 2012

Raki's Rad Resources Review!

Hi All! I'm so excited to be participating in the big Blog Swap & Hop!  You will love Heidi Raki, who will be my guest today; and I am excited to be featured over at Marsha McGuire's super blog A Differentiated Kindergarten!  So when you have read the great ideas that Heidi posted, head on over to check out my post!  Also notice there is a blog hop linky directly below so you can check out all the Top Teacher bloggers who are participating in the hop!  Happy Blog Hopping!

Hello! I am Heidi Raki of Raki's Rad Resources, and I am super excited to be joining Dr. Penny here on Teach the Math today. Each week on my blog, I do a Wednesday Website suggestion, and so I have compiled a list of great websites that you can use when teaching math to grades K-2. I am so excited to have the opportunity to share some of them with you today!

Here are some great sites that cover a variety of teaching concepts:


1.  Virtual Manipulatives:  Every math manipulative that you have (or should have) in the kit that comes with your math series can be found in virtual form on this website. In addition, there are new, different ways to manipulate these manipulatives that I have found only here. 



For example, this site allows you to subtract with base ten blocks, and the blocks that are "taken away" truly go away. In addition to base ten blocks, there are also number lines, clocks, money, tangrams, pattern blocks and more. It works fabulously with a projector and an interactive board, but is just as much fun at a single computer during centers.


2.  Cool Math:  This site has so many games, it's crazy. While not every game is completely educational, most are at least logic building games. The best games for the classroom are the number games and the logic games



Many of these games start out in my classroom as a teaching game, and then the kids like them so much, that they become a reward for completing quality work early or having a great behavior day.


3.  HSP Math:  This site was developed by Harcourt School Publishers, so if you have a Harcourt math series at your school, it will align very well with your texts. However, no matter what your math adoption, the lessons and games are amazing reinforcements for the kids. My kids this year particularly loved the measurement games.


4.  Oswego Math Games:  These games were created by a school district for their students. The games are fabulous for working on a variety of math concepts, mainly focusing on computation, but also focuses on fractions, percentages, time and number sequences. 



My absolute favorite game on this site is Math Magician, which has made all the difference when my students (and my personal son) were practicing fast facts.


5.  ABCYa:  This site is sorted by grade level, and although they have letter and reading related games, the number games are the best part of the site. There are lots of connect the dot types of activities, as well as hundred's chart activities and games that focus specifically on addition and subtraction. 



One of my kids' favorite activities from ABCYa this year was Base 10 Bingo, which was great, because it gave them a chance to practice counting base ten blocks and matching the amounts to their corresponding numbers.


I hope some of these websites will give you some ideas for websites that will help enhance your math instruction next year and for years to come. I'd like to say thank you to Dr. Penny for giving me the opportunity to guest blog here today. I'd be honored if you stopped by Raki's Rad Resources for more ideas you can use in your classroom, including weekly website suggestions.




Biographical information:

Heidi Raki teaches at an International School in Casablanca, Morocco. In addition to being a teacher, she is also a mother of 3 young boys and the author of the blog Raki's Rad Resources. She believes in using quality teaching strategies and quality resources to create quality teaching moments that will resonate with her children, increasing understanding and a love of the learning experience. Feel free visit her blog at www.rakisradresources.com 


Thank you, Heidi Raki for the great post and for leading us to some great interactive websites!  Now head over to A Differentiated Kindergarten and check out my post and grab the free math game I created just for you!




Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Blog Swap and Hop



www.teachthemath.com

I wanted to give you all a heads up about what will be happening on Saturday (June 30).  All my fantastic blogger buddies have arranged a Top Teachers' Blog Swap and Hop!  I will be guest blogging over at a friend's blog and another friend will be guest blogging here at Teach The Math! It's top secret who will be where, but you will love the post my guest blogger has ready for you!


I am super excited and can't wait to see all the great posts! It will be like Fruit Basket Turnover for blogs. Be sure to check in on Saturday and follow the hop. I will have a link to all the other teacher blogs which are participating in the hop. Most bloggers will be focusing on back to school ideas and activities. And as usual, many will include a freebie in their posts! (I have a free math game ready to go!) See you on Saturday!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

100 Followers and Counting!



www.teachthemath.com
Imagine my surprise when I noticed my number of blog followers had exceeded the century mark! Wow! 100 followers in just over a month!  You guys are super!  Thanks so much for the comments and notes of encouragement!

To thank you, I have created a little prize for the occasion.  It is a quick and simple activity that is easy to implement in your classroom but packs a punch in helping to nurture a child's conceptual understanding of numbers. 

I have used Today's Number as a math journaling activity, a morning math rountine, and as a way for students to communicate their understanding about numbers. 


www.teachthemath.comYou have probably seen this used in many different ways before.  Lately, I have noticed a couple of versions floating around on Pinterest.  So you might say this is Pinterest inspired.  I've included a number sheet to post with ideas for representing the number, and a sheet for students to record their own representations. 


I hope you enjoy using it and thanks for being such sweet followers!  Feel free to pin this and share the printable with friends! Click the picture below to grab your copy.

www.teachthemath.com

 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Hip, Hip, Hooray! - 15 days of K

If you have not discovered Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives Blog, you will want to hop on over and check it out!  She is hosting a big event celebrating her move back to Kindergarten! 

During the first 15 days of June, she has a new guest blogger each day.   I have not missed a day checking in to see who is guest blogging for her.  Everyday is a surprise!


However, today was no surprise to me!   Her guest blogger for Day 12 is none other than...ME!  Check out the cute button she made for the occasion! You can click on it to go directly to today's post.  I wrote about the importance of asking good questions.  I believe you have to ask great questions to get great answers!

www.teachthemath.com

I was thrilled to celebrate with Mary considering all the time I have spent in a Kindergarten classroom.  I know how excited she must be.  Hop over and check out today's post and grab the free Question Ring I included just for her blog readers!

www.teachthemath.com

I hope you will download it and that you will enjoy using in your classroom!  And be sure to pin it or like it so that your friends can grab a copy too.  Enjoy!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Freebies Galore!

My blogger friends are at it again! They created this great linky party for their blog Freebies. I joined in the fun so I could share these links with my sweet followers! Oh, and check out who is #9 on the list. :) 

This should keep you busy for a while! :)  Happy Blog Hopping!


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