Using technology to help deepen understanding of math concepts.

Technology helps our students understand difficult concepts…and share what they have learned!

We often think of technology as being really cool, fun and often more as “play” than work.  What we don’t always realize is that technology is also opening up new ways to learn for those who struggle with a particular concept.   

2nd graders in Mrs. McNair's classroom enjoy learning about math concepts. 

Learning to understand the concept of subtraction when using large numbers is easy for some students, but for many, it is a difficult concept and it takes practice. Mrs McNair is using the math view in Kidspiration to help students grasp the concept and to be able to explain their understanding of the concept

On their first attempt with the software, they learned to create a chart to show the hundred, tens and ones - then manipulate the virtual base 10 blocks on the screen to show their understanding of the math problem on the board.   

It didn’t take long for them to realize that there were multiple ways to solve a math problem and they eagerly shared what they were learning with their partners. The software allows them to color the blocks, to move the blocks around, to separate and regroup the blocks and to show them with or without labelled columns.  Practice makes perfect… and when the practice is engaging,  it’s much easier to become a great math student.   This will be an ongoing project so watch for more on this in upcoming weeks.

1st Grade Graphing with Kidspiration

First grade students have been exploring graphing in math as one way to organize and make sense of data.  Students in Ms. Estrada's class used a table of their favorite colors to make a bar graph using Kidspiration. The math view gives students grid paper and simple shapes to work with, so they were able to make a colorful bar graph that matched their table data.  Students worked cooperatively in partners to create their graph, then together added two observations that they could make such as "blue was the favorite color because it got the most votes" and "yellow and purple have the same number of votes."   Pretty awesome!

How tall are you - in inches, feet and centimeters?

5th grade students recently measured each other in math. The students used problem solving skills to convert to find their height in feet, inches, centimeters and millimeters   Students were able to see the relationship between the various units of measurements.
They applied what they learned about their own heights to the Very Tall Lady Exemplar problem. It asked them to find out how many kids their height would equal the height of the Statue of Liberty. 

5th Grade TAG Students Tackle Graphing - with Technology!

5th grade TAG students tackled pie graphs and converting fractions to decimals and percents.  They took data from bags of M&M, put it in the calculator and programmed to make it graph!  This activity helped them learn how to organize data, use the graphing calculator and compare their handwritten graph to the one the calculator generated.  Then we compared data with classmates and drew conclusions.  

Third Graders Get "SMART" with Probability

Third grade students have been investigating probability in math, so they utilized the Smart Boards in our village to try it out.  Students played interactive games of chance as an engagement to their problem solving.  Teachers and students agreed it was a great way to test some of their theories out!

1st Grade Students Get Smart with the Smart Table

Students in 1st grade have been using one of our newest tech tools- the Smart Table!  It's a multi-touch table with a built in computer.  Teachers can create lessons that help support the concepts they are teaching and load them on the Smart table. 
Mrs. Hoffman's class used it to help them practice identifying and counting coins.  Student work together to answer questions and move the coins- it's like an electronic manipulative!  It's a fun way to strengthen students' skills and understanding of concepts they are working on in class!

Patterns Everywhere!

Mrs. Raum's class has been studying patterns in math.  Students began noticing that patterns are everywhere -even in their clothes!