The website:

• http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html

This fantastic resource for interactive whiteboard tools has been circulating on Twitter.  The site provides excellent manipulatives, gameboards, workmats and storyboards for K-4 classrooms.  It takes time to discover all of the hidden gems, so I’ve highlighted an activity below that you won’t want to miss!

Classroom Applications: 

Manipulative:  Bears In A Boat

Create a story about the bears in a boat to practice addition and subtraction concepts with primary students. 

Example:

Four bears walked to the water’s edge to take a boat out to fish.

Oh no, said Fred as he slapped his head, I’ve forgotten our lunch dish.

So, Fred headed home and the three bears began to shove the boat off from shore,

When running down the bank came two more bears shouting “Have you got room for more?”

So the bears all piled into the boat and paddled out onto the lake,

Hoping that a wonderful catch of fish they would be able to take.

The sun was burning so hot in the sky that the sweat began to drip,

So two bears jumped off into the lake to take a little dip.

One of the bears swam to shore and the other climbed back onboard,

Just then the poles began to bend and the bears spirits soared.

(OK, time for the bad meter and rhyming to end! You get the general idea by this point in the story!)

Place the bears in and out of the boat as the story progresses and as your students complete the computations.  For a challenge, tell the story straight through without moving the bears and ask your students how many bears are in the boat at the end.  Then tell the story again while moving the bears so the students can check their answers.

It would also be a fun extension to have your students create their own stories and to use this as an opportunity to pair and share.

As with all interactive whiteboard activities, be sure to encourage all students to answer by using paper and pencil or individual whiteboards as described here: http://interactivecontentcorner.com/2009/08/31/techniques-for-engaging-all-students/

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The Websites:

• http://www.meddybemps.com/9.692.html
• http://www.meddybemps.com/9.691.html
• http://www.meddybemps.com/9.693.html

Classroom Applications:

Practice spatial relationships with your students using all three websites which contain freely movable objects.

Whole Class Instruction:  Teach directional words by moving an object on screen and asking your students to describe where the object was placed in relation to another object.  For primary students, use this as an opportunity to simultaneously reinforce and review colors.

Reverse roles, and have your students move an object in relation to another object according to your stated directions.

Arrange two objects in relation to one another.  Ask your students to guess the relationship between the two objects.  This encourages students to consider multiple ways objects may be positioned in relation to one another.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The websites:

• http://professorgarfield.com/pgf_kbkids.html  (Choose 2nd grade, Park Elementary: Measuring)
• http://www.compasslearningodyssey.com/sample_act/math_k/grade/subject/mak_04_03_03.html

Classroom Applications:

Introduce students to non-standard measuring tools with this online video.  After the first student on the video has measured the given distance in footsteps, pause the video and ask your students what result they would expect if another student were to measure the same distance in footsteps.  What would happen to the measurement if the second student’s foot size was larger?  What would happen if their foot size was smaller?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

With the appearance of quality online virtual manipulatives, many traditionally paper and pencil activities have become opportunities to engage students with technology, as is the case with the following website.

• The website:  http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/flipbook/

Classroom Integration Ideas:

Students can create a printable flip book to demonstrate their understanding of multiple concepts.  Here are a few examples:

Cause and Effect

                Direct your students to create a flip book with alternating pages of causes and effects.  Have them share their books with each other and turn the sharing into a prediction exercise.  Have the student being presented to brainstorm potential effects from each cause in their partner’s book before flipping the page to see their partner’s chosen effect.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The websites:

• http://www.jeron.je/anglia/learn/pri/maths/clocks/page02.htm
• http://www.literacycenter.net/numbers_en/clock_h_en.asp
• http://www.mrmyers.org/Math_Mania/Math_Games/Jude_e-Clock/clock.htm

Classroom Applications:

Whole Class Activities:  Help your students understand the concept of a clock by building one together using the first website. To keep all of your students involved, give each child an empty paper clock face and a set of numbers (1-12). Have the students place each number where they believe it belongs on the clock face before you answer together on screen. Once you have your clocks built, introduce the minute hand and the hour hand and discuss their meanings.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites