Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Warm-up and ooops

I've noticed that some of my students struggle with remembering to use order of operations when they create certain equations.  Mostly, its my pre-algebra students but some of the others have the same problem.  They solve problems strictly going left to right rather than using PEMDAS.
I've found two apps that are pretty good at helping students improve following the order of operations.
The first is Ooops, a free app that  gives students an equation and they have to add the parentheses to make  the equation work correctly.  It also gives help if they do not get it right. 
iPad Screenshot 2

The second app is 5 dice: Order of Operations   In it you get 5 dice, each with a number facing you, operation blocks such as addition, division, etc and parenthesis blocks. This one starts with  a blank canvas and has the student do it all.  This app takes things one step further in that you can play with others,  use a white board to try different combinations and the app can send reports to the teachers or parent.
I think I will have both on the ipads so I can start students off with Ooops and then move them on to 5 dice so they develop a great understanding of Order of Operations.
While looking at 5 dice, I found a factions game that I need to explore. 

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