Math 911 and Class

  I stumbled across a cool resource that explains math in a different way.  It has comics!  It has great pictures!  It has humor!  It is not Superman! It is Professor Weissman's Introduction to Algebra! site.

There are eight modules that are ready to go in pdf format.  Each module is between 10 and 15 pages long with lots of examples, pictures to illustrate the material, and comics.

The topics cover topics from whole numbers to combining like terms but they include variables and algebraic information.  I've looked at several modules and love the way it is set up like a newsletter or newspaper.  The material is chunked into easily read segments.  A student will not be overwhelmed and there is humor included in the material.

Some modules include newspaper articles with questions for the student to answer but all have practice problems in addition to jokes and brainteasers.  These are great and I like the comic section which uses the actual topic and has some humor spread throughout it.

There appears to be software available to just download and place on your computer.  I don't know what it does because I'm not allowed to download any new software for my computer but you could check it out and let me know.  I am not sure how old this site is.

So where am I leading with something  like this?  Well, I like the way the material is arranged and presented.  I'm wondering if I could take the important material from a section and at least create a  newsletter type that students can easily read and which could be kept in a pocket at the back of their composition books. 

My ELL students are overwhelmed when they do have to read the textbook since its over 400 pages long and its not easy to chunk.  I can create comics on programs and then put them into the newsletter so those are included.  The math 911 has a nice format for inspiration.  As soon as I create my first newsletter, I'll share it here.