Online Math Games And Activities Part 4

Today is the final part of games and activities.  This is the last part of the list of possible games and activities that are digitally based and can be used in the classroom to enhance or scaffold learning.  One reason I've done such an in-depth list is that so many students play games on their digital devices and if we can provide games for the classroom, they are more likely to play and learn. 

Sumdog is a site with games for grades K to 8.  There is a free account for teachers which allows them access to 6 games they can have students use.  According to their site, the free account includes access to a diagnostic tool, has the ability to adapt to each child,   Unfortunately, the 6 games are pre chosen so teachers have no say in the game selected. The games range from ones focused for younger students to older ones.  You can set up an account, check out the free games to see if they are something you can use in your classroom. 

Now for some of the more familiar games and sites you might already know about.  If your school has a Minecraft subscription already, the site includes lesson plans the teacher can use with it. To use Minecraft in schools does require a subscription but if your school has Office 365, you may already have access to it.  The lesson plans has lessons on using arrays to multiply, introduction to the coordinate plane or area and volume.  It is possible to do either a keyword search or a general search by age and topic.  The nice thing is that it is possible to assign a unit via google classroom.  These lessons go with the Minecraft world so if you have access, check them out to see if anything can be used in your classes.

Then there is Quizlet which is a site filled with digital flash cards. They have higher levels of mathematics from Arithmetic to Stats and Calculus. In addition to being used as flash cards, they can also be studied, used as a test, or used in a matching game.  If you have a google account, you can log into this site and try it out.  Each deck has a preview function so you can tell if it covers what you want them to learn.  They also show you how to use the cards in a game called checkpoint.  Furthermore, there is lots of information on how to use the cards, get the classes set up, etc.  When you use the learn feature, you can choose quick study or memorize the material.  I went with the one for long term memory and each question was a multiple choice.  I purposely made a mistake and it identified the correct answer. 

The test set has it set up for true or false, multiple choice, fill in the blank, and matching so the questions are not all the same.  At the end, it gives feedback in that it lets you know how many questions were correct and how many incorrect and provide answers for all the questions.  I do have a bit of a quibble with a few questions such as y = ln(x) they classified as a logarithmic function and many people look at it as a natural log function and treat it a bit differently.  It also marked me off when I identified a graph as Quadratic instead of "Graph of a Quadratic".  I answered it the same way many of my students would.  As far as I can tell you can sign up for a free basic account but I'm still not sure what all it includes as the information is not easily available.  I do know that they do want teachers to upgrade to a plus account which does cost. Check it out to see if it is something you'd like to use regularly.

The last site for this time is ABCya which is grades K to 6+ and does have a free option that allows a person access to all the games on a laptop but only 6 games each week on digital devices and only allows one device for this account.  I was able to use the games without signing in so I could try a few to see if they matched the needs of my students.  There was the equivalent proportions where you type in the missing number.  The faster you type in the correct answer, the faster you go.  I had to use two different methods to find answers which made it better in my opinion. Another game, Zero Sum, has students matching positive and negative numbers to form zero but it is groups of numbers so you have to match the shapes.  In addition, as you progress, you might have to use two or three shapes to get some of the numbers down to zero.  Although this is geared for upper elementary, it would provide good practice for students who are weak in fractions, ratios, proportions, etc.

So on Friday, I am off to a new topic.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.