Posts Tagged ‘math’

Practice Manuscript & Cursive Handwriting

June 8th, 2022

It’s Wednesday, June 8, 2022, and time for Language Arts at ClickSchooling!

Handwriting For Kids

(www.handwritingforkids.com/)

Grades K-5 approximately, with parental supervision

This ad-supported website offers free lessons and practice worksheets for learning how to print, write in cursive, and learn English grammar. (It also offers instruction and worksheets for learning arithmetic.)

When you get to the website you will see an introduction and a menu on the left side of the screen that includes:

  • Manuscript — Learn to print by tracing letters of the alphabet, words, and sentences using the free worksheet variations available here.
  • Cursive — Learn cursive writing by tracing first, and then writing independently. Free printable worksheets of individual letters, words, and complete sentences are provided for practice.
  • English — Use the free lessons and worksheets to learn grammar, including nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions.
  • Mathematics — You’ll find a selection of interactive math lessons, worksheets, and drill games.

You’ll also find links to further resources, Spanish worksheets, Biblically-themed handwriting and cursive worksheets, and a flash card-making tool.

Click on any topic and a new page opens where you’ll find the lessons and worksheets. The layout isn’t always crystal clear – but if you just click on a couple of items, you’ll figure out how best to use this site quickly.

Try a Math Snack!

June 6th, 2022

It’s Monday, June 6, 2022, and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

New Mexico State University: Math Snacks

(mathsnacks.com/)

Grades 4-8, with parental supervision

New Mexico State University Learning Games Lab created this site, which aims to provide “smart educational animations, games, and interactive tools that help mid-school learners better understand math concepts.”

The site’s collection of “snacks” are highly entertaining educational movies, games, and apps that focus on specific mathematical concepts, each requiring only a small amount of time. Some of the videos and games you’ll find include:

  • Watch the fabled Atlantis sink, thanks to a Dodgeball coach who lacks a clear understanding of ratios.
  • Identify numbers that sum to ten, and decimals that sum to 1 – while driving a school bus full of monsters and deforming the neighborhood (this one you’ve got to see to believe).
  • Watch a supervillain and superhero match wits, scaling things up and down by the same factor.

There are many more as well. Look under the “Teaching With” link to find guides for student and teacher, as well as transcripts of the video clips, and more, to help solidify the concepts.

A handy reminder from the teachers’ page: “Math Snacks isn’t a curriculum, but a series of activities you can use with the curriculum you are already using in grades 4-8.” Since they’re snacks, you’ll be glad to hear that they’re portable; if you have a mobile device, you can learn something new on the go!

Ocean-Themed Math for K-12

May 23rd, 2022

It’s Monday, May 23, 2022, and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management: Tidepool Math

(www.boem.gov/environment/tidepool-math)

Grades K-12, with parental supervision

This website has FREE math lessons and activities that are themed around ocean tidepools.

When you get to the website you can choose between a Tidepool Math Curriculum for Grades K-8 or High School.

  • K-8 – This curriculum provides lessons and exercises to help students become familiar with tidepool habitats. Students use math skills such as counting, estimation, and determining the mean, to learn how the intertidal environment constantly changes both physically and biologically.

  • High School – This curriculum is divided into three parts with lessons and exercises that use science and math to provide the student with increased awareness of the diversity of animals and plants in intertidal habitats. It helps students understand the differences between random, systematic and targeted sampling approaches as well as comparing estimates, counts, and means. Through the activities, students gain an understanding of how to use simple statistical concepts and tools to analyze and study environmental data.

Both of the curriculums are offered through downloadable PDFs. The exercises refer to photos of tidepools and marine animals and plants that are provided for free on the website as well.

You can also download and print out colorful flashcards of marine animals and plants. Each card has a terrific illustration on the front, with scientific information and cool facts on the back – similar to what you’d find in a field guide.

While this curriculum is interesting and engaging all on its own – a trip to the beach or an aquarium with a tidepool exhibit would be a great way to enhance the learning.

Interactive Pre-Algebra & Algebra Tutorials

May 16th, 2022

It’s Monday, May 16, 2022, and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

Visual Math Learning

(www.visualmathlearning.com/Lessons/lessons.html)

Grades 5-10, with parental supervision

This archived website provides free, interactive tutorials with diagrams, illustrations, animations and practice games and exercises for learning pre-algebra and algebra level mathematics.

When you get to the site you’ll see that the lessons are divided into two sections:

I. Pre-Algebra: Numbers and Arithmetic

  • Natural Numbers
  • Counting
  • Number Bases
  • Addition
  • Subtraction
  • Integers
  • Multiplication
  • Factors
  • Division
  • Fractions
  • Fraction Arithmetic
  • Inverses
  • Equivalence
  • Common Denominators
  • Decimals

II. Elementary Algebra

  • Basics of Sets
  • Relations
  • Functions
  • Equations
  • Substitution

Click on any lesson and enjoy a tutorial that includes narration, illustrations, interactive diagrams, and visual manipulatives to encourage active learning.

On the menu, you’ll also find a section titled “links” which will provide you with a list of other math resources.

Examine the Artwork of M.C. Escher

May 14th, 2022

It’s Saturday, May 14, 2022, and time for Art at ClickSchooling!

National Gallery of Art: M.C. Escher – Life and Work

(www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/mc-escher-life-and-work.html)

All grades; children with parental supervision

The National Gallery of Art sponsors this site that offers a virtual tour of the artwork of M.C. Escher.

If your students have studied math tessellations they may have been introduced to some of Escher’s work already — as he used patterns of interlocking forms and architectural mazes in his artwork. He also created unusual spatial effects by drawing a picture from different perspectives, for instance, looking up and down at the same time. Escher really contributed to the idea of metamorphosis drawing where one shape or object turns into something completely different. This tour offers examples of all of these aspects of his work and most kids will find the “morph” prints and drawings especially fascinating.

When you get to the site you can read the “Overview” for a biography and explanation of Escher’s work. Then click on the right arrow to view all of the many works in this virtual gallery. Each piece of art comes with a text explanation that helps the viewer to appreciate what they are looking at.

The Life & Times of Archimedes

May 9th, 2022

It’s Monday, May 9, 2022, and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

Archimedes

(www.cs.drexel.edu/~crorres/Archimedes/contents.html)

Grades 6-12, with parental supervision

This site is a treasure trove of information on one of the greatest mathematicians of all time – Archimedes. The site was created by Chris Rorres, a Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at Drexel University in Pennsylvania. It contains free information about the life and times of Archimedes, as well as examples of his work and inventions such as the compound pulley system, the planetarium, the water screw, etc.

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu and some fascinating “Quick Facts” about Archimedes. Click on any menu item to explore:

  • Archimedes’ Claw
  • Burning Mirrors
  • The Golden Crown
  • Archimedes Screw
  • Archimedean Solids
  • Spheres and Planetaria
  • The Lever
  • and much more!

Each item includes an explanation along with illustrations and animations. The documentation and resources for further exploration are terrific. Professor Rorres also indicates which inventions were arguably credited to Archimedes.

This site is a great blend of math and history and may springboard interest in learning much more.

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