Time
Math by Recession Apps LLC
Time Math is targeted to children in
the second grade. I could see this app
used for students beyond second grade if they were still struggling with
telling time. This app is free and can
easily be found on the app store for Apple products. The specific math area of this app is the
concept of time. This app provides five
different levels that can be explored.
The first level provides information on how to tell time. The user learns what the hour and minute
hands are used for. The next level
consists of asking the user “What time is it?”
The user then has the choice to select the intervals that will be
asked. These include: easy (hours),
medium (fifteen minutes), hard (five minutes), harder (hours and five minutes),
and hardest (hours and minutes). The
user is asked this each time they select one of the four levels. The app generates a clock with a set time in
relation to the difficulty selected and the user is asked to pick the correct
answer out of three options. The next
level is “Set the Time” and asks the user to drag the hour and minute hand on
the clock to the time that is indicated.
The last two levels are “What time will it be?” and “What time was
it?” Both of these levels require
students to drag the hour and minute hand around the clock to reach the
requested time. The graphics and design of this app is aesthetically pleasing. The app is also very easy to navigate and
allows for some many different difficulty levels, which is great for users who
are just being introduced to telling time all the way through students who are
more advanced. When teaching a lesson
about time, I think having this app projected on the board and/or giving each
student an iPad to use with this app would be a great way to demonstrate time
and walk through some problems together.
Instead of doing a worksheet, students could spend some time going through
problems on their own.
Academic Skill Builders is a free website
with a plethora of fun math games. The
great thing about this website is that the user can select whatever grade level
and subject they would like. The grades
range from first to sixth and the subject levels include shapes, counting,
addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, integers, money, time,
decimals, fractions, ration and proportion, and algebra. Therefore, this website is great for all
elementary students. For the most part,
the grade levels are on point. This
website appears to be set up to allow students the chance to practice math
skills through fun and competitive games.
Parents, teachers, and administrators can also be at ease when having
students online because the designers of this website were conscious about
online safety. “Private” games can be set up with a password, so a student and
his or her friends could organize games to play against each other in a private
game. “Public” games can be joined by
anyone at anytime but there is no contact between the outside players and the
student. The website also monitors player names and blocks inappropriate ones. One of my favorite games I stumbled across
while exploring this website was Jumping Chicks. This game would be perfect for kindergarten
and first grade students because the purpose of the game is to match the number
to a pile of leaves that has the same number.
Your chick then jumps to that pile of leaves and the player is asked to
complete the same steps again to keep your chick moving forward. This is a fun and easy way to practice
counting from one to ten. If ever in the computer lab or near computers and
students finish their work before others, this would be a great website to have
students visit until everyone was completed.
Having a math station in the classroom could also promote the use of
this website. Students would be able to
select this math website, as opposed to a math worksheet, and have fun while
still practicing their math skills. This
website, and the other website and apps I chose, provide visual learners with
engaging animations to look at and allows game-based learning in a fun and
interactive way.
Funbrain Math Arcade is intended for
students in grades one to eight; however, after playing through this game at
multiple grade levels, I feel that this game should really only be applicable
for students in third grade and higher.
The reason I say this is because I do not think that students in second
grade or below would have the proper hand-eye coordination and reading skills
that are necessary for this game. I had
a hard time doing it myself so I have a feeling that very young students would
struggle with the ability to select the right answer and figuring out how the
game works. Regardless, this website is
great because it allows students to play in the format of a board game and has
25 different math games for them to play.
I think this would be great to use as a mini math activity maybe once a
week. Students could login with their
saved password and complete five rolls on the game board, which means five
games. I would guess this would take
around fifteen minutes. Depending on the grade level entered, the games ask
students to add, match, adjust height and distance, subtract, multiply, divide,
etc. A few things that I wish could be changed about this game is that the
levels do not provide a lot of feedback for students who struggle and may need
assistance or a hint. However, the
student is allowed to start that game level again after so many attempts. I do like that the each game is fairly short
and keeps the student motivated to win and unlock the next game. Each game level also provides so much variety
that could be tied into lessons. For
instance, one game level takes place inside a pyramid tomb and has images of
Egyptian sarcophagi. This could tie in
nicely with a geography and social studies lesson on Ancient Egypt, as well as,
reading aloud or independently reading books about mummies, pharaohs and
pyramids. There are a lot of options for
using this website within the classroom.
Todo
Math by Enuma Inc.
This free app is by far the best math app I came
across.
I love this app because the
logistics and layout are fantastic.
Additionally, this app is perfect for student just beginning math, as
well as for students who are up to second grade.
This app covers many specific math areas,
such as: counting and cardinality, number operations, mathematical reasoning,
time and money, and geometry.
The
intended purpose of this app is to allow students to trace numbers and shapes,
practice patterning, subtraction, adding, multiplying, and so much more.
I think the number and shape tracing is a
great addition to this app; it’s probably my favorite part about the app
because it would be such a huge help for students who are just learning how to
write their numbers and drawing their basic shapes. I can easily see this app
being used within the classroom because of all the great features it has.
The teacher could demonstrate how to use the
app and then the students could follow along and complete each number and shape
together.
A lot of the levels seem to
follow the same order; therefore, it would be easy to have the teacher and
young students complete the lower levels together to make sure that every
student understands the process and the content.
This app seems like such a great tool to use
because of the way it asks students to select the numbers and then draw them as
well.
I feel like it reinforces their
learning and knowledge. One downfall to this app is that although it says it is
free, there are limited levels that can be played on the free version and
buying this app is incredibly expensive.
However, I could justify buying this app for $24 each because it is so
comprehensive and of high quality.
It
also changes displays according to the seasons, which is cute, but could also
be integrated into learning the new season each time it changed.
Lastly, this app was built with the classroom
in mind.
If teachers do not have the budget
to buy Todo Math, teachers may qualify for the school year’s Todo Math Grant
Program.
Additionally, this app has a
web-based teacher dashboard that tracks progress, students can play Todo Math
at home on parents' iPhone or iPad and their progress is synched to your
teacher dashboard, and school level management allows for supporting device
sharing between classrooms (cart system) and multi-teacher management of school
account.
