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Monday, March 31, 2014


AGE: MIDDLE SCHOOL

SITE: www.mathplayground.com

The purpose of this resource is for children of all ages to play games and learn math concepts in a fun way. 

The users of this site are required to have a general concept of the ideas used to make the games. The site is organized into grade/math levels, hoping that children in 6th grade will have a 6th grade math understanding, etc.

This resource would be helpful for children in middle school to learn the concepts they are learning in a fun way, as well as give them the opportunity to review older information in a risk free/fun way.

I would 100% recommend this resource for middle school ages children. It gives them the perfect way to keep up on their math skills without the fear and/or embarrassment of potentially forgetting math knowledge or concepts from previous and current academic classes.

 

SITE: www.khanacademy.com

Khan Academy is an educational websites that includes videos and problem help for students. It is personalized to each student and assists them in learning concepts that they otherwise do not understand in class.

Students are required to know what they are looking for out of the website. They need to have specific concepts and skills that they are unclear on, and the willingness to learn them in a serious way.

This is a tough age, in terms of maturity, to allow students to use this resource. It is hard for them to identify what they do not know and have the determination to learn it.

I would not recommend this resource to middle school kids. I feel like they would lean on it too much, and not look to their teachers for assistance when the teachers should be their #1 resource in this time of Middle School

 

SITE: www.wolfram.com/mathematica

The purpose of this site is to compute answers to upper-level math issues (calculus, hedge-fund management, etc.)

Students are required to have a deep understanding and passion for math, and simply need the calculations to further their research and/or assignment.

This resource is definitely not age appropriate for middle school students, as the math that they are dealing with is nowhere near this level of math.

I would recommend this for middle schoolers only who are at calculus level (at least) classes

 

SITE: www.webmath.com

This site is used to solve specific math problems (at any level).

Students are required to have specific math skills, and questions that they need help on. It doesn’t help students learn the concepts at all, it just gives them the final result.

This site is appropriate for middle school students, because sometimes they get stuck on specific problems, even if they know the general ideas of the lesson. It is quick, and simple, and age appropriate.

I would recommend this resource with no changes. They shouldn’t use this to do all of their homework, but there are situations where this is a quick fix.

 

4 comments:

  1. I have not heard of math playground, but it seems interesting. I think websites with math games are especially fun

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  2. Good job, I had never heard of Math Playground and Web Math. But, why would middle school students "lean on it (Khan Academy) too much" ?

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    Replies
    1. laith,

      i think it could be possible for students to disregard instruction from there classroom teachers if they used khan academy excessively. i think nicole is right that this resource should be used as an add on at this age rather than an independent tool for learning.

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  3. nicole,

    nice job of putting together resources useful for enrichment for middle school students who are advanced for their age, and resources useful for supporting and/or reinforcing skills and concepts for those on or below grade level. are you sure you don't want to become a teacher? ;)

    professor little

    ReplyDelete