The Eureka Crate – Is It The Best Project Box For Teens? This post may contain referral/affiliate links. If you buy something, Fractus Learning may earn a commission at no cost to you. Teenagers are difficult to please. As the father of three of them- trust me – I know what I’m talking about. I’m not saying my children are difficult – just that by this age they know what type of activities best fit their wants and needs. They […]
Category: Math
35 Stellar STEM Books For Summer Satisfaction
A summer reading list containing exciting STEM books with great stories and authentic problems to solve may inspire kids to want to read more this summer. STEM principles incorporate four subjects: science, technology, engineering, and math. For some, these are fun subjects, but for other students, it may be difficult and daunting topics. Here is a list of 35 stellar STEM books that could have your child change their mind and inspire them to explore these topics more. Science Books […]
9 Sets of Multiplication Flash Cards For Engaging Math Practice
Using flash cards, including multiplication flash cards has long been accepted as a simple, yet effective way to teach children skills that require memorization. Flash cards use repetition to teach a skill and increase recall and therefore, confidence. The idea of flash cards is quite simple. Sit down with a child, show them the problem or question on the front of the card, and then allow the child to think about and provide the answer. As they practice, the repetitive […]
Ultimate Project Based Learning – How Student Teamwork Built a World Championship Car
Every year for the past twenty the Saint Thomas Academy Experimental Vehicle Team (STA EVT) has built a new vehicle from the ground up to give our students the best engineering experience a high-schooler can get. The internationally recognized program started in 1997. My fellow moderator Mark Westlake and I believe in the importance of learning from mistakes. That the most important life lessons come from experience, that science is not always easy and that the answers are not always […]
A Pythagoras Investigation Using GeoGebra
GeoGebra is an awesome mathematical tool! It even allowed me to discover something new. Well, at least new to me! For an insight to my ‘new discovery’, take a peek at the dynamic image (gif) above. GeoGebra Can Open Doors To New Discoveries For the record, I am no geek. I’m a feet-on-the-ground math person, fascinated by the craft of teaching mathematics. For many years I’ve been driven by the question “How do we stop boring kids to death with […]
Let GeoGebra Transform Your Math Teaching
Ask a random sample of 50 people between the ages of 10 and 30 how well they understood mathematics at school and I think you’ll agree that mathematics education has some improving to do in the ‘imparting mathematical understanding to students’ department. Many tangible strategies are available which help students to better understand mathematical principles. The downside is that these strategies demand significant pedagogical change on behalf of the teacher, especially for teachers using a “traditional procedures” based approach. The […]
5 Tips for Student-Led GeoGebra Tasks
Most of the GeoGebra articles on the Learn Implement Share site demonstrate the power of GeoGebra for junior high school mathematics. The focus on GeoGebra for junior high mathematics is, in part, because there is a strong misconception in the math education world that GeoGebra is a tool (almost entirely) for high-level, calculus-based mathematics and high-level geometry. The GeoGebra on this blog aims to encourage those math teachers who are not utilizing GeoGebra (or similar dynamic geometry software) as a regular demonstration tool, […]
Is The Next John Glenn or Neil Armstrong Sitting In Your Class? Encouraging The Next Generation Of Space Explorers
Within all of us, there lies a desire to explore. It can be as simple as trying a new cuisine or as complicated as diving into the depths of an ocean to see the vibrant colors of coral reefs. It drives us to push past our comfort zones and reach for the stars. Learning how to harness the innate need to pioneer new frontiers in our students can be difficult at times, perhaps even overwhelming. Each year we are faced […]
Developing A Conceptual Understanding of Maths with GeoGebra
Teaching for conceptual understanding is one of the strong themes running through many articles on this site. There is a world of difference between students being able to “do mathematics” and students understanding the mathematics they are “doing”. Tweet It is clearly advantageous for learners to be both proficient in mathematics as well as to understand the mathematics conceptually. As is argued by many commentators, simply practicing routines is not an effective way to develop conceptual understanding. However, there are […]
Marbotic Smart Letters and Numbers Review: Tech Toys With A Soul (and Major Fun Factor!)
The Product Marbotic offers wooden letters and numbers that work with six apps (free with the purchase of the letter and number blocks), which together allow your child to practice number- and letter-recognition, addition, subtraction, tens and ones units, spelling, and early reading. You can get the wooden letters and numbers as separate items or as a bundle on Amazon or through other retailers. The Concept Marbotic smart letters and smart numbers combine tech with physical toys, or, as they put […]
Are You Utilizing GeoGebra?
The saying “You don’t know what you don’t know” applies to many aspects of life but especially to the use of technology. In regards to teaching, there can often be an incredible tool with game-changing potential available for our use, if only we knew about it. For mathematics teachers, GeoGebra is one such tool. How many of the teachers in your department don’t use GeoGebra on a regular basis—and across all math classes? Most math teachers will have heard of […]
We are Pleased to Announce the Launch of the WorldSTEM Challenge!
We are pleased to announce the launch of the World STEM Challenge! Website: worldstem.co Twitter: @WorldSTEMedu The concept is to ‘crowdsource’ a video bank of quality STEM lessons and ideas for teachers around the world. The idea is simple: Ask teachers who are making great STEM lessons to share their ideas in a short video, around 2 minutes long. We will create a bank of these videos for teachers to easily navigate. Teachers from around the world will be able […]
Sneaking a Trojan Horse of STEM into my Classroom
This is the story of how I took my passion for building energy efficient cars and used it as a vehicle to bring STEM into my French classroom. I have always loved the world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM); seeing and learning how things work and fit together was a big part of my childhood, largely thanks to the influence of my father. When I started working as a French teacher in an all-boys school it never occurred […]
9 Snakes and Ladders Varieties: Modern, Vintage, and Out of the Box
Snakes and Ladders has been a favorite at family game night for years. The basic addition and anticipation of whether your next roll will send you climbing up a ladder or sliding down a snake is simple and exciting for children. The game takes virtually no time to learn, and will help improve your child’s basic math skills—you can even put your own educational twist on the game by playing with subtraction or multiplication rules. Check out the list below for […]
9 Cool Math Games to Enchant Your Little Math Magicians (Maybe You Too?)
In the old days, learning math was often a hard slog. Memorizing tables, endless exercises, stressful school tests… Thankfully, the world has moved on since then and there are endless cool math games to be found! There are tons of cool math games for kids of all ages on the market now. Through gamified learning, they can concentrate on having fun—but also pick up key numeracy skills like addition and subtraction while they play. There are even games for boosting […]
Teach Math the Way They’ll Understand It!
What is Conceptual Understanding? A quick search of the net will bring up numerous long-winded, tedious definitions of conceptual understanding within a mathematics context. This one from Dreambox is more palatable than most: Conceptual understanding is knowing more than isolated facts and methods. The successful student (with conceptual understanding) understands mathematical ideas and can transfer their knowledge into new situations and apply it to new contexts. The problem is, all definitions of conceptual understanding are poor representations of the actual experience […]
9 Fun Brain Games That Will Have you Scratching Your Head!
We all want our children to succeed: in school, in their extracurriculars and in their future. That’s why we take them from soccer practice to Mathletes, from Scouts to ballet, hoping that they will learn new skills and excel. We encourage them academically, supporting them with homework and class projects. But we also want our children to enjoy being children—to play and have fun! With educational games, children can do both: learning while playing, building valuable skills for school and beyond. You […]
Aftermath: 4 Visual Tools to Teach Any Class Using Statistics
We math teachers often feel like our subject is kept in a dungeon. The mere mention of which evokes headshakes from parents and furrowed brows from other teachers, to say nothing of the reaction from the students. Additionally, the subject is resistant to many educational fads and innovations. Project-based learning may be all the rage, but when you talk to math teachers in private they will admit that much of what they do looks like “chalk and talk.” Statistics provides […]
How to STEM Preschoolers – This is How I Did it at Digitaf
Digitaf is a technological kindergarten, located in a disadvantaged neighborhood of Holon, Israel. Our mission is to improve the area through the education of the children. In addition to the regular curriculum of a kindergarten, I am exposing the children to STEM related experiments and topics, while encouraging them to ask questions, explore and bring their ideas to life. 1. Science During last year I conducted a program of science experiments. In order to keep the spirit of the kindergarten, I added a linguistic element. […]
15 of the Best Counting Books for Children
Counting books are the perfect way to introduce young children to early math concepts while engaging their imaginations and expanding vocabulary and reading skills. It’s time to read to your child at bedtime – why not use that time to teach them something in a fun way? Electronic games are useful for teaching math to kids, but sharing counting books together is a wonderful way for kids and parents to spend time together, learning, imagining, and exploring. Best Counting Books […]