Sunday, October 13, 2013

Math Can be Fun too

            Students who sit in a lecture listening to a teacher talk have a harder time concentrating and learning. There are so many fun, engaging learning math games for every subject. Sheppard Software is a website that has games for most content areas that goes up until some high school level. These games are interactive activities for students to play to be supplementary to lesson plans. In addition, these games are completely free and students can access it from their homes as well.
There are many fun interactive materials for almost any lesson plan, and this website is one of the many out there. There are also available questions that students could try that will tell the student within a second whether they are right and why. The website also encourages students to beat high scores of previous players that have played that game and has a scoreboard with names of students. These high scores not only serve as a positive reinforcement, but also encourage the students to learn the material even more by making them play more to get a higher spot. When students get a high score, they will most likely have a more positive attitude about the material and want to keep learning.
These games include math skills and math literacy. This website includes games ranging from solving problems to becoming familiar with math vocabulary. Some math skill games include counting, decimals, divisions, fractions, factors, measuring, and much more. Some math literacy games include identifying math operations, naming geometric shapes ranging from polygons, non-polygons, distinguishing the difference between similar and congruent, different types of triangles, different types of quadrilaterals, identifying basic and 3-D shapes. Both math skills and math literacy are equally important, so it is even better that there are games to help students with both.
Overall, not all students learn the same; some need more help than others need. Often times students who struggle find a harder time catching up, but this website holds a range of games from k-10th grade and there are many other websites like this. Even if a student is falling behind, having a hard time understanding, or even just wants to refresh their memories these games allow students to learn and practice to make sure that they will succeed. These games provide a fun interactivity for student whether or not they need the help, it could also just be for fun.

2 comments:

  1. This is a fun way for students to practice their math skills. For students in the top 3 places you can offer a reward like a homework pass or extra credit so that students will stay motivated and want to practice. This will also motivate students to take the games seriously rather than just joking around and putting in any answers.

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  2. I think this is a great idea! I have played so many games in English, History, and Foreign Language classes, but I can never remember a game being utilized in my math classes. Using websites like this will help students to interact with the material. Incorporating fun activities like this will also get students away from the idea that math always has to be hard and boring.

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