Sum Dog Mathematics

Students in all grade levels have been practicing their math skills using a free online site called SumDog.com. Students aim to score well on educational games covering a variety of mathematics skills. Teachers can select specific skills for students to work on over the course of time. Sumdog also includes a variety of games to engage all styles of learners. One Bon Air teacher said, "My kids had a wonderful experience with Sumdog this year. They were highly-motivated competing with the world while having a friendly competition with classmates. They loved when I made up competitions and also when they were entered in Sumdog's weekly contests."

These pictures were taken earlier in the semester when Mrs. Catt's third grade class participated in their first Sum Dog competition. "The kids cheer if I let them have a few minutes to get on Sumdog!," said another teacher. Watch the movie to learn more about Sum Dog competitions. Bon Air will be participating in the May 10th- 16th competition....will you? See you on the leaderboard!

VOTE FOR BON AIR ON FACEBOOK!

Vote for BON AIR on

 

Bon Air Elementary is applying for the “Share the Good” grant offered from the Seeds of Change program in hopes to win $25,000 to put towards creating a community garden. Our students will learn where food comes from, the importance of a healthy diet, the process involved in food production, and the preservation of food for later use. The students will participate in the planning and construction of the school community garden, nurture the garden, and harvest healthy foods. The harvested fruits and vegetables will be a fresh and healthy addition to the “Buddy Bags” that are provided by a local church and sent home with our students to provide nutritional meals to our students on the weekends. Additional produce would be donated to local families and community food pantries.

We need your help to be selected!! Please visit the Seeds of Change Facebook page (link below) and LIKE their page. Then visit the “Share the Good Area” and type in Bon Air’s zip code (46901). Open our application and vote! You can vote one time per day. If you have any questions or you cannot access our application please call Bon Air for help. Also share this on your own Facebook page so your friends and family know to vote for us too!

Seeds of Change Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/seedsofchange?fref=ts#!/seedsofchange

Check out our Chicks!

BABY CHICKS!

Mrs. Jensen’s science classes will be welcoming several new feathery members to their class VERY SOON! Check out the link below to view the status of their baby chick eggs and watch in real time on the day they make their arrival (as soon as tonight or tomorrow). J It is currently Day 19 in their life cycle so it will be any time! You can view her live feed by visiting the link below.

https://new.livestream.com/accounts/3593751/events/2023729

You will have to create a Livestream account using your school email. This will allow you to view the feed and make comments as your class watches. It only takes 1-2 minutes, very simple. Just set up email and password, click on confirmation link, a few profile settings and you are in.

TIPS

11) The Livestream feed works best in either Firefox or Chrome. You have Firefox already installed on your tablet. Just use the Windows Icon on the bottom left hand corner of your screen, and then in the search bar type in “Firefox.” You can then click on the Firefox browser to use the Internet. Copy and paste the link above into the browser’s top search bar and you are on your way to Livestream.

22) You will have to create a Livestream account using your school email. This will allow you to view the feed and make comments as your class watches. It only takes 1-2 minutes, very simple. Just set up email and password, click on confirmation link in your inbox, a few profile settings and you are in.

33) It will show a puzzle piece and will instruct you to “click to run Adobe Flash.” Click…..and ENJOY!!!

 

 

 

 

Using Virtual Manipulatives to Create Digital Pictures in Mathematics

All students learn differently. This is a proven point. It is also proven that students prefer to demonstrate their knowledge of curriculum in multiple ways. Our visual/spatial learners gather and demonstrate knowledge using sight.  These students prefer designing a mural or diorama over a written book report or a worksheet.  During Digital Learning Day, our third grade math classes used virtual manipulative sites to create visual representations of mathematics concepts. The goal of their lessons were to prove their answers were correct by creating picture graphics on their device.

Here are some of our favorite virtual manipulative sites.

http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html

http://www.fuelthebrain.com/Interactives/app.php?ID=201

 http://nlvm.usu.edu/

A student in Mrs. Catt's class uses geometric shapes to create a picture.

 Students in this class were allowed to use a certain numbers of shapes and then were required to identify all the shapes in their final picture.

 Students in Mrs. York's class worked on multiplication. They used virtual base ten blocks to solve double-digit multiplication problems. They were required to show their work (with the virtual manipulatives instead of paper/pencil) before moving on to the next problem.

 

 

Ideas for using virtual manipulatives in your classroom:

• Use fraction bars to find like fractions
• Create patterns
• Count money
• Use base ten blocks for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division
• Create graphs
• Use a virtual hundreds chart for addition and subtraction
• Create various types of geometric shapes
• Tangrams and Pentominoes
• Digital geoboards (eliminate those flying rubber bands!)
• Practice with clocks and telling time

 

 

Spelling City

The Internet has tens of thousands of websites available to teachers to use with our students. But sometimes we come across valuable websites that can engage students in purposeful practice and skill building over and over. These websites, also known as "reusable learning objects" offer more than just online gaming. They allow the teacher to give students ways for repetitive review anytime throughout the day, including after school hours.

One popular site used in our classrooms is Spelling City at www.spellingcity.com. This site includes over 42,000 pre-loaded spelling words with customizable sentences and definitions. It also included a read-aloud function where a real person reads words aloud for students. Teacher can also load in their own spelling words for the week. There are twenty-five interactive games available to students to play to practice their words. Students can also take practice tests and print flashcards to help them prepare for the actual end of week test in class. Check out some screenshots from the site below and some photos of our second graders using the program.

 
Home Page

Example game-Hang Mouse


Matching Practice