PKmathwebsites

Terri DiGiovanni Kahnacademy.com. I love this website. It is great to build students' prerequisite knowledge. So many concepts in math are dependent on knowing several other skills. This site will allow you to select the exact concept you may need more practice on before you can advance. It also has the same breakdown for chemistry. I have actually been able to use it for tutoring a high school chemistry student. The lessons are relevant and easy to follow. You can stop the videos at any time to clarify or remediate. Also offers practice problems for some lessons.
 * Exploring the Potential of Interactive Websites in Mathematics**

Directions: Click Edit, Type your name, Type your comments, Click Save.

For your comments, identify the name of the website and insert a hyperlink if possible. Then explain how you might use this interactive resource to (a) __activate__, (b) __assess__, and/or (c) __build__ **students' prerequisite knowledge for your lesson/unit.**

EXAMPLE from last semester:


 * Shirah Bergman**
 * // Math Videos.com. // I like the idea of using videos in a Math lesson. Students are not used to seeing math interactively or on a computer screen in an accessible way. I think this website is a great way to visually stimulate students and engage them in math. Some of the videos have voice-over narration and tools like highlighting and writing on the screen as the narration continues. I do not think it is a site I would send students to blindly. I think it is a tool that can be used in the classroom. If there is access to a computer room or computer cart, students can work in groups to explore the different videos. If not, the class can look at the website together via projector and/or smartboard. A good way to use this website in frontloading could be for ** activating students knowledge ** . The students will engaged by the visual aspect of the videos and the familiarity of the medium, being the internet, and they will be exposed to the material in an accessible way. Many of the videos use real life props or connections which will allow students to start connecting this new information with their previous knowledge.
 * //When Will I Use Math.// This website is more sophisticated than some of the other math sites available. It focuses on careers that use math, unsolved problems, new discoveries, resources for teachers, etc. It has a lot of information that might be overwhelming to middle and high school students. I think the information about math careers can be introduced to students so they are aware of "when will I use math". The website can be used, in groups or on an overhead projector, to introduce the class to all the careers that involve math and how math can be a part of their lives. There is also an article, on the site, which talks about how mathematical the world is becoming. Students will be given the opportunity to see the connection between math and the real world. A good way to use this website in frontloading could be for **assessing students knowledge**. For example, students could be shown the website and the page with the list of careers. As a class, we could discuss the different jobs and what they are. In smaller groups, the students could discuss how math plays a role in each job. Through discussion, the teacher can find out what information the students remember that might be relevant to the topic.


 * Kyle Hollenbeck**


 * 1. Khan Academy** []

a) Activate – Students' knowledge could easily be activated by Sal Khan's step-by-step tutorial videos on nearly every high school Math concept one could expect to teach. His approach is very hands on, as he does the entire problem out for students allowing them to follow along with their own pencil and paper. His commentary is exceptionally descriptive while still casual and sounding as if he understands the students' thought process (this way students feel like they are actually working with Sal rather than just watching a video).

b) Assess – Khan academy has a myriad of testing options available for students at all Math levels. The system itself is very dynamic, rating students through a multitude of “pre-tests” and determining which level difficulty problems they should be given. Each content area allows a seemingly infinite number of examples for students to practice on and improve. Khan Academy thus serves as a very good source for assessing a student's understanding of any given Math concept.

c) Build – As mentioned in the Activate portion, Khan Academy has hundreds of Math tutorial videos available to all students for free. Once students feel comfortable enough with the material at hand, they are not only able, but encouraged, to trek onward and delve into higher-level concepts. Khan Acadamy is accessible to pretty much anyone with internet, as it can properly gauge your current Math level and motivate you to build on that initial knowledge base.


 * 2. InterMath Dictionary** []

a) Activate – While I would not recommend sending students to this site without guidance (as it is a site meant for teachers to begin with) the examples provided are, for the most part, real-world and related to students' lives (i.e. McNugget Numbers). Thus students interest in topics at hand may be more piqued than by standard problems without a “real-world twist.”

b) Assess – This site provides a handful of sample problems for most high school-level Math courses. As such, teachers can use these problems to roughly gauge a student's understanding of the topic to which said problems pertain. It would appear that many of the problems, simple as they may be for teachers, do not provide solutions. Therefore, students would have no way of knowing for certain if they were correct. I would thus like to reiterate that this site is considered a tool for teachers and I would not recommend students to explore it on their own without proper instruction.

c) Build – Although problems of higher-level nature are available should students desire them, there are, again, not too many solutions for said problems (at least that I saw in my exploration of the site). Therefore I don't find this site to be very motivational in terms of students building up their knowledge base and pushing themselves further.

Katie Dio
 * 1. The Maths Dictionary for Kids** This website is very colorful and is aimed towards younger kids however the setup is very user friendly and interesting. This website has a section with math definitions and another with math charts about different topics. Each definition has a written description, diagram and an interactive example that will portray the topic. The charts have diagrams, definitions and examples on them about various topics. This website can be used to **activate** prior knowledge about a given topic by having students search for certain definitions on the website and using the interactive examples to refresh concepts previously taught. Students can also activate prior knowledge through different tasks assigned with the website, such as needing to find the word with the definition on a worksheet or being asked to find definitions of certain terms and then determining how to connect or categorize these terms on a worksheet. The charts and definitions can also help **build** student knowledge by introducing students to new mathematical topics and seeing how they work with the examples. The charts are also very helpful for a quick overview of formulas, concepts and definitions within a certain subject and would be a good addition to a classroom.


 * 2. Math is fun** This website features games, puzzles, a dictionary and an information section about different subjects. There are also different activities sorted by subject and grade level. This website can be used to **assess** student knowledge before a reading by having students perform one of the activities. They are formatted to walk students through part of the set up and gives a reminder of required formulas to help students perform the activity. The actual work is done on paper so the activity can be collected and assessed to see how students perform on a given activity about a certain topic. The site can also be used to **build** knowledge through the informational pages about certain topics and definitions. The games can **activate** prior knowledge in a fun way while also requiring students to remember past information to complete the tasks.