Great Sites to Explore for Math & Literacy
Math
The BBC offers a variety of different pages, full of games and activities aimed at students of different ages. (Note that these are British, so games focused on money use pounds and those focused on measurement use units such as metres and litres.)
- Schools: Mathematics: Primary (ages 4-11)
- KS1 Bitesize Numeracy (age 5-7)
- KS2 Bitesize Math (age 7-11)
Calculation Nation. Games and activities from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Free, but registration is required.
Illuminations. Online activities and lessons meant to illuminate NCTM’s standards for math learning and teaching. Search activities for PreK-2 and 3-5
NRICH. The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. This site provides “thousands of our free mathematics enrichment materials (problems, articles and games) for teachers and learners from ages 5 to 19 years.” All the resources are designed to develop subject knowledge, problem-solving and mathematical thinking skills. The website is updated with new material on the first day of every month.
PBS Kids has many games to choose from, with activities for a range of ages and abilities. Many deal with logic and decision making.
- Math Games (for younger children)
- Cyberchase (for older children)
Resources and Tools for Parents
The following sites have some useful tools that could be used as you work with a child. For example, two hands where you can manipulate, raising and lowering fingers, abacuses to 20 and to the thousands, calculators, number lines, 100 charts, a deck of cards you can limit and shuffle, adjustable spinners.
Other tools and resources:
- A clock face (From Oswego City School District.)
- Estimation (From Oswego City School District, this activity asks students to estimate where on a given number line, with only the two endpoints labeled with numbers, an arrow is located.)
- Turtle Geometry (Students direct (i.e. program) a turtle around the screen -- freely, through a maze, or to draw a specific shape.)
On the following sites, students can make pictures or designs with:
- Pattern blocks on a blank page
- Pattern blocks plus other shapes
- Polygons
- Geoboards
- Grid paper for making shapes
*Great resources from https://investigations.terc.edu/library/Games_K12345.cfm
Literacy
BrainPOP
http://www.brainpop.com or http://www.brainpopjr.com
watch videos on a variety of topics and take quizes after watching
PBS Kids
http://pbskids.org
stories and games associated with PBS programs for early readers
Starfall
http://www.starfall.com
interactive books and rhyming word family games for emergent readers
Seussville
http://www.seussville.com
word puzzles, matching games and other activities related to Dr. Seuss books
Story Dog
http://www.storydog.com
a new story and activities every week for kids and parents to share at home
Story Line Online
http://www.storylineonline.net
members of the Screen Actor's Guild read children's books aloud
Bookhive
http://www.bookhive.org/
lists of children's books with summary and intended audience
Funbrain
http://funbrain.com/
free games and quizzes in math, grammar, science, spelling and history
