A Monthly Newsletter for Midway and Vickery Creek Teachers

Staff Development for the next two months focuses on creating web pages and utilizing the one computer.  The web page class at both schools will require signup and participation in five class sessions.    Participants will create a class web page as well as a curricular page highlighting a theme or topic for their spring curriculum.   Finished pages will be posted on the county servers.

The one computer classes are not sequential and open to all.  Each session will focus on a different aspect of technology.  The first session will focus on
Classroom management, strategies and types of activities for individuals or small groups.   The second class will be a revisit to classroom connect.
The next two classes will be on using Excel and Word. 

More information concerning class objectives and content will be posted on e-mail in the coming weeks. 

Click the snowman to see the winter schedule.

This issue of Techno Bits and Bytes focuses on math resources and technology integration.  Over the past year, the Internet has exploded with many interactive resources, especially in the area of math instruction.  Many sites are listed below and are bookmarked in the math folder.   These sites are great activities to review math objectives covered earlier in the school year.

Beginning with this issue, there will be a section devoted to integrating Excel in the classroom.   Please share your Excel ideas so that they can be spotlighted and shared with others.

The one hundredth day is approaching and many activities and suggestions are available on the web!  Check out Tammy Peyton's site that list many resources, activities and other sites relating to the one hundredth day.

MathStories, Math Forum, Quia and MathsNet are four personal favorites.  There are so many resources listed!  Select an activity that correlates with your current objectives and integrate into your curriculum.

This month I want to mention several teachers that are doing an exceptional job.  Bobbie Stone and her second graders participated in The Monster Project with Elmwood Elementary.  Check out the second grader's Monster Gallery.  Student's drawings and descriptions are posted.  Bobbie learned many skills along the way to participate in this project.  We can't wait to see the redrawn monsters her partner school will be posting!

Emily Tyson, Nancy Via, Pam McClure, Kim Clewell, Brenda Roy, Carrie Weaver, Andrea Summervill, Ann McDonald, and Lynn Bump have all signed up to participate in the Great Chocolate Experience IV.  They will be involved with chocolate and math.  How yummy!  We can't wait to see their outcomes!

Kim Clewell completed ten staff development hours before winter break!  What a star techno teacher!

Many of these sites provide activities that can be correlated to the Forsyth County Math Standards and Benchmarks.    Remember many of these sites require Shockwave!

A + Math is an awesome site that allows kids to improve basic math operations interactively.     Concentration and hidden picture games provide motivation to complete exercises.  Flashcards not only provide basic operations practice but provide drill in counting money and rounding numbers.
Baseball and Math is a Think Quest Winner!  Check it out!
Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies Check out probability and measuring area and perimeter of polygons.  A personal favorite!
Room 108 Math Activities Check out the Mad Minute Activity as well as the online calculator.
The Web Classroom provides multiplication practice on individual factors.  Follow the Junior links.

Sites for the Very Young!
Adding Penguins and Subtracting Penguins from Kids Carnival. 
Education By Design Base Ten Count allows kids to group by tens.
Pattern Pals is fun for all ages.  Students can manipulate the pattern blocks to create many patterns.
Older students can use this site for tessellation's as well as fractions.
The Learning Planet is awesome.  Check out the 123 Order under Pre-K and Space Math under 1-3!

    Interactive Telling Time 
Can you tell time? A fun activity in which the student stops the clock and selects two correct answers from four choices.
Set the Time?  Truly Interactive!  Students stop the clock and then move the hour and minute hands to set the time to match the digital clock! 
Time Experience for Kids is higher level and involves differences between the times given.

 
Teacher Created Activities
Quia Math Journey takes the learner around the world to answer math problems!
Read that Number is just one of many excellent math activities at quia.com
Easy Roman Numerals highlights I, V, and X.
Estimation - Hundreds is one of the top 100 activities.

To Excel is Elementary

Right Hand or Left Hand

What percentage of you class is right or left handed?    Cynthia Lanius has a put together a data collection and analysis class experiment that will have your whole class involved.  Use Excel to record your data and create a graph for a visual.

Math Forums' Problem of the Week
Students from third grade up can participate in this weekly challenge!  Set up teams for the month and let different teams of students participate each week for management purposes.  A great tool for collaboration.

100th Day of School Celebration
A Great Resource From Tammy Peyton

Math is everywhere.  Check out the picture book, Domino Addition, by Dr. Lynette Long.  Read and share this book with students and then follow up with the Domino template.  You can easily make your own template or have students create their own dominos and write the equations.  I have a copy to share.

Domino Template:
Log on as one of your students.  Go to the L: drive.  Open kptemps and look in the math folder to locate the template.  Save template to your student H: drive.