Category: Websites

9 of the Best Math Websites Out There

There are an awful lot of math sites on the internet and too often, they are filled with distracting ads that make it difficult to find the learning material, or too many games that don’t so much teach math skills as babysit kids.

Here are some I’ve found useful in my technology lab. They’re straightforward, with an uncluttered interface (mostly) and a focus on teaching not entertaining:

Math and Virtual Manipulatives and Tessellations –well organized, using a whiteboard with shapes and colors as the virtual manipulatives.

Math website—popular, a standard math2

Math—by Grade Level–a longtime favorite that reinforces basics, math facts and speed math

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Math–Mental Math –traditional mental math practice. Well done.

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Math–Minute Math –Mad Minutes

math3Games that make you think –logic, for K-3

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Multiplication.com–lots of multiplication problems, lessons, games, with a few on addition and subtraction
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Interactive Math Lessons–lots of them. You’ll find everything you need here.

math1
Math problems by skill and grade

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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Where Would You Like to Go Today?

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16 Great Research Websites for Kids

Please see the update here with more websites, kid-friendly browsers, citation resources, how to research, and a poster!

Quick, safe spots to send your students for research:

  1. BrainPop–with the BrainPop characters, a launchpad to curiosity
  2. CoolKidFacts–kid-friendly videos, pictures, info, and quizzes–all 100% suitable for children
  3. Dimensions–academic research geared for college-level
  4. Fact Monster–help with homework and facts
  5. Google Earth Timelapse–what changes to the planet over time
  6. Google Trends–what’s trending in searches
  7. History Channel–great speeches
  8. How Stuff Works–the gold standard in explaining stuff to kids
  9. Info Please–events cataloged year-by-year
  10. Library Spot–extensive collection of kid’s research tools
  11. National Geographic for Kids
  12. Ngram Viewer–analyzes all words in all books on Google Books
  13. SqoolTube Videos–educational videos for preK-12
  14. TagGalaxy–search using a cloud
  15. Wild Wordsmyth–picture dictionary for kids
  16. World Book–requires membership

More

Use Unconventional Research Sites to Inspire Students

How do I teach Inquiry and Research in Middle School

updated 3-22-21


Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

How Blogs Make Kids Better Writers

If kids are inspired to write, they get better at writing. The trick is to make writing fun.educational blogs

Blogs do that. The students get to interact with their favorite toy–a computer–and go online for legitimate purposes. They get to see their thoughts in print. What could be more appealing. Blogs and online forums are a teachers dream.

The problem is how teachers use these tools. Like every good skill, blogging and online writing requires a bit of explanation. Start with these simple rules:

  1. Be concise in a blog. Readers don’t go to blogs to read a novel. They want something that will help them in, say, a minute (that seems to be the average time people spend on a post)
  2. Be pithy. Readers don’t want to waste even that sixty seconds. They may get tricked the first time by a snazzy title, but not again. So, students must put their thoughts together in a cogent and concise arrangement.
  3. Be knowledgeable. There are so many bloggers out there, students must come across as intelligent on their topic and smart enough to discuss it in that one minute the reader gives them. How do they do that?
    1. Watch grammar and spelling.
    2. Pick a topic they know about. If it’s an opinion, pick something they have ideas about.
    3. Don’t tear down the other guy’s opinion as a way to promote their own. This sort of mean-spiritedness turns people off.

For more great reasons why blogs are good for kids, visit Educational Blogging Wiki–including helping them find their voice and empower their maturing identities.

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