DreamBox Learning®» DreamBox Teacher Tools

Introducing Another Free DreamBox Teacher Tool – Match-n-Make: Identifying Pairs™

Becca — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:06:29 +0000

When we developed DreamBox Learning K-2 Math, our teachers and our software developers collaborated to create online tools that are uniquely suited to teaching math. These virtual tools grew out of the classroom experiences of our board-certified staff teachers, who know that physical manipulatives help students better understand essential math concepts and build knowledge through direct hands-on experience with mathematical ideas. In fact, research has shown that virtual manipulatives can be especially effective, because students are engaged directly in problem-solving, enabling them to replay lessons, try different strategies, and reset and self-correct when necessary. Match-n-Make: Identifying Pairs™ The match-n-make virtual tool is a lot of fun, providing opportunities for students to identify number patterns and relationships, and practice computation strategies that build fluency. It helps engage students to develop understanding of landmark numbers (10, 20, 50, etc.) The match-n-make board provides pairs of numbers that add up to a landmark number. The numbers can be restricted (for instance, you can limit it to a landmark of 10 or multiples of 10), allowing you to focus on specific strategies and scaffold student learning. Like all DreamBox Teacher Tools, when you access the match-n-make tool you’ll also get ideas that you can use as stand-alone classroom activities, as a supplement to your math curriculum, or that you can incorporate into a professional development program. For example, teachers can use lessons as quick activities to support fluency with addition. Or, before identifying any pairs on the screen, ask students to write down as many pairs as possible. You’ll find more ideas on using the match-n-make tool in your classroom, access to this and all of the other DreamBox Teacher Tools, as well as tutorials on using them, when you visit www.dreambox.com/teachertools!

The Newest Free DreamBox Teacher Tool – Snap Blocks: Determining Equality™.

Casey — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:37:52 +0000

Since DreamBox released the first in our series of new free Teacher Tools last month we've had a remarkable interest in them, with hundreds of teachers using them in hundreds of lessons! The first in the series of DreamBox Teacher Tools we launched were the Quick Images: Identifying Amounts™ tools – a virtual mathrack, a tenframe, and a special tool invented by DreamBox called a Numbergram™ – which help students conceptualize numbers as groups and understand number relationships. We’ve also introduced the Open Number Line: Developing Number Sense™, which can be used to explore a range of mathematical ideas such as counting, skip counting, addition and subtraction, and modeling situations. Snap Blocks: Determining Equality™. And now we've released the next free Teacher Tool – Snap Blocks: Determining Equality™. Snap Blocks also were created by DreamBox, specifically to help students understand the meaning of the equal sign and the concept of equivalence. Using these virtual manipulatives rather than just clicking on an answer enhances student learning. DreamBox Learning's Snap Blocks are a visual representation of numbers, which students can manipulate to compare the relationship between quantities, and explore the meaning of the equal sign and the concept of equality. They help students develop efficient computation strategies, providing an essential foundation for early algebra. Students will begin to make generalizations that inform their relational (algebraic) thinking by working with the numeric relationships between both sides of the equal sign. All of the free DreamBox Teacher Tools include access to the online tool and an introduction to the virtual manipulative itself. Teachers also get ideas for using it with stand-alone activities in the classroom, as a supplement to an existing math curriculum, or incorporated into a professional development program for teachers. Learn more about all of DreamBox's math resources for teachers, then please tell us how you're using them in your classroom!

The Latest Free DreamBox Teacher Tool: Open Number Line: Developing Number Sense™

Sue — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:30:50 +0000

At DreamBox our passion is bringing math to life for all students! So we have created math resources for teachers – free teacher tools with interactive virtual manipulatives that any teacher can access free to support math learning in the classroom. Research suggests that using virtual manipulatives can help students develop a richer understanding of concepts, even more than using physical tools, and can be particularly useful for students with language difficulties. (Read the DreamBox blog on using virtual manipulatives to teach early numeracy.)

The DreamBox open number line tool

Open Number Line: Developing Number Sense™ The interactive open number line is the most recent DreamBox Teacher Tool we’re offering to teachers for free! Teachers can use the open number line virtual manipulative within a variety of instructional contexts. With it, you can support the development of number sense and computational fluency. For example:

Envision numbers as the magnitude of distances on a line, as equivalent quantities, and by their proximity to landmark numbers.
Explore operations (addition, subtraction, etc.) to support the development of various efficient strategies for computational fluency.

Since it is not attached to a specific type of problem, teachers can use it to solve a range of problems and represent students’ strategies. The virtual open number line can be used to explore mathematical ideas including counting, skip counting, addition and subtraction, and modeling situations. For ideas on using DreamBox Learning’s open number line tool with stand-alone activities or as a supplement to an existing math curriculum, visit www.dreambox.com/teachertools/open_number_line. DreamBox also provides resources to support the professional development of teachers as they learn to incorporate the virtual manipulatives in the classroom: tutorials and suggestions for using the tools in lessons.

Now Teachers Can Get DreamBox Teacher Tools Free!

Sue — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:50:00 +0000

Throughout the development of DreamBox Learning K-2 Math, our teachers and developers collaborated to develop innovative (and in many cases patent-pending) tools that are exactly suited to teaching the early numeracy concepts students need to learn. These virtual manipulatives are web-based tools that help students more easily grasp math concepts in visual terms, and give them hands-on opportunities to manipulate the objects to construct mathematical knowledge. Now we’ve turned our easy-to-use virtual manipulatives into math resources for teachers, and made them available for teachers to use free in their classrooms. If you're a teacher with a broadband connection you can use these virtual tenframes, mathracks, and other innovative tools in large- or small-group instructional settings. With an interactive white board or projector you can help make math lessons come to life for your whole class, or just use them on a computer for smaller groups. And the DreamBox Teacher Tools are all free!

The DreamBox Numbergram™ tool

Quick Images: Identifying Amounts™ The first in the series of Teacher Tools we've released are the Quick Images tools, which help students conceptualize numbers as groups and investigate number relationships. For example, students can: • Organize and analyze visual images in mathematical ways • Understand spatial relationships • Describe patterns and shapes using number relationships and mathematical vocabulary • Connect visual images to their numeric representation Using the Quick Images manipulatives are a great way to engage students in communicating their mathematical thinking while offering opportunities for students to subitize and conceptualize numbers. The ideas here can be used as stand-alone activities, as a supplement to an existing math curriculum, or incorporated into a professional development program for teachers. The Quick Images tools include 3 different math manipulatives:

The Numbergram™ uses dot arrangements similar to those on standard dice, familiar to many children, to encourage thinking about patterns in number relationships and support the development of spatial relationships.
The mathrack uses 1, 2, or 10 wires with 5 red beads and 5 white beads on each wire, to help students see the quantities of 5 and 10 as a whole, supporting the use of 5s, 10s, and doubles as anchors for mathematical thinking.
The 10-wire mathrack tool
The tenframe, a 2 x 5 array on which counters are placed from left to right across the top, and then left to right across the bottom, offers additional visual support for seeing the quantities of 5 and 10 as a whole.

All three of these manipulatives support students in conceptualizing numbers as groups rather than individual objects to be counted, combining numbers to make other numbers, and investigating relationships between numbers. These relationships form the basis for efficient computation and flexible, quick recall of math facts. Click here to learn more about Quick Images: Identifying Amounts™. DreamBox resources support professional development When teachers access DreamBox Teacher Tools at www.dreambox.com/teachertools, they’ll also find tutorials on the manipulatives and ideas for using the tools in classroom lessons. And we provide resources that support the professional development of teachers as they learn to incorporate the virtual manipulatives, in order to support students’ mathematical learning. After you try the DreamBox Teacher Tools, please tell us what you think and how you're using them!