DreamBox Learning®» Virtual manipulatives

Tuesday Teacher Tips: Using the Snap Block Teacher Tool

Lisa W — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:05:39 +0000

Welcome to the Tuesday Teacher Tips series! Each week we’ll highlight teaching and learning resources, ideas to use in the classroom, as well as things to ponder as you go about your teaching day. I’m always looking for ways to build number sense skills with my students. Lately I’ve been using one of DreamBox Learning's virtual manipulatives, Snap Blocks, with my students during our Math Starter time. This quick 5-10 minutes is meant to get my students engaged in thinking mathematically before we start on the math lesson; it’s my warm-up and stretching activity. _screencapture" width="307" height="202" /> When I introduced the Snap Blocks, we started out with level 1, so that the class could learn how to use the tool and everyone could achieve success. At the top of the screen a mathematical equation is displayed. For example, 5 + 5 + 7 + 4 = 10 + 10. The students calculate the answers for both sides of the equal sign and decide if the equation is true or false. I encourage everyone to use mental math to figure it the problem. When they have an answer they give me a thumbs-up signal if they think it’s a true equation, and a thumbs-down if they think it’s false. I invite one student up to the interactive whiteboard to move the Snap Blocks to the correct trays to prove if it’s a true or false equation. Blue blocks are moved to the blue tray and green blocks to the green tray. The student explains what their strategy was in solving the equation. For example, “I know that 5 + 5 = 10, which is one of the numbers on the other side of the equal sign. So then I know this is not a true equation, because 7 + 4 equals 11 and the only other number left on the other side is a 10.” When students are finished moving the cubes, I ask them to read the final equation, “21 does not equal 20.” For those students who are not ready to use mental math, when the problem is flashed on the board I quickly write the equation in their notebook and let them solve it with paper and pencil. My ultimate goal is for them to develop the strategies to solve it mentally. For students who struggle with number sense or mental math, I try to find time to work with them in small groups either on the interactive white board or at the teacher computer, so they can physically move the Snap Blocks for every equation. What are some ways you use Snap Blocks with your students? Let us know. We’d love to hear about them!

Virtual Manipulatives: Our First Fractions Manipulative, Rational Rods

Neal M — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:12:41 +0000

One of my favorite things about working at DreamBox is collaboration. Currently, our Academic Team is four National Board Certified Teachers including myself. We plan the curriculum, and work with experts in the field to develop lessons that are academically rigorous, follow an appropriate developmental sequence and that take advantage of a rich digital environment. Just last month, we traveled to Connecticut to work with our Leading Academic Advisor Dr. Cathy Fosnot, Founding Director of Math in the City and author of the Young Mathematicians at Work series. During our trip, the five of us hammered out a solid curriculum for teaching Fractions in Grades 3-5. Throughout this process, we design unique, likely-to-be patent pending virtual manipulatives that help students develop a strong conceptual foundation. One such virtual manipulative which we have developed is called Rational Rods. It is loosely based on measurement models, such as fraction strips, or bars, but takes that concept much further. This tool does what no classroom manipulative can do; it allows a student to take rational numbers, such as fractions, and apply a familiar context. How many of us use fraction terms when talking about money, or time? Instead of “I’ll be there in 30 minutes” we say “I’ll be there in a 1/2 hour”, or instead of “I only have 75 cents” we say “I only have 3/4″. Through Rational Rods, we have found a way to leverage our desire to reference context when tackling new math concepts, like fractions, and allow students to build a solid foundation before moving on to more abstract work. The Rational Rods virtual manipulative is just one of many tools we are developing for Fractions in Grades 3-5. Look for more blog posts as we give you sneak peeks of our current development!

How Technology is Changing Math Classrooms for the Better

Tracy — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:55:15 +0000

Guest Post by James McConville, as part of the EdTech Blog Swap Math is everywhere, there really is no escape! Sounds ominous, but there are so many opportunities to see math that is readily available in the world around us. This blog post looks at all the opportunities there are to discuss math with students and how technology supports they way we do that. Mind-mapping Making connections to what we already know. Mind mapping the big ideas. I’m been thrilled to see recently published math textbooks include a mind-map for each chapter to graphically show how the concepts in that chapter related to information that students already know. Take for example the mind-map below. Imagine if a student was to keep a year-long journal of things they learned in math as a mind-map. They could then ‘connect-the-dots’ to make sense of what they have learned. By the way, this mind-map was created in bubbl.us 2.0 beta. bubble.us has a great interface and is a free online mind-mapping site.

mind mapping

Virtual Manipulatives The latest breed of math textbooks are so much more than just a paper resource. If you haven’t checked the CD or website that is linked to your school’s math textbook, here are some nifty features you can expect:

note taking –ebooks have a way to store notes in the student’s version. The can personalize the book and make notes of the ah-ha’s in a way that we would never want them to do in a paper book.
virtual manipulatives – these are typically java or flash-based interactive learning objects that reinforce the concept. My favorite site for these is the Library of Virtual Manipulatives. (Editor's note: DreamBox Learning also has virtual manipulatives that any teacher can access for free!)
videos – watching someone else solve a math program can really help students. The great thing about online videos is that they can be watched over and over again. Of course YouTube has lots of math humor, here is one of my favorites with Ma & Pa.

Thinking about math The two photos in this post are from the creative commons on flickr and they do a great job of getting us to think about shapes in our environment. With all the cell phones in students' pockets, what if they all had to capture a 'math’ photo each day and shared them with a common tag on flickr. There would be a lot of math to discuss! Post a comment, how do you thing technology has changed the way we think about math? Wall photo from eworm on flikr, mind-map by James McConville, pear shapes from Kaptain Kobold

Teaching Number Sense Using the Open Number Line

Mickelle — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:15:17 +0000

DreamBox Learning provides free teacher resources for any teacher – regardless of whether they’re using DreamBox in the classroom or not! Our free Teacher Tools are virtual manipulatives that can be used with your whole class, or in smaller groups. The DreamBox open number line is an interactive tool you can use to support the development of number sense and computational fluency. It can be used to teach counting, addition and subtraction; as well as for modeling situations and representing student strategies. Use the open number line lesson in the classroom to teach: Skip counting

Ask students to discuss patterns they notice.
Challenge students to use a pattern to predict the next endpoint.
Start at numbers other than zero or count backwards.

Model a situations

During a math lesson or when students are on a field trip, the open number line can be used to model a number of mathematical situations.

Use strings of related problems to model students’ strategies

During mini-lessons, ask students to share how their strategy is similar to or different than another one. Use the open number line to illustrate the similarities and differences.
Save a screen capture or a copy of the screen, along with the student’s name and date. Save it in a student’s file or share it with parents.

Find your own ways of using the open number line – then share them with us! You can access the open number line virtual manipulative free by clicking here. And you can get all of the other free DreamBox Teacher Tools by clicking here.

DreamBox Learning K-3 Math is Launched. Tell Us What You Think!

Sue — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:10:53 +0000

For the last several months we’ve been beta testing our new 3rd grade math lessons and games, listening to all of our testers’ feedback and working hard to make the product better. Today we’ve released the new, expanded DreamBox Learning K-3 Math! There are now more than 500 math games and lessons. We’ve developed more than 100 3rd grade lessons, covering the Number and Operations and Algebra Focal Points set by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. And we’ve added more than 25 new 1st and 2nd grade lessons covering place value too. There are 10 new virtual manipulatives which teach multiplication and place value. The expanded math curriculum includes lessons on place value up to 10,000 and exploring multiplication using a number of different strategies.

Now you can try DreamBox Learning K-3 Math for yourself!

If you’re a parent: your kids can try DreamBox free for 14 days. Just click here to sign up. If you’re an educator: you can try the DreamBox Math Classroom free for 30 days! We encourage you to try the next generation of online learning for yourself. Then you can set up your entire classroom, multiple classrooms, computer lab, after-school program, or smaller groups of students. Sign up for your free classroom trial here. And please give us your feedback! We really do love to hear from our students, their parents and their teachers.

You'll Heart Our New February Valentine's Math Activity Calendar

Tracy — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:08:42 +0000

Our new kids calendar has arrived with math games and holidays your kids are sure to love! Celebrate Clean Out Your Computer Day on February 8th and Random Acts of Kindness Day on February 17. And, of course, you can help your kids count their valentines and find ways to sort them on February 14th. Get our new kids activity calendar here. This month, the theme is 'I Heart Math', so we provided a few tips to help your kids to love math.

Help your child learn to love math

Make math fun and fascinating part of everyday life. With a little thought, you can find the math in everything from shopping and cooking, to setting the table, to sorting pairs of socks! Focus on fun math facts and trivia and teach them the stories behind notable mathematicians. This month, take your kids to a math and science museum in your area.
Even if you struggled with math as a student, don't let any negative feelings you might have influence your children. If you love math, or at least appreciate how important it is, be sure to communicate that, and your kids will too. Create a positive learning environment and help your child practice math on a regular basis.
Understand what math concepts your child should be learning at every age. You can learn all about them in the DreamBox Math Growth Chart, which describes math skills that kids should have and includes tips for games and activities that will aid in their development.
Use math manipulatives! Manipulatives are designed so that a student can learn a mathematical concept by manipulating it. DreamBox offers virtual manipulatives for kindergartners, first graders and second graders that teachers, homeschoolers, and parents can use free in the classroom or at home.
Read math storybooks to your child! Check out our picks of the best math storybooks for a few wonderful suggestions.

We hope you enjoy our free Math Activity Calendar. Have a fantastic February!

Mickelle Weary at FETC: “Using Virtual Manipulatives to Support the Development of Number Sense”

Sue — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:15:03 +0000

If you were unlucky enough to miss Mickelle Weary’s session at FETC, you missed a lively discussion about the value of using manipulatives in the classroom. Mickelle is one of DreamBox Learning’s nationally board certified teachers. She was invited to speak at FETC because, together with the other teachers at DreamBox, she’s been instrumental in developing the virtual manipulatives that are at the core of our lessons in DreamBox Learning K-2 Math. Like a good teacher, Mickelle used the time while people were coming into the session to model the use of manipulatives for getting a class settled. She used a full range of the DreamBox virtual manipulatives (our “Teacher Tools”) to present problems, rewarding correct answers with treats. The audience participation was a great way to get started—her “class” was fully engaged before she even began her talk! Then, using the DreamBox online manipulatives, Mickelle demonstrated their power as teaching aids—how they enable a richer and more concrete understanding of math concepts. They allow students to show their work; and research shows that they’re useful in supporting students with language or learning difficulties. Mickelle emphasized the key criteria when evaluating virtual manipulatives for use in the classroom, suggesting teachers ask:

Do they both teach and allow for practice?
Do they provide scaffolding and hints?
Do they give you control and flexibility in how they’re used
Do they allow assessment of student strategies?
Do they give you the ability to report on their use?
Are they fun and intuitive to use?

Mickelle’s really made it a lively discussion, with questions centered around using the manipulatives. One teacher had a great suggestion for improving our open number line manipulative—she thought we should add a field that would allow a teacher to enter the problem, so students could refer to it while the class worked through the solution. (We really welcome suggestions like this one for how we can make improvements!) Any teacher can use the free Teacher Tools After Mickelle’s presentation we had a steady stream of session attendees coming by our booth to sign up for the DreamBox Teacher Tools, which we offer any teacher to use free in their classroom. You can get them too, by clicking here! Download Mickelle’s presentation as a PDF If you’d like to download a PDF of Mickelle’s presentation, click here. You’ll find the key points of her talk here, as well as the list of resources she shared for more information on virtual manipulatives.

FETC 2010 Pictures – Team DreamBox at Booth 1305

Sue — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:48:18 +0000

FETC has been a whirlwind of fun and learning so far - exactly what DreamBox is all about! We here at Booth 1305 have been busy demonstrating our awesome math games, answering questions on virtual manipulatives, and meeting some of the biggest names in education technology. It's been a blast!

DreamBox FETC 2010 Booth 1305

FETC 2010 - Team DreamBox

Sue and Casey at the FETC DreamBox Booth

DreamBox Will Be at FETC This Week: Booth 1305

Sue — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:41:13 +0000

We’re very excited about being at FETC (Florida Education Technology Conference) in Orlando this week! It’s one of the largest conferences dedicated to educational technology, and we look forward to meeting many teachers, administrators, and technologists. We’ll be in booth 1305—there will be a lot going on in the booth and we hope you’ll come by, for:

Every hour on the hour: demos of DreamBox Learning K-2 Math and the DreamBox Math Classroom
Get free Teacher Tools—and other goodies
And enter to win the DreamBox Math Classroom!

DreamBox teacher presenting conference session on virtual manipulatives DreamBox Learning’s Mickelle Weary, a nationally board-certified teacher, will be presenting “Using Virtual Manipulatives to Support the Development of Number Sense”

Date: Thursday, January 14
Time: 3:10 pm
Room: W304D

Follow Mickelle on Twitter Mickelle Weary is a very experienced and highly respected teacher who is now sharing tips for teachers and other topics of interest through Twitter. Mickelle will be tweeting throughout FETC about her interactions with educators, interesting facts and opinions she picks up, and on her presentation. We encourage you to follow MickelleW—just go to twitter.com/MickelleW and click the “Follow” button. Bring your warm clothes—and we look forward to seeing you there!

Schools Are on Winter Break, but DreamBox is Not!

Mickelle — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:14:32 +0000

At DreamBox we’re capitalizing on school vacation! For two days, we invited DreamBoxers who live near our offices to sit side-by-side with our teachers and developers and be the first to try our newest lessons and games. This is the first major step in testing our new virtual manipulatives developed by DreamBox only for our upcoming 3rd grade lessons. Not only have these DreamBox games never before been played by children, nothing else like them exists. By the time we introduce this curriculum in our school testing programs, the usability and design will be thoroughly tested and even better! These early testing experiences are a crucial part of making DreamBox the best it can be. A huge thank you to all the kids that came to our office and tested our new 3rd grade lessons!