Welcome to our Homeschool Resources: Math. I would like to ask you to check out the resources I’ve shared with you this morning and let me know if you’ve used them with your children. Charlie and I can’t wait to check out Zoombinis although I also want to see what Math Snacks is about. Would you like to join us for Math Class this morning?
Zoombinis is an award-winning, research-based game that allows students to practice important computational thinking skills including, algebraic thinking, problem decomposition, data analysis, and more.
New Mexico State University: Math Snacks– Grades 4-8, with parental supervision
New Mexico State University Learning Games Lab created this site, which aims to provide “smart educational animations, games, and interactive tools that help mid-school learners better understand math concepts.”
The site’s collection of “snacks” are highly entertaining educational movies, games, and apps that focus on specific mathematical concepts, each requiring only a small amount of time. Some of the videos and games you’ll find include:
- Watch the fabled Atlantis sink, thanks to a Dodgeball coach who lacks a clear understanding of ratios.
- Identify numbers that sum to ten, and decimals that sum to 1 – while driving a school bus full of monsters and deforming the neighborhood (this one you’ve got to see to believe).
- Watch a supervillain and superhero match wits, scaling things up and down by the same factor.
There are many more as well. Look under the “Teaching With” link to find guides for student and teacher, as well as transcripts of the video clips, and more, to help solidify the concepts.
A handy reminder from the teachers’ page: “Math Snacks isn’t a curriculum, but a series of activities you can use with the curriculum you are already using in grades 4-8.” Since they’re snacks, you’ll be glad to hear that they’re portable; if you have a mobile device, you can learn something new on the go!
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
