Recently when I visited a kindergarten classroom, I learned that computers were “closed” during math stations. The reason was that the teacher could not find free high quality math work for children to use at the computer station.
Upon searching I came upon a few sites that we really liked, so we bookmarked three counting games in “Favorites” and put them in a folder marked “Math.”
To help children easily access the games we wanted them to play during math, we taught them how to find and open this folder. Their teacher modeled this using her Smart Board (lucky girl!). Then we wrote simple picture directions together so they could do this on their own.
We also added the password they’d need on a post-it note stuck to the computer (just in case the computers froze and they needed to restart them). Then we had two students model for the rest of the class how to open the favorites file and choose a math game.
The children were so excited and so independent. Now they can return to one of their favorite math stations… the computer station is open again!
Teacher models how to open Favorites files for math
Two kids model how to open the bookmarked files
Computer directions made with the class and provide support so students can do this independently
Children work on their own at the computer during math stations
Awesome! What were the sites?
Denise,
Here they are:
http://www.learningplanet.com/act/count/free.asp; http://www.learningplanet.com/sam/cyc/index.asp
http://www.learningplanet.com/act/123order.asp
I LOVE to use http://www.educationcity.com during my math stations. You can set what activities each student needs to work on, and they are all game-based, so the students LOVE them! There is even a new feature that lets them go head-to-head with other players on practice such as basic math facts ( a GREAT alternative to flashcards!). The best part is that there are activities for all subjects, so the same website can be used throughout your day! It does require a subscription, but take the idea to your district, and I am sure they will see the educational worth!
It is also great for tracking students that are on RTI tracking (intervention tracking). You can actually print reports of what has been worked on, the student’s success at each activity, and even how long they have worked on the activity!