Great Resources for the Elementary Math Teacher

As an elementary school math teacher I have found some great interactive and some not so interactive resources to make teaching simplified.

Scholastic Study Jams

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/index.htm

My 1st through 4th grader loves these Study Jams. They love the songs, the videos, and the problems that check their progress. This is a great free resource that I used in my classroom almost daily for some classes. Let's be honest cartoon character teaching about a subject get the kids attention. The 1st & 2nd graders I work with take an interest in all the character and want to know more about them which can also turn into a great writing assignment.

EdHelper

www.edhelper.com

This is one of the few sites that I actually pay for. Since I only teach math it is an invaluable resource that I couldn't live without. Being able to create worksheets, puzzles, and word problems for a specific topic makes my life a lot easier and gives me more time to focus on creating great lessons.

Promethean Planet

http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-us/

Even without a smart board I was able to use many of these free resources created by other teachers with just my laptop and projector. I invested in a wireless mouse and my students were able to interact with many of the slides and were able to engage with the lesson. You can download the software for free and register for a personal license.

Tux 4 Kids

http://tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/

These are free down loadable games. My school uses Tux Math and I love using it with all grade levels learning their facts. I have used it with preschool all the way to 4th grade level math. It can be very versatile and allows for differentiation based on the students needs.

Khan Academy

http://www.khanacademy.org/

I can't say enough good things about Khan Academy. The site has great videos, you can keep track of your progress, it allows you to learn new math items and work toward a goal. My students love this and have made a point of working on this at home. You do need to register it with a gmail account but it is well worth having a record of what you accomplished. Bonus this goes all the way through calculus.

There are so many resources out there and these are a few of my favorite places to look for ideas and items to use in your classroom. Some of them I use on a daily basis, some I mention to be used at home, and some I use when all the kids have access to a computer.