Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Looking for interactive math resources and their use in everyday life? Math Interactives provide a variety of topics with interactive options for each. View "Use it" to access guided practice for students or "Explore it" for activities that can be used as a teacher demo or practice activities. Additional quicktime videos about the topic and support materials are included. Example topics in the "Number" category include Fractions, Integers, and Exponents. Other categories include "Patterns and Relations," "Shape and Space," and "Statistics and Probability."

tag(s): data (147), equations (119), exponents (35), integers (22), numbers (119), square roots (15)

This site provides countless books, films, plays, and television shows that all relate to specific math concepts. What a fabulous way to integrate math, language arts, history, and more! The site includes the title, year, and brief description. Teachers can browse by genre, medium, motif, and/or topic. Media include everything from comic books to plays to television series. Genres include historical fiction, children's literature, adventure/espionage, fantasy, science fiction, and more. Sixty-three fiction offerings are even available FREE (in their entirety) online! The site is still developing and frequently adds additional fiction titles. Students who enjoy fantasy will also enjoy choosing books from this site, since the author admits that not all math mentioned in all the books is "real" math!! The site allows teachers to search by keyword and also to browse new offerings in the compilation of titles.

tag(s): logic (164), probability (96), statistics (114)

Looking for extra practice and better ways to track student progress? Use this free site for explanations of concepts, see example problems, and answer a practice problem. The English is British style, so remember that "revise" on this site means the same as "review" to Americans. Teachers can register their students to follow their progress. Registration is free, but does require an email address. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.

Data on correct and incorrect answers as well as strengths and weaknesses are kept for students. This site does include some minor advertisements. Watch out for a link to "essay paper" buried at the far bottom right on the home page: a place to purchase essays online!

tag(s): coordinates (15), exponents (35), fractions (159), integers (22), percent (58)

This site uses Google Earth to teach Math! If your school does not allow access or installation of this free software, use this site as justification for the power of GE in the curriculum. Use higher level thinking skills and provide active learning by using the lessons on this site. Visit the "Lessons" page to view lessons grouped into four categories: Concept Lessons, Project-Based Learning, Exploratory, and Measurement. Use the "Community" page to collaborate or submit lesson ideas. Click on the "Update" page to view new lessons or resources added. The "Resource" page contains links to other sites and tutorials that are useful. NOTE that you must have the FREE Google Earth reviewed hereinstalled on your computer to use these terrific ideas.

Be aware that the "Community" link has been moved off-site and is designed for teachers, not students.

tag(s): data (147), earth (185), measurement (126), problem solving (226)

This website, created by the BBC, includes review information (referred to as "revise") and online tests created specifically for trigonometry students ages 16+. Some of the material would be useful in the lower secondary grades also. Although this website may appear "plain vanilla," there is a wealth of information and activities just waiting to be explored. There are higher-level trigonometry topics: Radians and Equations, Compound and Multiple Angles, and The Auxiliary Angle. Once you click on the main topics, there is a list of countless subtopics at the bottom of the page (click on the arrow to scroll through).

The website includes Learner Guides to assist teachers, parents, and students in navigating the site, and about specific difficult concepts. Since this site was created by the UK, you may notice some slight language differences. Much of the information is available in a printable format.

tag(s): angles (51), charts and graphs (169)

Use Math mistakes to uncover the most common math errors and perhaps learn a little more math as well. This site has "Real Mistakes from Real Student Work" and "Math Facts Students Should Know." Browse "Common Algebra Mistakes," "Common Trigonometry Mistakes," and "Common Calculus Mistakes" by using the drop down menus along the top or through the brightly colored buttons. Each area is also broken down into smaller subject areas such as "Pre-algebra" and "Radical Expressions" with several examples given for each. Each example provides the problem and the example mistake that is made. Rolling your mouse over the problem provides a clue to the error, while rolling over the correction area provides the right answer. There are also explanations of the errors and how to avoid them. Choosing the drop down on the example page allows the student to view as a plain web page or as a pdf file. Other links include "Algebra facts," "Trigonometry facts," and "Calculus facts" which contain flash cards and learning center activities. Note: Links to Amazon for math books of interest are listed, as well as a blog link and links to apparel for sale. Steer students clear of these areas. This site requires Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

tag(s): equations (119)

Have fun exploring Pi with this math site! Play Pi Trivia to test your knowledge of Pi, use the Pi Trainer to test your memory, or discover poems, photos and more all representing Pi. The site is divided into three sections - fun activities, aesthetics, and nerd stuff- making it easy to explore.

tag(s): pi (26)