On the Tenth Day...10 Digital Tools to Engage Students in Word Problems

On the 10th Day of Christmas, F.I.T. gave to me 10 digital tools to engage students in word problems.
 

Most kids hate these 2 words, word problems. For many they are very unmotivated to solve them because they are boring and difficult to understand. Students are usually use to teachers giving them a word problem and having them use some type of word problem plan to solve it.

To motivate and engage my students in solving word problems, I used apps that I knew would get them interested in solving them. Each of these apps provide students with the opportunity to become engaged in learning and practicing word problems.

The apps below motivate students to learn through storytelling, analyzing, and demonstrating. Students take photos or draw pictures to tell the story of the word problem. Screenshots can be taken of students solving their word problems. Voice recordings can be added to explain their process.

1.     SonicPic (free lite version, $2.99 full version)

2.     Storyrobe ($0.99)

3.     iMovie

4.     Toonastic

5.      Sock Puppet

6.     ScreenChomp

7.     Story kit (free)

8.      IdeaSketch (free)

9.      ComicLife

10.  StoryPatch

 You can use any one of these Storytelling Apps to engage your students in word problems and get them excited about learning. Implementation is very easy. Give each students a word problem, have them create a story around the problem, solve the problem, and incorporate the answer into the story.
 

Fun Interactive Whiteboards to Engage Students in Math

We all know that in math, you write. When I first started teaching, I had a class set of individual whiteboards with expo markers and erasers for students to practice solving problems. When the board was filled, students erased their work and continued working on another problem. I always hated not having the opportunity to save their work for discussions or later viewing.

Now with the wonderful digital world and the iPads in my classroom, my students are able to work out problems, record in words the process, and share it. Below I have listed my favorite interactive whiteboard apps that engages students in math. They are all fun, engaging, and FREE!

Each app provide students with the opportunity to doddle, record a voice over, and share. I have listed a few highlights of each below.

1.      ShowMe  Easy to use!

2.      ScreenChomp Records you while you doodling. You can also include images from your iPad camera roll.

3.      EduCreations Educreations not only allows you to doodle, record, and share, it also provides you with realistic digital ink, photos and ink.

4.      Doodle Buddy My students love this one. Is gives you the same opportunity as the others, but you also have the option of backgrounds such a dot paper, tic-tac-toe boards, etc.

For more ideas on fun ways to integrate technology into your classroom, check out our other posts!

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iPad Review Stations

With the end of the semester drawing near, so are the plans of preparing students for final exams. Check out these 8 iPad apps to create fun, engaging, review stations for your students.

1. ScreenChomp - explain the process to solving a problem.

2. StudyBlue - create flash cards to review vocabulary words.

3. Socrative - Game mode to practice review problems.

For full article, at Edudemic.

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