A Hotlist for Math Investigations

A Hotlist for Math Investigations
An Internet Hotlist on Math Investigations

created by Mrs. G. Darmody
Portsmouth RI School Department

Introduction | Web Resources to Support Math Achievement | Why Math Investigations? What is it? What can we do at home? | Software to Use with Investigations Curriculum | General Investigations Resources

Introduction
In addition to using the text books to find out about Math Investigations, why not also use the power of the Internet? The links below will get you started. Included is a link to ALL of the software that can be downloaded to use at school and at home!

SOFTWARE PASSWORDS ARE CASE SENSITIVE:
Gr. K - Making Shapes & Building Blocks - password is 'Karen'
Gr. 1 - Quilt Squares & Block Towns - password is 'Susan'
Gr. 2 - Mathematical Thinking at Gr. 2 - password is 'Karen'
Gr. 2 - Shapes, Halves & Symmetry - password is 'Joan'
Gr. 2 - How Long? How Far? - password is 'Anne'
Gr. 3 - Flips, Turns & Area - password is 'Douglas'
Gr. 3 - Turtle Paths - password is 'Douglas'
Gr. 4 - Sunken Ships & Grid Patterns - password is 'Douglas'
Gr. 5 - Picturing Polygons - password is 'Doug'
Gr. 5 - Patterns of Change - password is 'Cornelia'

There are many resources to support student learning of important mathematical skills. This hotlist has links to just some of the wonderful resources available on the Internet!

The Internet Resources

Web Resources to Support Math Achievement

Study Island - Study Island is a great resource for supporting student thinking and problem solving as well as helping to review and practice the concepts required for state testing. Each session has a lesson that accompanies the questions if the student needs a review of the topic. The program is easy to use and easy to access on the Internet. Students love to play the 'games' that correspond with Math content lessons! This website offers a wonderful way to prepare students for state testing in a fun way!

Why Math Investigations? What is it? What can we do at home?

Do the Math in Your Head - This letter from a past president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, explains in detail the importance of proficiency in mental math techniques for all students. Mental math techniques are strongly emphasized within the Math Investigations curriculum.
Family Mathematics Resource Page - This webpage, from Portland Oregon Public Schools, has links to websites with a wealth of information to help parents understand and support student achievement of important mathematical skills and concepts.
Homework/Classwork Changes - 'Then' & 'Now' - This webpage is a great illustration to help parents understand the changes in math instruction that have occurred based research.
Introducing Investigations to Families - This webpages has links to wonderful informational pamphlets to help parents understand the Math Investigations curriculum, in addition to helping them support math achievement goals at home.
NCTM - Family Resources - This webpage contains many informative resources to help parents and caregivers understand the 'how' and 'why' of 21st century math instruction. With this knowledge, they can better support students as they learn and master important math concepts and problem solving skills.

Software to Use with Investigations Curriculum

Investigations Software - This page has links to all of the software that teachers & students can download to use at school and at home. A password is needed to download each software program. PASSWORDS ARE CASE SENSITIVE. Below is the information: Software Passwords Gr. K - Making Shapes & Building Blocks - password is 'Karen' Gr. 1 - Quilt Squares & Block Towns - password is 'Susan' Gr. 2 - Mathematical Thinking at Gr. 2 - password is 'Karen' Gr. 2 - Shapes, Halves & Symmetry - password is 'Joan' Gr. 2 - How Long? How Far? - password is 'Anne' Gr. 3 - Flips, Turns & Area - password is 'Douglas' Gr. 3 - Turtle Paths - password is 'Douglas' Gr. 4 - Sunken Ships & Grid Patterns - password is 'Douglas' Gr. 5 - Picturing Polygons - password is 'Doug' Gr. 5 - Patterns of Change - password is 'Cornelia'
Math Websites - This webpage, from Portland Oregon Public Schools, has many different website links to Math Games and other resources to support students & families with achievement of important Math skills and abilities.
SpaceTime Arcade - Free math and puzzle games - This website has wonderful on-line games to help reinforce key math learning for students in a fun way!

General Investigations Resources

Bridges to Classroom Mathematics from Comap - This site, from Comap (the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Education) provides a Staff-development Curriculum for Elementary School Teachers. This is a professional development curriculum that supports teachers who are planning to implement innovative elementary mathematics curricula. The program is designed to emphasize the philosophy, purposes, and approaches of any curriculum aligned with the NCTM Standards. You can order materials you would like directly from this website.
Everett Public Schools : K-12 Mathematics - This webpage supports teaching and learning for Mathematics for all grade levels. This site has many wonderful resources to support teachers & parents. Included on this site are informational brochures for parents to help them understand the Investigations curriculum, links to Math Games that support curriculum objectives, as well as many other resources to support the curriculum.
Illuminations - This site is a partnership between the NCTM and Marco Polo. On this site you can find many helpful resources including interactive manipulatives (called applets) that support investigations. For example, a simpler version of the Fraction Track game & the walking activity from Patterns of Change are located on this site.
Interactive Math & Personal Finance - On this site, you will find many other Math resources that I have compiled to support NCTM standards. Of particular interested may be the section of 'Interactive Applets', which are virtual manipulatives available on the Internet for FREE!
Investigations in Number, Data & Space - Pearson Scott Foresman presents this online teaching center for Investigations users. The resources you'll find here will help you simplify your teaching and planning, to better support your students' learning. On this site you will find the software to download, the 'Investigations' handbook, concept maps for each unit, lesson planning templates, practice pages, rubrics & checklists for assessment sourcebooks.
Investigations in Number, Data & Space - Advancing the Teaching of Mathematics - This site is hosted by TERC, based in Cambridge, MA. This site is the author's website. You will finding training available on this site, announcements of workshops about Investigations given by TERC, as well as links to other websites on this hotlist.
Newport Public Schools Math Facts - This webpage, hosted by Newport Public Schools, has many resources for teachers, students and parents to help in the understanding and successful implementation of Math Investigations. Resources include pacing charts for classroom teachers, interactive assessment forms for teacher/district use, and links to many different resources on the Internet to support student success in Mathematics.
Portland Public School Mathematics Resources - This website from Portland, Oregon, has some wonderful resources to use with Investigations. There are lesson plans, pacing guides and more here!
Seattle Public Schools Math Curriculum Guides - This site, from Seattle Washington Public Schools, has mathematics curriculum guides for each grade level, which are tools that give direction for the use of adopted instructional materials for implementation of Seattle Public Schools' standards and NCTM standards. It provides teachers with a recommended sequence, pacing, and emphasis both of content and pedagogy.
The ARC Center Home Page - This site is an information center for the 3 NSF (National Science Foundation) funded elementary programs.

Content by Mrs. G. Darmody, darmodyg@portsmouthschoolsri.org
http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listmathinvmr1.html
Last revised Mon Aug 18 12:54:03 US/Pacific 2008