More Pi Day Fun – Host a Pi Battle!

Ready for your Pi Battle? Memorize the digits of Pi with these free apps for iOS and Android:

• Pi Trainer App on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.piday.android.pitrainer
• Learn Pi Free App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learn-pi-free/id518465060?mt=8

Happy Pi Day!

Pi Day is just around the corner! It’s a fun and exciting way to engage your students with mathematics and the world around them—with technology. There are a number of great resources and ideas online for celebrating Pi Day, from the silly to the serious.  Many of these resources are excellent ways to help your students interact with math outside the boundaries of a typical math class. In addition to measuring, cutting up, and eating pie, check out some of these other fun activities:

• Start with a history lesson with “A Brief History of π."
• Check out the “Pi Searcher” tool for searching the first 200 million digits of Pi. Have students enter different strings of numbers (birthdays, phone numbers, etc.) to see what they come up with. Have students collaborate with peers and think aloud about what the results might mean. What are the odds that your phone number would show up in Pi? What about fewer digits? 
• Consider following “The Pi Searcher” on Google Plus to see all their Pi-related posts and updates. Tongue-in-cheek and fun discussions of Pi.
• Explore multiple representations of Pi. What does Pi look like if represented by colors and shapes? What would Pi sound like? Using visual representations and models can be a great way to help your students grasp information, plus these tools are fun to play with!
• Use simulations and virtual tools that explore some of the many fascinating discoveries related to Pi. One cool one to check out: Buffon’s Needle Simulation.
• More virtual manipulatives and lessons can be found on the NCTM Illuminations website. 
• View the Pi Day Webquest!

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Meeting the Common Core Standards with Technology: Bring History Lessons to Life

The Common Core Standards represent a shift in the way we teach reading and writing, both in ELA classes and in content-area classes (history, science, and technical subjects). The standards in K-5 and 6-12 both focus heavily on building rich knowledge through reading content-area nonfiction. Standards focus on reading, writing, and speaking that is grounded in textual evidence; they encourage regular practice with complex texts and academic vocabulary. Use of web-based tools, interactives, online primary sources, and other technology tools can be a great way to immerse your students in history, and to build vocabulary and comprehension!

Now, with so many technology options, history, a subject of our forefathers, does not have to be taught in the same way as it was to our grandfathers. With online primary resources and web-based interactives, history lessons like those on the Civil War come alive with this photojournalism lesson plan. Teachers and students alike will find the Civil War Timeline helpful in detailing the Civil War from various points of view, including detailed accounts  from soldiers of the Civil War, as well as digital maps. Teach students about the role of Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, and the Gettysburg Address.

Views from the battle field of Gettysburg, July 1st, 2d, and 3d, 1863 : General Hospital, near Gettysburg, PA.

Students can also learn from an interactive version of the Gettysburg Address which is highlighted digital copy of the original document. Students can use the interactive to zoom in on key passages or listen to the whole Address and read along. Help struggling readers to visualize what they are reading by first giving them some context. Further ensure comprehension by having students write a letter to Abraham Lincoln. Browse through photos from the Civil War on an interactive whiteboard.


Another great resource can be found in this history of immigration lesson plan from the Library of Congress. Explore the Immigration interactive with your class; there is something here for every level with detailed descriptions of immigrants from different cultures, vocabulary, and even interviews with immigrants from the 20th -21st centuries. This is a great way to support reading in Social Studies. Even better, there is an interactive tool for educators on the site that will let you know which Common Core Standards align with your activity! Also, have fun with your class by looking through the Great American Potluck, discussing the significance, and maybe even trying out a recipe!

Three Free Apps You Can Use in Your Classroom Today: More Common Core

If our last list of free Common Core Standards Apps filled you with delight, be sure to check out the ones below, which are sure to make your life easier!

• Kendall Hunt Common Core Math is designed to implement CCSS in the Kendall Hunt district but can be utilized in all classrooms to look at K-12 math standards. This app is particularly helpful in student observations, as observations can be shared via email or tracked with the handy Timeline.
• BrainNook @ School Allows teachers to set assignments, track learning and progress, and is mapped to correspond to CCSS for grades 1-5 in math and language arts. There is also a complementary student app which allows students practice math and language arts.
• Excelegrade permits teachers to create Common Core-based assessments from an easy to use question bank. The tests are customizable, with digital or hard-copy administration, and the app features automatic grading, tracking, and reports for 6-8^th grade.

Three Free Apps You Can Use in Your Classroom Today: Common Core for Educators

Technology in your teaching practice helps to create order, organization, and provide invaluable resources. With the new Common Core Standards, here are some apps to reference in creating lesson plans or tracking student progress:

• Common Core Standards by MasteryConnect: Easily reference all of the Math and Language Arts CCSS for all grade levels in one convenient app! (iPhone, iPad, iPod)
• CS Core: Includes standards for California State and allows users to create notes and comments within the app, as well as send emails regarding standards. (iPhone, iPad, iPod)
• Core Math: Details Common Core Standards in Math and allows educators to enter and track the progress of up to 50 students. (iPhone, iPad, iPod)

Resource Roundup: Digital Learning for Educators

Every month we feature a Resource Roundup to highlight a key topic in technology integration and teaching and learning with digital materials. This month’s topic: Digital Learning for Educators!

Professional development activities—especially those that are collaborative— are resource hungry. Effective teaching resources that have direct application to the Common Core Standards can excite teachers’ imaginations.Below are several resources with the potential to stimulate creative juices, motivate ideas, and help teachers strengthen lessons.Check out these resources; discuss how they can be used; use them in your classroom; and reflect upon them with your colleagues.

• Beyond Slices of Pizza, Teaching Fractions Effectively by the National Mathematics Advisory Panel and the Department of Education, discusses the importance of teaching fractions to students as it is the first abstract math concept they are approached with which will lead to their understanding of algebra. Common metaphors, such as the slice of pizza in reference to fractions, often confuse students later in learning multiplication of fractions and beyond. The five part video series discusses best approaches to take in educating students on the not-so-simple subject of fractions.
• Often times a classroom is comprised of students of various backgrounds and levels of learning. The Learning Classroom: Theory into Practice 4. Different Kinds of Smart - Multiple Intelligences is a 30 minute Professional Development session for educators, which delves into the different levels of intelligence within a classroom. The mini-seminar focuses on how teachers can utilize the different levels of student intelligence in teaching a lesson. When viewing this video, consider how to reach students at every level by employing a UDL classroom.

In addition to different levels of learning and intelligence, students have different backgrounds in language. Duolingo and Mindsnacks are two free language learning apps that are great PD resources for teachers looking to break the language barrier with students who speak another language. Mindsnacks teaches Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish; Duolingo teaches English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Once you sign up online you can access either app from any apple device, making it easier learn a new language to connect to ELL students. Mindsnacks also has apps devoted to students, including vocabulary to increase language proficiency and reading skills.

Also, be sure to search for Professional Development resources on PowerUp WHAT WORKS!