Great Games for Learning

Currently I am taking an online course through the Verizon Thinkfinity Foundation and when I was looking at there website I found a very good resource not only for the teachers but also for the students to use at home.  It is located in the Games and Tools section on www.thinkfinity.org.  In this section there are many games that the students can play and learn without even knowing that they are learning.  After scrolling down past the featured Games and Tools you can browse all of the interactives that they have available.  This is a great way to find a math activity for your students and make sure that it is appropriate for their grade level.  After you select the grade level and subject it now give you a list of activities and you have the choice to share the activity with someone else, read more about it or just try the activity.  It doesn't get much easier then that!

Wild Weather Adventure

If you are looking for a great weather review game you should visit NASA's space place.  Within the games section you will find many games that will be very helpful to you and your students. 

While visiting a classroom I was able to observe students playing a game called Wild Weather Adventure and having a great time while learning.  This game takes the students on a weather adventure across the world.  As the game starts the teacher chooses how many groups will be playing and then sets the groups.  The students now choose their group name and start the game.  As the students spin a wheel it asks them questions about weather and gives them small bits of knowledge as they play the game.  Each team has a weather ballon that they move from space to space on the board of the world.  The more answers that they answer correctly the further they move and the closer they get to the end.  The first team to move their balloon to the end wins the game.  This can be a great review for your students.  It is not only fun but they can also learn something while they play.
Note:  On the main page the teacher can click on "Click here to view the text version" and they will show all of the questions that are asked along with the answers to those questions. 

Special Thanks:  Thank you to Michelle Bernstein for sharing this link with me.  If anyone else has some good links that they would like included feel free to let me know and I will pass them on to everyone.  Don't forget to tell your friends.

Did you know that Big Bird is 8 feet 2 inches tall?

When it comes to kids they always have one thing in common and that is they all love Sesame Street.  Sesame Street has a great website with games that can be played either on their own computer or along with the Promethean Board.  While browsing their list of games I found 62 different games that range from numbers and counting to early reading.  All of the games can be sorted by subject, theme or even by the characters to make it easier to find what you are looking for. While Sesame Street is probably geared more towards the younger students, there might be a few things that even your older students might like.  All of the games are based on one of the Sesame Street characters and that character leads them through the activity that the kids will be doing.  Even if you don't teach the lower grade levels this would be a great website for any kid that may just be learning their numbers and letters up to those kids who may just be starting to read. 

Math Playground

Math Playground is a fun and entertaining website for students of all ages.  They have many games that can be played on the Promethean Board which range from multiplication to percentages.  All of the games are interactive and are easy to figure out. 

Math Playground also has word problems that can be used in the classroom and they are broken down from grades 1-7.  Some of the word problems are not very fancy but they do let the students answer the question and then it will give them immediate feedback.

Another part of Math Playground that can be beneficial to the teacher and the students is in the Logic puzzles section.  In this section there are several logic games that can be played like sudoku as well as connect 4 along with many others. 

The last section of Math Playground is the Math Video section.  In this section there are many videos that will help compliment the lessons that you are already teaching.  This would be great for the students who may need some extra support at school or even at home.

If you are a math teacher this site is definitely one that you will enjoy and you will probably refer back to time and time again.