VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

TECHNOLOGY IN
OUR CLASSROOM
Official Newsletter of Ms. O's Mathematics Classroom

DEAR PARENTS,
Welcome to 3O! This letter is to
WHAT'S NEW AT introduce a new unit we are
beginning in math class. This week,
HAPPY
we are starting to work with rational
ELEMENTARY numbers, more specifically,
SCHOOL fractions, decimals, ratios and
proportions. In order to help your
-Technology in the children really grasp these
Classroom concepts, we will be working with
-Online mathematics
two incredible online resources: IXL
resources
and Khan Academy! These websites
provide students with interactive
ways to enhance our mathematics
Contact me! curriculum. My goal is for students
owens@school.edu to be able to access these online
resources both at school and at
123-456-7890
home! I encourage you to
familiarize yourselves with these
resources. Please reach out with any
questions!
 IXL https://www.ixl.com/math
IXL is a great online resource that is designed
to enhance students' learning in a variety of
subjects and grade levels. For this class, we will
be focusing on math at the third grade level. In
order to navigate to where we want to be, you
can hover over the "Learning" section on top,
then going to "Math" and "Skills." From here,
you can click on Grade 3. This can be seen in
the top two photos to the right. You can then
click on the "411 Skills," and under Section V,
W, X and Y you will see all of the skills regarding
fractions that we will be focusing on this unit!
There are multiple skills listed under these
sections, and they are generally listed in order
of increasing difficulty. Students can start by
working on the skill of identifying equal parts,
eventually working their way up to
understanding fractions on number lines and
fractions as mixed numbers.
IXL is a great resource for many reasons.
Students are able to work through problems, as
seen in the photo with the pink, green and blue
shapes. If a child is struggling to answer a
problem, they are able to click "Learn with an
example," as seen in the photo titled "Learn
with an example."By doing so, students can
walk through a similar example problem with
step-by-step explanations as to how to solve
the problem. When a student successfully
completes a problem, they are given immediate
positive feedback, such as "Fantastic!" or
"Great Job!"

Not only does IXL provide positive reinforcement for students

who correctly answer a problem, but it also provides a step-by-
step explanation for students who do not correctly answer the
problem. IXL's explanations are typically clear and complete,
and the students can read through the explanation and
immediately try another similar problem. An example of a
screen after an incorrect answer is shown on the right, in the
photo titled "Sorry, incorrect."
 More on IXL
IXL does not just provide students with a place
to practice problems, but it also has great
information to supplement the lessons we
review in class. After clicking on the 411 skills,
as shown above, students can also navigate to
the "47 lessons" or "46 games" shown in the
top right of this page, next to "Third grade

math." The lessons include great additional

reading and visuals for students who may be
struggling with a concept. An example of a
page shown under the lessons tab is pictured
to the right, titled "Fraction words: numerator
and denominator." This can enhance student
learning as it provides an explanation that may
be worded differently than the textbooks we
use in class, therefore providing children the
opportunity to better comprehend the same
information in a different way. It also links
practice problems related to the topic it is
teaching right underneath.
The lessons section of IXL does a great job explaining
the concept of fractions to students. It goes over
important definitions, such as numerator and
denominator, as shown in the illustration "Fraction
words: numerator and denominator." It is critical for
students to understand that the denominator is the
number in the bottom, which represents how many
equal parts you have. Additionally, the pictures are a
IXL does not just cover the basic skills and concepts regarding
great way for students to be able to visualize what
fractions, but also more complex ideas such as comparing fractions.
equal parts look like, whether that is equal halves,
As seen in the graphic titled "Comparing fractions by making
equal thirds, equal fourths and so on. equivalent fractions," IXL walks students through methods of
comparing fractions, while also providing links to interactive
practice problems. IXL is explaining to students how to compare
fractions by creating like denominators. Students must find a
common multiple, typically the least common multiple, between the
two denominators, and multiply the fraction by that number over
itself in order to compare. In this example, we have 3/4 and 5/6. The
least common multiple of 4 and 6 is 12. Therefore in order to get
from 4 to 12, we have to multiply by 3, but we must multiply the
numerator and denominator by 3, in order to ensure we are working
with the same fraction. Similarly, 6 x 2 = 12; therefore, we must
multiply 5/6 x 2/2. From here we can compare 9/12 and 10/12,
clearly seeing that 10>9; therefore, 10/12>9/12.
 Limitations of IXL
While I am looking forward to
using IXL at home and in the
classroom, it does have a few
limitations. The games section of
IXL is limited, especially for our
fractions unit. The "Games" page
is shown to the right, and
although there are many options,
most of them do not work on the
skills we need for this unit!
Additionally, if students do not
create an account through IXL,
they are only allowed to play a
game once a day. However, in
order to access unlimited games,
students are able to create an
account for free.

Khan Academy
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-third-grade-math
The second website that we will be using in our
mathematics classroom during this unit is Khan
Academy! Khan Academy is a great resource for
students in Kindergarten all the way through high
school, and it provides great resources for a variety
of subjects.
Khan Academy is set up in a way that allows
students to learn concepts through videos, work
through a series of practice problems, and then take
a "Quiz" to assess how well they are truly
understanding the material. This set up can be seen
to the right in the photo saying "Multiplying whole
numbers and fractions."
Additionally, Khan Academy shows students which
skills they are learning, and it awards "Mastery
Points" as students complete practice problems and
quizzes. This is a great set up, as it is important for
students to understand what concepts they are
practicing and understanding as they work through
problems. This way, they know what to focus on.
Additionally, the ability to collect "Mastery Points"
provides an incentive for students to complete
practice problems, all while also providing an
interactive, fun component.
More on Khan Academy
Khan Academy is similar to IXL in
that it provides students with
immediate feedback to their
practice problems. When a student
answers a problem correctly, they
are told "Nice Work" with a star.
Encouraging words and feedback
are great for students, especially
when received immediately. This is
shown to the right in the illustration
"Multiplying fractions and whole
numbers on the number line."
When a student incorrectly answers a
question, they are prompted to either
skip the problem for now, or get help.
The "get help" is a great option for
students. It provides them with a clear
explanation of how to correctly solve
the problem, and then provides them
with similar problems for them to
answer on their own. An example of
what it looks like when a student goes
through this process is shown in the
middle asking "Which expressions
match the following number line?"
Underneath this photo is an
explanation, which begins by saying
"Starting from 0..."
This explanation walks students
through the problem. First, it
acknowledges that each arrow in the
problem represents 2/4 on the number
line. Then, it acknowledges that there
are 3 arrows, each representing 2/4.
Therefore, this can be expressed as
adding 2/4 three times, 2/4 + 2/4 + 2/4,
which is the same as multiplying 2/4
by 3, 2/4 x 3. This explanation may
have benefited by explaining that
each section of the number line is
equidistant from one another;
however, it acknowledges that each
arrow is covering the same distance.
 More on Khan Academy
Once students complete a certain section of practice
problems, they earn their mastery points and "level
up." This can be seen in the "Leveled up to Familiar"
photo. Again, this provides students with an incentive
to practice problems and correctly answer these
problems. It enhances student learning by making
the problems and the process of solving the problems
more fun, as they know they are going to receive
some reward (points).
After students complete the "Quiz" portion on Khan Academy,
they are given an immediate summary of their work. An
example is shown to the right, seen in the photo showing
"Leveled up," "Leveled down," and "No change." Students can
see which skills they "leveled up" in, and also which skills they
"leveled down" in. This can enhance student learning, as it
shows students exactly which skills they should focus their
practice on. In fact, it even gives recommended lessons so that
students do not have to go search for them! In addition, it
tracks when a student last took the quiz, as seen in the graphic
showing "Quiz 1: 80% a few seconds ago." This allows them to
retake it in order to master their skills, therefore earning more
mastery points.
I believe Khan Academy's use of Mastery Points is beneficial to
student learning. We do not want students to learn a skill so
that they are able to do it once on a test. Instead, we want
them to get repeated practice with problems, in order to
master the skill they are working with. The way that Khan
Limitations of Khan
Academy provides video lessons, practice problems, and
assessments, all while giving out mastery points, allows Academy
students to do this, therefore enhancing their learning. While Khan Academy is a great, self-paced
learning tool, it has its drawbacks, as does
everything else! Khan Academy does not have
the same opportunity for "games" as many
other math applications do. I know students
love math games; however, this is not what
Khan Academy focuses on.
Additionally, using the words "quiz" and "unit
test," as Khan Academy does, can sometimes
stress students out. However, I assure you the
use of Khan Academy in our classroom is to
enhance student learning through self-paced
learning and mastery of problems, not their
grades on these online assessments!