Welcome to the first of many video tutorials.  I have deliberately kept this weeks very simple as I am trying to learn some new technology myself.  Pictographs are a great maths lesson for junior students to explore graphing and data in the early years of schooling.  This video tutorial below explains all the steps to get you and your students to produce a pictograph in no time. The aim of these video tutorials is that you can sit back and learn alongside your students.  Enjoy and feedback is always appreciated.

Here is the example I produced if you want my template, and here is an old school link to a written lesson plan if you need further assistance.

Create a Graph is very simple to use web based Graph Generator that I can highly recommend for younger students who may find a spreadsheet such as Excel a little daunting.  A very simple interface lets you select from Bar, Line, X&Y, Area and Pie graphs and takes you through each stage of the graph making process in simple to understand language.

There are examples and tutorials, not that you will need them and you can output graphs as either a traditional paper based printout or get a hyperlink to view your graph online.

Be sure to take a look at Create a Graph next time you are doing a statistics and data lesson with your kids and want to generate a graph simply whilst teaching your kids the steps required along the way.It's free of course with no sign up required and there are a few other useful tools to be found on this site also.

By the way if you are looking for a great lesson plan on Creating Pictographs on Computer with younger students.  Here is one from my lesson plan section.

Just a nice and relaxed post for the weekend.  I came across a few sites that had some really impressive bridges from around the globe.  Some are still under construction.  Take a look at them and share them with your kids if you are keen.  My class will have a look at these Monday and discuss some of the purpose and features of them.  Then we'll create some straw and  pin bridges over a 50cm span and see which team can make the one that will hold the most amout of weight on it.  See how you go. 

Here are a some bridge links to work into your lesson

18 Stunning Bridges from around the world

10 Most Amazing Bridges

Amazing Bridges you probably haven't seen

Bridge building Basics

What is it:  Having just finished teaching a session on Geometry with my kids I really wish I had seen this earlier.  3DVinci integrates all those boring geometric and mathematical concepts into Google Sketchup and allows them to build houses and other objects integrating scale, ratio and a range of geometric concepts., create printable nets to produce 3D shapes to display in the classroom.

How can i use this in the classroom:  3Dvinci is full of geometry lessons aimed at all year levels and has video tutorials for each session so there is no need to be a genius at Sketchup by any means. These videos show SketchUp in action. See how to tile, tesselate, divide a cube, build a prism, put together an icosahedron, and more.

Download a fun project each month that uses SketchUp to demonstrate a geometric concept. Printable PDF format, separate versions for teachers and students.

If you are new to SketchUp?  This teacher page has easy steps to get started, and links to some free student activities including mosaics and puzzles.

3DVinci's Getting Started Guide (PDF) takes you through SketchUp's basic tools and features. Click either PC version or Mac version.

This one is definitely worth integrating into your maths sessions especially if you have kids in grade 3 and above and along the way you will see what else you can do with Google Sketchup too.  Let me know how you go.

What is it:  iPlaymathgames.com has just gone free after offering a subscription based service for some time now.It offers a range of K-12 Maths games and activities in PDF format for you to download.  You can search and filter for specific areas such as division, fractions, measurement, etc.  All games have been developed and tested in classrooms with real students and educational professionals. In many cases, there is no "winner" in the games and activities being played. Rather than create outright competition, most games and activities will foster only math skill building. However, with the world and students as they are today, there are myriad games on the site that do allow differentiated instruction for an interested math learner who wishes to test their budding skills against their peers.

How can I use this in the classroom:  Pick out the subject area you are focussing on for the week and you will be sure to find a specific game to suti the age and needs of your students.  In either whole class or small group work shops.  Check it out here.