413 mind-stretchers results | sort by:

LEGO Education Activities - LEGO Education
Grades
K to 12tag(s): creativity (118), critical thinking (120), logic (248), problem solving (294)
In the Classroom
Expose your students to different levels of the learning spiral by challenging them to use problem-solving skills for increasingly difficult obstacles. Students can work in small groups to foster cooperation and teamwork as they sort, graph, follow and give directions, and discuss ideas. Of course you will need some LEGOs, so you might try raiding your own children's toy boxes, include a request in your classroom newsletter for donations, look around for LEGO kits collecting dust on classroom shelves, or put it on your school's PTA wish list. Be sure to have cooperative learning groups video their activities to share with the rest of the class using a site such as SchoolTube (reviewed here).You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Gymnasium For Brain - Sitalakshmi Seshadrinathan
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): logic (248), problem solving (294)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a resource for a problem of the day activity. Challenge students to solve and provide explanations to logic puzzles and create their own problems. Display on the interactive whiteboard or projector as a springboard to class discussion of the Mathematics involved within each of the problems.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Measurement Tools - Angles - SmartTutor
Grades
4 to 6tag(s): angles (87), measurement (175)
In the Classroom
Demonstrate the use of a protractor on your interactive whiteboard or projector with this activity. Challenge students to guess the angle before measuring with the protractor. Assess understanding of acute and obtuse angles through students' estimates of angles.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Shape Trails - SmartTutor
Grades
1 to 4tag(s): logic (248)
In the Classroom
Practice vocabulary of geometry terms by allowing students to play the game, as they reach each level, challenge them to define terms such as rotation, reflection and translation. Set up the activity at a computer center to practice logic and problem solving skills. Challenge students to create their own map with a path for other students to play.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Jigsaw Sudoku - Rachel Lee
Grades
1 to 6tag(s): logic (248), problem solving (294), puzzles (203)
In the Classroom
Display on your interactive whiteboard or projector to use as a center for logic and problem solving. Keep a class chart and challenge students to increase their speed and increase level of difficulty.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Match Words - James Hollis
Grades
K to 3tag(s): matching (24)
In the Classroom
Share this activity on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this website as a learning center on your classroom computers. Provide this link on your class website for students to use both in and out of the classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Miamiopia - KidsKnowIt Network
Grades
1 to 6tag(s): dinosaurs (55), logic (248), problem solving (294), puzzles (203), spelling (168)
In the Classroom
Check school policies about setting up student accounts and passwords and be sure to keep a record of student passwords! No email is required. Set up at the computer center and keep a chart for each student's progress and points collected. Demonstrate on the interactive whiteboard or projector, record terms used during the games (ex: history - iron age, stone age, and bronze age) to research. This would be an ideal link to provide on your class website for students to access at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MathSlice
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): light (51), logic (248), puzzles (203), sight words (36), sound (105), worksheets (63)
In the Classroom
Display games on the interactive whiteboard or projector for students during indoor recess times. Allow students to try the interactives during computer time to reinforce current concepts taught. This is a great link to post on your class website for students (and parents) to try at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Brain Den
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): brain (68), logic (248), optical illusions (13), puzzles (203)
In the Classroom
Enrich gifted students' learning by having them explore the puzzles and teasers on this site. Try having students solve the geometry puzzles or algebra puzzles and then ask them to present their solution to classmates using a multimedia presentation. Challenge students to create a video and share using a site such as SchoolTube, reviewed here. Students could also try to create their own puzzles. Share the puzzles on an online, interactive poster using Lucidpress, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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fastr - a flickr game - random chaos
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): flexibility (5), images (278), vocabulary (321)
In the Classroom
Share a fastr game on your projector or interactive whiteboard to get the mental juices flowing at the start of class. Build word choice vocabulary for speech/language students or ESL/ELL students as they guess what word the photos have in common. Extend the experience by having students create their own groups of images (perhaps even taking their own with a digital camera) to support a curriculum concept, such as "omnivore" or "well." Use this tool in combination with a Flickr search tool such as FlickrCC reviewed here to help students understand tagging and see how an unusual combination of images can share the same tag.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wordslide
Grades
2 to 7In the Classroom
This is a great 5-minute activity when you don't have time to start a new lesson. Have a student "emcee" use it on your interactive whiteboard or projector to challenge the class to find all of the word combinations. Discuss the words created to demonstrate spelling and phonics patterns found.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Squigly's Playhouse - Barb Willner
Grades
K to 5tag(s): crafts (39), holidays (142), seasons (36), writing (365)
In the Classroom
Have students check out the book reviews in the Writing Corner. Discuss which reviews are helpful and then have students write quality reviews to post onto the website. Complete one of the story frameworks with students. Using an interactive whiteboard or projector, have students add more detail or experiment with sentence structure and vocabulary. Students can then follow this process individually to develop revision skills.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Shape Sudoku - PrimaryGames
Grades
1 to 6In the Classroom
Model this activity on your interactive whiteboard or projector several times so students become comfortable with the concept and rules. Place students in pairs during center time, math class or computer lab to accomplish this activity together for problem solving and teamwork. Use this as an end-of-the-week, whole group incentive. Be sure to list this link on your class website for students to access both in and out of the classroom. Challenge older students to create their own shape Sudoku challenges.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Luminosity - Brain Games - Lumos Labs Inc.
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): brain (68), psychology (66)
In the Classroom
What a great way to give kids a brain break while still keeping them focused. This site can be used on an interactive whiteboard or projector with the whole class. Psychology classes may want to investigate the games and how/why they might affect memory and brain function. The website is also a great tool to use as a center or to provide a student reward. Some of the games do not require a sign in but others do. Teachers could create a class login that students could use to access the additional games.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Featured Topic: 100 Ways to Represent the Number 100 - mathwire.com
Grades
K to 5tag(s): counting (113), literature (272), money (185), numbers (197), place value (54)
In the Classroom
Share the interactives on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Try some of the suggested activities and video the projects. Share the vidoes using a site such as Teachers.TV reviewed here.Comments
There are so many great ideas for 100th day on this site! I'm looking forward to teaching the "Bundle Song" to my students!Lauren, TN, Grades: 0 - 1
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iPlay Math Games - IPMG Publishing
Grades
K to 12tag(s): logic (248), manipulatives (36), patterns (87), percent (82), probability (141)
In the Classroom
This site will give you a bevy of activity options for your students to try in the classroom to support their learning. Use these activities to plan a Math Night for parents, homework help, embed a link in your classroom website, or send out as an attachment with electronic class newsletters.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Break It Down! - Science Net Links
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): machines (27), simple machines (35)
In the Classroom
Introduce this challenge on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Students could use this activity as practice or enrichment during science computer labs or when assigned work is complete. Challenge individual students (or pairs) to see who can complete the activity (successfully) in the shortest amount of time. Ask student groups to write an explanation of the physics of how the system works once they successfully complete it.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sliding Block Puzzle Page - Nick Baxter
Grades
1 to 12In the Classroom
Share these puzzles on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as a mind-bending challenge. Help students develop problem-solving skills such as thinking several steps ahead by offering the link on your class web page. Higher level and gifted math students can try to determine a formula for calculating the number of moves it may take to solve a puzzle. Give awards to students who accomplish the "goal" in the stated number of moves, then ask them to explain their strategy or think aloud as they repeat it on an interactive whiteboard. Offer a puzzle club for your mathematical/logical thinkers or simply develop visual thinking skills by sharing these challenges.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Armored Penguin - Armored Penguin
Grades
K to 12tag(s): holidays (142), logic (248), puzzles (203), vocabulary (321)
In the Classroom
Need a puzzle to reinforce the words in a particular unit? You may find one already created. If not, it is simple to create and save to your computer or share by URL (remember the online version is saved for two months). Use the "Quotes" page for great quotes of the day, the "Illusions" page for optical illusions, or the "Fresh Words" page to see what words can be made from a word, phrase, or collection of letters. Have cooperative learning groups create their own puzzle pages for a topic that they are researching or learning about in class and use them to challenge their classmates or another section of the course. Have students create puzzles as a cost-free, printable gift for families on special occasions such as Mother's Day.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math Apprentice - mathapprentice.com
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): business (58), careers (139), equations (151), measurement (175), ratios (63), STEM (174)
In the Classroom
This site is a terrific example of STEM integrated learning. This is a great site to share on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have cooperative learning groups explore different careers or buildings and share how math is used at their locations. Why not have groups create a video using a tool such as Teachers.TV (reviewed here) or a podcast using PodOmatic (reviewed here), to share their mathematical discoveries! At the end of an introduction of a concept, use this site for specific math practice using a real life concept. For example, visit the bike shop to use math to determine pedal gear to wheel gear ratios and resultant bike speeds. Use as an individual activity, a team activity, or with the entire class using an interactive whiteboard. Follow up with a personal problem to solve. In this example, students can measure the two gears on their bikes (or their teachers bike brought into the classroom) to use the information for further understanding.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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