Technology Update

from Ms. McConnell’s

3rd Grade Classroom
February 2018
Dear Parents,

I am looking forward to showing you some

Contents of of the ways the 3rd graders in Ms. McConnell’s
Newsletter Mayfield School classroom have been using
1. Preview technology in math. Your children have been
utilizing interactive technology to improve their
2. Review of conceptual understanding of rational numbers.
NVLM Applet
This includes working with fractions, decimals,
3. Review of ratios, and proportions. Integrative technology
Fraction has strengthened my teaching and I really
Manipulatives believe it has furthered my students’ learning.
iPad
There are so many integrative technology
Application
options available. Two tools I recommend are:
Contact the applet “Fractions-Adding” and the touch
Please contact me
screen iPad application “Fraction
with any questions Manipulatives.” They are appropriate for your
you may have. children because fractions are 3rd grade
Ms. McConnell mathematics. In the next pages, you can find my
reviews of both of these user-friendly, engaging,
Room 3M
and appealing tools. My hope is that my reviews
mcconnmf@bc.edu
will help you encourage your children to use
(626) 710-6736 technology appropriately in education to
optimize their learning.

Happy reading,

Ms. McConnell
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Browse this National Library of Virtual Manipulatives Applet

NLVM applet The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (the NLVM) is a website
yourself by that has resources for mathematics from the Pre-K level to the 12th grade level.
following this This online resource engages students in web based manipulatives and online
tutorials. The applet we will be using in our classroom in the upcoming weeks
link: is called “Fractions-Adding” in which students add fractions with different
http://nlvm.usu.ed denominators with the support of a pictorial representation. Students can build
u/en/nav/category a whole circle using fractional pieces.
This applet demonstrates to students how they must find a common
_g_2_t_1.html denominator when adding two fractions with different denominators. Below
and select this text, I have provided a few screenshots to show the instructions and tasks
“Fractions- the applet provides students with. Each problem has a pictorial component and
a symbolic component, which is appealing to all different learners.
Adding.”
This educational approach is sound because the applet allows students to
work independently on problems and to experience success, but then to be
challenged when the experienced success on previous problems. I believe that
this is successful in helping students’ visualization and mental math abilities.
The colors effectively illustrate that the two fractions with different
denominators are added together to equal a whole.

City, ST ZIP Code

The applet provides clear The applet effectively provides

instructions to “Rename 4/11 clear answers feedback and
and 1/2 so that the corrections. The final answer
denominators are the same.
circle shows the total of 22
Then check your answer.” The
student is instructed to fractional pieces that make up the
“rename” each fraction in the whole circle. When students find
combination so that the the correct answer, they can move
denominators are the same. on the next, more challenging
The student can use the up and problem.
down arrows to increase the
number of fractional pieces.
The directions remind students
to check their answer.
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“Fraction Manipulatives” iPad Application

The “Fraction Manipulatives” iPad application has four main modes of fraction
expression. The first mode is the “wall” mode in which students can slide the grey
triangle across the screen to see the fractions lined up. By doing this this, students
You can find are able to see equivalent fractions and fractions that are not equivalent. The one
this “Fraction “1” tile shows students that each row below it adds up to be the same size as the 1
Manipulatives” tile; therefore, each row is equal to the 1 tile at the top. Students are able to see that
the “parts” of a whole particularly well in the “circle” mode. For example, circle
application on mode displays four ¼ pieces covering the circle, and thus ¼ + ¼ + ¼ + ¼ =1. With
an iOS device in the circles, students can see how fractions with different denominators look.
the Apple App “Fraction Manipulatives” is a boldly designed, straightforward application. The
“wall mode” solidifies students’ understanding of fractions. Although it is easy to
Store. use, the application does not have clear instructions about how to manipulate the
“wall,” “tiles,” “circles,” and “rings.” However, this could be beneficial to some
learners especially ELL learners as language is not a barrier, but others may
struggle without explicit directions. The variety of shapes and the colorfulness of
the shapes is captivating and allows students to see physically shift the blocks of
the wall, tiles, rings, and move the pieces of the fraction in the circles in different
ways. If students would like to make notes on their thinking, they are able to use
the virtual sketchpad tools to write notes.

Fraction Wall
The grey line shows
that the 1 tile is equal
to 2 one-half tiles and
3 one-third tiles, 4 one-
fourth tiles, and so on.
I constructed one
counter-example to show
that students will be able
to see that if they add up
fractions that are not
Circles equivalent to 1, the
fractional pieces of the
The circle mode circle will not fit together
challenges students and will overlap. You
who firmly can see how the blue 1/6
understand equivalent piece and yellow 1/5
fractions. piece are overlapping in
the example.
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