Great iPad Math Resources

If you teach middle school math and use iPads with your students there are a number of apps and online programs that your students can use to effectively supplement your math program. I have used all of the following and can truly say that they are worth checking into. Most of these resources are for elementary school students as well.

Buzzmath

BuzzMath is a website and mobile application that focuses on learning and practicing middle school mathematics skills. It promotes mastery through immediately detailed feedback and randomly generated values that allows missed problems to be retried. It also contains tools that allow teachers to follow student progress through detailed reports.

There are free and subscription based versions of Buzzmath. I use the free version and really like it. Students use the app on their iPads. It works great as a remedial tool and for students to get extra practice on certain skills. It is very easy for students to use and most of them enjoy using it!

Prodigy Math

Prodigy is a free adaptive math practice game that students can play on their iPads set in a fantasy roleplaying universe.  Students customize colorful, anime-style avatars and send them off to the Wizard Academy to prepare for battle. Students’ characters travel the world; they chat with other wizards through a series of pre-written chat comments, challenge friends to fight in the arena, and brave the woods to take on monsters. As they progress in their math skills, so do their characters, learning new spells to use against enemies. In order to use these spells successfully, students must flex their math knowledge and answer questions that cover a lot of content and adjust to students’ abilities. If students don’t succeed on the first go, they get hints to help them out. As they level up, they earn more spells and face more challenging monsters, earning gold that they can use to purchase armor and items for their houses.

Prodigy actively adapts to keep students learning at their own pace, with a learning algorithm that automatically identifies knowledge gaps and scaffolds students through difficult concepts.

Prodigy has over 300 curriculum-aligned math skills for students to master. Moving beyond simple number sense, Prodigy covers Geometry, Spatial Sense, Probability, and many more crucial skills in Grades 1 – 7.

I like this game because it is highly motivating, even sometimes addicting. While students spend plenty of time playing with game elements they still work on many math skills. I usually assign this game for home work or for a reward during math class.

TenMarks

TenMarks is a website and iPad app where students answer math problems. There are videos and hints to help them if they get stuck. In many ways it is similar to Khan Academy. However, I like TenMarks because the questions are more rigorous and the videos are better.  TenMarks also has a free and prescription based service which is $20.00 per student for a year. Again, I use the free service and find it useful for remediation and additional practice.

One great thing about TenMarks is that they provide a totally free summer math program for students K-12 that helps prevent learning loss. They even provide informational flyers and letters to send home to parents explaining the program. You can get more information here.

Front Row

This is a free iPad app and math program that differentiates each students’ math experience. The teacher creates an account and receives a student code. The students then log in with the code and supply their own name. The student is forced to take a pretest upon logging in for the first time. The test adjusts to the student’s performance as they move through the test so the questions get easier if the student is struggling and harder if they continue to solve the problems correctly. The app then starts the student at a specific Common Core standard and allows them to practice while providing manipulatives and “scratch paper”. I really like Front Row as an app to provide independent practice for students. The virtual manipulatives work very well on the iPad and are a great resource.

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