Newsletter, November 2010

Welcome to the November 2010 Mathsticks newsletter.

The mathsticks mathematics resource site has continued to grow. There were only a small number of additions throughout the Summer - but we are back now... and blazing on full power! The site has received some fantastic accolades, and all of your comments are really appreciated. Thank you.

If you haven't been back to the site for a while you may have missed some recent changes and new resources, such as:


For Early Years / Key Stage 1

  • Times Table Target Boards - a practical and effective way to help children develop confidence with some of the 'harder' multiplication tables [this activity was designed by a student teacher].
  • The Great Shape Photo Hunt - 40 shape cards designed to get yoru children really looking (and thinking) about shapes in the environment. A digital-camera treasure-hunt for maths!
  • Three In a Line - an adaptation of "4 in a row", but with a mathematical edge. 6 game boards to promote understanding of multiplication.

 
For Key Stage 2

  • Shape Taboo - 27 cards designed to develop shape vocabulary and encourage purposeful mathematical talk
  • The Gattegno (or Place Value) Chart - an effective, and tried-and-trusted way to help children appreciate place value
  • A Number Properties Clue Game - 25 cards designed to encourage children to talk, play cooperatively and learn about number properties [this was our most popular download of the summer!].


Christmas

Christmas Maths activitiesWe cannot ignore it, so we decided to add a range of
ChristMATHS activities. You can check them out here:
Mathsticks at Christmas.

 

Paid-for Content

We have also taken the opportunity to introduce our first copyright material. This is a Christmas Activities eBook. The downloadable book contains more than 40 items over 56 pages. All of the content is the usual high quality you would expect from mathsticks, it's also tried and tested, and proven to be useful, educational and fun. (We would say all that, of course... but we do mean it)! It's also extremely good value, check out the full details now.

If you think asking for payment for some of our resources seems a little strange, you can check out our reasons here: Paid-for Content.

Note: we have no plans to turn mathsticks into a 'shop' or 'store'... we are planning to produce further special paid-for eBooks in the future, but promise that 99% of our material will always be free to use and free to share.

 

Prizes

Three lucky mathsticks members won a copy of the Christmas Activities eBook:

  • xxx was our lucky 2000 member
  • owl80 had the highest mathstick points (116)
  • carriecat10 had the second highest mathstick points (90)
  • valminnis had the third highest mathstick points (52)

We intend to have more 'surprise' competitions after Christmas... so watch this space - it could be you!

 

Statistics! (as of 24 November 2010)

 

Communication

Finally, as before, please remember that you can share your ideas here. Maybe let us know how you use the mathstick resources, or share a new idea with all our members.

Members can use the 'Comment' box that appears at the end of each resource description, or send a general comment using the Contact mathsticks tab on the top navigation bar.

Also, it's not a secret any more (although not many people know about it), we do have a Facebook page. Drop by to check out our list of resources, ask a question, or tell us you like something.

Regards,

John

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