Summer

Essential Math News

Volume 1, Issue 1

Summer 2015

Avoid the Summer Slide

This newsletter was written by Kimberly Loszewski, Math Essentials
teacher at WCMS

Website Descriptions
My favorites

MobyMax.com

Online Practice

MobyMax began as a website called MobyMath. It has

grown and now includes support and practice in Math,
Reading and Vocabulary! It is free for you to use but

An overview
As you make summertime plans, remember to plan in
some time to practice your math skills. Even during the
off season, professional athletes continue to practice
and train. Consider summer as your off season.
Enjoy yourself, relax and have A LOT of fun but
squeeze in some time to continue to train your brain!
This newsletter is intended to provide information on
different ways to keep your brain fine-tuned over the
summer. Most of the suggestions utilize the internet. If
you dont have access to the internet at home, consider
planning a weekly trip to the library. Maybe find a
group of friends and go together.
Also, there are many ways to train your brain
WITHOUT the internet. Some suggestions are board
games, strategy games, crossword puzzles, soduko
puzzles, workbooks, predicting the total before you get
the bill when you go out to dinner, figuring out the total
when you go out shopping (dont forget about tax),
figuring out the tip after a meal and so much more
get creative!

Online Practice

You will need the following information to log-in.

School Code: mi3809
Username: Your WCMS student number with letters
Password: Your WCMS 4 digit password

Mangahigh.com
Mangahigh provides quality games that reinforce math
topics. Walnut Creek students can sign in for free
using the information below. Their performance in the
games helps to determine which Common Core
standards they have mastered and in a fun and
meaningful way!
School Code: 132550
Username: Your WCMS student number with letters
Password: Your WCMS 4 digit password

www.mathantics.com
There is no username and password required.

Goals and Successes

Included in this newsletter is a calendar to help you
make a goal for how much time you plan to set aside
each month for practicing. I suggest making a goal on
the first of each month. Record the minutes you
practice each day on the calendar and then at the end
of the month add up the minutes and see how close
you were to your goal! Remember, practice makes
perfect. (well closer to perfect, anyway - if we were
all perfect, Earth would be a pretty boring place!) So, if
you dont reach your goal, try and try again.

However, I believe parents can purchase a subscription

to access additional features but I dont consider
them necessary. These videos (which are also on
YouTube) are excellent. Choose the topic youd like to
learn and follow along with the video as if you were in
class with a teacher right in front of you!

Frontrowed.com
Frontrowed offers free online math practice. While it is
free, it does require each student to log in. If you would
like to request access to this site fill out the form
available at http://goo.gl/forms/F2aMDB0l8C

Essential Math News Page 1

digitwhiz.com

Other Sites and Apps

Digitwhiz is currently a free website with games that

practice some important math concepts the most
important being basic math facts. Every student would
benefit from memorizing their multiplication facts.

Some of my favorites

You will need the following information to log-in.

Username: Your WCMS student number with letters
Password: math123
I have been informed that DigitWhiz is ending its free
service and will begin requiring a paid subscription
(which we dont have). Feel free to use it with the
above log-in information for a long as theyll let you.

buzzmath.com
Buzzmath is a great way to practice math skills. It's fun,
it has immediate detailed feedback and examples that
allow students to progress at their own speed.

FindTimeForMath.weebly.com
This website was created and is maintained by Kimberly
Loszewski, currently the Math Essentials teacher at
Walnut Creek. The site is always growing! It highlights
helpful videos and pairs them with the topics in our
CMP3 math curriculum.

khanacademy.org
Math Levels: 3rd-12th+
A good source for videos and online practice

artofproblemsolving.com
Math Levels: 3rd 11th grade
A good source for videos

Funbrain.com
Many fun online games to practice concepts

Unfortunately, it does require a paid subscription.

Shepphardsoftware.com

However, BuzzMath is one of the few sites that offers

both a school AND a family subscription. So, if you have
the resources, you might consider purchasing a family
subscription. They offer 1, 3 or 12 month plans and
allow for up to 4 children per family subscription.

Many fun online games to practice concepts

Why Students Love it

It's impressive. Finally an online math app that is fun
to use and that does not put students into a trance from
repeatedly answering multiple choice questions.

It's useful! Students see similar examples to instantly

determine why they are wrong and then allows them to
retry with different values.

It's simple! Clear goals are provided for students.

They must complete assignments, accumulate stars,
unlock missions, restore BuzzCity and proclaim victory
as a mathematical hero.

Why Parents Love Buzzmath

Quality. Tons of useful interactions with a clear path
to success.

Efficiency. On demand examples, automated

corrections and the insight you need to help your
children, quickly.

www.arcademics.com
Math Levels: K-6th grade
Many fun online games to practice concepts

www.hoodamath.com

Math Levels: K-8th

Many fun online games to practice concepts

www.mathpickle.com/

Math Levels: K-12th

A good source for videos and resources
Many of the suggestions above were found at
student-tutor.com/blog/top-10-math-websites/
Visit the website to read the full review for many of the
websites listed above.
Also the information about BuzzMath
(featured left) was taken from the BuzzMath
website and is their summary of the product.
th

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If you will be in 7 or 8 grade at Walnut Creek Middle School

Flexibility. Use for review or enrichment.

during the 2015-16 school year and are having trouble with any

Simplicity. Track your child's progress through his portfolio.

of the log in information found above, fill out the form available
at http://goo.gl/forms/F2aMDB0l8C and I will do my best to get
into contact with you.

Essential Math News Page 2

JUNE 2015

MY GOAL IS TO PRACTICE _____________ MINUTES THIS MONTH

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

Actual Total Minutes of Prac ce in June:

JULY 2015

MY GOAL IS TO PRACTICE _____________ MINUTES THIS MONTH

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

AUGUST 2015

MY GOAL IS TO PRACTICE _____________ MINUTES THIS MONTH

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Actual Total Minutes of Prac ce in July:

Actual Total Minutes of Prac ce in August:
Essential Math News Page 3