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SUMone |
This is a versatile little program which can be used in a variety of ways and with a
wide range of ages.
It comprises eight activities, all of which can be varied in order to suit a wider range of classroom
situations. Here is a description of just four of them with their links to the National Curriculum. |
Times of the Day
Shows eight different scenes and requires pupils to match them to times of the day. There is a lot
of scope for language work here as a teacher or helper draws attention to details of the scene, such
as whether children are arriving at or leaving school, if the chip shop is open or shut, and so on.
At a simpler level, pupils can just click on a time of day and see the scene change to suit that time.
An ideal follow up would be to have pupils draw their own homes at different times of the day, using
cartoon or stick characters to represent themselves and members of the family. |
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Click-a-brick
Using a familiar Lego-style '10' length brick as the base, the activity adds bricks of different lengths
to the base and asks, for example, 'What number, added to six, makes ten?' A choice of bricks is given
and the pupil tries to select the one which will make the correct number bond. When the sums have been
solved and the wall built it transforms into a house. The picture can be saved and printed so that
the sums can be written out for reinforcement if required. This is an ideal activity to back up with
practical work. |
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Chase Charlie
This presents a ten lane race track with an outsider (Charlie, or some other character) in one of
the lanes. A number is shown and Charlie sets off for the finishing line. The user must click on the
lane corresponding to the number shown – and do it quickly so that the runner in that lane can
set off in pursuit of Charlie. The activity is good at encouraging estimation of numbers from left
to right and can be followed up with extension exercises going beyond ten. At the more difficult level,
an addition sum is shown (for example, 3 + 4) and the pupil must do the sum and click on the number
it makes – again in time to win the race. |
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The Pop factory
Bottles to be filled with different coloured pop form the scenario for this activity. There are numbers
and there are buttons – but there is one additional concept to be practised here: the idea that
something for example, a colour) can represent or stand for something else for example, a number).
So if you wish to fill seven bottles, you must see what colour represents seven and then click on that
colour. The activity can also be set up to practise number bonds and the separation of even numbers
into two halves. The screen display in this (as in many of the activities) is sufficiently clear to
allow it to be used by a teacher or assistant with a group of children. In this way many more pupils
can join in and teaching points can be made along the way. |
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