This newsletter is full of great information on Gizmos®, Reflex, and the latest happenings at ExploreLearning:

Four New Science Gizmos

Video: Whole Class Instruction with Gizmos

ExploreLearning Educator of the Month

Expert Corner: Math Fact Fluency and the Common Core

Reflex Habla Español

Job Opportunities with ExploreLearning

Four New Science Gizmos

We have been busy creating even more Gizmos to round out our enormous library of interactive simulations! In December we released two Gizmos on the concept of chemical equilibrium, and last week we announced two more science Gizmos.

The two equilibrium lessons use the same Gizmo, but focus on different topics. In the Equilibrium and Concentration lesson, students observe reversible reactions to gain an understanding of why chemical equilibrium occurs and how equilibrium constants are calculated. The follow-up lesson, Equilibrium and Pressure, discusses partial pressure, Dalton's law, and Le Chatelier's principle.

With the Measuring Volume Gizmo, students can use a variety of containers and tools to measure the volumes of liquids and solids. Students can fill containers from a faucet, pour water from one container to another, add objects to containers, and measure the dimensions of objects with a ruler. An eyedropper is available to add or remove small amounts of water, and a magnifying glass can be used to get a close up view of a meniscus. Students can test their skills using the "Practice" mode of the Gizmo.

In the Dichotomous Keys Gizmo, students use dichotomous keys to identify a variety of plants and animals, including California albatrosses, Texas venomous snakes, and more. Students can then try creating their own dichotomous keys for organisms in the Gizmo or for organisms found where they live.

Keep an eye on the Gizmos Facebook page to learn about new Gizmos as they are released.

Video: Whole Class Instruction with Gizmos

Our latest YouTube video lets you be a fly on the wall in a 5th grade classroom where students are investigating the Mineral Identification Gizmo. This video gives insight into one of the many ways Gizmos can be integrated into classrooms: for whole group instruction. See more videos on the Gizmos YouTube channel.

ExploreLearning Educator of the Month

Michael Mosby is in his fifth year of teaching and he now teaches 4th grade science at Owens Elementary, in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Texas.

He recently attended a Gizmos training event and was excited to take advantage of them in his classroom. He now uses many different Gizmos, covering concepts as diverse as Density and Phases of the Moon. At an ExploreLearning School Leadership event last spring he was honored for his extensive use of Gizmos, bringing more engaging and effective math and science instruction to his students.

Mr. Mosby points to the Density Gizmo as a good example of how Gizmos have helped with his teaching. He uses a hands-on experiment to explore density with his class and then reinforces that lesson with the Gizmo. He has his students pair up and work through the Exploration Guide to go over the various concepts. This sequence has really engaged his students, and this difficult concept has become easier to teach and fun for students.

Mr. Mosby doesn't stop with classroom instruction either.

"I encourage my students to use Gizmos at home with their families. The students really enjoy showing their parents the things that they get to do on Gizmos at home. I think it gets them excited about science concepts that they would normally not be interested in."

Expert Corner:
Math Fact Fluency and the Common Core

Paul Cholmsky is the Vice President of Research and Development at ExploreLearning. He leads the design and development of Reflex and served as Principal Investigator on the Research and Development effort that developed ExploreLearning's capabilities in interactive assessment.

Mathematics educators generally recognize the critical role that math fact fluency plays in students' future success in mathematics. A lack of fact fluency can lead to difficulty in higher levels of math and decreased confidence in math abilities overall. So it is not surprising that the the Common Core State Standards and the new assessments focus on fact fluency as a critical requirement.

The Common Core State Standards call for fluency in addition and subtraction for second graders and fluency in multiplication and division for third graders:

2.OA.2. Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies. By end of Grade 2, know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers.

3.OA.7. Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers.

In the past few months, SBAC and PARCC have each released documents that describe plans for the rigorous new CCSS assessments under development. In these documents, both consortia have stressed the importance of fact fluency and the new potential that computer-based assessment affords to directly evaluate fluency via measurement of response time.

Reflex will provide outstanding preparation for these assessments. Its adaptive nature ensures that students can efficiently attain full fluency in all four operations, and it also familiarizes them with computer-based testing environments that measure response time.

Reflex Habla Español

We are hard at work on a Spanish version of Reflex! In fact, we are almost finished. The entire student experience (games, coaching, assessment, and student views of reports) will be available in both English and Spanish.

We are putting on the finishing touches now and expect to have it available on the Reflex site in mid-to-late January. "Like" our Reflex Facebook page or check on the Reflex News, and you'll see our announcement when the feature is available. ¡Diviértete!

Job Opportunities with ExploreLearning

ExploreLearning is hiring! We currently have positions open in sales, professional development, and customer service. If you or a friend of yours wants to work with a leader in math and science education, check out the ExploreLearning Careers page. You can also learn more about us and some of our career opportunities on our LinkedIn page.

Stay in Touch

If you want to comment on any of the information in this newsletter, be sociable and post your insights on the Facebook pages for Gizmos and Reflex.

And as always, if you have a question or comment about Gizmos or Reflex, don't hesitate to contact our Customer Support team using the support form for either Gizmos or Reflex. We would love to hear from you.