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The EL Explorer

News from ExploreLearning

February 2013

 

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

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Expert Corner: Linking Reflex and Gizmos

Educator of the Month: Clayton Ellis

Reflex Grant Program Deadline: Feb 28th

New Gizmo and New Lesson Materials for Math Gizmos

LiveScience: The Science and Research Behind Reflex

Gizmos on Facebook

 

Expert Corner: Linking Reflex and Gizmos

Dan PicDan Moriarty is a curriculum writer and editor for ExploreLearning, and our chief "demo movie" maker for Gizmos and Reflex. He holds a Master's degree from the University of Virginia in secondary math education, and he taught high school math before joining ExploreLearning.

A question we are getting asked more and more frequently is, “My students love Reflex. What do you recommend for them now that they are showing good progress towards fact fluency?”

Current research shows that fact fluency is critical as students move into higher levels of mathematics. The literature is equally clear on the importance of developing a strong conceptual understanding of mathematics. ExploreLearning’s flagship product, Gizmos, is designed to support exactly that. Gizmos help students truly understand key math (and science) concepts while honing their higher-order thinking skills. Students can use both Reflex and Gizmos during their elementary years, and they can continue with Gizmos throughout their secondary education.

No Alien Set Behind
GizmoGizmos are flexible for use in different teaching and learning scenarios including whole class instruction, small groups, individually, or for home assignments. You could choose to use Gizmos with a projector and screen with your entire class, and let students use Gizmos on some computers and Reflex on others.

There are over 450 Gizmos that can easily be found with our Browse facility. You can find Gizmos aligned to your state standards and the new Common Core standards, as well as over 300 leading textbooks.

For any Gizmo, be sure you and your students use the associated Lesson Materials or Exploration Guide. The Student Exploration Sheet walks students through an inquiry-based lesson using the Gizmo (and the Word document version can be edited by the teacher, if you like). The Teacher Guide contains suggestions for how to incorporate the Gizmo into a larger lesson, and provides more in-depth information on the topic.

Here are some Gizmos you may want to consider for your students working with Reflex:

Patterns
Pattern Flip Gizmo – pattern recognition as a carnival-like card game.
Pattern Finder Gizmo – identifying patterns in how frogs hop.

Adding and subtracting
Adding and Subtracting Integers Gizmo – adding and subtracting on a number line.
Number Line Frog Hop Gizmo – adding and subtracting by tens and ones, with a frog on a number line.

Multiplication and division
Critter Count Gizmo – multiplication as repeated addition.
Chocomatic Gizmo – multiplication as a rectangular array, in the context of building chocolate bars.
No Alien Left Behind Gizmo – division and remainders in the context of putting classes of aliens on school buses.

Fractions
Modeling Fractions Gizmo – fractions strips used to explore the meaning of numerator and denominator
Equivalent Fractions Gizmo – compare fractions using a fraction-tile-making machine
Fraction Artist 1 Gizmo – create modern “paintings” in the style of Piet Mondrian, and describe them with fractions. (There are actually 2 Fraction Artist Gizmos. The lesson in the second one is slightly more advanced than in the first.)

Fractions, decimals, and percents
Modeling Decimals Gizmo – model and compare decimals with area (grid) models.
Fraction, Decimal, Percent Gizmo – compare fractions, decimals, and percents with area (grid) models.

Simple functions
Function Machines 1 Gizmo – cartoony “input-output” machines are a nice entry point into functional thinking. (There are actually 3 Function Machines Gizmos with gradually more advanced lessons.)

We’re glad to see how popular Reflex is becoming, and we hope this helps connect Reflex a bit better with Gizmos! Take a free Gizmos trial and see how Gizmos can help continue your students’ passion for mathematics.

 

Educator of the Month: Clayton Ellis

Graham Clayton Ellis OCT, is head of science at David Suzuki Secondary School, Peel District School Board in Brampton, Ontario. He has taught for 16 years, and has collaborated with colleagues to support science teaching in the province. He has been the primary author on several science and biology textbooks.

Years ago Mr. Ellis was looking for innovative technologies that would engage his students. After one of his classes tried out Gizmos for the first time in 2004, he became convinced that he had found an extremely effective supplemental tool for teaching science.

When Mr. Ellis teaches genetics to his high school students, he uses the Human Karyotyping Gizmo. In the past, his students had started the learning process on this topic by cutting out 46 photocopied chromosomes. Inevitably the students would lose some of the pieces of paper, and the activity that should have taken only 45 minutes stretched out to two days. The Human Karyotyping Gizmo allowed students to see the colour coded chromosomes and determine the disorders after a thorough analysis.

Without having to cut out the karyotypes on paper, the students had the additional time they needed to do the analysis. Mr. Ellis was then able to incorporate a genetic disorder roundtable into his class, and students included a karyotype of a problem in their presentation.

Growing Plants
GizmoMr. Ellis plans to run a Science Olympics competition later this year where students will compete against each other in a variety of science activities. One of the planned activities will involve the Mineral Identification Gizmo. The students will be using the Gizmo to compete against each other to see how quickly and accurately they can identify minerals.

Using Gizmos also has allowed Mr. Ellis to accommodate the needs of various learners in his classroom. He finds that some students need a great deal of time to initially grasp fundamental concepts, while others are quickly ready for more complex tasks that allow them to gain a deeper understanding. Gizmos are perfect for this type of differentiation and have become a fundamental part of Mr. Ellis’ layered lessons for all students.

 

Reflex Grants Program Deadline: Feb 28th

Two teachers at an elementary school in Bellwood School District 88 in Illinois, each received a Reflex Educator Grant for their classrooms. Now that their students have been working on Reflex for a couple of months, we checked in with them to find out how it was going.

Barb Gunderson, a 3rd grade teacher, says “Reflex is a great tool to help my students learn their facts. The games are great and students can't wait to open another one and play it.” She tells us that she has a lower-level math student in her class, who could originally only add by counting on his fingers or by drawing lines on paper. After working on Reflex, she was surprised at how, when they played a math game in class, “he was doing all the math in his head and calling out answers. The whole class was excited about how well they also could play without counting up! What a surprise it was to us all.”

Reflex ResultsJenna Buckholtz, a 6th grade teacher, says her students really love Reflex as well. “At the beginning of the year, we played 'Around the World' with math. Many students were not able to answer the questions. They were counting on their fingers and guessing.” That’s really changed since they started using Reflex. She says that Reflex “is giving them confidence in their math knowledge.” Ms. Buckholtz has at least three students who are a hundred percent fluent, and more that are getting close. In fact, seventeen of her students have gone from 38% to 96% fluency in multiplication and division 0-12, after 42 days of average usage.

There are still spaces available in the Reflex Educator Grant program! The deadline is February 28, 2013. Apply today and start using the most effective (and the most fun) math fact fluency program in your classroom.

 

New Gizmo and New Lesson Materials for Math Gizmos

We have just created a new lesson for a Gizmo that was released last year. The new Gizmo is called Unit Conversions 2 – Scientific Notation and Significant Digits. This Gizmo provides a great platform for learning about two fundamental topics: scientific notation and significant digits. To do this, first we had to update the Gizmo so that it follows all of the significant digit rules. Next, we created a new set of Lesson Materials to teach about measuring and calculating with significant digits.

We suggest starting with the original Unit Conversions Gizmo to familiarize students with conversion factors and dimensional analysis, and then move on to this new Gizmo.

There are also new sets of Lesson Materials for three Geometry Gizmos:

Classifying Triangles

Special Parallelograms

Parallelogram Conditions

 

As always, our updated Lesson Materials have 4 documents (Student Exploration Sheet, Answer Key, Teacher Guide, and Vocabulary Sheet), each available as a .doc or .pdf. (You'll need to be logged in to see all four documents.)

If you'd like to try these Gizmos, or any of the others in our library, you can sign up for a free trial today!

 

LiveScience: The Science and Research Behind Reflex

Reflex ResultsWant to know more about how Reflex works and how the most effective (and the most fun!) math fact fluency solution is transforming math education?

Read the recent LiveScience article on ExploreLearning Reflex. The article gives a "Behind the Scenes" look at how Reflex was created, and how it works to improve math fact fluency for students of all ages and levels.

 

Gizmos on Facebook

Don’t forget to visit ExploreLearning’s Gizmo Facebook page for “Gizmo of the Week” lesson ideas. Teachers will find great ideas for teaching with Gizmos and ways to incorporate current events using Gizmos. Visit us on Facebook at: facebook.com/ExploreLearningGizmos

And visit out Reflex Facebook page for the latest games, implementation ideas and success stories.
facebook.com/ExploreLearningReflex

 

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.

For information on bringing Gizmos and Reflex to schools in your area, contact your ExploreLearning Account Representative:

 
Contact Us

 

866-882-4141, Option 2

sales@explorelearning.com

New to Reflex?

 
  Watch View Introduction to Reflex  
  Watch Tour Educators' tour of Reflex  
  Watch Tour Students' tour of Reflex  
  Watch Read The research on Reflex and math fact fluency (white paper)  
 

Connect
with Reflex

Connect with Reflex on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Reflex YouTube Channel Connect with Reflex on LinkedIn!
 
 

New to Gizmos?

 
  Watch View Introduction to Gizmos  
  Watch View What educators are saying about Gizmos  
  Watch View Teaching with Gizmos – demo movies  
  Watch Read What the research says about Gizmos  
 

Connect
with Gizmos

Connect with Gizmos on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Gizmos YouTube Channel Connect with Gizmos on LinkedIn!
 
 

Test Drive Reflex & Gizmos

   
 

No-obligation trials are available for both Reflex and Gizmos.

Share these links with colleagues and let them explore these two best-of-breed products.Trials

Reflex trial:
reflexmath.com/trial

Gizmos trial:
explorelearning.com/trial

ExploreLearning at Upcoming Educational Conferences

   
 

GCEL
Feb. 11-13, Savannah, GA

AL iSTEM
Feb. 14-16, Huntsville, AL

PBTC
Feb. 19, Lantana, FL

Beyond School Hours
Feb. 20-23, Jacksonville, FL

MASS
Feb. 21, Carrollton, TX

NCTIES
Mar. 6-8, Raleigh, NC

   

Educators Love ExploreLearning

   
 

"We have a lot of programs and resources to practice facts, but Reflex is the ONLY program that includes a child-specific instruction component. Those students who are using it at least 3 days per week are making wonderful growth. It's by far the best program I've seen."

Math Coach
Guilderland Central SD, NY

"Gizmos is a great tool when working with students to give them a hands-on and visual activity when introducing or extending the lesson. The lessons address the standards that are being taught. The best part is the collaboration between my students. They share their ideals, give assistance, and have great discussions with me and each other."

Elementary School Teacher
Duval County PS, FL

Critical Acclaim for Reflex

 

  star  

Winner: Best K-12 Instructional Solution
2012 SIIA CODiE Awards

 
  star  

Winner: Award of Excellence
2012 Tech and Learning Magazine

 
  star  

Winner: Education Software Review Awards
2012 ComputED Gazette EDDIE Awards

 
  star  

Finalist: Best Educational Game or Simulation
2012 SIIA CODiE Awards

 

 

Critical Acclaim for Gizmos

 

  star  

Winner: Distinguished Achievement Award
2012, 2011, 2008, 2007, 2005 AEP

 
  star  

Winner: Education Software Review Awards
2012 ComputED Gazette EDDIE Awards

 
  star  

Winner: Golden Lamp Award
2010 AEP

 
  star  

Winner: Best Science Instructional Solution
2010, 2007, 2006 SIIA CODiE Awards

 
  star  

Winner: Best K-12 Instructional Solution
2009 SIIA CODiE Awards

 
  star  

Winner: Award of Excellence
2009, 2008 Tech and Learning Magazine

 
  star  

Finalist: Best Math Instructional Solution
2012, 2009, 2008, 2006 SIIA CODiE Awards

 
  star  

Finalist: Distinguished Achievement Award
2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2006 AEP

 
  star  

Finalist: Best K-12 Instructional Solution
2010 SIIA CODiE Awards

 
  star  

Finalist: Golden Lamp Award
2009, 2008, 2006 AEP

 
  star  

Diamond Award in Mathematics
District Administration Magazine

 
  star  

E-Learning Innovation Award
Macromedia Corp.

 
  star  

Best Education Website
Webby Awards

 
  star  

Three time Digital Dozen Honoree
Eisenhower National Clearinghouse

 

 

 

Connect with Reflex

Connect with Reflex on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Reflex YouTube Channel Connect with Reflex on LinkedIn!

P.O. Box 2185
Charlottesville, VA 22902

Connect with Gizmos

Connect with Gizmos on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Gizmos YouTube Channel Connect with Gizmos on LinkedIn!