The web is full of teaching materials of all kinds that you can leverage to enhance how you teach math. Online manipulatives, demonstrations, worksheet makers, tutorials and other interactive activities, make an exciting and worthwhile addition to your good teaching sense and your conventional math materials.
Going online with kids, you’ll make use of different types of web sites and use them in many different ways, adding to your repetoire of teaching talents!
In addition, you'll find many web sites that offer helpful lesson ideas, background information and printable materials to supplement your math program.
To get your webbed feet wet, we are going to explore three or four different types of math-oriented web sites you can use as the basis for or supplement to a math activity of your design.
Strategies for Developing Activities
Dig Deep! Explore the activity or site, including teacher (or parent) information. Try out activities; take note of what happens if you make mistakes or use the activity "the wrong way."
Brainstorm! Consider possible ways to use the site. What would you do if you only had five minutes of prep time? Could you use the site to build an ongoing activity or integrated thematic unit? Can it serve as a launching point for other classroom activities? Provide an opportunity for independent learning or differentiated instruction?
Have it Your Way! Connect to your curriculum, making the web tools and activities work for YOU. Look for sites, activities and materials that support and enhance the teaching you already do; see if the site offers useful printables to extend the learning opportunities.
Mix it Up! Choose and use conventional materials and web sites together. Whoever said you can't use virtual manipulatives on screen along side real 3D manipulatives?
Use It! Choose an activity from the NLVM and brainstorm how you could combine the online manipulatives with physical manipulatives for a classroom activity...
More Online Math Activities
Explore It: NLVM is good, but there are many other sites that offer online interactive activities, some with manipulatives, others with tutorials, still others with more conventional drills. Some are very open-ended 'spaces' while others work students through specific activities in a specified order. All have a place for certain learning objectives and/or specific students.
Some sites offer a simple activity that can be a launching point for or companion to other classroom activities. Sites such as Big Brown Bear's Magnetic Numbers, or even the online version of Lite Brite, offer interactivity in a simplified format, ready for you to use in any way you choose. Sites such as NLVM or A+ Math offer so much content, you could build entire lessons (or weeks worth of lessons) using just the materials on the site.
Use It! After you explore one of the sites above, take some time to plan an activity using a portion of the site that intrigues you, meets an instructional goal or works well for you.
Printables for Math
Math resources on the internet can make it easier to create your own math materials for offline classroom use, including manipulatives and worksheets. Some of the sites allow you to control variables such as number of problems, difficulty level, etc., or in the case of graph papers, the size, shape and color of grids, etc.
Math Resources
In addition to activities students can use online or printables, the web is loaded with background information to help you become a better math teacher, learn to address the needs of students with disabilities or diverse learning styles or provide extra materials, help or challenges to students and their families.
Tips
Approach the web and other technology with a practical mindset:
Treat it the way you treat other tools and materials – pick, choose and customize as needed
Treat challenges and tech failures as opportunities to model flexibility and problem-solving for your students. (In fact, if accidents and mistakes don't happen to you, consider "planting" some into your lesson to highlight difficult steps or enhance critical thinking!)
Locate quality sites.
Use the sites listed on this page, and check back often!
Connect to other sources for quality links that continually add new links
If all else fails, have your students create web site "reviews" – note the name and URL, briefly describe the materials or activities, decide who would like it or learn from it, the site's best features and what would make it better.
Good Luck with Your Continuing Math Adventures on the Web! Thanks for Visiting!
Best Web Sites for Math 
Dig Deep!
Have it Your Way
