Mathreps Wipebook Workbooks Resource for Primary Classrooms
"I love that the examples of the mathematical tasks include completed versions to help students understand expectations. It isn't enough to only explain instructions verbally."
My class enjoys using personal whiteboards. We practice number sense, skip counting, comparing, and adding or subtracting. Wipebook MathReps Workbooks transforms conventional paper into reusable and erasable surfaces for your students to work on! Individual boards allow students to focus on their own thoughts. They do not have to worry about how their peers see them.
Students work at their own pace and demonstrate their thought process. When they feel ready to share, I ask for volunteers to share with the whole class or for students to pair up to compare their ideas with another student's. All you need are dry erase markers and these whiteboards!
I also have students work in pairs to share a board and discuss their thinking. They can restart if needed because dry erase markers are so easy to use.
Effective Simple Math Tool for Educators
MathReps activities to use with the boards are located online for free. I love that the examples of the mathematical tasks include completed versions to help students understand expectations. It isn't enough to only explain instructions verbally.
Teachers should model explicit thinking and walk students through examples when possible. Using the readily-made MathReps Workbooks slides helped me easily implement Wipebook Workbooks into my math classes. Students also get immediate feedback with each practice and get faster each day.
Once you introduce students to a MathReps task, they practice the same skills with different numbers helping to foster independence and problem solving. Repeat the tasks daily until the class develops mastery (around 6 weeks).
Students might take longer or feel ready to move on faster. Meet your students where they are at and watch them become more confident and develop autonomy in their learning!
Model Explicit Thinking for Students
Right now, we're working on Number Sense. We have done a number of the day's activities and continued with daily skip counting.
I used the example slide to show the finished task and students used their boards to start at a different number than the one displayed. Once they completed a number I gave them, I said they could choose their own number! They could easily redo their work with the swipe of a dry erase eraser.
Multimodal Representation:
MathReps activities include number of the day, graphs, shapes, skip counting, time, word problems, and more. You can find the Workbooks here and order a class set for your class. 25 come in a package. I teach 20 students so this was a perfect amount with an extra for me to demonstrate how to complete a workbook in-person.
You can even use the FREE Wipebook Scan App to scan student work. This means being able to project student work or save their thinking for assessment purposes... Or to keep a portfolio of student math work. Quickly digitize and save notes to Google Drive or OneDrive. Once scanned, you can wipe pages clean and reuse them.
I am also ecstatic knowing that this is a more environmentally friendly option than using paper. Because these wipe books have useful templates, you also get to save time since you don't need to photocopy worksheets.
Math used to be about drills and rote memorization. This could lead to math anxiety and an aversion to the topic...
Now, students can share their mathematical thinking when their work is projected with Wipebook. They can compare solutions with peers and reflect on their learning. With a focus on rich discussions and collaboration, students learn to enjoy the process of math.
I am excited to continue using these when we solve math word problems because there are MathReps word problem tasks available AND student's don't need to struggle to find a pencil and eraser (they always go missing). This will help my students to spend more time on what's important: problem solving and critical thinking.