Class Competition While Improving Math Skills

Submitted 5 years ago

Community Review for Sumdog

Marsha W.
Marsha W.
P.S. 055 Benjamin Franklin School
Bronx NY, US
My Rating
Pedagogy
Supports

My Take

SumDog is an excellent tool for review and reinforcement. Being able to compete against classmates was a strong enough pull to keep my 5th grade students engaged. Each student has an avatar which they can customize as they acquire coins. One thing that would improve SumDog is if teachers had the ability to create sub-groupings within the class so that student could compete against students in the same grouping.

How I Use It

I served as a grade 3-5 SETSS and 5th grade cluster teacher for a self-contained (12:1:1) class. During that time, I used SumDog as an opportunity for students to practice their math fluency and to assess their current skill level. The students really enjoyed the fact that they could compete against one another. I would also display the leader board in the front of the class. This gave students 2 ways to be have competition and be "successful" aside from getting the correct answers. If a student struggled with answer questions correctly, there was still a chance that they answered the most questions for the class which was enough to keep them engaged. It was also helpful that I could assign skills and tasks within the program. Students also earn coins as they complete the different tasks which they can then redeem in a store to buy clothes or things for their room.

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More community reviews for Sumdog

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Matthew D.
Matthew D.
February 10, 2019

Good to engage students in practicing simple math facts and concepts

Overall, I like the product and was willing to pay the price for a subscription. The advantage to Sumdog and other similar programs is that you always have a few kids who go home and do it because they want to do it. I am especially glad when it reaches those who generally struggle doing homework. You have to consider whether you think it is worth the money (about $200 per class), but if you are looking for ways to motivate students to improve fluency on basic math concepts, this may be a good option.
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Graham E.
Graham E. Teacher Mc Millan Magnet Middle School Omaha, NE
January 26, 2016

A wonderful tool for reviewing math both in school and at home though it does not introduce new concepts.

Sumdog is not teaching new content, but it is an excellent review tool. While you may have a student that begins to understand new concepts while playing Sumdog, it is not a teaching tool for those that want to introduce new content. Because Sumdog will continue to introduce new concepts until a student hits a wall, students will occasionally be forced into answering questions they have never seen before (ex. Multiplication or division when they haven't learned it in the classroom yet.) Sumdog seems to be easy to contact through email, but I don't have a lot of experience with this. TLDR: A lot of fun for students and a very welcome math review tool for students to use at home and at school.
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Katrina G.
Katrina G. Technology coordinator P.S 181 Brookfield School Springfield Gardens, NY
July 23, 2015

Great tool to use to incorporate play within your classroom while capturing live data related to Common Core Math concepts.

I like that fact that students can play against their classmates or against a student on their grade level. My students actively use the site at home. Parents also have the opportunity to support their child at home using their parent account. It allows a fun way to practice math drills but offers no support if student doesn't understand topic other than the corrections given at the end of a game.
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