Before your private eyes test their prowess, they can work in the practice mode to explore the types of problems they will encounter. Each game has three levels of difficulty and provides great reinforcement for counting and estimating skills that students are developing at this age. You can also modify the program for individual children based on level of difficulty and number of rounds needed to complete the game. The tips are invaluable, especially if you need guidance on integrating the use of software into your curriculum. You'll find follow-up and extension activities, reproducibles, and strategies for making the most of the program with just one computer or several.
Students love to play detective.
Tap into this interest by having your class create their own detective agency. Divide students into small groups of two or three and challenge teams to come up with creative math mystery problems. After they've devised their problems, have them give them to you along with their solutions. Then invite your young private eyes to crack the cases. I often hear teachers say it's difficult to integrate software into their curriculum because a program is too complicated, the learning curve is too steep, or the whole process is too time-intensive.