Academics
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Student Backpack
Student Backpack (Middle School)
Welcome, Middle School students. On this page, you can find optional games, activities, and information related to your classes. If you want to see more complete information that the librarians have prepared for some classroom lessons, visit the Library Resource Guides.- Typing Pal Online
- Sustainable Living at Pike
- Nature Study
- Language Arts
- Mathematics: Grade 3
- Mathematics: Grade 4
- Mathematics: Grade 5
- Music
- Science
- Social Studies
- Internet Safety
- How We Choose Web Sites
Typing Pal Online
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Typing Pal Online Students in grades 3-5 learn keyboarding (typing) skills through this Web site. Typing Pal Online is available both from school and home. You'll need a login name and password, which are given to you at school, in order to access the lessons on this site. |
Sustainable Living at Pike
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Visit our student-created Web site, Sustainable Living at Pike, to find out what's happening at Pike and what you can do at home to promote sustainable living. This Web site is a joint effort of the Pike 9th grade class of 2007 and the 7th grade Tech Corps. |
Nature Study
Salmon Cam
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Grade Three science students explore the world of the Atlantic salmon by raising newly hatched fry to fingerlings. Follow the salmons' development in real time on The Pike School Salmon Cam. |
Look and See |
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Nature abounds in the Pike School woods and wetlands. See what photos by Pike students, faculty, and motion-sensitive cameras have revealed, on our "Look and See" blog. |
Language Arts
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Visit Author Spotlight on the Library's Reading Corner page to learn more about award-winning author/illustrator David Wiesner. |
| ReadWriteThink: Student Materials Try these great tools to get ideas for writing, or to organize the ideas you have. You'll find poetry templates, fractured fairy tales to think about points of view, the mystery cube to help you summarize reading, and more! |
Mathematics: Grade 3
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Triominoes You can flip and turn (rotate) triangles until the colors of their corners match. Once they match, you can join the triangles together to make many different patterns. Exploring Groups You see a group of squares. How many squares do you have if you combine two or more groups? Funbrain: Shape Surveyor Practice calculating area and perimeter. Try to reach Super Brain! Math Playground: Area and Perimeter Use a magic ruler to measure shapes, and then calculate area and perimeter. The Game of Set A card game of fun, perception, and challenge. |
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The following sites contain wonderful collections of games. PBS Cyberchase Shodor Activities Shodor Lessons (scripts to use with the activities) National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (Grades 3-5) Illuminations (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) (Grades 3-5) Harcourt School E-Lab Internet for Classrooms |
Mathematics: Grade 4
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Numbers & Operations Exploring Division You must divide two numbers and figure out the answer, and you can see pictures to help! Arithmetic Four Practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers through this engaging game of number skills and logical strategy. Geometry Geoboard This online geoboard allows students to create shapes of their choosing. The geoboard can calculate the area and perimeter. [Requires Internet Explorer. Do not use Safari.] Perimeter Explorer At this site, you can define the size for the perimeter of a rectangle or irregular shape. When you click the Draw New Shape button, the site presents a shape with that perimeter. Students must figure out the area. Optionally, the site shows a table comparing the perimeter of each object drawn to encourage students to generalize about the relationship between perimeter and area. Area Explorer This sites is just like the "perimeter" site above, except that you can define an area and ask the site to draw a shape with that area. Students must calculate the perimeter and reflect on the relationship of perimeter to area (once again.) Shape Explorer At this site, you can specify a general size for a rectangle or an irregular shape (size specified by a slider representing relative sizes from small to large). When you click the Draw New Shape button, the site draws a shape of the size you chose. Students must figure out area and perimeter. Estimation of Area (Pull down the Problem Type drop-down menu and select Area so that the program shows area-related challenges.) Students must estimate the area of an irregular shape, given the shape and a unit block. You can hide or show a unit grid by clicking the Hint button. Area Problems in Words Students hear a story about children who wish to create a backyard pen for their puppy. Given the lengths and widths of the pen, students must compute areas and perimeters and can check answers. Students explore rectangles with the same area but different perimeters. Drill-and-Practice Students see drawings of rectangles and squares with specified side lengths and must calculate area and perimeter. Logo Hiding Ladybug Using buttons that send a Ladybug "forward", "right 90", "right 45", and so forth, students attempt to move Ladybug until she finds a leaf. This activity introduces students to procedures. |
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The following sites contain wonderful collections of games. PBS Cyberchase Shodor Activities Shodor Lessons (scripts to use with the activities) National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (Grades 3-5) Illuminations (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) (Grades 3-5) Harcourt School E-Lab Internet for Classrooms |
Mathematics: Grade 5
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Picturing Fractions No Matter What Shape Your Fractions Are In Using pictures of shapes, students are asked to solve fraction division problems and equations involving fraction operations. For example, given a picture of a triangle and a trapezoid, students are asked to determine how many triangles are in the trapezoid (how many 1/3's are are 1 whole)? Visual Fractions Explore fraction operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and equivalence) via activities that display the operations using rectangles/circles divided into fractional components. Matching Equivalent Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Comparing Decimals and Percentages Students play a game that requires matching fractions and percentages, fractions and decimals, or percentages and decimals at 3 levels of difficulty (they choose the type of matching and the difficulty level). Quarters, thirds, fifths, and tenths are all included. Fraction Four Practice converting fractions, percentages, and decimals through this game, like Arithmetic Four, that combines number skills and logical strategy. Fraction Game Tool Working in pairs, students play a game requiring them to move counters along fraction number lines. Each move of the game involves identifying two fraction addends that produce a given sum. The game requires students to recognize that sums can be achieved by using more than one pair of fractions addends. Fraction Multiplication and Division Fraction Multiplication Drill Level 1 | Level 2 These two games require students to type in the product of two fractions that they see on screen. Answers must be reduced to lowest terms. Fraction Division Drill This game requires students to type in the dividend of two fractions that they see on screen. Answers must be reduced to lowest terms. Decimal Addition, Subtraction, and Division Base Blocks Decimals Using electronic ones- and tenths-blocks, students learn to represent decimal addition and subtraction problems. Decimal Division See a graphical depiction of what it means to divide by decimals. Decimal Place Value and Rounding Place Value Puzzler Students practice identifying place value and rounding numbers using these two applets. For place value, students must click the specified digit. For rounding, they must type the rounded number. The applets offer 3 levels of difficulty. Geometry Perimeter Explorer At this site, you can define the size for the perimeter of a rectangle or irregular shape. When you click the Draw New Shape button, the site presents a shape with that perimeter. Students must figure out the area. Optionally, the site shows a table comparing the perimeter of each object drawn to encourage students to generalize about the relationship between perimeter and area. Area Explorer This sites is just like the "perimeter" site above, except that you can define an area and ask the site to draw a shape with that area. Students must calculate the perimeter and reflect on the relationship of perimeter to area (once again.) Shape Explorer At this site, you can specify a general size for a rectangle or an irregular shape (size specified by a slider representing relative sizes from small to large). When you click the Draw New Shape button, the site draws a shape of the size you chose. Students must figure out area and perimeter. Estimator Four Students must estimate the answer for addition, multiplication, or percentage calculations. You can specify which of these operations (or all) are included in the game, as well as how close the estimate must be to the real answer. The game offers 3 difficulty levels. Other Activities Racing Game How can you design the race so that the cars have an equal chance to win? Or so that one car has an advantage? Try this probability game and find out! Score the Pour Your job is to pour liquid from a large container into a small one so that the amount in the small container matches a target number. It's a challenge! Function Machine Drag a number into the machine. Can you predict what number will come out? |
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The following sites contain wonderful collections of games. PBS Cyberchase Shodor Activities Shodor Lessons (scripts to use with the activities) National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (Grades 3-5) Illuminations (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) (Grades 3-5) Harcourt School E-Lab Internet for Classrooms |
Music
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Make music with the San Francisco Symphony Kids! You can compose, learn about the instruments in the orchestra, or listen to selections on the Radio. |
Science
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Try Science Do some science experiments at home. Or see live pictures of coral reefs and other far-away places. Or help the robots clean up toxic waste by playing a game that makes you think hard! This Web site has lots of fun science activities. Deep Crisis Watch this PBS Scientific Frontiers show about the crisis in salmon survival, and how scientists are studying and correcting the difficulties. Unraveling the Mysteries of King Tutankhamun This resource, from National Geographic, features an interactive exploration of King Tut's mummy. Users can examine various parts of the mummy and read and hear explanations of what forensic studies have revealed about Tut's life and death. |
Social Studies
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Holocaust Survivors History is not just about events, but also about human lives. This Web site presentshistory with a human face. Read the stories of the survivors. Hear them speak. Look at their family photographs. Consult an encyclopedia. Read a historical introduction to the Holocaust. Odyssey Online: Ancient Greece Welcome to Odyssey Online, an interactive journey through ancient Greece. Learn about the daily life, archaeology, and writings of people who still amaze us today. Last updated: 1/26/07. |
Internet Safety
The Internet is like a big information highway. It's full of interesting places to visit, but you also need to know the "rules of the road" to use it well. Read the Middle School rules here!
