Welcome to TeacherLed.com. This site aims to provide teaching and learning resources to make the use of the interactive whiteboard in the classroom easier and more productive. Interactive whiteboard resources are categorised on the left. New interactive whiteboard resources are below.

This interactive whiteboard resource forms the first part of a themed series of resources that support the use of a Soma Cube in teaching.  If you know about the Soma Cube then this resource is useful for showing a class the basic pieces and some of the shapes that can be made from them. Choose either shapes that can be made from a set of Soma pieces or the individual peices themselves and scroll through them using the arrows at the bottom of the screen.

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If you would like to know more about using the Soma Cube for problem solving lessons or developing spatial reasoning please see the supporting article on the new site designed to support the resources here.  teacherledplus.com  A number of activities and suggestions are made here.  Alternatively the following book includes the original publication by Martin Gardner that brought the puzzle to the masses:The Colossal Book of Mathematics

View this Soma Overview interactive whiteboard resource.

There are two more resources designed to be used in a Soma themed series of lessons and these are:

Soma Bingo

Soma Isometric Drawing

Please feedback on these themed resources with any problems suggestions or ideas in the comments or follow this site on Twitter.

The third interactive whiteboard resource in a series to aid using Soma Cubes in lessons.  This one is to facilitate adding a competitive element to their use.  Break the class into groups and allocate them to  one of four colours red, green, yellow or blue.  Set a goal.  This may be to complete a horizontal line, vertical line or any line.   When a group shows you that they have completed a shape they can capture that square by pressing the appropriate colour on the appropriate box.  That square is then captured for 2 minutes or permanently if you activate that option.  To take take a closer look at a shape click the small picture inside the box. Click the larger picture to close it.  There is far more detail on how to use this resource on the teacherledplus.com link below.

Go to Soma Bingo Interactive whiteboard Resource.

To learn more about using Soma Cubes in lessons for practising spatial awareness and problem solving skills see this the supporting site to teacherLED.com – teacherledplus.com

View Soma Cube Introduction IWB resource.

Soma Isometric Drawing

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Please feedback on these themed resources with any problems suggestions or ideas in the comments or follow this site on Twitter.

This interactive whiteboard  resource can be used as part of the Soma Cube themed resources on this site or as a standalone resource for demonstrating how to draw using isometric dotted paper.  By clicking the appropriate button either a piece from the Soma Cube or one of the shapes it can make are shown along with a an isometric dotted grid.  Students and teachers can demonstrate how to draw the shape isometrically using these.  To draw click and hold on a dot and move to another.  Once you touch another dot the line will be straightened and you can progress to the next dot.  If you make a mistake click undo to step back through the lines.

Go to Soma Cube isometric drawing resource.

Find out more about using the Soma Cube in lessons on the supporting site’s article “Soma Cube“.

View Soma Cube Introduction IWB resource.

View Soma Bingo IWB resource.

Depending on your screen resolution you may need to set your browser to full screen. On IE press F11.

Please feedback on these themed resources with any problems suggestions or ideas in the comments or follow this site on Twitter.

This IWB resource is designed to introduce students to the challenge of completing a Difference Triangle.    If you want to introduce a problem based lesson this resource should save you some planning and preparing time.  This resource can be used to show students the concept on the IWB.  When a student has solved it their answer can be checked by entering it into the resource.  If it all turns green it is correct.  It can also be used for the focus of a group based attempt to solve it.  In the completed triangle each number is the absolute difference of the two below it.  For example 5 is the difference between 4 and 9 and it is the difference between 9 and 4.   In effect it is the higher number minus the lower number.  On this resource a number that is the difference between the two below it will illuminate green.  This does not mean that the numbers are in the correct place.  It only means that the difference is correct.  The bottom numbers are independent of other numbers so will always show green. 

This is a problem that requires a lot of work to solve but rewards thinking the problem thr0ugh.  For example the students would do well to realise that some numbers must be at the bottom as no other numbers can have them as a difference.  To move numbers select one that you require moving and then click anothertile which is where you would like it to move to.  They will then switch places.

Your students can work on this using pen and paper, by making tiles that they can move or, one way that you can make this a pick up and go activity is if you use pre-made number cards.  These National Numeracy Strategy Magnetic Numbers 1 to 100 plus +,-,x,÷ and = Key Stage 1 are useful as they can be used in conjunction with a magnetic mini whiteboard so that an accidental sneeze doesn’t lose the work!

To give the students a fighting chance of solving this you may want to give them the top 3 numbers which are 4,9,5.   The solution can be found online or in this book with additional notes: Professor Stewart’s Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities

As usual comments and bug reports can be entered in the comments.  This site is now also on Twitter and you can comment and question regarding this or any other resource on there by becoming a follower.  Follow this site on Twitter. 

Go to Interactive Whiteboard Resource.

This interactive whiteboard resource provides a companion for the Decimal Comparison IWB resource.  It works in exactly the same way.  The students have 30 seconds to show which of a pair of fractions is greater than or less than the other by drawing on the appropriate signs.  Correct answers gain a point;  incorrect answers  lose a point.  After clicking ”Go” two fractions will appear.  The blue rectangular background is a drawing canvas that will detect which of the two signs “<” or “>”  has been drawn by the students. 

This resource might be used as a plenary exercise or a revision game.  As with all of the resources on this site it is designed for use on the IWB at the front of the class.  Drawing the signs is easier on a whiteboard than with a mouse.

Go to Interactive whiteboard resource

You may also find this IWB resource for illustrating equivalent fractions useful.

An interactive whiteboard resource that gives you a complete lesson activity for teaching about approaching problems systematically.  The problem presented here is an updated version of one first presented by H.E. Dudeney in the early 20th Century. 

The IWB resource presents a reaction test.  The test is successfully passed if 4 circles are lit up and they form the shape of a square.  The resource will join up the circles if the square is formed. The resource is really only intended to engage the students in the problem.  It is used best if the students come up and try and achieve a succesful square by pressing the red button.  When the first student achieves one tell the class that the next square must not be of the same type as the one previously done.  Or if a student misses an intended circle ask if it is possible to still form a square.

Here are 2 examples of two possible scoring formations:

You can see that both layouts form a square.

Once the students understand the ways to find a scoring layout set them the challenge of finding how many different ways there are to achieve a scoring layout using 4 circle targets.  This works best if in the first instance you let the students come up with their own methods.  In the pdf for this resource there is a blank target to be printed for the students to use.  Most students will try colour coding and find that it is hard to work clearly.  The next step is to introduce them to working systematically using a table.  The pdf includes a tabular layout to allow the students to easily work through all of the different combinations and come up with the final number.  You can print this or the children can create their own.

Once the students believe they have worked systematically and are confident they have got the final total you can press solve on the resource to cycle through all of the solutions with a count to help you keep track.

I’ve found this lesson very effective in allowing the students to see how much easier a task is if laid out in an appropriate manner and worked through systematically.  Download the pdf for further notes.  Please feedback on any problems or ways that you have used the resource in the comments section below.

Go to interactive whiteboard resource

Get supporting print out.

An Interactive Whiteboard Resource to allow quick spelling based games.  Similar to the puzzles found in many newspapers a nine letter word has each of its letters randomly put into each circle.  If you follow the rules of the newspaper variants the challenge is to make as many words of 4+ letters as you can always using the centre letter.  You can come up with your own scoring method but one method is to give 1 point for a 4 letter word, 2 for 5 letters etc.  If students find the nine letter word they get 10 points.  There is a built in 3 minute timer which slowly colours in red as the time elapses.  A buzzer marks time up.  Or you may prefer to not user a timer.

Go to interactive whiteboard resource.

Suggestions and bug reports welcome in the comments.