May 2013
3 posts
Free mathematics software worth $750 (£450)
As it’s coming to the end of the school year for many of our Sumdog users, we’re running a short - and very special - offer.
If you purchase a subscription for 100 or more students during May, we’ll give you a licence for our sister software, Yenka Mathematics, completely free.
Yenka Mathematics normally retails for $750 (or £450). It lets
you experiment with 3D shapes,...
Free English Week has started
Normally, Sumdog English is only available to subscribers.
However, for one week only, everyone can use Sumdog English free of charge (unless you’re in the UK - your Free English Week will come in June).
Students simply need to log in and go to their homepage, and then click on the green panel below Sumdog.
This lets them choose the English skills.
There’s more information on...
A little help at the end of the school year
Over recent weeks, we’ve added some useful new features to Sumdog.
They’re designed to help with managing your student accounts, especially at the end of the school year.
You can now upload a list of students - and Sumdog will check for matches against your existing students. For any students who match, we’ll update the data.
So it’ll be much easier to move a group...
April 2013
6 posts
It's that time again... Free English Week!
We’ve heard from a few schools who missed out on our first Free English Week, during February. So we’re running another next week, from May 6 - 10.
Normally, students need a Sumdog English subscription to use Sumdog’s new English language questions. (This is different from Sumdog Mathematics, where games are free to play, and you only need a subscription if you want to access...
Student achievement certificates
It’s been a busy year on Sumdog with millions of students working hard to answer almost 3 billion questions.
To recognize this, we’re producing a special personalized certificate of achievement.
Each student who takes part in one of our local or national contests from April 26 onwards will qualify for their own certificate, which includes details of the student’s progress over the...
Play in a contest: special Junk Pile game and...
Thousands of schools have enjoyed taking part in Sumdog’s mathematics contests this year.
Now there is an extra reason why your school should take part:
Until the end of May, we’re giving every student that competes in a local or a national contest a special edition of the popular Junk Pile game. There are 3 different kinds to collect!
Also, there is a fantastic end of year...
More on grammar, punctuation and spelling
Last week we mentioned how useful Sumdog English could be for Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (SPaG) tests.
We received these nice comments from a teacher at Seaside Primary, in West Sussex, who’s doing just that:
“I am a Year 6 teacher and Sumdog English is a great way for the children to practise for the Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test at home.
“We set...
Sumdog and SPaG tests
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been adding new questions to Sumdog English.
Many of these questions have been designed to help students practise for the new Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) tests that many UK schools are taking in May.
The key areas from the Grammar, Puncuation and Spelling Framework that are now covered include:
Grammatical terms
Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives
...
Snowball is now free to everyone!
This week, we’ve released Snowball to all users. (Until now, only subscribers could play it.)
A pack of evil chihuahuas are sledging towards you, and the only way you can stop them is by launching snowballs at their sledge.
And the only way you can get snowballs is to answer questions.
Good luck out there… and don’t forget your gloves…
Play snowball!
March 2013
6 posts
What we've been up to...
March has been a busy month here at Sumdog. Here are a few of the things we’ve been doing.
There’s a new game - Animals. Currently, it’s only available to subscribed students, but it’ll be rolled out to all users in a few months.
When you answer a question, you’ll get an animal. Each round has a characteristic - strength, speed, cuteness and so on - and you...
Sumdog's contests encourage teamwork
Teacher Amy Madden at Lyndale Secondary College is “incredibly proud” of her students in 9A and 7A who “tried their best and managed to win the national competition in early March 2013”.
Her students “LOVE Sumdog and are thoroughly enjoying playing the games and competing as a school in the national competitions”.
And the best part is that, ’in addition...
Sumdog during morning tea and lunch time as well!
At the beginning of March, 52 schools took part in New Zealand’s first Sumdog national contest. Together they answered over 950,000 maths questions!
Students at Royal Oak Intermediate in Auckland were excited to win the contest.
Teacher Lucia said:
“I was surprised that my class came first in the national competition. I had high expectations for our class and I pushed my students to...
Look-Alike Contest at Oak Hill
The 4th grade students at Oak Hill Elementary in Overland Park, Kansas, had a fantastic idea at the beginning of this week: run a Sumdog Avatar Look-Alike Contest!
Here are the three teachers who took part in the challenge.
And here is what teacher Betsy McKnight has to say about the experience:
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“I was browsing on your site a few weeks ago, and found the blog. I saw a post about...
Sumdog English: still rather good value...
Our special February offer for Sumdog English has now closed, and we’d like to thank the many schools who have already purchased subscriptions for the new service.
In the coming months, we’ll be adding a huge amount more to Sumdog English, which is why the price is having to rise.
However, throughout March, you can still lock in an excellent introductory discount - 62% off the...
Happy birthday, Sumdog!
This weekend, Sumdog is 3 years old.
In dog years, that’s 25 - old enough to drive a car (although we’ve not told him that yet).
In the last 3 years, over 4 million students have signed up to play Sumdog.
Between you, you’ve answered over 4 billion questions. That’s an amazing effort.
To say thank you for keeping him company this far, Sumdog has asked us to give...
February 2013
3 posts
Sumdog English: free until the end of February
For one week only, everyone can try Sumdog English free of charge.
Normally, students need a Sumdog English subscription to use these new questions. (This is different from Sumdog Mathematics, where games are free to play, and you only need a subscription if you want to access the reporting and activities.)
Also, during February, we’re offering a very special introductory discount to...
Win $750 of Maths Software!
Last year over 10,000 schools around the world took part in one of Sumdog’s local maths contests.
Students had a great time, and many teachers noticed a significant improvement in test scores.
We are now working with educational professionals to run the largest series of contests Australia and New Zealand have ever seen!
The first national contests start on 1 March. It’s free to...
Welcome to Sumdog English
During February, we’re launching a brand new part of Sumdog: Sumdog English. It has thousands of questions covering vocabulary, reading and grammar for ages 6-13. They’ve been developed with the help of hundreds of teachers around the world, and use all the Sumdog games that students know and love.
Students can practice many skills - ranging from fundamentals, such as sight...
January 2013
2 posts
Stop the evil chihuahuas!
Meet Snowball, the latest addition to the Sumdog family.
In the game, you get to stop the evil chihuahuas in their tracks by pounding their snowmobile with snowballs!
This is what happened when a lively group of 7 year-olds tried it for the first time.
We've extended our holiday offer!
Good news: we’ve extended our Holiday Offer until January 31, as we’ve heard from some schools who couldn’t make it in time for the December deadline.
Schools that purchase subscriptions for at least 100 students between 1 December 2012 and 31 January 2013 will get two great extras:
Yenka Mathematics for your whole school: Sumdog’s sister software lets you experiment...
November 2012
5 posts
3rd graders win national contest
At the end of October, Pleasant Elementary’s third grade students dominated Sumdog’s US national contest, with an overall score of 869!
They loved the contest so much, they even got Sumdog T-shirts printed!
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Here is what the some of the students who took part in the contest had to say:
Ezra: “I think Sumdog is a great educational game for kids of all ages!” Nick:...
Sumdog's super holiday offer
To bring in the holiday season, we’re running a very special offer.
Subscribe 100 students or more by December 22, and you’ll get two great extras:
Yenka Mathematics for your whole school: Sumdog’s sister software lets you experiment with 3D shapes, coordinates, probability and statistics.
Play new games before anyone else: our new games are now only available to...
96 new CCSS skills, including fractions and...
We’ve almost doubled Sumdog’s coverage of the Common Core State Standards this week.
Sumdog’s questions now cover 96 new skills, spread across grades 1 through 6.
The key new areas are percentages, negative numbers, fractions and decimals. We’ve also included money skills - such as percentage discounts, and how much change you should receive.
To try the new money...
"Speed, accuracy and confidence have all improved"
Sumdog’s local and national contests have been a success so far, with a total of 4206 schools taking part since the beginning of the school year.
Two of the UK national winners - both from Scotland - have shared their experience with us.
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From St John’s Primary, Port Glasgow:
“St John’s pupils are really enthusiastic and motivated to play Sumdog. They are learning...
Improved reports on Sumdog
As you know, students answer a lot of questions on Sumdog. And with each question they answer, we gather information about their mathematical skills.
Teachers can use Sumdog’s reports to access this information, and find out more about their accuracy and speed across all the skills. You can choose which students and skills the report covers, and over which time period.
This week,...
October 2012
2 posts
"Competitions make them determined to do their...
Knockando Primary School was the overall winner of one of Sumdog’s UK national contests in September.
Fiona Burness, the teacher who led the team to victory shared her thoughts with us:
“I think Sumdog is a great, motivational, educational resource which improves students’ mental maths ability as they can learn from their corrections which are shown. My class are so...
National Contest Winners
Sumdog’s contests are now in full swing. Last week alone, we had around 1000 schools taking part!
Congratulations to the national winners so far:
It’s not too late to join in the fun - local and national contests are running until the end of December. Find out more here.
September 2012
4 posts
Join your local contest
Over the next few weeks, we’re running our biggest ever series of inter-school contests.
We’ve set up over 500 contests in partnership with districts and counties right across the USA. In the UK, we’re working with around half of the local authorities.
It’s free to enter, and there are prizes to be won. To take part, students just play Sumdog’s games. Every...
"The best website for Math"
We spoke to Kelly Beleckas, a teacher from Long Beach, NY, about her students’ experiences with Sumdog.
If you would like to share your experience with us, we’d love to hear from you.
Long hair & new opening hours
Good news for everyone out there with long hair - and for those who’d like to try the look, too.
Sumdog now lets you choose long hair for your avatar. There are loads styles to choose from. You’ll find them in your profile.
As usual, you can choose the colour - and complete the perfect look by buying clothes, musical instruments and sports gear.
Also, from the start of...
Hints for the new school year
We’ve had a few questions about how to manage your students’ accounts and classes at the start of a new school year.
To help you out, we’ve recorded this video:
Hope it’s useful! Remember we’ve got loads of other helpful videos, too.
August 2012
2 posts
Sumdog Contests - Fall 2012
This fall we are running the largest series of math contests the country has ever seen.
Last year, over 5000 schools took part, with students answering 25 million math questions a day. Teachers saw significant improvements in test scores: read more about one contestant’s experience.
You can join your local contest, and check out the new rules, here.
If we’ve not got a local contest for...
Adding new students to your school
For many schools, it’s the start of a new school year. If students who already have Sumdog logins are joining your school, here’s how to add them to your Sumdog account.
We wrote a few weeks back about how to remove students who are leaving your school from your Sumdog account.
Once students have been removed, they can apply to join a new school. To do this, they log in, and go to...
July 2012
2 posts
Sumdog's new lesson dashboard
Sumdog’s new lesson dashboard lets you monitor your class while they play Sumdog. It’s a major new feature that’s available to all teachers, even those without subscriptions.
When you log in, you can choose to set up a lesson. Choose the class, their activity, the start time and the duration, and you’re ready to go.
Student list
On the left of the page, status lights...
Changes to Sumdog's reports and activities
Until now, Sumdog’s progress reports have only covered students for whom your school has purchased a subscription.
After talking to teachers, though, we’ve made a couple of changes.
From now on, you can run up to 10 free reports covering unsubscribed students. (For subscribed students, there’s no limit on the number of reports you can run.)
On our new lesson dashboard, you...
June 2012
2 posts
Sumdog and Single Sign-On
Good news for schools in New Zealand. We’ve been working with the Ministry of Education, and as a result they can now use single sign-on (SSO) to access Sumdog.
Regions that use single sign-on have a system that lets teachers and students log-on once to access multiple online services. This means that students don’t need to remember a different username and password for each...
Sumdog improves test scores
Some interesting comments this week from Victoria Sabelli, a teacher in Connecticut, who has been using her free Sumdog login to motivate her students.
She wrote to let us know that, since she started using Sumdog, she’s seen a measurable improvement in her test scores.
Here’s what she says:
I am a fourth grade teacher at John Winthrop Elementary School, in Bridgeport, CT. A...
May 2012
4 posts
Sumdog Champions!
Congratulations to Wharton Elementary from Summit, Illinois, for being the overall winner of Sumdog’s first ever national contest!
The teacher who lead the team to victory, commented:
“We never thought we would have so much fun competing in the Sumdog Contest and learn so much at the same time! Thank you for the opportunity you gave us to show everyone in the nation how well we...
New schools, new students
…well, in the northern hemisphere, at least…
With so many Sumdog schools starting summer break, and some students moving to new schools, here’s how you can keep your school’s Sumdog account up to date.
If you have students who are leaving, you can remove their accounts from your school:
Go to http://www.sumdog.com/teacher/students/ (you’ll need to log in);
...
Sumdog's summer challenge
We’ve set up Sumdog’s Summer Challenge, open to schools in the USA, Canada and the UK which haven’t yet purchased a Sumdog subscription, to encourage students to keep practicing over the summer break.
To complete the challenge, students must answer 100 questions correctly, on each of 20 days.
For each successful student, we’ll give your school a Sumdog subscription...
First US National Contest
The results from Sumdog’s spring statewide contests are now in.
Over 150,000 students from across the US took part, answering 65 million questions correctly between them - an impressive effort!
Next week, the top schools from each state will be competing in Sumdog’s first ever national contest.
To see how schools are doing throughout the week, check out the national contest...
April 2012
6 posts
"How did I do in the contest?"
Several teachers have mentioned that after playing in a Sumdog contest, students often ask: “How did I do?” or “What was my score?”
Good news: we are now able to provide a contest school report which lists every student in your school who took part, together with their scores, their accuracy level and their overall position in the contest!
So, why not find out who the top...
Get a free classroom subscription
This spring we are running statewide contests on the Sumdog website. Students take part by playing the free games.
The top schools from each state will then be invited to compete in the first ever Sumdog US national contest in May!
Get another school to play in one of Sumdog’s spring contests…
Sumdog contests are fun and we want as many schools as possible to join in. Why not...
Help with editable student logins
Last week, we told you about our Quick Login system, which lets teachers customize their students’ usernames and passwords.
If you’re doing this for existing students, it’s best not to create new logins - they won’t be linked to the students’ progress data.
So if you’ve got a lot of existing students to customize, you can temporarily permit the students to...
Statewide Contests: New Prizes
The Presidents Day Contests in February were a great success, so we’ve decided to run more statewide contests this Spring!
Students take part by playing the free mathematics games on the Sumdog website.
Exciting news: we’ve introduced two brand new prize categories!
The “Perfectionists” prize goes to the school that has the highest average accuracy overall. This is...
Editable usernames & passwords
This week, you’ll see a change at the top of Sumdog’s homepage.
We’ve had a lot of teachers ask us if they can edit their students’ usernames, so they match other login details used around the school.
So now teachers can also let their students use a new type of login: Quick Login. (Don’t worry, though, your existing logins will still work just the same.)
Each...
Canada Contests
Last month 18,775 students from 256 schools across Canada took part in one of Sumdog’s free math contests.
Together they answered a grand total of 7,687,262 math questions correctly!
Good job to all the winners:
Ontario: William G Davis School
British Columbia: Georgia Park Elementary
Alberta: Wainwright Elementary School
Manitoba: Community Bible Fellowship Christian School
...
March 2012
4 posts
A new game: Dream Jigsaw
This week, we’ve made another new multiplayer game: Dream Jigsaw.
Up to four people can play. When you answer a question correctly, you get a piece of the jigsaw.
The winner is the one who places most pieces.
Don’t let the lovely dreamy music relax you, though. It’s still a race.
And to make it more fun, the picture is always on the move…
Start jigsawing… and...
A helping hand for teachers
To help you get the most from Sumdog, Marissa has been busy recording lots of helpful little videos for teachers.
Each one answers a specific question about Sumdog. Below, for example, there’s a short video about setting up a competition for the students in your class.
You’ll find many more videos like this on our Teacher Help pages.
Anything we’ve missed out? Please...
Free family logins on Sumdog
On Sumdog, students can now add friends.
To add someone as a friend, just type your friend’s Sumdog username. Once they’ve logged in and accepted your request you’ll be linked as friends.
Then, you’ll be able to see on the student homepage when your friends are online, and “woof” them to say hi.
Before you can add friends, though, a parent or guardian needs...
