Equation Turnover Activity

This activity is a variation of the Star Chain Activity I use.  It is a self checking activity but doesn't involve any cutting.

Step 1:  Start with this document

Step 2: Copy double sided on colored paper and laminate if you wish

Step 3:  Either independently or with a partner, students should place the cards on their desk with the answer side facing up.  They should begin with the start card, work the problem on a piece of paper.  When they determine the answer, they find that card and flip it over and work the new problem. If worked correctly, the last card will say Finish when they flip it over!

Why Didn't I Think of This

As part of our district's Teacher Leader Collaborative, I helped facilitate a workshop today on interactive notebooks.  I enjoyed working with teachers from all over our district from kindergarten to Precal as we explored how to engage students in writing and reflecting about the math they were learning in an interactive and engaging manner.

One of the teachers in the group I was working with was very experienced with interactive notebooks and she shared a great idea on how to place your grade level formula chart so that students have easy access to it no matter what page they are working on.  Here is the finished product. 

 

 Step 1:  Copy your state's formula chart one-sided.  I drew dashed lines where I want the students to trim.

 

 

 

 

Step 2:  Glue in right side like this.  Make sure you can read all the formulas

 

 

 

 

Step 3:  Glue in top like this

 

Step 4:  Fold top down and right side in



 

Step 5:  When students need formula chart, they can just open it up and it will be clearly visible no matter what page they are working on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAMT 2013

Welcome CAMT 2013 attendees!

Below you will find the links to today's session.  The links will contain detailed instructions with photos and templates to help you with the activities that were presented today.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about any of the activities or if you have trouble with any of the links.

1.  Row Games:  I first learned about Row Games in 2009 from Kate Nowak of f(t).  You can read her post  and see how she uses them.  She also links to a couple of row games that she made.

Linear Function Row Game

Exponent Row Game  Thanks to Lisa Henry at Old Dog Learning New Math Tricks for this amazing row game that fit my needs perfectly last semester as a great review of all the exponent rules!

Polynomial Operations Row Game



2.  Star Chains:  This is an activity I picked up at CAMT around 10 years ago and I have been using it ever since.  All you need is 8-18 problems that all have a different answer.  You can type them or write them into my template.  I have made many star chains over the years and the students always seem to enjoy them especially if I let them hang them up as decorations around the class when they are done.

Word of warning:  I never cease to be amazed at how slowly students cut things apart.  Because of this, the first star chain you do every year should have no more than 8-12 problems so that you will not only have time to explain the activity, but have time for students to cut out cards and work problems. Once they learn how a star chain works, they need very little instructions for the rest of the year and the process will go much faster.

Solving Linear Equations Star Chain

Rewrite in Slope Intercept Form Star Chain

Linear Function Review Star Chain


3.  Add Em Up:  This is a great self checking activity that forces students to work together to arrive at the correct answers.  All the instructions can be found HERE

This pic comes from Kate Nowak's classroom.  I love how they color coordinated their calculators while playing "Add Em Up"

4.  Appointment Test Review:  This is a great way to review for a test that requires almost no teacher preparation!  My students love when we do this and it is one of the few activities that doesn't seem to get old.  I am able to do this 2 or 3 times a semester without the new wearing off.

Here are the detailed instructions



5.  Speed Dating:  Another great Kate Nowak idea that requires very little teacher preparation and is a great way to review for a test.  I usually do this once each semester during final exam review time.  The students absolutely love it!!  Here are Kate's detailed instructions



6.  Math Poker:  This idea came to me from Elissa Miller at misscalcul8.  It requires very little teacher preparation and the students have a ball with this. 

Math Poker Instructions

Math Poker Student Answer Sheet

If you are new to blogs here are some great blogs that frequently share resources.

1.  f(t)- This blog is one of the first blogs I found and began to follow sometime around 2007.  Her ideas are always easy to implement and she has a great writing style.  You will find resources here for algebra I, algebra II, Geometry, Precal, and Calculus.

2.  Continuous Everywhere but Differentiable Nowhere-  Sam Shah is another blogger I started following around 2008.  He teaches in Brooklyn New York and his blog is filled with amazing resources.  Sam is active in promoting and helping new math bloggers get started and a super star in the mathblogosphere!


3.  Misscalcul8-Elissa Miller is a spunky young teacher who generously shares her amazing activities and resources with the rest of the world on her blog.  I think I started following Elissa sometime in 2009 and since then I have used many of her ideas and resources in my classroom.  If you peruse her writings long enough you will find inspiration for Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry. 

4.  Math = Love-I'm not sure how Sarah Hagan became such a super star teacher in such a short time, but I am sure glad she did!  I started following her blog in 2012 and I frequently see her ideas all over Pinterest.  She is especially talented when it comes to Interactive Notebooks and I frequently refer to her site when I am planning my own notebook pages.

5.  Moving On-KFouss is a high school math teacher from Cincinnati.  I can't remember how or when I started following this blog, but I love her down-to-earth writing style and the resources she shares are always helpful and easy to implement.  She has resources on her blog for algebra I, algebra II, and precal

6.  In 2012, I started following two amazing Middle School Blogs.  These two teachers both teach Algebra I and their creativity and ideas never cease to amaze me.  The first is Sarah at Everybody is a Genius and the other is Julie Reulbach at I Speak Math.  If you are on pinterest then you have seen their ideas already.  Check them out!

7.  Math Teacher Mambo is a fellow Texas blogger and one of the first bloggers I ever followed.  I think I have been reading her blog since 2007 or 2008.  If you are looking for great resources for algebra I, Geometry, Precal, Calculus, or Computer Science check out her blog and downloadable activities

8.  The Radical Rational-  Pam Wilson is a NBCT in Kentucky who willingly shares her years of experience with her readers.  I love Pam's open and honest style and how she carefully reflects on her teaching and asks for advice from readers.  Check out her filing cabinet link on the right side of her blog is it chock full of great resources!

9.  Teaching Statistics- This amazing blog hosts Made for Math Mondays and My Favorite Fridays.
You never know what you will find in these posts, but it will always amaze you!


10.  Square Root of Negative One- I've been following Amy Gruen for quite a while now.  Her blog is filled with great resources and she has some great review activities that you should really check out!

11.  Walking in Mathland- Natalie Turbiville is another amazing young teacher who freely shares her resources with others.  I have enjoyed using several of Natalie's ideas in my Algebra I and Math Models at classes.  She has handy tabs at the top of her page to help you find want you are looking for.

Come See Me At CAMT!

Hey fellow Texas Math Teachers,

I will be presenting at CAMT (Conference for Advancement of Mathematics Teaching) in San Antonio this Thursday, July 11, 2013.  Please come by and see me.  Let me know you are a blog reader and I will have a special gift for you!!!

My topic this year is Ready, Set, Engage.  I will be sharing my favorite review and practice activities that I have learned from the math blogosphere and I can't wait to introduce many new readers to all of you who have so generously shared your ideas with me!

Monomial Frayer Model

Today we started our unit on exponent rules and we completed this Frayer Model togther for our journals as an introduction to monomials.

This is one unit that students generally seem to do pretty well on as long as the problems are all of the same type but once you mix it up, they get confused with all the rules.  As I introduce each new property, I hope to mix the problems up each day so that they get a little of previous lessons while still getting plenty of practice on the new rule.


As I was planning the week I realized I really need a foldable that summarizes all of the exponent rules.  Just wondering if someone out there has one that they have already made so that I don't have to come up with one on my own.  If so, and you don't mind sharing, I'd be forever grateful!!!

Systems Flip Book

Here are some pictures of the systems flip book we are working on right now. Hard to believe we have less than three weeks left in this semester!

Introducing Systems

Last Thanksgiving I i was walking around Hobby Lobby and saw some little white gift boxes i was wondering if i could do anything with them in my classroom when I had an idea to use them to introduce systems of equations. I start the class by showing them two boxes like the ones below. One box contains coins and the other contains tickets. I show the boxes to the students and tell them we are going to have a contest to guess the contents of each box.

Then I direct them to these two problems on the board and ask them to solve in any way they can. I usually sweeten the pot and offer candy to the first four who can give me correct answers.

Generally is there a lot of frustration at the beginning since I won't give them any directions. After a lot of hemming and hawing, most get down to work using some type of guess and check. They get pretty frustrated because many can get the coins to add up to the correct money value only to realize they don't have the right number of coins.

Every year I am surprised who gets the answer first. Many times it is a student who struggles with algebra but for some reason perks up with a challenge like this.

After this activity, I take a set of systems word problems that have multiple choice answers and I teach them to make guess and check charts for each problem in order to solve the system.

We will move onto algebraic methods week, but I want them to have an understanding that we are solving for two different variables and they must pay close attention to the wording in the problem.

Graphing Book Project

In order to encourage more writing in mathematics and  to help our students make connections among all the graphing methods they have learned over the last month, our Algebra I team has assigned a graphing Project.  The objective is simply to make, and illustrate a book demonstrating all of the graphing methods they have learned. 

Pages will include graphing vertical and horizontal lines, graphing lines in y = mx + b form, graphing lines in standard form using intercepts, and graphing inequalities.

If you are interested in the graphing project description and grading rubric click here!

I Hate the Alligator

Every year when we study the graphing of linear inequalities in two variables, I get frustrated with my student's lack of understanding of  inequality symbols.  Of all the misconceptions that students learn in elementary school math, the alligator is the worst.  You know what I'm talkin' about right???  The students learn that the alligator always eats the bigger number in order to help them understand the concept of an inequality. 

Unfortunately, many students are completely stumped when determining if an ordered pair is a solution to an inequality when they end up with a statement like 0 < -6.  They think that since the inequality is opening up toward the -6 that -6 is the bigger number and they shade their graph in the wrong part.  It takes a lot of work to undo the concept of the alligator.  I usually start with the number line and we talk about solutions of inequalities in one variable.  The students have learned the "steps" in middle school, but they have no concept of what they are doing.  They learn tricks for knowing which way to shade their number line, like "always draw your arrow the direction the symbol is pointing".  I understand that teachers are trying to use terms that the student will understand, but I think if you give them enough visual examples and not just the "steps" they will eventually understand the concept of less than, greater than, and equal to.

Sorry for the rant today, my Algebra class really are going great and I don't have a lot to complain about, but gosh I hate that alligator and I just needed to tell someone.

Linear Function Star Chain

I've posted about this activity before, but I wanted to share a new Star Chain I made this week to review linear functions.  My students really struggled on a quiz last week when I mixed up the problem types.  I asked students to find slope, x-intercepts, y-intercepts , and zeros from all different types of situations.  They had been doing great when we studied each topic by itself, but once I mixed them all up on a quiz, many of them couldn't seem to remember what to do when.  They were finding rise over run when all I asked for was the x-intercept, or when asked to find a zero, they would find the y-intercept. 

I can't say that I blame them.  They've got a lot of brand new vocabulary floating around in their sweet little heads and they haven't yet made all the connections necessary to differentiate between all the critical elements of a line.

After doing a little reteach yesterday, I decided to pull out one of my older activities that I use when I need something that is completed individually and is self-checking.  The students seemed to enjoy making these star chains once they got the hang of how it worked.  They are very easy to make if you use my template.  All you need is twelve problems and 12 unique answers.  Be sure and give your star chain a trial run and make sure it doesn't loop back on itself.  I learned that lesson the hard way.
I would also allow at least 30 minutes to do this activity or  a little more if your students are slow at cutting things out.

You can click here to see the original post which explains how the activity works

Here is the  Linear Function Star Chain  I used today. It contains a mix of problems which require students to find slope, intercepts, and zeros from a variety of representations.

Football Frenzy

Today, I'd like to share an activity from one of my amazing colleagues.  My friend, Bonnie,  shared this activity with our team last week and I asked her if I could share it on my blog.  This activity is perfect for those fall Fridays when your students are more concerned about the big game than they are about staying on task and completing another boring homework assignment.  This activity would also be great for the Friday before the Super Bowl. 

If you are familiar with my Ghosts in the Graveyard, it is a very similar idea.  Students work in groups to complete a set of problem cards with the goal of moving their game piece down a football field in order to score a touchdown. Bonnie, used this activity to practice factoring, but you could practice just about any topic with this game.


Materials Needed:
1.  A large football field that your can draw onto your whiteboard or some green butcher paper
2.  A marker for each team to move down the field
3.  5-6 problem cards for each yardage:  5, 10, 15

Instructions:

1.  Place students in groups of three or four

2.  Give each group a “5 yard card”.  If group works all problems correctly, advance their marker 5 yards on the football field.  Once successful on a “5 yard card” they may advance to a “10 yard card”.  If successful, advance their marker 10 yards and they may work a “15 yard card”

3.  If the group is unsuccessful at any level, they must work another card on that same level before they move on.

4.  Once successful at every level, they may work cards at any level they choose.

5.  First group to score a touchdown wins

 

Here are the generic Football Frenzy instructions complete with templates for the football cards and markers

 

Here is my friend's Football Factoring activity

Factoring Football Cards

Factoring Football Answer Key

 

 

 

Ghosts In The Graveyard (New and Revised)

It's hard to believe, but October is already here and even though we are still dealing with temperatures in the 90's here in South Texas, it is time to start planning for my favorite activity of the entire year.

Ghosts in the Graveyard is an activity that I use every Halloween to review concepts I've taught since the beginning of school.  The activity has proven so popular that I've also had to create games to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I've also had wonderful feedback from readers who've tried this activity in their classroom with great success. 

If you want to try it in your classroom, it is time to start planning now, because it will take you a little time to get it all together.  The main preparation is developing your ghost problem cards, getting them laminated, and then cutting out the little ghosts. 

Materials you will need

8-10 problem cards (I will provide you with a template)
4 Tombstones that you will draw and hang up on your board
About 50 little ghosts for each class (template provided)
Answer Sheet for each student
Answer Key

Objective:  Collect as many "little ghosts" as possible by working together as a group to complete a set of review problems.

Instructions.

1.  On each large ghost template, write or type 3 or 4 problems (I copy onto orange paper and laminate)

2.  Before each class hang up four tombstones at the front of the room

3.  Place students in groups of 3-4 and give each student an answer sheet to record their work

4.  Pass out a problem card to each group and place the extra cards at the front of the room

5.  Students work together to complete the problems on their card and then call you over when they are finished to check their answers.  If all three problems are correct (and every single person has worked the problem) I give them a "little ghost" which they write their group number on and place on one of the tombstones at the front of the room.  They can place all their "little ghosts" on the same tombstone or they can split them up.

6.  After finishing their first card, they go pick up another card and begin working on it with the goal of collecting as many "little ghosts" as possible.

7.   About 10 minutes before the end of class, I call time and then the fun starts.

8.  What they don't know at the beginning of the class is that I have assigned a point value of each tombstone.  So Tombstone #1 might be worth 25 points, #3 might be worth 50 points etc. 

9.  To calculate the score, count the number of ghosts on each tombstone and multiply by the point value.

10.  The cool thing about this game is that the group that does the most problems doesn't necessarily win.  This is one of the few activities I do that the students will literally beg to do "One more problem"!

Get all the templates, instructions, and student answer sheet here

Matching a Verbal Description to a Graph

Last week we were studying matching Verbal Descriptions to a graph.  Some students are naturally good at this, and others really struggle.  Despite my best efforts to teach this topic, when looking at a Speed v. Time graph that increases and then decreases, many students will invariably choose the answer choice that indicates someone is walking up a hill and then down a hill.

I decided to try an interactive approach this year and selected twelve graphs and 18 verbal descriptions.  I had the students cut out the verbal descriptions and then work together in groups to match the descriptions to the graphs.  This activity turned out to be quite difficult for many of the students and looking back, I decided that having six incorrect answers was just too much and made the activity unnecessarily difficult.  I reworked the activity to include only three incorrect answers in an effort to make it a little less time consuming.

You can download the activity here.

Function Vocabulary Journal Entry

Can't take any credit for this one.  One of my colleagues did this journal entry with her students to help them keep all the function vocabulary we are learning straight.  I like how hers came out, so I'm gonna have to try it myself.  Thought I'd show you her pictures. 

All The Cool Kids Will Be There!

Hey guys, if you haven't joined the Global Math Department yet, you don't know what your missing.  Every Tuesday night, you can find a bunch of us chatting, learning, and collaborating about different topics. 

Anyway, come out tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern Time and join me and a group of fantastic ladies as we present our favorite Review Games.  Don't be left out!  Join the Global Math Department so you can start to put names and faces with all your favorite bloggers. 

Tomorrow's agenda:

Lisa Henry will lead a panel of presenters who will share their favorite review games. Presenters include Lisa Henry (An Old Math Dog Learning New Tricks, @lmhenry9), Kim Hughey (Math Tales from the Spring), Julie Reulbach (I Speak Math, @jreulbach), Alisan Royster (@G8rAli), Remi Smith (The Math Smith, @reminoodle), and Sue VanHattum (Math Mama Writes, @suevanhattum).

If you are unable to attend, the sessions are recorded and you can download and watch at your leisure.  Hope to see you there!

Graphing Calcualtor Cheat Sheet

Here in the great state of Texas, Algebra I for all has been a mantra for the last fifteen years or so.  When we first started down this road of requiring Algebra I for HS graduation (and now algebra II), many of us wondered how we would ever get some of our students to pass Algebra I.  We were told that the graphing calculator would be the great equalizer and allow us to teach Algebra concepts to students who were behind mathematically. 

I'm not going to get into my views about the role of the graphing calculator in Algebra I.   Like any tool, it can be used to help or hinder mathematical maturity depending on the teacher.  I try to take a balanced approach and teach everything by hand and then on the calculator.  This enables my 9th graders to be very proficient with the basic capabilities of the calculator by the time they finish Algebra I and increases their chances of success on our state End of Course Exam.

In my old school where we had a student population that was over 70% economically disadvantaged and about 60% of my students had failed their 8th grade state math exam, we gave out calculators the 2nd day of school and never looked back.

In my new school, which is only about 30% economically disadvantaged, we teach our first unit (functions) without the calculator and then begin to use them in our 2nd unit (Solving Equations).

On the first day of using the calculator, I pass out this cheat sheet and let them play around with the buttons while I go over some of the basic features.  This cheat sheet pretty much covers most of the basic features that we will use in the first semester.  The students are expected to keep this cheat sheet all year in the Reference Section of their binder along with their formula charts and other important information I give them.

Here it is if you'd like a copy.

Translating Verbal Phrases into Algebraic Expressions

I'm a little behind in recording my INB activities.  Wow, the first two weeks of school have been a whirlwind.  I finally started to get a little caught up yesterday since I gave long quizzes and was able to organize the piles of paper that were EVERYWHERE. 

This INB activity is actually one I did the first week of school.  Our first lesson in Algebra I is on Translating Verbal Phrases.  We then extend this lesson on the next day by learning how to take a verbal phrase like "The set of y-values are three less than twice the x-value" and create function rules, mappings, tables, and graphs.

The lesson went well, it was short enough to keep their attention and then the INB activity allowed them to practice in a hands on way.  I then assigned a puzzle page  for homework that had a corny joke at the top.  When I handed it out, I was surprised to hear kids say things like, "I love these things".

Here are the files if you'd like to download them.  One thing I have found about cut and paste activities.  Give the students the page that they have to cut out first and give them about three or four minutes to get started cutting.  By then almost everyone will be done or almost done cutting.  Then pass out the "answer mats".  If you don't do this, some just want to write the answers down on the mat and skip the whole cutting part.  This may sound strange, but I think the whole act of cutting and pasting the answers seems to make the material stick in the brain better than just trying to write down the answers as quick as you can and get it turned down.  It is a deliberate effort on my part to get them to slow down and THINK.

Lesson

Translating Verbal Phrases into Algebraic Expressions Cut and Paste

Puzzle Page Translating Verbal Phrases

Domain and Range Cut and Paste Activity

My Algebra I students have been working on domain and range for the last couple of days.  I'm not completely satisfied with my lessons and really need to tweak them, however, we did do a cut and paste activity today that worked well.

For this activity, I had the students work with a partner, but they each had their own cards and answer mat.  The purpose of the partners was so that they would help each other and not rely on me to answer every little question they had.

I passed out the domain and range cards first and had them cut them out.  When everyone was almost finished, I passed out the answer mat which was made up of eight different graphs.  I asked them to place the domain and range cards onto the appropriate graph but wait to do the gluing until they checked their answers.  After about 10-15 minutes, I put the answers up on my document camera and let them start pasting their answers.

As I circulated the room, I heard lots of students say that they were finally "getting" domain and range.  In the past, one of my biggest struggles is teaching the students how to properly write the domain and range.  I will get lots of answer like -3 > x > 5 or other answers that don't really make sense.  This activity provides a way to scaffold the instruction so that they are able to focus on the concept and not worry about the correct notation.  Tomorrow, my plan is to give them eight more graphs but no answers and have them come up with the domain and range on their own.

The activity is here if you'd like to download it however, if your state requires your Algebra I students to use interval notation, you will have to edit the answer cards.

Student Graded Binders

Yesterday I posted here about my binder set up and my plan to have the students grade each other's binder.  I am happy to report that the process went fantastic.  The students did a great job using the rubric to grade their partner's binder and all I had to do was walk around and see if there were any questions about the process.  When the students walked in I had a slide up on the projector that gave explicit instructions as to what papers should be in which section.  I gave them about five minutes to do any last minute organizing and then we spent about 10 minutes grading. 

Here is the best part, 91% of my students showed up today with a complete binder including all their dividers and a decorated cover.  Tomorrow, I will begin to call all the parents of the students that did not bring binders.

I think the key to success is making this grade a major test grade.  In the past, I have not enforced the binder requirment and so I got about 70% participation.  This year, the binder is going to play a huge role in making Algebra I interactive so I feel that the time I spend making sure they are set up properly will pay off in the end and ultimately result in increased student learning.

Binder Project

In my last post I discussed the organizational system I will be using this year.  Students are required to have a 3 ring binder dedicated solely to Algebra I.  Their binders will have four dividers labeled reference, notes, quizzes, and journal.  Because having their binders every day will be such an important part of the class, I decided to create a project that involved setting up their binder and creating a cover with "Numbers About Me".  This Binder Project will count as a major test grade.

I gave out this project description on the 2nd day of School (August 28) and gave them until the Tuesday after Labor Day to complete the binder set up.  Every day for the first week we discussed the binder and the importance of getting it set up as soon as possible. 

The reference section will contain a student progress sheet, a syllabus, bell schedule, monthly calendar, State formula chart, a plastic sheet protector containing a coordinate grid that we will use as a white board and anything else I can think of to put it in there.

The notes section will contain the notes for the current unit only.

The quiz section will contain all graded and corrected quizzes

The journal section will contain a table of contents, warm-ups, journal entries from given prompts, activities we do like card sorts, matching activities, frayer models, foldables, and anything else that will summarize our learning for each unit.

If you are interested in my project description and grading rubric you can download it here

My plan is for students to grade each other's binders.  I know, I know, this may or may not go well, but I will find out tomorrow (the day after Labor Day).  This is the rubric I intend to hand out to the student's to help them grade their classmate's binder.  I plan to walk around the room and monitor this process.