Events in Instruction and Hands-on Ideas for Math

It has been a while...not because I do not love my blog or school stuff anymore.  Actually, it is quite the opposite.  This year I have had an opportunity to write middle school math curriculum for online learning.  It has been quite an adventure and an excellent way to really begin to understand the Common Core State Standards.  Praise God for LearnZillion and there many models of how they interpreted the new standards.  I highly recommend adding them as a go to place if you are ever confused.  My last full time writing assignment was completed on Sunday and I am eager to catch up on my reading and learning from everyone else.
My first place to hit was Pinterest. which got me excited to share #MyFavFriday.  I am gearing up for the analog Pinterest board  in the teacher workroom and I have found some great additions this week.

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First up, Mia MacMeekin's incredible infographics on Events in Instruction. From ideas for gaining attention to assessing, she provides almost a menu of sorts for over 25 concrete suggestions per topic.  I loved the variety especially for those days when I realize that I am stuck in a rut and need to change it up a bit.  For example, need to gain attention?  Try singing, dancing, watching a video clip, relocating your class to a spot other than your classroom, do a demonstration, ask questions, engage students' senses, make content current, give them a dare or challenge, act out a portion of the content, connect with others via Skype, or invite a guest speaker into your room.  These are definitely worth checking out!!!

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As one who prefers hands-on activities to worksheets, I loved this idea via Sarah Schriefer Dexter for using student desktops to annotate on polygons, coordinate planes, and parallel lines and transversals.  There is something about writing on desks that gets kids engaged.  By adding the colored painter's tape, you could extend this to create comparison charts or graphs (we are working on this for the science portion of the ACT).

Finally, I found Katie Powell's idea for a giant floor graph made from a plastic drop cloth and masking tape.  In her blog post, she describes using it with hot wheel cars in a Cityscape Challenge, but from graphing lines to graphing trig functions, it could be used to get high school students up and moving. 

#Made4Math: Alien Invaders

I am so excited to get back in the swing of #Made4Math Mondays.  This makes 2 in a row for me!!!  It has been too long and ideas have been rattling around in my head for months.  This project is a spin off of Splat!, in which students use flyswatters to swat the correct answer to a factoring question.  In Alien Invaders, students will use laser pointers or flashlights to select correct answers!  Hopefully, the kids won't notice the similarities since one will be played in the Fall and the other in the Spring.  For Alien Invaders, I started out by creating my own creatures, so that I was not infringing on others' artwork (I'm never sure about appropriate use of  published stuff).

Being a middle aged woman, somewhat removed from little boys and aliens,

I looked to the internet for some inspiration.

The nicely shaded ones were created by true artists.

Mine were done using Promethean's ActivInspire and a bunch of shapes (feel free to improve them and then share with me:).  For this game, I will tape the aliens sporting answers to the ceiling, arm the students with death ray beams (laser pens or flashlights), prepare a stack of questions, flip the lights off and let the fun begin.

Alien Invaders

  I have created this version for trigonometry to reinforce the (x, y) coordinates of significant angles on the unit circle.  I have tutored kids from all over and noticed very few students have a good handle on being able to rattle off the sin 150 degrees or the cos 315 degrees (not that this is an important life skill, but it does prove particularly useful in trig class).  A few years ago,  I found the "Trig Hand", which I use instead of having students just memorize the entire circle.  It reinforces the importance of quadrants in determining the sign of trig ratios and reference angles.  I made Alien Invaders to practice evaluating the trigonometric ratio (without a calculator) using the trig hand, but this could be adapted to fit any question and answer scenario.

The students will be divided into four teams.  Two teams will compete against each other at one end of the room, while the other two teams are battling it out at the opposite end (so that everyone gets a turn quickly). With the lights off, I will call out a question like the sin 225 and students will use the laser pointer (flashlight) to identify the correct answer before their opponent.  

Like Splat!, I expect this to get ReALly noisy, ReALly quickly, but if they are yelling about math, I will be okay with that...and hopefully, so will the teachers in neighboring rooms.

Made 4 Math: Splat!

I love, love, love this week's #Made4Math!  It is a variation of @K8nowak 's Flyswatter game in which students get up and out of their desks for a rowdy math review.
Focus area for me: Factoring, but it can be anything you are studying.
Materials needed:
2 flyswatters per review center ( I ran 2 centers - one on each side of the room, so I used 4 flyswatters in all.)
Tape to mark a starting line and to hold the equations on the wall.
Equations (For this activity, I created equations with 2, 3, and 4 terms.  Some were harder than others, so I put a tiny "1" on the fly's wings to remind me to post those questions first.)  I added the remaining equations after the students had a chance to work through the first set (And since I teach high school...I actually handed the roll of tape to one student at each center and passed out the equations to the rest of the kids.  They placed them on the boards.)

How to play:

Students were divided into two groups; we were running 2 review centers at once.  From the 2 groups, we further divided into teams.  Each team member lined up behind their team captain facing the wall of equations to form a straight line behind the "starting point" marked by the tape on the floor.  I stood in the middle of the room on a desk safe from swinging swatters:)
I called out descriptions like "factor by removing a common factor" and "difference of squares".  As the students became more comfortable with the game, the clues became more specific like "in this equation solved by factoring by grouping 'x + 3' can be factored".  When the students spotted the equation that fit the description, they slapped it with their flyswatter.  At times, there was more than one equation that would fit the description and if each team hit a valid response, both would get a point.  If both teams went for the same equation, the first to hit the correct answer won the point.  Caution: It gets competitive!


After each student had several turns, I passed out 3 markers per group of 5 students.  The students with markers set to work factoring a problem of their choice on their side of the playing board.  As each student completed a problem, they passed their marker to the next person in line.  The first group to finish factoring all of the equations on their side of the board had bragging rights for the day, but as you can see from the video...that didn't stop the rest of the groups from working to solve them all.

Made 4 Math Monday: Great Graphing Marathon and B-day Happies

Happy #Made4Math Monday!  This is week 2 for me and I am so excited about this week's math project that I actually started it LAST Monday:)  A few weeks ago, I generated a list of ideas for active lessons (in anticipation of moving to block next year).  At the time, I had become a bit obsessed over SuPER sizing activities, thus the Great Graphing Marathon was conceived.

Let me first say that my students are not huge fans of plotting points, translating parent functions, or graphing in general.  So, I knew I needed to make it more fun to reinforce and practice graphing.   I thought, "How much more FuN can it get to be TrAnsForMed into "MaRatHon MenTaLity" as we create life size graphs with the students as the ordered pairs?!?" In this activity, students will be given a race number when they enter the room and safety pins to adhere the numbers to the backs of their shirts (my friend CM would say my inner elementary teacher is showing again :) *Correction: numbers on which they can work the problems to be graphed on the back of the print out.

Click for Complete File 

I will mark off a Cartesian plane with masking tape in our cafeteria (or chalk in the parking lot).  I have made up various functions that they will need to graph (quadratic, absolute value, and radicals, but anything would work) and I will show just one function at a time.  Students will plug their race number into the function and then graph themselves on the giant coordinate plane.  I realize some of the values will get pretty big and we will need to adjust how we count the marked squares. 

Click for Complete File

In the spirit of #Made4Math Monday, I have created and printed both the race numbers and the functions, gathered my safety pins, and will make medals to hand out after the Marathon. Fingers crossed that they will like it!

It felt so good to get Project #1 done, I whipped up a second project: birthday happies.  For me, students' birthdays can be stressful, in that, I always find myself scrambling around trying to figure out something cute to give each one.  I do really great through September and then, I fall prey to the busy-ness of work and the rest of the kids get nada (which makes it look like I only like the August and September kids :/ ) Project #2 solved the problem.  They are all getting pop rocks.    Here's what I came up with...
First, a trip to the dollar store (Note: They don't take Mastercard, but they gladly accept buckets of change.)

Cut colored tissue paper into thirds.

Wrap each pop rock package in the tissue paper and secure paper with tape.  I found the dark colored packaging on the pop rocks showed through the yellow tissue paper.  So, I ended up using two pieces for the yellow packages.

Wrap a piece of black card stock around the package and then wrap the birthday printable (made using Microsoft Office Publisher) on top of the card stock.  I cut out a black paper starburst and the word "ROCKS" and hot glued it to the front of the wrapper.  Now, no more BirThDay ScRamBLe!  
  

Brainstorming: Activities for Block

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     My mind is still spinning with ideas as I reflect on last week's Curriculum Camp.  Switching to Block Schedule, 90 minute sessions everyday, has me thinking about the number of activities I need to plan for each class period.  We will be on 4 x 4, where the students will take 4 classes for the 1st semester and 4 classes during the 2nd semester.  I was thinking that if I were teaching the same subject to different students both semesters, I could simply reuse the ideas and activities that worked during the Fall and tweak or discard those that didn't quite go as planned.  However, I do not teach the same subject twice, but I do teach the same students both semester - aaah!  No re-gifting activites :)

Image: http://aascd.com   

     I like to have one extra, over the top little something going on once a week.  Often, it centers around some sort of assessment of knowledge, which allows the students to continue to practice the big ideas beyond a worksheet or problems from the end of the chapter (Eww - Who really likes 40 practice problems lined up like neat little soldiers?)  During the Curriculum Camp we briefly touched on using games in the classroom, so I started ReALly thinking about "beyond the normal" ideas.  My motto is AlwAys: Go BIG or Go HomE!!! Here is what I came up with so far:
Human Graphing: Use tape to make a huge coordinate plane on the floor. Assign each student a number.  I thought it would be fun to pin their numbers to their shirts like runners get at a marathon to make them true Mathletes!  This would be their "number" to plug into parent functions. They would then graph themselves on the coordinate plane.
Human Fooseball: How can this be educational??? I don't know, but it looks so fun that I have to try it!!! The only thing I can come up with so far is have teams who score a goal, answer a review question for an "extra" point.  If the team, cannot correctly answer the question, the opposing team gets a turn to steal.
Giant Sorry: The game Sorry has about 20 -24 pieces - perfect to get all students involved.  I thought I could tape pre-determined questions to the floor in the shape of the Sorry game board.  As the students move around the game board, they would need to correctly answer questions or face a penalty of moving backwards.
Dance, Dance Revolution: I ordered these last year and have yet to unpack them :/
Amazing Race with Google Earth: I have found lots of ideas online for creating a classroom Amazing Race.  I am still sorting through this to make it applicable to my subject matter.
GeoCaching: I love online caches, but I was thinking something outside.
QR Code Scavenger Hunt:  Finally, found something that will work. I will share more later!
Snapguides: Have students create tutorials using Snapguide
Screencasts: Assign each student a question from the study guide to create a tutorial.  Post screencasts on an interactive study guide using Dabbleboard, Google presentation, or Prezi
Write a Short Story: The Story of X and how he found himself.  Publish short stories on class blog.
100's Chart Game: One of my all time favorites that I usually use on St. Paddy's Day.
Algebra vs The Cockroaches: Online flash game
Graph a Wave Party: Intro activity to introduce graphing trig waves complete with a little beach ball fun.

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Clue: Maybe this year I can add costumes??? I found a great example of how others have embellished the activity with lots of props.  I can't wait to transform my own classroom!!!
You Tube Turkey Hunt: Ok, technically this is a worksheet, but the students find a prize on You Tube and then get cupcakes at the feast.  CuPcAkeS and MaTh - no better morning!!!
Jenga: Not sure about this one.  I need to have someone who has actually played Jenga help me, but in the meantime, I have found a great example of how the game was used as a test prep tool.
Virtual Piano: I will be using this at Christmas time this year.  Self-checking activity in which students complete multiple choice questions and then play their answers on the keyboard.  If the answers are correct, the answers should yield a recognizable tune.  The students did not recognize the fight song last year; maybe they will get Jingle Bells easier.
ClassTools' War of Worlds: This is my standard "go-to" activity that I use for Open House, Back to School Night, and test review.  The students never realize they are working 30 plus problems in a matter of minutes.

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Socrative's Space Race: I need to think of Space Prizes to make this activity OuT of ThiS WoRLd.  Maybe this is where I can use the black light and glow in the dark bracelets.  I still trying to think of a way to incorporate these into an activity.

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Hula Hoop Venn Diagrams: Why do graphic organizers need to be limited to a sheet a paper.  Why not make them a group activity by making them life size?  (I know, it is obvious I have become a bit obsessed with life sized games, but they look so fun.  Take a quick peek at Scrabble and Chess.  I am thinking these might be fun to play at lunch one day:)
     While this list is in no way comprehensive, it does give me a spring board for planning lessons on the block.  Some activities I have done before; others, I still need to wrap my mind around.  WhAt am I MiSSinG?  Do YOU have an AcTivIty that YOU will ShAre with me?

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day with Sticky Notes and a Hundreds Chart

I plan one of my favorite bell ringers around St. Patrick's Day.  It is an idea that I first saw in a graduate class with Dr. Linda Easley and it can be used anytime (my class was actually in the summer).  The idea is simple.  You share with students a significant date in history, e.g, Albert Einstein's birthday, birthday of your state, invention of the light bulb, end of a war. The students in groups of 5 use all of the digits of the date shared to create every number 1 - 100.  Yesterday, I shared about St. Patrick and his impact on others.  The date my class worked with was 1783, the year of the first St. Patrick's Day parade in the United States.  Using only the digits 1, 7, 8, 3 and using all of them each time, the students wrote equations to equal other numbers.  Some examples include, 17 + 83 = 100,  (1)^7 + 8 - 3 = 6,  8/1 + 7 + 3 = 18.   This activity definitely reinforces the order of operations!

Here are the details:

Pre-planning: purchase tiny sticky notes in a variety of colors (I found a block containing 5 different colors at Walmart for less than $2.00), 5 - 6 prizes (optional - I got head bands from the local Dollar Store), candy to fit the theme (optional - I picked up gold coins and black salsa bowls that reminded me of  a leprechaun's pot of gold)

Create two slides, one with clipart depicting images related to the significant event and another with a hundreds chart (I copied and pasted from online).

Compile of playlist of theme music (optional - I used YouTube to find fun Irish Jig Music).

Day of - prior to students arrival: Arrange desks in groups of 5 - 6, place. Place sticky notes in the center of arranged desks giving only one color per group. Distribute candy. Pull up slide presentation. Begin music. 

Day of - students arrive: Direct them to seats. Pause music when the bell rings (first song was 5 minutes which coincided with our bell). Identify the date and explain its significance. Give clear directions about how the activity will work.  Have  students divide sticky notes so that everyone in their group has the same color. Provide examples of how to create different numbers using only the digits provided.

Activity: Have students write their original number sentences on the colored sticky notes.  As students complete their equations, they will stick their colored note on the hundreds chart.  Once the number has a correct equation using all of the digits in the significant date, the number is no longer in play.  For example, if the yellow group places a sticky note on "10", the blue group cannot write another equation for "10".

During the activity: Resume music and stand at the hundreds chart o check the notes as students place them on the board.  Help clear up any misconceptions groups may have regarding exactly how to write the equations.  yesterday, one group only wrote "17" which was incorrect, because the other digits, 8 and 3, were not included.

Ending the activity: When the music ends, the activity is over.  The music I used ran for 8 minutes - a bit longer than most bell ringers, but enough time for groups to get a good number of sticky notes on the board.  I spot checked the board to verify that the bulk of sticky notes contained correct equations and removed any that did not.  One person from each group, counted their groups respective colored notes.  The group with the most sticky notes on the board won.

You know it is a success when:  kids are smiling and doing math AND you over hear an 18 year male athlete state, "This is fun!"

Disclaimer: It is not necessary to have fancy a slideshow, music, candy or prizes to use this idea.  I over-complicate things often, but I like to make math an "event".  I teach Dual Enrollment Algebra and Trigonometry and if I can figure out a way to make it different once or twice a month, I seize the opportunity.  It is part of the fun of teaching for me. This activity works just as well without all of the fluffy stuff.  When we did it in our grad class, we had a date written on the chalkboard, a brief explanation about its significance, colored sticky notes and a paper hundreds chart.  It still had value and it still was fun.

I look forward to hearing how you incorporate the idea into your classroom.

Happy Pi Day!

 Happy Pi Day everyone! For math teachers and students everywhere it is a great day.  Not only are many studying about this irrational number, but they are also probably eating a piece of sugary goodness. This year in Advanced Math, we celebrated with Pi Day Internet Trivia, converting angle measurements from degrees to radians, and Pi Day Scattergories.

 The students divded into teams of four to play the games and ribbons were provided for the fastest 3 groups finishing each event correctly.  We topped it off, of course, with a slice of pie.

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Curriculum Camp Day 4: ClassTools.net

ClassTools.net: Create interactive flash tools / games for education

Curriculum Camp attendees create original flash games to be utilized with their ActivBoard. ClassTools.net does all of the work for us on the gaming side. Type in the curriculum content to generate a custom game.

Classtools.net allows you to create free educational games, activities and diagrams in a Flash! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet! No signup, no passwords, no charge! Game links are saved to the computer and links can be embedded into the flipchart presentation. Games can be used again and again.
The students absolutely love to "play" games in class. In fact, they beg to continue to work to improve in each challenge! I wonder if they realize that they are reinforcing ideas and concepts along the way?