Using mini white boards for an algebra review

This morning I started the algebra review using the textbook questions, but had the students solve the problems on mini white boards.  I first divided the class into groups of three.  I then gave each student a mini whiteboard and a marker.  I had the review questions from the text book on an overhead.  I showed them one question at a time.  I made it into a little game.  Each student was to solve it on their own white board.  They were then to compare and discuss their answers with their group.  Then as a group they had to decide which answer, if their answers were different, was the correct answer and write it on one of the whiteboards.  Once I recognised that all the groups were done, I would count down from 5 and ask them to reveal their answers.  At that point one person in the group would hold up their white board.  I would quickly scan to see who had the correct answer.  Each team with the correct answer would get a point and I tracked the points on the board.  If a team had the incorrect answer I would quickly mention to them where they had gone wrong.  It worked really well, the students were all very involved.  A simple way to make textbook work a little bit more exciting.  Sorry about the shaky video, I was using one hand.

Tables of Values and Sticky Notes

I tried a little something with creating a table of values today.  I wrote 5 equations and then made a table of values for each equation.  I split the class into 6 groups, and gave each group a section of board and some yellow and green sticky notes.  I then randomly put up all my 'x' values on the screen and told each group to write each one of the values on a yellow sticky note and spread them out on the top of a desk.  I then randomly put up all my 'y' values on the screen and told each group to write each one of the values on a green sticky note and spread them out on the top of another desk.  I then got each group to write the 5 equations on their section of the board with a blank table of values underneath.  At this point, I gave them each the first 'x' value of each equation and the task was to now find all the ordered pairs for each equation.  They needed to place all their stick notes on the board in one of the table of values.  So in the end, they should have used all their sticky notes.   It is difficult to explain without seeing it.  It took a few minutes and a bit of prompting to get the students going on it, but once they got going, each group was working together very well. They had to do some mental math and understand how to fill in a table of values. It was quite a successful task, a nice change from just having them fill in a chart over and over again on paper.

Algebra and Bingo

I don't know about all of you, but it has been tough getting back in the swing of things this week.  I finally got somewhat motivated today in my math class.  I started the Algebra unit this week and was trying to think of what to do to make it more interesting than just doing worksheets.  Yesterday I taught solving 2-step equations and gave them a few practice questions.  Today, rather than just giving them a worksheet I made the worksheet into a game of bingo.  I gave each student a 5 x 5 table.  Then I put 30 numbers up on the board and asked them to randomly fill in their charts with these numbers, with no numbers repeating.  Once they had their charts filled in, I put one question up on the board.. They then each solved the question individually and shaded in the answer if it was on their chart.  After I got the sense that everybody had finished the question, I would put a new question on the board.  Once somebody got a row of 5, they were to call bingo.  We got through 15 questions before anyone got a bingo.  So rather than giving them a worksheet of 15 questions where they would've likely complained, we played a game of bingo.  Every student attempted and most completed each question and not one person complained.  Matter of fact, they were asking me for the next question.  So overall, they got through as many, if not more practice questions than they would've if they were working on a worksheet.

Powerpoint Math

It has been a couple of crazy weeks as we wind down to Christmas.  I have been trying to keep the students as engaged as possible.  In math the other day I decided to teach the lesson and then divide the class into groups.  Rather than have them do a worksheet, I put the questions on PowerPoint (1 question per slide) and I gave the groups chart paper, mini white boards and markers.  They were in groups of three or four so each person had something to write on and write with.  I gave the groups 5-10 minutes per question, depending on the difficulty of the question, and once I figured the majority of the class had it figured out I moved on to the next slide.  We went through nine questions that I had just pulled from the textbook.  Once we had gone through all the questions I had one person from each group do question #1 on the board, we then discussed and corrected the answers.  Then a different student from the group had to come to do the next question, so on and so forth.  Doing this at the end put accountability on each student to be involved throughout the PowerPoint work.  I made sure that I knew which questions my at-risk student understood how to do, and volunteered him for that particular question(s) before anyone else in his group could volunteer.

Learning about ratios with hands on

This morning I taught my ratios lesson on the floor with my class sitting in a circle each with a piece of paper and a pencil.  We started by discussing what ratios were and using the class, boys to girls, as our starting point.  I wrote a few points on the board as we were discussing and they copied them down.  Once I felt they had the idea, I took a box of Halloween mixed chocolate bars and dumped them on the floor in the middle of the circle.  At that point I put six different scenarios on the board (kit-kat - smarties, coffee crisp- aero, kit-kat to all chocolate bars) and asked them to write the ratios in different forms on their paper.  The were practising part-part ratios, part-whole ratios, and 3-term ratios.  They were also practising converting fractions, decimals and percents.  They were discussing and problem solving individually and as groups. Once they completed it on their paper, I had volunteers write their answers on the board and we would then compare and discuss as a class.   All the students were interested and very involved in the lesson. 

Groups and Movement seems to be working

Yesterday I had finished teaching a lesson on solving percent problems and today I had them practice these types of problems.  So instead of giving them the textbook assignment, I made up 9 question cards and had them taped up around the room.  I taped them on the blackboards, the windows and on tables.  I then split the class into 7 groups of 3.  I have noticed the importance of me doing the grouping to make these tasks successful.  I always try to group them with a mixed level of ability and I make sure there is one definite leader in each group.  I gave them each a station to start at and they were to solve the problem on the blackboard, or the window, or the poster paper.  They were to record their final answer on a piece of paper that they would take with them from station to station.  Once they thought they had the correct answer they were to check with me.  If it was correct they erased their work so the other groups couldn't copy the answer and they were allowed to move on to another question.  If not, they had to try again.  They were not allowed to move to the next station until they got the answer correct.  They did not have to move in any order, the task was just to complete all 9 questions.  Competition drives my class, so of course, this was a race to see who could get all 9 questions done correctly first.  This was quite a success.  This works well for those that are struggling.  Even if they themselves cannot answer the question, at least they are there listening and watching to see how to solve the problem rather than blankly staring at their textbook.

Sticky Note Success

Monday morning always seems to be a struggle for my students to get motivated, especially in math.  So I am really focusing on Monday mornings and how I can get them engaged right off the bat.  This Monday I tired a little activity with Sticky Notes.  We are working with fractions, decimals and percents.  I wanted them to be able to convert a fraction into a decimal, or a decimal into a fraction, etc.  and understand what the values actually meant.  I split the class into 6 groups of 4 and gave each group sticky notes.  I then wrote 14 different values in the board (.0067, 75%, 3/5, etc) and had them write one value on one sticky note.  I then gave each group a section of blackboard and their task was to place their values in ascending order on the board.  I made it a competition to see who could complete the task first.  Those were the only instructions I gave them.  In order for them to do this, they first had to recognize that it would be easiest to convert them all to the same type (either all fractions, all decimals, or all percents), and then order.  So it was very interesting to watch.  All the students were very engaged and discussing with their group about how to go about the task.  A few of the groups converted all to percent and a few converted all to decimals and then ordered them.  Once they thought they had it correct they would call me over and I would simply say "error" if there was one and they would all go crazy and try again.  Once they had all figured it out I had each group pick a representative to share the approach their group took to solve the problem.  Then to top it off, no group had converted to fractions, so I had another race to see which group could now convert all the values to fractions first. Overall, I would say it was very successful, and the students had a much clearer understanding than they did at the beginning of the class.