I love math and writing and when I get the chance to combine the two, I am ecstatically happy! What I am not always best at is coming up with the prompt for students to write about. We have implemented in our math classes a writing tracker assignment twice weekly and an essay each semester. Coming up with a topic once a week is hard enough, twice, well that made my brain hurt! So I did what I always try to do when I am needing something - I turned to TpT. I found the most amazing resource made by Live Love Math - Middle School Math Writing Prompts { Content Specific }. This set includes 70 (seventy!!) writing problems that cover 5 major content standards and are perfect for middle school. I have also used them for my ninth grade algebra class and found them amazing! My students liked the fact that the questions are printed on a half-sheet of paper so that the question is right there and doesn't require them to keep looking up to remember the question. I really enjoyed the fact that the questions could be done in a few minutes and that I had a variety to choose from! I encourage you to check them out!
Showing posts with label algebra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label algebra. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Writing In A Middle School Math Class, a Necessary Addition
I love math and writing and when I get the chance to combine the two, I am ecstatically happy! What I am not always best at is coming up with the prompt for students to write about. We have implemented in our math classes a writing tracker assignment twice weekly and an essay each semester. Coming up with a topic once a week is hard enough, twice, well that made my brain hurt! So I did what I always try to do when I am needing something - I turned to TpT. I found the most amazing resource made by Live Love Math - Middle School Math Writing Prompts { Content Specific }. This set includes 70 (seventy!!) writing problems that cover 5 major content standards and are perfect for middle school. I have also used them for my ninth grade algebra class and found them amazing! My students liked the fact that the questions are printed on a half-sheet of paper so that the question is right there and doesn't require them to keep looking up to remember the question. I really enjoyed the fact that the questions could be done in a few minutes and that I had a variety to choose from! I encourage you to check them out!
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Ever notice that the internet is flooded with elementary math ideas, but that finding quality secondary materials is virtually impossible.... LOOK NO FURTHER! I'd love to introduce you to the
Secondary Mathletes!
Live.Love.Math - Danielle Krantz
Grades 5 - 9
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
Lindsay Perro
Grades 6 - 9
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
MissMathDork - Jamie Riggs
Grades 4 - Algebra I
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
Lessons With Coffee - Jameson Ivey
Grades 5 - 8
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
4mulaFun - Jennifer Smith-Sloane
Grades 4 - 9
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
All Things Algebra - Gina Wilson
Grades 6 - 11
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
Secondary Math Shop
Grades 8 - 12
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
To the Square Inch - Kate Bing Coners
Grades 4 - 9
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
Teaching Math By Hart
Grades 5 - 8
Grades 5 - 8
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
Teaching High School Math - Jennifer Lamb
Grades 6 - 12
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
Hodges Herald - Elizabeth Hodges
Grades 5 - 8
TpT Store
Blog
Facebook
21st Century Math Projects - Clint Clark
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Algebra Skills in the Geometry Classroom
When I start a new school
year in Geometry I spend the first day or two reviewing how to set-up and solve
linear equations. Why you may ask? Simple.
Every new concept that we do from solving for parts of segments and
angles all the way through surface area and volume, can and will, involve
finding the value of a missing variable.
This is done more often than not through a linear equation, usually in
one variable to the first power. In
regards to solving equations, we even use them as the basis for our proof
structure. When I begin to introduce how
to write a proof, I don't start with Geometric proofs, I start with
Algebraic. I ask my students to solve
multi-step linear equations and to tell me what they did in each step. This not only gets them used to the
structure, but also reinforces why they do what they do when solving a linear
equation.
As we move further on into
the school year even more concepts from Algebra begin to pop up. One of the most prevalent is the use of the
Cartesian Coordinate Plane. We first
encounter it when we are finding the length (distance) of a segment. We graph the two endpoints and use the
Distance and Midpoint formulas to find how long the segment is and where the
halfway point is. Since this is more of
a review, then a new concept however, I teach it using Task Cards for the
students to practice versus spending a day on it like it is a new lesson. We continue using the coordinate plane and
Algebraic Concepts when we graph triangles and quadrilaterals and use the
distance, midpoint and slope formulas to classify our shapes. The last time that we explicitly use the
coordinate plane is in our unit on Transformations when we graph our figures
and reflect, translate, rotate and dilate them using coordinates.
The other major Algebraic concept
that use consistently is square roots and radicals. We first encounter them when we solve the
distance formula but at point it is a pretty basic use. Once, however, we hit our unit on Right
Triangles and Trigonometry, squares roots stick with us for the rest of the
school year. We use them to solve our
right triangles and to find missing pieces of quadrilaterals. We also use them when finding the tangent,
radii and diameter lines for circles and the surface area and volume of three
dimensional figures.
For these reasons, and so
many more, I stress mastery of concepts, not just retention of them for a test
in my Algebra class. I am honest with my
students and I tell them that this ideas will not "go away" once
Algebra is done. They will use them
again in Algebra II and then will take Algebra I and II skills with them as
they move into Geometry. Additionally,
we talk extensively about which of these skills will be useful in the workforce
and why. I try to be as transparent as
possible with my students and normally it works in my favor. What Algebra skills have you seen move beyond
Algebra? 
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Writing Equations of Lines Stations Maze - From Mrs. E. Teaches Math
Teaching Algebra is not always in my comfort zone. After so many years of teaching Geometry, where my students have completed two years of Algebra before getting to me, I am used to reviewing and/or just applying the topics - not actually teaching them from scratch. Over the past few years I have gotten better, but I still don't feel as creative as I would like. In particular, my students are really struggle with writing the equations of lines from different sources. I am struggle to make it more interesting and engaging. Enter TpT and all of the wonderful resources on there! Mrs. E gave me a copy of her Writing Equations of Lines Station Maze to try with them and it went fantastically!
This activity was a great way to not only get the students up and moving, but also was great for getting the students to talk to each other! I am very big on math talk in the classroom and cooperative learning. I started by posting the nine stations around the room in random order. I paired off the students as they came in instead of letting them chose their own partners. I liked that I was able to give each pair of students a different starting point since the cards do not have to be done in order. This helped with congestion and also allowed me to keep students apart that are a little too talkative.
I also loved the fact that when the students found an answer it sent them to a different station but if they got sent backwards to someplace they had already been, they knew they need to go back and check their previous work to see where they got off track. In this way, it really was a maze! I also liked the fact that there were four possible answers and if they got something was not on the card, then they knew they needed to recheck their work. In multiple ways this activity was really self-checking.
I encourage you to visit Mrs. E Teaches Math and pick up a copy for yourself. Not only will your students be engaged, but you will be able to identify common misconceptions quickly!
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