Taking the problem out of word problems...

As a teacher when I write my lesson plan for word problems I quiver at the thought of the frightened faces in my class.  Somewhere along the way word problems become a problem for students.  Oddly enough on my quizzes and tests most of my students can answer the word problems better than the multi-step equations.  Yet if you ask any of them about a word problem, they begin to almost hyperventilate.

Today's lesson will be to try and take the fear away by providing the students with a word problem toolkit.  I wanted to make sure the students didn't fear word problems and could find the key words to solving multi-step equation word problems.

First, we underline what the equation is looking for.  Next, we highlight the important information and mark out the unnecessary.  Third, we identify the indicators for operations and for the equal sign.  Finally, set up and solve.

The kids seemed to do a great job with the assignment and had a grasp of multi-step equations better than they did previously.  They still were tripped up by consecutive numbers, but until they see the answer they can't grasp why we are adding something to x.  Also, as always we had a discussion of when you need to go a step beyond solving for the variable.

Give 'em the Pickle

If you are a business person, you have already read this book.  Our principal has decided to make this part of our staff development.  It has opened up great conversation at our school about how we can serve our community better and how to show pride in our school.  Yesterday we discussed chapter three about how to be a cheerleader for your school.  It reminded me of a tradition one of my previous school's did for the students each grading period.  At the end of the nine weeks each teacher submitted a "Scots on a Roll" nomination.  This wasn't for your A or A/B honor roll children, but for the child who may work hard all the time or who improved a great deal during the nine weeks.  It was awesome to see the sea of praise and accolades for the students who may have gone unnoticed before for their hard work.  We always talk about how we seem to lose the middle level children, but this is a way to show them we see their efforts too.  I am looking forward to starting this up again at my new school.  How do you praise your kids for their efforts in your class?

Differentiated Quizzes

Guided quiz

So one of my goals this semester is to differentiate all of my quizzes.  Through classwork and other pre-assessments, I determine which students are still struggling with the concept and which students have mastered the topic.  This way I can see if the child understands the concept or parts of the concept.  I want to know exactly where they went wrong.

Normal quiz ( the 100s on this one gave me some comfort that it had been taught)

I need to re-work my multi-step equations quiz.  After multiple low grades on the last quiz, I have been racking my brain on how to improve the quiz/their learning.  So instead I figured I would open it up for suggestions.  I knew that some students were struggling to grasp what was being distributed in the problem, so I have covered distribution yet again.  I even gave points for highlighting like terms correctly, but I still think it may need to be a bit more guided.  What would you suggest? 

Multi-Step activity

So my students will need tons of practice on this section.  Previous to our quiz today, I had the students walk around the class and answer each question of the set of 8.  Once they have solve a problem, they find the card matching the solution.  They should complete all 8 problems.  If they didn't solve all 8, then they need to revisit their work.  If they can't find their answer, they need to revisit their work.

I send them in groups of three or four depending on the size of the class, so there isn't a pile up.  If class all end up at the same equation, I may sit them down in groups and allow them a "runner" to get the next equation.  I'll post an update on it later today, since I didn't share any goodies yesterday.

Snow catch up part two

So today my kids were foldable overloaded. We had to make up for four lost days of curriculum.

First, we started with a two step refresher  foldable. The kids solved two step equations on the inside and explained in their own words how they arrived at their answer. 

Next, I found an awesome foldable online on teachers pay teachers. I think it is by far the best step by step foldable I have seen yet. 

Then, we worked out a few problems using the foldable. This led to the discussion of when the coefficient in front of the variable is the same. 

Finally, we concluded with their homework, which originally would have been a classroom assignment. Four no solution, four all real number equations, and four with a solution. They had to solve each to determine which pocket to place the slips into. 

Two step equation notes

So I had an epiphany.  Equations become smaller as you solve them so why not make a trapezoid shaped foldable. I tried to make the notes as easy to follow as possible. My kids seemed to grasp the concept better when they separated the terms. Thank you to the other teachers who taught it that way previous to me teaching this lesson. 

I am still trying to figure out how to do the equations with variables on both sides, but I think the snow will help get the creative juices flowing. 

Multi-Step Equations

   (Original)

Are you teaching Algebra 1?  Then you must check out Henrico county's Algebra 1 module site!  I love their cutouts and class activities and if I am running low on time, they have the BEST jeopardy!  I feel like I am abusing my exclamation points, but when I was a first year teacher, I was thrilled to come across this site.  Especially being a lateral entry teacher, I had not seen Algebra 1 since my 8th grade year.  It's a great refresher if nothing else.

    (Final product)

Today we used one of the graduation puzzles.  It took almost 40 minutes for the kids to complete the puzzle, but I love that they were all engaged.  It may have been because I bribed them with tickets as well.  Some gave up, so I would help them find four pieces to encourage the to keep trying.  It was interesting to see the different methods the kids used to solve the puzzle.

So I take back my comment...

Two of my students gained from the oragami envelopes. One sent a version of the envelope in the mail to their family members and another said she went in exploration of other oragami that weekend. Isn't this our goal as educators?  We strive to inspire students to take initiative outside of the classroom. So my never again will actually reappear. I was ecstatic to see a lesson encourage independent learning!

Round robin

Today I set the desks into groups of four for a round robin activity for solving multi-step equations.  I have name cards in red (pink), yellow, and green on each desk.  If the kids needed help with a question they put up the red card, yellow if they are still working, but would like for me to check behind them, and the popular green "I've got this".  Each student received 8 different problems and they only did a part of solving the equations, so they were in groups, but they couldn't cheat and everyone had a role.  I learned some things today from the activity.  For example, they need a checklist on each problem, so they know what they are doing next when they receive the next sheet. 

(Excuse the messy desk)

Each child had a different colored pencil, so I could grade the accordingly and quickly find who was still lost. 

Next, we played one-step equation bingo, this can be found here.  The kids thought it was a fun day, instead they solved 5 math equations in one class period!  They did great!

Cold and Flu..time to catch up!

We have covered the remainder of the review for Algebra 1 and finally cracked open the textbook today.  I don't believe in a textbook driving the curriculum for a class, rather I use it as a learning tool for my lessons.  I found myself disgusted today to hear a coworker say "Well if they don't get it the way I teach it, they need to just find a video online to learn it.  I am cannot be responsible for them not getting it, I taught it."  I can't count the number of times in just my five years of teaching that I have changed a lesson the next time I taught it or changed a method in hopes that my students understand the concept better.  (I'm off my soapbox for now.)

So here is what we have covered since my last post...

Fractions

This semester my pre-assessment pointed out that majority of my students understood fractions, so we did not spend a great deal of time in this unit as I usually do.  My creative juices must have been flowing this day, because I love how my word art turn out for Improper fractions and Mixed Numbers. 

Expressions

My kids seem to think that this is an easy unit until I ask them to write an expression into words in two different formats.  This is the first time, I really get them to see how notes can help them not only study, but understand how to do their classwork.  Thanks again to Mrs. Hagan for some foldable ideas. 

I was super excited to find a way for them to use their interactive notebook to do their expression homework. I gave them a sheet of sentences and they determined the operation for each.