I am very excited to participate in Education with DocRunning’s Teacher Treats Blog Hop. I am currently teaching slope and rate of change to my eighth grade students, so I’d love to share some strategies and activities that my students and I love.
1 – Undeniably
Terrifying!
It’s true. I have lived in New Hampshire all my life and
I can’t ski. I went on one ski trip as
an eighth grader and all was going well until my friend convinced me to take on
a very, very difficult trail. Let’s just
say I knew that as the ski lift climbed higher and higher up the mountain that
I would not be skiing down. Long story
short, I held down the bar when we got to the top and convinced the employees
to let us ride back down on the lift. I
love sharing this story with my eighth graders and I spare no detail. Every year I have all eyes locked on me,
total engagement, as I tell them about my personal experience. The UNDEniably terrifying mountain that
appeared to have UNDEfined slope. When
possible, I love to use personal anecdotes with my students. I think it’s a great way to build
relationships with students, and, in the very least, it wakes them right up!
2 – Soccer in
Math?
My students in standard level eighth
grade math struggle to understand the difference between zero and undefined
slope. I couple of years ago I drew some
symbols on the front whiteboard and said aloud, “Imagine the 0 is a ball that
someone is standing on.” Somehow that
simple statement has evolved into a demonstration of me standing on a soccer
ball in front of my students. (You might
even find a vine somewhere floating around if you search crazy math teacher on
soccer ball.) The connection is that if
I hold the ball over my head there is ZERO excitement. If I stand on top of the ball I will
UNDoubtably fall over (hopefully without injury). As silly as this demonstration is, I believe
it gives them a visual to associate with an otherwise abstract concept.
Another strategy that helps
reinforce this topic is using the multiplication check. I start by reminding students that we know
12/3=4 and 4*3=12. So 0/3=0 because
0*3=0 (check in reverse). However, 3/0
cannot equal 0 because 0*0 does not equal 3.
The answer must be undefined.
3 – Whiteboard
Volunteers and Non-volunteers
My eighth graders love to write on
my whiteboard. Consider ditching the
worksheet and inviting students to write on the front board. I use this practice method for many different
skills. I invite 5 volunteers to front
board. Students at their desk each have
a piece of paper that they are writing on. For slope, I would read aloud two points and
ask everyone to find the slope of the line that passes through the two
points. Students at their desks try the
problem on their paper, while I can monitor the progress of students at the
front board. Everyone tries the same
problem at the same time. After everyone
finishes the problem, we discuss anything tricky or interesting and then rotate
to have five new volunteers come to board.
Some classes are more willing and eager to come to the board than
others. I refer to students who need
some coaxing as “non-volunteers,” and require that all students come up to
board at least once. I try to be
strategic when selecting groups of students so that I can differentiate based
on readiness and help all students build confidence.
4 – Differentiating
Instruction
I try to differentiate based on
readiness and interest where possible.
One idea that I picked up at a conference years ago is the idea of
differentiating by designing a “menu.” I
designed a slope menu that is sorted by appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The appetizers have skill-based questions,
entrees consist of higher order thinking conceptual tasks, and desserts are
fun, hands-on applications. Students are
instructed to select at least one task from each part of the menu. Each question is assigned a point value, and
students are assigned a required total value they must complete. They can choose any combination of problems
they want as long as they reach the required minimum points value. This is a fun twist on worksheet practice and
it allows students to have choice regarding the type of practice they complete. I further differentiate by encouraging my
high flyers to focus on the higher order thinking questions and check in to
make sure my struggling learners understand how to complete all of the
skills-based problems. Here are some sample problems:
Slope has great connections to the
world around us, and it tends to bring out my creative side. I would love for you to comment below with
activities and strategies that you love to use when teaching slope and rate of
change in your classroom. Thanks for
stopping by!
Stop by my TpT store for tons of awesome resources related to slope and rate of change! This truly is one of my favorite topics. :)
And if you'd love a free resource and tons of additional creative ideas, subscribe to the Free to Discover blog:
Stop by my TpT store for tons of awesome resources related to slope and rate of change! This truly is one of my favorite topics. :)
And if you'd love a free resource and tons of additional creative ideas, subscribe to the Free to Discover blog:
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