Radicals

I was determined not to teach student a "trick" for simplifying radicals. I have heard so many cute explanations, like "needing a partner to get out of the house," but after reading "Nix the Tricks," I realized teaching only a trick robs students of the math behind what they are doing. We are down to a single-digit countdown before the EOC, so my lessons are hurried. I taught simplifying radicals, gave students a couple practice problems that we worked out together and then gave them an exit ticket. I was feeling good about my lesson. Then I saw the Exit Tickets. Yikes! I'm not sure if it was no enough time for them to complete the exit ticket (sometimes I misjudge their pace on new content) or the lack of practice, but overall the scores were terrible. With only a few days left until the EOC, I had to make a decision to cut my losses or spend another day on the topic. I decided if they can do anything with radicals, it should be simplify them, so we stopped and reviewed. We completed a Warm Up, and then reviewed the Exit Ticket. I love the all-or-nothing grading system here because if students didn't get it 100% correct, they don't know where they made the mistake, so they have to go back through their work with a fine-tooth comb to find their error. These select-all-that-apply questions have become my favorite way of questioning.

After we revised the exit tickets, I presented my favorite means of practice - a Tarsia Puzzle. Students had to be careful to "attend to precision" because several of the problems and answer choices were similar. This forced students to really focus on their exponents and see the difference between having x^3 inside a radical and x^4. It also meant that students didn't have to keep re-creating a factor tree for each problem. I heard great discussions about what happens when the radical has a coefficient in front of it too.

I made sure students had plenty of time to work on their exit tickets - another select all that apply question. The results were SO much better than the first day! If I could do a back-flip - I would. I saw several 100%s and so much more confidence from my students, which is exactly what I want as we approach testing season.

Check out my product in my TpT store if you want to try this fun way to practice simplifying radicals.

Laws of Exponents Puzzle

I recently discovered Tarsia Puzzles and they are my new favorite go-to activity for practicing math problems. In this lesson, I used them to practicing power to a power, product rule, and quotient rule for exponents. The students had to correctly work out 30 problems to piece the puzzle together and they had way more fun practicing this way than a worksheet. I overheard some great discussions about the rules and misconceptions (which they can self-identify when they don't find the answer they are looking for).

Here is the link to my TpT store, where for $3, you can buy the Laws of Exponents puzzle.

Learn your multiplication facts

Multiplication facts are one of the most essential tools students need to go forward in math. I am always shocked by how many don't know them - even now in dealing with high schoolers. They used to simply turn to their calculator, but with the changes in common core, students can no longer rely on that tool. Even though understanding when and how to use mathematical tools correctly is one of the mathematical practices, the Algebra EOC has a no-calculator section. Included in this part of the test are questions about operations on polynomials, solving quadratics by factoring, and simplifying radicals - all these skills depend on students knowing their multiplication tables. I created this Tarsia puzzle for a conference presentation for elementary school teachers, but it is actually fun for my high school students too. I use it when I have students who need to fill a few extra minutes or to have a race and see which group can put the puzzle together first. Maybe someday I will have students who have times tables on automatic recall. Until then, practice makes perfect. Pick up a copy to use in your classroom at my TpT store here

Coloring in High School

I love to have self-checking activities in my classroom. Although students can easily check their work when solving equations, few of them do. I find that if I offer an answer bank they will take more time attending to precision in their work. With this activity, I combined my love of answer banks and coloring into a fun activity. My students needed to practice solving equations with variables on both sides and using their prior knowledge of distributive property and combining like terms, but I needed something more fun than a traditional worksheet to hold their attention. So I created a coloring answer bank.

High schoolers are really just big kids so they loved this activity. I loved hearing them say, well I got 15, but that's not an answer choice, so I much have made a mistake. I also gave them the hint that no adjacent shapes would be the same color, so they had another opportunity for self-checking. Check out this activity in my TpT store for $2.

The other activity I use each year and love is the Solving Equations flower - perfect for the easier two-step equations.

Check out this activity in my TpT store for $2. 

Happy coloring!

Solving Equations Mnemonic Device

This phone was a great addition to our interactive notebooks and helped students remember the steps for solving equations. When you pass them out, be prepared for students to put them to their ear and actually try to make a call - oh teenagers! 

I have included two versions, the simple one shown above and one that gives the details of each step. I love sending students back to this page when they need a reminder later in the school year or when we do multi-step inequalities.  

Download pdf of Solving Equations Phone (three to page)

We glued the phone all the way to the side of the page in their interactive notebook and did some multi-step equations right next to it. 

Here are some more ideas and activities for solving equations.

TEACH Conference

Today I led a breakout session at TEACH Conference about Hands On Math. It was so much fun to share the fun activities I do in my classroom with so many passionate educators. My absolute favorite go-to resource is Tarsia Puzzles. They are easy to make and super engaging for students. Here is the link to download the problem. I can't wait to see how this changes your classroom. Download Tarsia Puzzle Program here

Using the word wall

This week my students were trying to explain the relationship between the diagonals of a rectangle and square. They said things like - they are both 13.5 inches or they are the same thing, so I asked them to find a word on the word wall to describe the relationship. They quickly picked out congruent. It just so happened that I was being observed by a district specialist at the time and he said it was the first time he had actually seen a teacher use a word wall in instruction. 

At my school, the word wall is one item on a long list of required elements for dour classroom. Mine is completely student driven. They write the word and create a picture to go with it. Sometimes they choose to create a Frayer model or write a short definition. Sometimes I ask a student to add a word to the word wall and sometimes they initiate it themselves. When the students are involved, they take ownership and this word wall becomes a great resource to them.