Mathsational

Draw what I say is an activity where students can practice using vocabulary.  It can also be used to practice reading and writing mathematical notation.  Here are the rules for this activity: Place the cards in a pile, face down, at the center of the table.  One person draws a card, without showing to the other people at the table. The person who drew the card should read the verbal description aloud to all the other people at the table. The other people at the table should attempt to draw a diagram that matches the description that the first person just read aloud.  Each person should do this individually on a recording sheet. The person who drew the card and read the card aloud should check the other people’s drawings.  If the drawing matches what is on the card, write a checkmark next to the diagram. If the drawing does not match, write an x next to the diagram. Continue the steps above, taking turns being the reader. Each person should tu...

One of the practice structures that I like to use to improve vocabulary is Taboo.  Here are the  Directions from Hasbro  for the official game.  Basically one player tries to get their teammates to guess as many vocabulary words in a given time as possible.  The player chooses a card with the vocabulary word on it as well as several other words that are 'taboo.'  The player gives verbal hints to the vocabulary word but can not use the taboo words. For example, the player would give clues to have their teammates guess the word monomial, but they can not use the clues: polynomial, one, term, or variable.  Maybe they would say "single addend" or "you find the degree by adding the exponents on non-numerical bases." I think this game works best as a review after a very vocabulary heavy lesson or unit.  It forces everyone to think of synonyms or descriptions beyond what may have been given in the notes or in the textbook. My favorite way to use...

This year I've taken on the #teach180 challenge.  The challenge is to post one tweet per day showing a glimpse inside your classroom.  I'm also putting the tweets together in a biweekly blog so that I can share the resources that I'm tweeting about. Day 171:  Today we had our second to last weekly cumulative quiz! Second to last weekly cumulative quiz today #teach180 pic.twitter.com/GVrwh1P3pL — Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) May 24, 2017 Day 172:  Today in geometry we used Khan Academy to review using inscribed angles . Today in #geomchat we used @khanacademy to practice using inscribed angles and their intercepted arcs #teach180 pic.twitter.com/npl4rM1uLn — Jennifer Abel (@abel_jennifer) May 25, 2017 Day 173:  Today in algebra 2 we practiced using conditional and biconditional statements with this board game assignment.  It was also the last day of class for seniors (I have 2-4, depending on which ones end up graduating) so it was a ...

Practice Structures: Racko I'm always on the look-out for ways to make practice and fluency building more engaging for students.  After hearing about other activities where students order values from increasing to decreasing order, I remembered playing the game Racko.  In Racko, players try to organize 10 cards in increasing order.  The cards are numbered 1-60 and are originally arranged in random order.  Players have the chance to switch-out one card at a time until they are all in order.  You can read more about how to play to actual game here . My idea is to replace the original cards in the game with math problems.  The rules remain the same.  I have not tried this in my classes yet, but look forward to doing so.  I created three versions of the game that you can try in your classroom.  I created one for elementary school, one for intermediate, and one for secondary.  I'd love to see versions that you create as well. Rack...