Mathsational

Engagement in Algebra 2 can be tough.  The scope and sequence is brutal, even for me as someone who really enjoys math.  I wrote about the objectives of my algebra 2 class here .  Seriously, if you have a great application project or activity for the following, please let me know: multiplying/dividing polynomials (long division), working with radical and complex numbers, rational functions, polynomial functions, conic sections, inverse functions, sequences and series & truth tables.  Ugh, I'm bored just typing that list of unbearable content. So, what I attempt to do is 1) gamify as much as I can and 2) Kagan the rest. I wrote several posts about the games that I try to incorporate: Dice Breakout Edu Chains Tarsia Board Games My Ship Sails Color by Number Old Maid TIC TAC TOE and Go Fish Rummy For more info on Kagan strategies you can start here .  Kagan strategies are methods of having students work collaboratively.  Each person ha...

The next practice structure that I'd like to share is having kids play board games.  This is just another alternative to a worksheet.  I take the problems from a practice worksheet and put them onto powerpoint slides, print them in landscape four to a slide, and cut the printed page into quarters with one problem per piece. For the board games, I have purchased a few cheap childhood games from stores like 5 below or walmart.  Right now I have Candy Land, Trouble and Snakes & Ladders.  You can also find lots of free printable game boards through a quick google search.  I have printed some of these out in color and laminated them to be used multiple times. For accountability, I usually just give the students a place to record their work.  I also try to provide an answer key so that students can check their work. In general I have all students try the same problem at the same time.  Then they check the answer and anyone that got the proble...

The next practice structure I'd like to share is a card game called My Ship Sails.  I had never played this game as a child, but came across it while looking for ways to gamify my classroom more.   Here is a link on how to play the traditional game. This game would work well for any topic where kids need to be able to categorize or differentiate similar concepts.  Traditionally, there are four suits in a deck of cards, but I suppose you could create a game with three or five suits just as easily. Basically, after dealing the cards, the idea is for kids to pass one card to the left while at the same time receiving one card from the player to their right.  The object of the game is to collect all cards with the same suit/type/category. Here are two examples that I recently created for next year. This game is for geometry.  Each card has a conditional statement and then one of the following:  the hypothesis, the conclusion, a counterexample, or the conv...