Mathsational

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...

Practice Structures - Error Analysis Error analysis is one of my favorite practice structures because of the conversations.  My students typically find it very difficult.  They sometimes think that problems that have been done correctly are incorrect if steps are skipped in the written solution.  Other times they think incorrect solutions are correct because I try to make common mistakes.  One of the most interesting things that happens is that kids end up appreciating the work done by their teachers while correcting quizzes.  They almost always express that the toughest part is trying to figure out why the fictional person make a certain mistake in the work. In the past, I have typed up my error analysis problems.  However, I have switched to handwriting the work.  It seems more authentic and for some reason it is easier for the students to differentiate between the question and the solution.  I use Doceri to create the document.  It is ...

The origins of Barbie Bungee seem to be unknown, at least according to this twitter conversation. Looking for the earliest known copyright on Barbie Bungee. WHO INVENTED THIS THING?! https://t.co/CIayCEHJVC — Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) October 21, 2015 I've seen it done in classrooms since I started teaching circa 2004, however, advancements in technology have made it soooo much more fun.  Many students have smartphones capable of taking slow motion video which adds to the engagement. Here is what I did on my most recent go-round. I did this lesson with a class called Survey of Math.  It is our remediation class for students who did not pass our state exam on algebra 1.  Most of the students seemed to enjoy it, especially the end when they dropped their dolls. This group even wanted to try to get closer to the floor and wanted to add the new data point and recalculate their regression line. Some of the interesting things that happene...