Hocus Pocus Math Havoc!

Ok, I have been very remiss in my blog posting so please excuse any grammar or just plain tired mistakes! The big thing is getting the fun stuff out there for you to use so here I am. I hope you can have some fun with these!

The Sanderson Sisters are at it again! Running Amuck, Amuck, Amuck and creating havoc looking for BOOOOOK!!!

Last year, we were a little excited about the new Hocus Pocus movie and as a result, I created Hocus Pocus Focused Fridays! The students really seemed to embrace the theme and as a result, several activities were born.

I created these Math Lib activities for both solving multi-step equations and finding slope from 2-points, both very important building blocks in high school math. 

I used the same story for both as I created it for 2 different classes (my Seniors wanted in on the action!). 

So I present to you Equations (pictured below) and Slope from 2-points 'Hocus Pocus Havoc'!!

Students will walk around the room/hall and look for the answers to each problem. They will then write that word in the blank 'Math Lib' to complete the story. Each one is used only once and there are distractors.

Below is the absent student activity that has all the wall sheets on one page. You will receive both versions in Word and Pdf.

As always, these are fully editable so you can use it for any concept or change it for specific needs.

And, I love fonts! I provide both Word and PDF but if you need to change and don't want to mess with formatting, I use the font Barnie Kids which you can get for FREE on dafont.com here!

Get ALL my resources for FREE here!

I included both versions of the activity for whole class and individual student.

As always, please let me know if you see any errors that need correcting!

Enjoy!

Lisa

Funning for Finals!

Quick post to share my headband for finals review.  It is slope-intercept form and the students identify the slope or y-intercept to lead them to their next problem.

It has been a long time since I've created something new so wanted to share in case you are looking for a nice quick essential review this week!

Get the directions and all my other headbands for free on my previous post here!

For any keys, please feel free to email me at camfan54@att.net from your school or professional account.  I've had students try and email for keys in the past but luckily their email said student!  

Enjoy the end of your year!

Sphero-ing Our Way Around the Coordinate Grid

If you have previously read my blog, you know I usually go overboard!  I usually end up creating something extravagant or if I get a new manipulative, I try to work it in everywhere.  This summer and school year, I was awarded several grants and as a result, I had to caution myself to not go so overboard that I overwhelmed myself and my class.  Enter this quick post about using Sphero to find slope!

 

The WS is somewhat simplistic and the robotics integration is really more engaging than intense but it was a different way to find slope form 2 points.  As many students as wanted to were able to drive a Sphero on the coordinate grid I taped onto the floor.  I would then tell them to name the coordinates from two Spheros to put on their WS.

I displayed the WS on the board so they could copy down if they were 'busy' driving.  After a few problems, I changed one axis too.  You might want to be cautious if you make negative points dominant for differentiation.

On a couple of problems, I also changed the scales and made each tick 2 or 1/2.  You could really do anything you wanted!   

This was just how we practiced slope from 2 points.  I also had problems on the back to write the equations but we had not reviewed that skill yet.... I had a lot of Professional Development this month!

While this was not an intense integration, it was effective and engaging which is always a desirable outcome!  

Get the WS here for FREE!  The font I used for the title was A Little Sunchine and you can download it here for FREE!

Enjoy!

Lisa

Headbands Are All the 'Math' Rage!

Where do I start with this little piece of genius I was taught a few summers back?!?!  There are no words for the educational value of these 6 strips of paper.  

Way back in the summer of 2016, my life was forever changed when I joined a grant through Texas Regional Collaboratives.  UTMB in Galveston had a Grant taught by Valerie Blackburn and Jennifer Clayton.  

So of course, I needed to create one for my class.  This little gem was shared and it has snowballed on our campus!  Yes, almost all levels of core math use it now. 

The first one was a little more intense than I realized and lasted way longer than I planned BUT the results were well worth it!  We spent 30 minutes in my Algebra 1 class doing the slope from tables one.  I was able to get a lot of formative assessment and in the end ALL students completed and worked diligently on 6 critical problems. 

This resulted in one of my favorite teaching moments of all time... 

Student: 'What's the point of this?'

Me: **thinking quickly of a witty response** 'When you put it on your head, you are learning by osmosis."  **secretly hoping they buy this**

Students:  'Oh my gosh, we are learning about that now in biology!! Cool!!'

Me: **thinking score cross-curricular vocabulary.**

I sent it to my principal laughing at the cross-curricular tie and it ended up going all though the district.  I even had teachers telling me students were wearing it in the cafeteria.  Later that year one student pulled it out and put it on during a test and when I asked him why, he said it made him feel smarter.  #teachermoment

Now let me share how to create your very first headband!  Any 6 problems will work and it is basically like a scavenger/mouse hunt.  You place the answer to a different problem on the left of the headband and a problem in the middle.  They solve the problem and connect/match it to the answer on a different piece forming a complete headband!

What I made a mistake of and was a reason the first time took so long was that you want to make all pieces connected like above.  The first time I had each piece with a space between and those precision cutters took forever!

AND DO NOT make them in order either... or then you have to redo and mix them all up... I've already been there, done that!

Each student recieves one copy of the headband to cut and construct.  I have a cut one projected on the board to show expectations. Sometimes I'll work one but most of the time I just demonstrate my expectations about connecting.  They solve the problem and look for the answer on another piece them solve that problem until they are back to the first piece.  Instant assessment for them which are my favorite kind of activities. 

I also have all mine designed to fit on 1 page.  Just as an FYI... these are great for those dark colored papers you might have that you can't really use for a WS.

AND don't worry, I've got templates for you as well as ALL my headbands shared below!

Another tip is to have students tape or staple them together so they can put them on right away.  And they will likely need to overlap and measure as they go.  I make them show work on the bands and just cover the answer or arrow.  One kiddo ended up making a belt instead so they can be pretty big. 

Here is what a couple of completed ones look like...

To store them, I just added a headband envelope in our notebook.

I'm not really sure how to say that I love these things!  I love seeing seniors wear them and post on their social media.  I even offer some credit for wearing them outside my class.  Anything to have kids talk about math!  

Some get creative with their'Headbands' too...

Get all resources here for FREE!!!  

I have them both in Word and PDF as always!  If you want my font, Janda Curly Girl, it is downloadable for free here!  It's one of my favorites!!

For any keys, please feel free to email me at camfan54@att.net from your school or professional account.  I've had students try and email for keys in the past but luckily their email said student! 

Enjoy the rage!!
Lisa