The Smiley Emojis of Linear Systems

So... finals are approaching and so is the end of our Systems Unit. Frantic planning for next semester and engaging activities for the end of this one are flying through my mind and OneDrive. 

Thinking ahead to Polynomials, I searched the internet for some activities as I wanted something new for adding and subtracting. I like all activities to be instant feedback so wanted something along those lines. In the past I used this assignment from charlotte_james615 at TES.

It is perfect and she has a ton of versions but I just needed to change it up as I have quite a few repeaters. Enter this brilliant piece of Polynomial activity magic from Strength in Numbers on Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Honestly, it was just what I needed the week before finals. I quite enjoyed coloring the hearts with my Twistable Crayons! 

Enter Inspiration!!! As we are wrapping up Systems, I need a little more practice on finding the intersection in the calculator. Hmmm... what do students know that they could draw... enter Emojis! Emojis were picked by some of my students and below is a completed student one!

I decided I wanted several version since I was only asking them to complete 4 problems. I did 4 problems per page but all the answers are the same. Each page has 4 different answers though!

This was strictly to practice calculator skills but I have provided both word and PDF for you in case you want to change it. After my first grammar mistake ridden WS, I think I have it streamlined. Every answer will be used and each of the 3 pages has different emojis.

The students got pretty serious about their emojis! 

Loves seeing that A in 'STEAM' learning in full force. And the best part, it was exactly the practice they needed and brain break they needed all in one!

The font I used was KG Payphone and you can download it free here at dafont.com! As always, I am providing you the Word and PDF! 

Download the activity for free HERE!

For answer keys, please email camfan54@att.net from an official teacher school or professional account that I can verify. I have had a number of students and generic email accounts request keys. I don't want to ruin the integrity of an assignment for any of you. Thank you and hope you understand.

If you see any mistakes, please let me know as I already found a horrid grammatical error I didn't notice before they were printed for class. December teacher brain!

Enjoy!

Lisa

Star Wars Systems 2

Previously, I created a systems of Equations Warm-Up/Exit activity that was 17 years in the making!  I'm "that teacher" when it comes to goofiness so this was right up my alley.  Read about and get it for FREE here!  I also have links for the fonts.  This year, I created a new one and wanted to share in this quick post!

I have both the Word and PDF for you for FREE!  I set this one up a little different as I wanted them to practice using the calculator to find the intersection points so the points are not exact.  I also have the first equations for them on the first problem to do some guided practice.  

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! 

I'm also working on one where they draw the light sabers!!  I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy!
Lisa

What does a nosey pepper do?

Prepare to laugh.  Uproariously.  OK... maybe not but my students sure seem to eye roll a lot when I do one of these.  Pretty sure that they are laughing with me.  OK... maybe a little sure.  OK... maybe it's just me but this is one of my favorite things to do with my kids and they love them.

Several years ago I stumbled across the following Blog post:

It changed a lot for my students and classroom!  

Below is a brief explanation on how I do it:

Here is how I like to make a Math Worksheet into a Secret Phrase Scavenger Hunt:

I like to make it answer a corny joke although sometimes they know the joke. We occasionally have to alter the way we do the scavenger hunt by having them answer first then go do the hunt in the hallway. It varies by class. They like seeing the outcome of a joke or riddle. Pizzazz is always a great resource but sometimes I just want to use the WS I have or make a WS for a specific skill they need practice on. They also seem to find all the Pizzazz Answers online (GRRRR...) 

Doing it like this definitely adds to engagement and you can design it where they have room to work which is often my issue with pre-made puzzle sheets. I also add distractor cards of letters that are not in the answer, that way it’s easier for us to spot check as they are working.  This of course would be depending on your class!  Sometimes the distractors make it too difficult.  I tend to put them at the end of my template so I can easily separate.

The blog above likes to sometimes just make a random code or answer so it is not easily discernible.  My students seem to like the jokes and it gives them something to work toward.  I love the moans and groans when a kid inadvertently calls out the answer although we try and not have 'thunder stealers' :-) 

What I like most about these is the answers DO NOT FORM a LOOP.  That always seems to create a lot more difficulty for my students and for me helping them as well. 

First, I start with a corny joke.  Find one that has enough words or letters for each problem.  The students may know them so I always include a disclaimer about showing all their work!

The first time I actually took a 10 question assignment, drew some lines on it and made some wall cards.  After that, I created a template and it's been smooth sailing.  My absolute favorite one is the What does a nosey pepper do? unfortunately this was my first one and all jokes after are just downhill as I tell my students.  It's so cheesy though and I laugh EVERY. TIME. My students even laugh about it later on as they pass me in the halls after they have moved on to higher level maths.  It is just one and two step inequalities and could likely be used in intermediate now but my students always need a refresher.  Download for free here.   I've included both Word and PDF so you do not have to change any font formatting.  You also now have a template to create any you would like!

This is the student worksheet.

This is how the wall sheets appear.  If several classes are doing the same one, I recommend printing on different color paper to help monitor!

This one is graphing lines from Standard form.  Download here.  I only have the joke sheets in word because I edited a PDF for the WS.

Writing Systems of Linear Equations

I am always changing and adapting and will add any additional ones here in the same folder as above.  I'll try and update the blog when I do as well.


I also have a couple on Teacher Pay Teachers if you are interested. They involve Domain and Range and Functions and are quite extensive.  I have a had a great deal of positive feedback.  We actually use these as MAJOR GRADES.  They are 19 questions and I count the joke completion as 20.  On this activity we actually increased our turn in rate by 95%!

Domain and Range Function Scavenger 1

Domain and Range Function Scavenger 2

I hope you enjoy this brief post and the templates!  Please share if you create any or feel free to ask me if I have any others.  I love Pizzazz but just needed to spice it up some and allow room to work.  I'm also #thatteacher so the corny jokes only I laugh at seem to amuse the kids.  They like having that end answer and also being able to move around.

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! 

Thanks!
Lisa

Star Wars Systems of Equations Activity

Good Day Jedi!

This is a short post to share an activity I did and wanted to provide both versions.

Last Friday, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away outside Houston, Texas, I reached the pinnacle of my teaching career when I thought to do and created a Star Wars System of Equations from a lightsaber battle.  I am the resident teacher/Star Wars nerd of the school so how this has not occurred to me before, Understand, I do not!!

This is me Homecoming week.....

It was a little more difficult than I planned to have both lightsabers line up correctly and even at that, there could be some interpretation for Luke's on the bottom graph (it was my favorite picture so I was making it work).  Regardless, I thought it a fun and nice review of writing equations and finding solutions to systems of equations.

You may download the PDF or Word document.  I did it in PDF because I used the Star Wars font and wanted it to appear formatted correctly for you.  You may also download the Star Wars font for free here to use with the Word version.

When I did it in class, it went well and I got to use my new board tools from the Math Grant I'm in from UTMB in Galveston in collaboration with the Texas Regional Collaborative.

I am also wearing my Darth Vader necklace and bracelet to get in the spirit.  I couldn't do Vader because I couldn't blast the Imperial March through the halls since we had state retesting today :-(

After I tweeted this I had a couple other related items shared.  One was a Game of
Thrones Systems from Mariève Gagné.  The link for the Word version is here and the PDF here.

The other contribution was done in Desmos by Mme Garg.  She did a New Hope Desmos style with sliders and height referenced for Obi-wan:

You may access it here.

Thank you both for the additional activities for us to use.  I love new ideas and sharing and am thankful you both did as well.  I'm already brainstorming other ways to use this idea too!

And by the end of the day... I present Harry Potter Systems of Equations!  

You will need to be liberal with your accuracy here but it was super hard to find pictures of multiple wands.  One point is also not exact and they will need to use the calculator.  This is a skill we teach so I added it in.  If you do not like it, just change the axis to be the solution.  You may download the PDF here and the Word document here.  I also used a Harry Potter font which you can download free here to keep formatting.

And another.... General Grievous and all 4 of his Lightsabers!

These points are NOT exact and require the use of the calculator to determine the solution.  Both PDF and Word versions are available for download here.  For formatting in the Word documents, you will need to download the Star Wars Font from the link above.

Get my new Star Wars Systems Activity for free 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! 

Hope you enjoy the activities my fellow Jedis (or Siths depending on how you roll)!

Thanks,

Lisa

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