INTEGER CHIPS

Teaching adding/subtracting integers is sometimes a difficult lesson for students to grasp. I have used the integer chips(red/yellow chips) to give the students a pictorial view of the concept for the last few years and the seem to understand better when I demonstrated adding and subtracting using the chips.

I have an overhead set of the red/yellow chips which makes it very easy to demonstrate. Having the pictorial view is very beneficial for students who are visual learners. They are able to see the red chips represent negative and yellow represent positive. This is also great when explaining zero pairs to add or subtract integers. Subtracting integers appears to be harder than adding integers and when using the integer chips it is easier for the students to see that we're actually adding the opposite by showing them how we're doing it and not just telling them this is what is done!

The only down fall in using the chips is when problems consist of large numbers. Who wants to count out 25+ chips? Plus that can be very time consuming! So, just stick with smaller numbers when demonstrating with the integer chips.

If anyone has any other ideas about teaching integers please let me know!

Unifix for Pythagorean Theorem Proof

I had a student come in for tutoring this week because he was having trouble applying the Pythagorean Theorem. In an "aha" moment I pulled out the cubes to walk through the proof again with him (in class the students used the Pythagorean Theorem Model from the state's website). I could see the lights getting brighter as we created Pythagorean triples with the cubes and walked through solving for a missing side with the manipulatives. He had a break-through and did very well on his quiz the next day.

AngLegs

I've made lots of use of the AngLegs lately teaching SOL 7.7 . The are great to show the students how perimeter is like a distance and by pulling the sides apart we merely get a straight line. It helps them to understand keeping the units straight for perimeter vs. area. Also, I made a parallelogram with them, layed it flat on a table, and poured some beans inside....making sure they were flat and not piled. As I adjusted the shape of the parallelogram the students could see how the side lengths stayed the same but the area changed as the beans started to overflow the borders of the AngLegs.

Also used one of the Sir Cumference books and it went well with some students however, others were bored.

Tarsia

Tarsia is a simple computer program that allows you to create puzzles that students solve by matching. I used this during SOL 7.1. The student had to match fractions, decimals, and percents. One of the finished puzzles looks something like the image to the right. There are a number of different options and shapes.

Suffolk Schools will install the program with a tech request. I requested it one afternoon and had it the following morning. It's also available for free to download from the Tarsia website.

Most of the time I had the kids work in pairs and they loved it. They've been bugging me to make one for area & perimeter.

Real World Shocker

As part of an incentive program in my clasroom, my students earn "Pittman Bucks." I have made a money template with my picture on it and I have denominations of $1, $5, $10, and $50. At the beginning of the year I explain to the students that coming to school is their job and therefore they should be paid for it! I give them a weekly "pay check" of $50 and they earn money for various other activities as well. They can also lose the money for breaking rules or not doing all of their assigned work for the week. I have also thrown in a monthly "bill" of rent in the amount of $60. Boy do they love that! At the end of the nine weeks they have the opportunity to buy things in an auction. Well, today I broke the bad news to them. I informed them that as good American citizens it is their duty to pay taxes. As you can imagine, they were not to pleased! (Don't feel too badly for them though, it's only a 10% tax.) They then had to calculate and pay me their tax money. Each student has a money envelope and on the outside they have a basic check registry that they have to use to keep track of what they earn, lose and spend. Shockingly enough, most of them have great difficulty maintaining an accurate balance. All of this falls into SOL 6.8, consumer applications, not to mention the basic life skill of balancing a checkbook.

Quadrilaterals with Anglegs

I taught a lesson to a 4th grade class on quadrilaterals, using the anglegs. The students were in groups of 3-4. At first, each student had four anglegs of the same color, but each person in the group had a different color. We talked about the shapes they could make and what those shapes were called (square and rhombus). The students formulated rules for their squares and rhombi. We also discussed congruent and noncongruent. Then I had each student take their shape apart and pass two of their anglegs clockwise to the next person. Some students constructed parallelograms and some constructed kites. We discussed the similarities and differences. Next, I had the students who had created the kites change theirs to parallelograms. We compared rectangles and parallelograms and the students again formulated their set of rules. The students loved using these manipulatives!

Math Ticket

Hello everyone,

I recently did a math ticket with my students as a review for their nine weeks test. The students really enjoyed it. The were given a 3 by 3 like bingo card with nine topics of choice on it. They were to choose one square from each row and work on each topic. They were given several days to work on it in class. The students really enjoyed it because they had a choice on what to do. It covered topics such as percent, fractions, and decimal conversions, tips, tax, discounts and simple interest, order of operations, interger models, and math properties. The only thing I see myself doing differently the next time it only allowing them to complete it in class. All of the students worked on it, but when it came time to turn it in some were misplaced or lost because they were also allowed to work on it at home.