Four Types of Slope Name Art Activity

I’ve come across the idea of creating four types of slope name art from multiple places online, so I’m not exactly sure who to credit.  Most recently, I learned of it from Pam J. Wilson and Mrs. Hester. 

It’s a variation on two activities that I did last year.  So, my students have been working on slope.  We started out by discussing the four types of slope. 

Slope Dude was a must for this!  Y’all are probably tired of hearing me go on and on about Slope Dude.  But, I just can’t help it.  My students think the video is stupid, but I can guarantee you that they will NEVER forget Slope Dude’s most infamous words. 

One of the new rules I’ve made in my class is that students are only allowed to say the word “undefined” if they say it like they are falling off of a cliff!  “UNDEFIIIIIIIIIIINED!”

So, last year, we classified the slope of each line segment of each letter of the alphabet.  I enjoyed this activity, but this year I wanted students to create something to keep in their interactive notebooks.  

This year, I have made it my goal for our interactive notebooks to be comprehensive.  Last year, there were a lot of gaps in our notebooks.

Last year, I also had students draw pictures and classify the slope of each line segment.  Again, it was a fun activity, but my students had barely anything in their notebooks regarding the four kinds of slope.

This year, I decided to have my students create what I deemed “Slope Name Art.”  On the next blank page in their notebooks, I instructed students to write their name as large as possible.  

The only caveat was that they could only use straight lines.  Any letters of the alphabet that would normally be written using curves would need to be modified.

I illustrated on the board with my own name.  Once students wrote their names, their next task was to classify the slope of each line segment.  I only classified the slope on the first two letters in my example.  

My students were required to do this for every single letter.  They were given the chance to write their first name, last name, or both.        

Once they had classified the slope of each line segment, I asked them to color-code their name.  Choose one color and highlight all the line segments with a positive slope with that color.  

Choose another color to highlight all the line segments that have a negative slope, etc.

In my notebook, I simply created a key that told which color represented which type of slope.

My students really enjoyed this activity.  It was almost a sort of competition between them.  “I only have one negative slope in my name.”  “Almost all my letters are made up of zero slopes and undefined slopes.”