Monday Must Reads: Volume 14

Happy Monday! For me, it’s an especially happy Monday because it’s only a two day school week. Granted, parent teacher conferences on Monday night AND Tuesday night will make for a two day week that feels incredibly loooooooonnnnngggg. I feel like Fall Break is something I definitely need in my life right now. School has been exhausting lately. Friday night, I fell asleep on the couch before 6 pm! I’m looking forward to the chance to rest and recharge so I can be the best teacher possible for my students.

Seeing what other teachers are in their classrooms inspires and energizes me, so I’m excited to share this week’s Monday Must Reads with you!

Here are the tweets and blog posts I found most inspiring this week!

Illustrating Diagonals of 3D Shapes

Hedge and Cononiah Watson combine a few basic household items to create a powerful visual for students regarding diagonals of 3-D shapes.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/approx_normal/status/918981568366043138

I especially like how David Butler points out the fact that giving students an item of a set length creates the need for taping two of the objects together to create the longer diagonal!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/DavidKButlerUoA/status/918985640988917761

Find My Rule

I’m always on the lookout for easy-to-implement classroom routines. I especially like this “Find my Rule” activity from Mrs. J M Clark. This could easily extend to so many topics!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/mrsjmclark/status/913448475316166656

Back to Back Activity

Mrs. J M Clark also shares what she calls a “Back to Back Exercise.” Students stand with their backs to one another and describe graphs while their partner draws them. Then, they turn around and compare how close they were.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/mrsjmclark/status/916280777033371648

Symmetric Artwork

Sally Watson shares some beautiful, mathematical artwork created by her students. It was inspired by the symmetries found in the Alhambra Palace. What a gorgeous classroom display!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/sallywatson77/status/918884571449569280

The Great British Biology Off

I love watching shows like The Great British Bake Off and The Great Australian Bake Off. So, I was super excited to see the twist that Rebecca Owen put on the traditional technical challenge with “The Great British Biology Off.” How fun to frame a lab as a technical challenge!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/owen_becca/status/918852196489486337

Solving Equations with Color Coding

Stephanie Fote shares a way to embrace the idea of “color with a purpose” while solving equations. LOVE it! I also adore her sign which I’m assuming can be flipped around to tell students whether or not they can use calculators for that day.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/ms_fote/status/918949921440587776

Angles of Elevation and Depression Matching Activity

Whenever I’ve taught trigonometry in the past, angles of elevation and depression have always been one of the trickier topics to teach. I’ve found that it’s hard for students to visualize what the diagrams should look like. So, I’m a huge fan of how Elissa Miller has engaged her students with a diagram matching activity!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/misscalcul8/status/918942676053053440

Lab Safety Bumper Sticker Competition

Mrs. Taylor hosts a bumper sticker design competition. Her chosen topic was lab safety, but this could be used for so many things. I love that each submission is given a number so that votes can be tallied to choose the winner!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MrsTaylorROMS/status/917442870541520899

Height vs Shoe Size Scatterplot

Kelsey Fladda shares one of the most awesome scatterplots I have ever seen made in a math classroom.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MissFladdaMath/status/827214821657604097

Irish Geometry Posters

I love seeing how math is taught in other countries. So, looking through these Irish geometry posters shared by Card Colm Mulcahy is a true treat!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/CardColm/status/918982845879799808

Number Talk Recording Sheet

Martin Joyce shares a photo of a resource he got from Lisa Bejarano. I used number talks for part of last year, and I felt like it was lacking a bit of structure.  I think a handout like this would be PERFECT!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/martinsean/status/919008702706810882

Bursting Balloons Activity

Reena Bhatti doesn’t teach math or science, but her twitter feed is still an inspiration to me as a math/science teacher. I would love to take this balloon activity and use it during our upcoming unit on relations and functions!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/reenateacha/status/884865315166924800

Inspiring Interactive Notebook Pages

I’m also super inspired by Reena‘s interactive notebook pages!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/reenateacha/status/880720326442799105

Stacking Cup Designs

Sterling Bristow takes the class cup stacking activity to a new level by having students create their own cup designs!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/BristowSterling/status/918928791551950848

Constructing Flags Activity

Sterling also shared a great construction activity for geometry students involving the flag of Nepal!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/BristowSterling/status/913880969878401024

Geometry Angle Projects

Elyssa Stoddard presents a fun activity for geometry teachers to use while working with angles.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/math_stodd/status/918899405830459392

100 Chart Review Game

Julie Morgan shares a fun and easy to implement review game on her blog, Fraction Fanatic. I love that this game can be used with ANY topic, and it doesn’t require any real prep time. Julie uses questions on cards that do take time to make, but in a pinch you could use any worksheet you found online!

Equations and Inequalities Playing Card Game

Lisa Smith shares a game for working with solving equations and inequalities that I would love to adapt for next year since I’ve just finished those topics!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MrsSmithNavo/status/918680819908120576

Marble Painting Polynomial Functions

Amy Klose offers up a fun introduction to polynomial functions. I’m not teaching a class that covers this topic anymore, but I’m keeping this idea in my back pocket for future use!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/amy_klose/status/909844806599356418

Function Detectives Lesson

Liz Caffrey turns her students into detectives with this fun function lesson. I’d love to see these stations to see how it works!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/AsymptoticLiz/status/918691185689899008

Pythagorean Theorem Parachute Jumping Activity

Melinda Golden offers up the most engaging activity I have ever seen for pythagorean theorem/distance formula. Students must drop two paratroopers and calculate the distance between them. It looks like the paratroopers are made out of coffee filters and yarn. How fun!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/Mrs_GoldenLCMS/status/918618329887199242

Modeling Atoms in Physical Science

Kate McNabb shares her students’ awesome models of atoms. I love the variety of materials used!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/k8mcnabb/status/918639832477454337

Witzzle Bulletin Board

Kristine Woodford took my idea of a Witzzle Bulletin Board and made it so much better. I designed mine to be a teacher-led activity for when we had a few odd minutes left in class. I love that Kristine made hers accessible to students at any time by offering the target number and a place for students to submit solutions!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MathWithWoody/status/918499571071717376

Coke vs Pepsi

Krista shares an engaging, real-world task involving Coke vs. Pepsi.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/kristaworth2/status/804050360046325760

Reusable Exploding Dots Machine

Exploding Dots has been taking over math classrooms all over the world this week. Justin Aion inspires with his reusable exploding dots machine made out of painters tape. Brilliant idea!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/JustinAion/status/918463833437503488

Talking Sticks

The NGSS Tweeps Twitter account recently shared a new-to-me strategy for promoting voice equity in the classroom.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/NGSS_tweeps/status/915247576735191040

Metallic Bonding Tag

Destinee Johnson gets students up and moving while learning about metallic bonding with a fun tag activity.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/msjohnsonchem/status/918237848951762945

Completed Mini Poster Presentations

Jen Winne was featured in Volume 13 of Monday Must Reads for her creative mini poster presentations. I was super excited to see the finished product on twitter this week! Plus, she even wrote a blog post with more information which you can find here.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/biobythemathmom/status/918109926546866176

Triangle Inequality Theorem Activity with Dice

Halcyon Foster uses dice and paper strips to create an engaging activity that has students exploring the triangle inequality theorem.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/halcyonfoster/status/917828280392101888

Here are a few more details about how this activity works:

Circle Vocabulary with Paper Plates

Gina Ging brilliantly uses a paper plate to teach circle vocabulary.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/KlineGina/status/865586987855728642

Similar but Different Equations

Stephanie Ling shares an awesome approach to teaching equation solving. I love the emphasis on solving equations that might look the same at first glance but are totally different.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/ling_stephanie/status/917892323249287168

Steepest Climb Slope Activity

Rick Barlow shares an awesome slope activity that has students comparing different climbs presented in as different representations. You should check out his blog for more details!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/rickbrlw/status/917873851320508416

Football and Function Notation Activity

Jennifer Williams combines football and functions for a fun activity. I need to get my hands on some footballs before we start functions in Algebra 1!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/jlwilliams314/status/915318281170571264

Growth Mindset Sticky Notes

Paul shares some awesome growth mindset statements to print on sticky notes.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/tips4teachingUK/status/917116783940816901

What is a Mathematician?

Casey McCormick asked her students to write about what a mathematician is. The results are priceless.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/cmmteach/status/917494796519849985
Image Source: https://twitter.com/cmmteach/status/917495465616203776

Uses for Desmos

Gwen Bergman keeps a running list in her classroom of all the uses they have come up with for Desmos!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/gwen_bergman/status/917482015401873414

And, that’s it until next week. Keep up the great sharing of ideas!

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3 Comments

  1. It is awesome, but I haven't even looked at a third of them yet! I might get to them all by the end of the month…

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