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Happy Monday! It’s President’s Day here in the US which means a day off at my school. And, let me say that this day off is much needed. We haven’t had a single snow day this year, and I’ve really missed having a few unexpected breaks during the school year. This was originally supposed to be a professional day for us, but we get the day off since we attended a PD day during the summer that counted for today.
Once again, I’m compiling a list of the great ideas I ran across on twitter and in my RSS reader this week. I hope you enjoy this week’s “Must Reads.”
Simplifying Exponent Expressions Graphic Organizer
Liz Mastalio shares an awesome graphic organizer that I will definitely be stealing if I ever have to teach exponent rules again! My students used to never know when they were done simplifying. I can’t believe I never thought to give them a checklist!
House Points for Conferences
My school struggles to get a good turn-out for parent teacher conferences. We’re always looking for ideas that will get parents in the building. Liz Mastalio tracks how many students/parents came to conferences by breaking them down by their house. LOVE this idea!
Immigration Project
I’ve been super-impressed with the immigration project that Rick Barlow has been having his students complete. Check out more information on Rick’s blog!
Slope Toothpick Activity
Maria Dunlap modified a slope activity that I posted on my blog last week to involve tooth picks, and it made the activity at least ten times more awesome!
Estimating Square Roots
Texas Math Teacher shares a creative way to help students estimate square roots that aren’t perfect squares.
Million Dollar Project
As teachers, we often complain that our students are out of touch with the reality of the world around them. Ron King’s Million Dollar Project works to tackle this problem by opening students’ eyes to the realities of paying for college, buying a house, buying a car, budgeting for vacations, and researching charities before donating to them.
Evidence of Struggle Bulletin Board
Nico Rowinsky shares a photo of an awesome bulletin board. I love this idea of showing off students’ struggles instead of rewarding students who completed the task quickly on their first try.
Fabric Hexaflexagons
Kim Spek has blown my mind by sharing a step-by-step tutorial for creating a fabric hexaflexagon!
Which Inequality Doesn’t Belong?
Illustrative Math poses an interesting question: which inequality would your students say doesn’t belong?
Desmos Wall of Fame
I love this idea shared by Erin Schultz of creating a Demos Wall of Fame.
Integer Arithmogon Puzzles
Team Maths shares another awesome resource by Don Steward. These arithmogon puzzles give students critical practice working with integers! Be sure to check out Don’s entire post here.
Solving Equations Cup Tower Activity
Need a fun practice idea? Check out this activity from Erin Dunn. Students earned a cup for each equation they solved correctly. The final challenge? Build the tallest tower possible.
Algebra Area Puzzle
10ticks shares a fun area-based algebra puzzle for your puzzling enjoyment.
Valentine’s Heart Puzzle
I know Valentine’s is now a distant memory, but I can’t keep from including this creative Valentine that Kassia Wedekind‘s daughter received from her preschool teacher.
Math Pun of the Day
Shera Higbee brings out the creativity in her students by posting a student-created math pun on the board each day.
Facts about Pi Kahoot
Planning for next month’s Pi Day? Jacqueline Tishler shares the idea of engaging students with a kahoot on pi facts.
Heart Puzzle
David Butler shares a heart-shaped puzzle he created for his wife for Valentine’s Day.
Parallel Lines and Transversals with Popsicle Sticks
Have some popsicle sticks laying around? Check out this idea from Maria Dunlap.
Math Lab Valentines
Molly Hamilton inspires me. She created a twitter account just to share some awesomeness that her students created. How cool is that?!?
Valentine’s Day Cardioid Graphing
Cassandra Valenti engaged students on Valentine’s Day by having them graph some cardioids by hand.
Candy Statistics
Steve Phelps shares some candy-based fun for your statistics lesson.
Finding the Height of a Rocket
Jessica Silas wins the award for coolest use ever for a clinometer.
Food Deserts Activity
Caitlyn Gironda shares a great real-world application of geometry by examining food deserts.
Can it be a square?
Mark McCourt shares an interesting geometry problem from John Mason.
Heart Pattern Block WODB
Parmenter Math shares an awesome heart-themed WODB.
Writing Equivalent Expressions Task
I love this question approach from Jae Ess where students are given the answer and have to create their own math problem to equal it.
Compound Inequalities Example
Allie Webb shares a real-world example of compound inequalities.
Pi Day Scarf
Mariel Mates wants to encourage crafty math teachers to knit or crochet their own pi day scarf that has rows of colors corresponding to the digits of pi. I’m not sure I will pull this off for this year, but maybe next year will be the year?!?
Until next Monday, keep up the awesome sharing!
