Monday Must Reads: Volume 31

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!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MissMastalio/status/964603355787128833
 

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!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MissMastalio/status/964171692821147648
 

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!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/rickbrlw/status/964593486162006017
 

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!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MariaDunlapCJH/status/964572540231446528
 

Estimating Square Roots

Texas Math Teacher shares a creative way to help students estimate square roots that aren’t perfect squares.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/wendytiedt/status/964337539044773888
 

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.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/mthman/status/964256794460614657
 

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.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/rowmath/status/806312448634613760
 

Fabric Hexaflexagons

Kim Spek has blown my mind by sharing a step-by-step tutorial for creating a fabric hexaflexagon!

Image Source: https://twitter.com/kvdspek/status/965412168819728385
 

Which Inequality Doesn’t Belong?

Illustrative Math poses an interesting question: which inequality would your students say doesn’t belong?

Image Source: https://twitter.com/IllustrateMath/status/965345287240847360
 

Desmos Wall of Fame

I love this idea shared by Erin Schultz of creating a Demos Wall of Fame.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/schultzem/status/925818230907850753
 

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.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/Team_Maths1/status/964946955196620801
 

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.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/TMSDunnMath/status/930229655029895169
 

Algebra Area Puzzle

10ticks shares a fun area-based algebra puzzle for your puzzling enjoyment.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/10ticks/status/964439634066354176
 

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.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/kassiaowedekind/status/963908481702088704
 

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.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/HigbeesHeroes/status/963787628079443969
 

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.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/jmtishler/status/709370504403099648
 

Heart Puzzle

David Butler shares a heart-shaped puzzle he created for his wife for Valentine’s Day.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/DavidKButlerUoA/status/963908145885032449
 

Parallel Lines and Transversals with Popsicle Sticks

Have some popsicle sticks laying around? Check out this idea from Maria Dunlap.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MariaDunlapCJH/status/949321375516372993
 

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?!?

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MsMathLab/status/963813006122668038
 

Valentine’s Day Cardioid Graphing

Cassandra Valenti engaged students on Valentine’s Day by having them graph some cardioids by hand.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MathWithMrsV/status/963807869396291589
 

Candy Statistics

Steve Phelps shares some candy-based fun for your statistics lesson.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/giohio/status/963761642176688137
 

Finding the Height of a Rocket

Jessica Silas wins the award for coolest use ever for a clinometer.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/JessicaSilas17/status/963606162804477952
 

Food Deserts Activity

Caitlyn Gironda shares a great real-world application of geometry by examining food deserts.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/Caitlyn_Gironda/status/963515942125953024
 

Can it be a square?

Mark McCourt shares an interesting geometry problem from John Mason.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/EmathsUK/status/963352860766429185
 

Heart Pattern Block WODB

Parmenter Math shares an awesome heart-themed WODB.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/ParmenterMath/status/963154991816028160
 

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.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/jaegetsreal/status/962374852823969793
 

Compound Inequalities Example

Allie Webb shares a real-world example of compound inequalities.

Image Source: https://twitter.com/MsWebb16/status/962855494665883648
 

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?!?

Image Source: https://twitter.com/marielgm9/status/937260396708327429
 

Until next Monday, keep up the awesome sharing!

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