Factoring Practice #made4math

I had blogged last Thursday that I thought my Algebra 2 students would do pretty well on their factoring assessment on Friday. Guess I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch... It's not that they did badly, for they didn't, but they didn't do as well as I had hoped and expected. I really want them to have a solid factoring foundation as we proceed through the year. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take the math placement test that many colleges use to decide where students place into college mathematics. One of the biggest things that struck me was how many problems used factoring as a part of the process in solving the problem. Now that I have seen that, I want to make sure my students have that solid foundation in factoring. I decided that I would hand back their assessments on Monday and then set them up into groups of 4 (and some 3s) to work through 6 stations for 5 minutes a piece.

Here are the 6 stations:

Station 1 - Correct their Assessment
I have set the groups up so that at least one person has mastery of factoring (or very close if I didn't have enough in a class). I want them to actually rework the problem(s) they have missed so they can figure out what they did wrong.

Station 2 - Multiplying Polynomials
I used something I found in the Row Games Box Files I have access to. I have adjusted it for time.


Station 3 - Factoring using GCF
I have a match puzzle that I am using here. Students will have to factor the problems and match them to the answer to create a 3x3 square.


Station 4 - Factoring x^2 + bx + c
I set up a Four in a Row Game - students will play in pairs. They will draw a card, factor it, and then mark their initials on the card where the 2 factors are. First to get four in a row wins. This file has 2 different cards for the same set of factoring problems. The factoring problems are on page three - top half goes to page 1 and 2 cards, bottom half goes to page 4 and 5 cards.


Station 5 - Factoring ax^2 + bx + c
This came from @algebrainiac1, who responded to my tweet after their assessment with several ideas. This game is called "Old Poly" and I am assuming it's based on "Old Maid." Directions are on the first page. I did leave a full page of blank Old Poly cards if you wished to add cards.


Station 6 - Factoring by Grouping (2 and 2)
I did an "I have, Who has" for this one. I think @algebrainiac1 had suggested it also. I did add the directions at the end.


Hopefully, this will help students review the concepts well before reassessing, which will be on Tuesday. I hope this helps someone out. If you cannot download the files via box, feel free to email me at lmhenry9 at gmail dot com and I'll be happy to email you the word document(s).

Monday update - I originally thought it would take them 5 minutes a station. I underestimated the time. These can mostly be done in 10 minutes. 15 minutes would probably be better. For Old Poly - I have way too many cards and would probably adjust that number down in the future.

#made4math Monday, August 13, 2012

I'm on vacation when this posts, but I did manage to get a #made4math done before I left.

In June, when I left school, I had talked to my principal about not using a textbook. She was very supportive but would like me to watch the paper usage. In fact, she'd really like me to work on teaching them how to take notes and she likes Cornell Notes. So, I had tweeted looking for help. Enter my good friend Shelli to the rescue! They do AVID at their school and Cornell Notes is an integral part. She had posted this great post about how to use Cornell Notes and included a bookmark for students to use. Well, like so many other #made4math posts, I've taken her idea and improved it....

First, here's my file:


I used other fonts that didn't save well - obviously take and modify them as you wish. I have two classes this year - Algebra 2 and Math 2. The ones you will see are the Algebra 2 ones.

1) Modify the file as you wish - with your contact information, etc. I got the SMART Questions from this website (several of you have pinned it - this is the actual website).

2) Print on cardstock.

As you can see, the card stock does warp a little when it comes out of the laser printer.

3) Cut. I have the file set up for 1/6" margins on either side of the 2 1/2" textbox. Enter my Fiskars 12"x12" rotary paper cutter. I cut at 5 2/3" and 2 5/6" (approximately) as marked on my guide below in blue.

So, this is what you have:

Shelli had you hole punch them and you're done.

But, wait, there's more! I got a new toy!

It's a Purple Cow 13" Hot and Cold Laminator. I got mine at Pat Catan's (a local craft store) for $30. As you can see, I got a great deal! So, continuing...

4) Turn on laminator. Put bookmarks into lamination sleeve and laminate.

5) Now cut and hole punch and you're done! I was not as precise as I'd like when cutting. I will have to do a little better on the rest of them. The top and bottom don't matter as much - it's the sides that should be nice and clean.

And there you have it - nice, LAMINATED Cornell Notes Bookmarks that should last. Again, a little time consuming, but they look great! (Yes, I'm a little biased, here, I know.)





#made4math Monday, July 30

We were having the discussion on Twitter about paper gradebooks. I create mine in Excel. So, without further ado, here is my #made4math Monday.

I do Standards Based Grading in my class. We also have to keep track of attendance for our students can lose credit if they have missed more than 18 (unexcused) days in my class over the course of the year. To help our administrator, we are to submit paperwork when students have missed 10, 16, and 19 days in our course. Our grade book does not do a great job when it comes to attendance, so I keep a paper copy as well. I print one of these for each class at the beginning of the year (each tab has each class in it) and type the students' names into the document. I can add names at the bottom easily if new students come in. In each block, I write the date absent. When we get the report back from admin as to what days are excused/unexcused, I circle in red the dates that are unexcused so that when I go to do the next set of reports, I can tell which days count.



I am hoping that this won't be as necessary in the upcoming school year since we are getting a new grading program, but if it is, I'll be ready.

The second Excel file I have to share is the file I print my grade book from. I have one tab for each class and at the beginning of each nine weeks, I make sure that my student list is accurate and type in the learning targets, starting with the first one I am grading that nine weeks. This has where I started at the beginning of the fourth nine weeks.



Under each learning target, there are 4 boxes to record scores. I write in the scores the students earn and then transfer them into our electronic grade book. You may wonder why I keep a paper gradebook. The main reason is that I am a little paranoid about our computer gradebook. There have been times when I have gone to enter grades and the internet is down or slow. If I am having trouble entering the grades, I can wait until a better time. In addition, I tend to be slow about entering reassessments into my computer. However, with a paper copy, I can see how many times a student has reassessed a certain learning target and I like being able to see the trend of how my students are doing on reassessments at a glance. I guess I'm still a bit old school in feeling more comfortable in having a paper copy, which is actually kind of ironic since I have used an electronic gradebook program for as long as I have been teaching (20 years!) and at the time I began teaching, that made me on the cutting edge...

Both Excel documents are set to print gridlines. I have also added borders to make things a little clearer for me (especially in the gradebook). Please feel free to download the files from box and use them as you see fit.