I found this website: http://www.sw-georgia.resa.k12.ga.us/Math.html We are required to use graphic organizers in each lesson at my school this year. I teach High School Algebra and am having a hard time. I'm moving into rates, ratio's and proportions but ideas or links on any Algebra topic.
Check out Dinah Zihkes foldables, she has a whole book of foldable graphic orgainzers for higher math. http://www.dinah.com/catalogpage/catalog.htm
Forgive me for sounding rude, but that's one of those all time stupid rules!!! Requiring teachers to put their notes into a particular format is beaurocratic nonsense. I'm teaching Algebra I this year as well, for the first time in a good 20 years. I looked at some of those graphic organizers; they're the same notes I would normally give, but arranged in a cutesy setup (for example, I did a whole chart with my kids on words that imply each of the 4 major operations. But it was a chart, not a graphic organizer.) Remind me to thank my principal on Monday for not falling for the latest educational mumbo jumbo. OK... that felt good. I do have several pages of verbal problems by topic: number, motion, investment... I'll be happy to email them if you want to PM me with your email address.
Our district has implemented Max Thompsons "learning focused solutions" I'll pm you ALice Thanks wldywall, but I don't want to pay for anything.
I just sent you the verbals. Also, check out the freebies at www.edhelper.com There are a lot of things there even for those who don't choose to subscribe.
go to her site, and you will find a way to get directions to some of her graphic orgainzers without paying....look in the archives.
DAve, I haven't done much new prep since summer. Anything that isn't a word problem I'm able to wing. (For example: absolute value inequalities: anything I make up will work out to something. So I do them as I go.) TG: It's a list of verbal problems I took from other sources over the summer. I'll send them to you now.
Ok Thanks Aliceacc The question is if you have students who DON'T take notes in the first place (nor in any other class) How do get them to use a Graphic Organizer? (and most of the ones that do just go through the motions.) In the past before the trend of Graphic Organizers started I use "creative notes" for individual students to help them. We are in a "one size fits all mode" SO everyone Has to do it one way, even our lesson plans have to be written JUST one way! Back in the days when I was in school (yes, we had paper back then) we were give many styles of note taking. I found outlining was my way of note taking. I can "put" a pencil in their hand. a piece of paper on their desk and they still will not do it. AND these are the students that keep our AYP down (Annual Yearly Progress). I find Graphic Organizers a "fun way" of taking notes, which brings me to my lament "Why do we have to entertain students in order to educate them?" Students "demand" to be Entertain. Sometimes I feel I need to have a red nose and big shoes to get them to even pay attention! :soapbox: I am not saying your lessons can't be interesting but it is like if there isn't "Fireworks" going off or "a dog and pony show" every single day the students just do not try (I mean the dog food and hay are getting expensive ). *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- That said: This week the math teacher on other 8th team and I have decided to go back and review fractions (fractions are on the 7th grade curriculum map but not on the 8th grade curriculum map), it will be math manipulatives, "kill and drill" & "Mr. Worksheet" 'till the sun goes down. Does anyone else have problems with middle schoolers that think fractions are "against their religion"?
IrishDave - even my 9th and 10th graders refuse to do fractions. If they come across and equation with fractions, they will skip it and accept getting the problem wrong before even trying. I've even taught the method to clear the equation in the first step by multiplying the whole problem by the common denominator first just leaving whole numbers to work with. Some got this concept and use it while many still would just rather have it marked wrong.
Many problems have fractions within them One variable problems, two variable problems, will have fractions! it is just so frustrating! .....x.... = 5 ..... Find x They give up .....5 I hope this looks right
Dave, with problems like the one you posted, I have them put the 5 on the right over a 1. They're fine with cross multiplication!
Yes Alice But They do not even get there, they "give up" before they even think of using what 'you' have told them! My students still argue with me that 5 does not equal 5/1! When I give the defination of a rational number (any number that can be writted as a/b, etc.) :crosseyed(ok I am exaggerating they don't all argue)
Try it this way: 5/1 is five Hershey bars, each of which is unbroken. The denominator tells us how many pieces each bar is broken into (1, since each bar is unbroken); the denominator tells us how many pieces of that size we have in hand (5, since we have 5 whole Hershey bars). Use pizzas, if you prefer.
(impenitently) Well, at least the discussion was still about math... (Such an ugly word, "hijacked"...)
Frayer Models, two column notes, word maps, these are all types of Graphic Organizers I'm looking for. I did a Frayer of the word Proportion today.It helps some kids while other complain. Off topic again, How many times a day do I have to hear kids say, why do we have to learn these algebra equations that we will never use in real life once outside of school?!?
What's a Frayer model? As for the perpetual "Why?", you can probably count on it every time you teach an algebra equation (sigh). But see if there's something in these that might help: http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/views/v7i11_math.html http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.why.math.html http://www.purplemath.com/modules/why_math.htm
Here's the answer I gave when my kids wanted to know: Algebra is one of the few very practical courses they'll take. We're taking the kids to Disney next summer. When deciding whether or not to take the meal plan, I was faced with an verbal problem: "Adults cost #39 per person per day, kids under 9 cost $19 per day. We're staying 6 days. Is the meal plan cost effective?" I had to take a look at the prices we would likely pay off the plan and compare them with the total the plan would cost. (And, yes, we got the meal plan. Life does NOT present you with equations. It presents you with situations where you have to take a look at the information, organize it, and decide what's relevant and what's not. Then you have to solve the problem. That's algebra.
Frayer has 4 boxes with the word in the middle. Top left box is the definition or examples. For Proportion I put "ratio = ratio". Bottom left box is an example "1/2 = 2/4". Top right box is characteristics. I put cross multiplication example here. Bottom right is non-examples. I put 2/3 is greater than 1/2, diagonals of rectangles, etc. THanks for the links and disney story!
