Integers in Elevation - Google Earth Activity

In my opinion, integers are one of the hardest things to teach. Trying to introduce the concept of negative numbers is a struggle. One of the ways we frequently see the concept of integer operations tested is in questions involving elevation. When I first introduced the topic of elevation and integers to my students this past year I got some knowing nods but mostly blank stares. I couldn't figure out why they were looking at me like I had just sprouted antlers until I realized -- most of these students have never been outside their neighborhood or city. I teach students who are mostly from lower income communities. These students have never seen the ocean so when I say "sea level" they don't have a picture in their minds to connect that with. They've never stared in wonder at a mountain in Colorado. They've never swam in the ocean and seen how water puddles in the marshy areas nearby.

I needed a way to build some prior knowledge with these kiddos so they could have a visual when they see these types of questions. I also wanted them to have a general knowledge of land forms and the wonders that are in this big, beautiful world. I needed a way to bring Mount Everest and the Dead Sea into our classroom.

Enter Google Earth.

I love Google Earth. I like that I can fly around to any spot on the globe. While this doesn't technically count as travelling, I can show my students some great spots in the world.

So, to teach integers and elevation I thought I could make a worksheet with different high and low elevation spots in the US and the World and ask them questions about it, so I did that. But, I wanted to take it further. I opened up Google Earth and began dropping pins in some spots I had found that were good examples of elevation.

 I added a description that included the country, an interesting fact, and the elevation. I also added a picture to help them add to their bank of knowledge.

I put all of the locations into a folder and saved it. I then created a blank worksheet that students will fill in as they follow the path on Google Earth and then answer questions about it.
I haven't used this activity yet. I plan on using it in the fall when we do our unit on Rational Numbers. It might take a bit of time, but I think it will be worth it to help my students build more real-world knowledge.

If you want to try it out, you can purchase the worksheets here (includes a blank copy to be used with Google Earth and a copy with the elevations already filled in for a less techy activity. Also includes answer key and directions page). If you don't want the worksheet but want to use the paths I created, click the links below to download. They should automatically start downloading as a .kmz file. Then when you click, they will open in Google Earth. (If you do not already have Google Earth on your desktop, they won't open. Download Google Earth for free here.)

If you try it, let me know what you think and how I can tweak it to make it better! For more Google Earth Activities, visit this website. They have great, free activities for teachers and I wish I was as awesome at Google Earth as they are.

Enjoy!


Google Earth Files: 
Part One includes 8 elevation spots in the US
Part Two are the highest and lowest points on the globe.
Part Three are some interesting spots in the world such as lowest known point under water, lowest on dry land, highest passable road, etc.
The Zip File includes all three Google Earth files and an instruction page.

Elevation Activity - Part One
Elevation Activity - Part Two
Elevation Activity - Part Three

Zip File with all three Activities and Instruction Page

Making Math Class Suck Less

Let's face it, math class can be boring. Taking math. Teaching math. All of it can be just plain boring. Math isn't a favorite for most kids and, after teaching math for a few years, I can easily see why. Every day is pretty much the same routine: paper, pencil, procedures, problems. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. It's a hard fact though, that kids need to practice the skills they learn in math class in order to develop fluency and ease with computations. However, with the increased attention to and pressure from high stakes standardized testing, math class can easily become an endless routine of problem-strategy-solve over and over and over. Students need to learn the skills...and they need to practice the skills...and they need to apply the skills in order to be successful on these tests AND to know how to do real-life math. Which is really the goal, right? We want students who can walk in to buy a car and not get taken advantage of. Students who can budget their money and calculate tax. Students who can build and create and manage and do all the other life skills that is touched by math every day.

They need to know these skills and they need to practice and apply their learning. So, how can we make it better. How can we do our job but make math class something that students don't dread. I don't have the magic bullet answer, but I have been trying to implement some new things over the last couple of years to make it a little better. None of these are groundbreaking and none will revolutionize your classroom, but maybe you can take one or two and try it to mix up your class a little bit.

1. Lose the Paper

Sometimes they draw a Pokemon. You just have
to let it go.

All day every day our kids are doing worksheets. All the time. My favorite way to mix it up is to go paperless for a day. Here are some ways to do that. If you have small, personal whiteboards and dry erase makers, let students do their work on the whiteboards. This saves paper and is more engaging. It also allows you to do a quick check for understanding. You can pose a problem, students work it out and then hold their whiteboards up for you to check.

Don't have personal whiteboards? Use the big whiteboard. Partner students up and give them a problem to solve. One person writes while the other coaches and checks. Don't have enough big whiteboard space? Use the windows. I'm lucky enough to have a wall of windows in my classroom and my students love doing their work on them.

If that isn't enough, most desks and tables can function as dry erase boards, but make sure you check. Not all desks and tables are erasable and it can make quite a mess....not that I'm speaking from experience or anything...

2. Lose the Pencil

Window writing. A great way to mix-it-up. 

Chuck the pencil out for a day, or for part of a lesson, and have kids just talk it out. Pose a problem and don't let them use their pencils. Let them talk about it, verbalize their steps or what they need to do. A teacher told me to try this and I honestly thought she was nutty. Turns out, it's great!
 Often students just grab a pencil and write down the first number and operation they see without thinking. Not allowing them to write makes them stop and think about what they need to do.  

3. Gameify

Create more games! Turn stuff into a game. If students are solving a problem, make it a race. For multi-step problems, turn it into a relay race where one student does a step and then they pass the marker. Anything to encourage competition! I created an "Olympics" type game for our unit on rational numbers and for an end-of-year review. Students are practicing the skill, but aren't just doing problem after problem. Trick them with competition!

4. Real World application

Middle school math has the great advantage of lending itself to real life more than any other subject (except maybe Science, but whatever). Bring real life into your math as much as possible. Percents, Tax, Discounts and Decimals, Integer Operations with football and elevation. Use Google Earth, use newspaper ads. Challenge students to find examples of math in real life. I offered extra credit or homework passes to students who took a picture of math in real life and wrote a short paragraph explaining how that photo represents math in real life. It cost me nothing, got kids thinking, and helped answer the "What can I do for extra credit?!?" question that comes up near the end of each grading period.

5. Get 'Em Moving

Scavenger Hunt around the room. Answers lead to the next question.

Get kids up and moving! Scavenger hunts are a great idea and so easy to create.  For multiple choice questions, post a big A, B, C, and D in four corners of the room. have students solve the question and then, after a countdown, have them go to the answer they chose. This is great to see who gets it and can also be really good for discussion. (Take caution with students becoming embarrassed for getting the wrong answer. Have a plan to help those kiddos by maybe doing this activity in "strategic partnerships")

6. Technology

Ah yes, the buzzword--technology. I don't cringe at that suggestion like I used to because I've seen what it can do to my math classroom. Even if you aren't one-to-one with devices, or your kiddos can't bring devices to school, there is a lot you can do with the technology already available in your classroom. Put a QR code on something, use apps and websites already available that make the job easy. Here are a few of my favorite ways to engage technology and use it in my room.

• Quizizz
• Socrative
• QR Codes
• Google Earth

7. Mix up the Voice

Have you ever recorded your own video lessons? This is a great way for kids to work at their own pace and have the ability to pause or rewind if they don't understand something.

With apps like ShowMe and Explain Everything, making videos is easy. It may seem like a lot of work, but after a few tries you will be a pro. If you have a team, you can split the work and each make a video for a different topic or question. This shares the load and allows your students to hear another voice! Here is a quick tutorial to using Show Me to make video lessons.

Video lessons with ShowMe.

I hope those were helpful to you as you finish out the school year and look ahead to the next and thinking of ways to make your math class suck less.*

Do you have any other great ideas for how to engage your students in learning math?

*not that your class sucks. Mine does sometimes and I'm hoping to make it better. 

Test Prep: Self-Paced Video Review

What each station looks like. Station + directions.

So, despite my deep, unbridled hate for standardized testing**, we are talking test prep today. Two weeks of getting kids "ready". We buckle down and go. I hate the idea of sitting kids down and doing endless problems. They've heard my voice all year. I'm trying to mix it up a little. Here is something I'm trying in my classroom this year, we will see how it goes.

To review, I picked the topics that I know most of my students did not do well on this year. There were 8 main topics they needed to cover. For those 8 topics we picked 4 questions.

Always good to have a few extra copies lying around. 

 To reteach, we made a reteach video using the app "ShowMe." ShowMe hosts the videos you make so we linked those to a QR code and made a poster like the one here. It includes the topic, the two model questions, and the QR code for the video. Students have a packet with the stations in them, but their page includes two additional questions to practice and a QR code that links to the answer for each so they can self-check.

So, for 6 class days, students move at their own pace through the stations. They get a reteach, a practice, and the ability to self-check their work. The other days are spent on more of a whole class review, and the last day we do a QR Code scavenger hunt. 

Gotta love working together. 

This has worked pretty well, logistically, so far.Students are working at their own pace and still getting a review of the material. I am able to work with small groups of students and monitor everyone. One thing I have loved seeing as I walk around is students explaining to each other how they got their answer or asking each other for help. They have the right answer in front of them with the QR code. Instead of just getting an answer and moving on, they know if they got it right or wrong and, usually, they are asking each other for help if they got it wrong. It's fun to see them want to find the right answer.


So, if your well of ideas for test review is dried up, give this a try!

*These specific stations are not in my TPT store because the questions they cover are straight from our district (and I don't really want to give the whole world access to my voice as I do the videos). However, I have a lot more fun activities in my TPT store for both regular instruction and test prep (especially if you teach 7th grade math in Texas).

**Disclaimer: This needs to be said. I hate testing. I hate it. I loathe the current situation our state and country are in when it comes to the ridiculous amount of time, money and energy spent on high stakes testing that does nothing to assess what our students are actually learning and what teachers are actually teaching. However, as a teacher I want to do the best at my job and that involves testing. It does not mean I brow beat my students with standards and strategies; I truly try and teach MATH, not testing. But, two weeks a year we dig deep and review over what we have learned that year. I try and make it fun while also setting them up for success.*  This does not mean I spend time and energy coming up with cute slogans and changing the words to pop songs to get my kids "pumped." I try and better use my time (and theirs) to review what they need to know in an engaging way.

*Success as defined not by true knowledge, but the ability to navigate a labyrinth of tricky vernacular that better assesses testing skills than actual application of knowledge.

Probability Middle School Style: Barf & Rotten Eggs

Probability might be one of my least favorite topics to teach. The real-world applications are endless, but somehow all our curriculum can ask about is how likely one is to roll a 3 and land on green on a spinner. Real-life application: nil. Now, I don't know about you, maybe you lead a much more exciting life than I do, but I have never, not once, spun a spinner and then rolled a die and actually cared about the result.


I am trying to mix it up and get some more real-world application going on in this unit (perhaps a Vegas week!?), but until then, I am getting into the middle school mindset with a gross activity to teach probability with independent events. I got this idea from a Harry Potter themed baby shower (side-note, best baby shower theme ever!). Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (well, actually they are Jelly Belly brand "Bean Boozled" beans. Same dif.)


Here's how it worked:

Fair warning -- I've seen the "Canned Dog Food"
flavor gag a grown-man.

• I had one "Bean Boozled" game (with spinner) and three replacement packs (one for each of my other classes).
• I would spin the spinner and we would talk about the probability of getting each space. Then, we talked about the predicted number of each type of bean there was, given the total (at the end this led to a good talk of theoretical probability vs actual or experimental probability).
• I would then pass out however many beans there were of that flavor (to volunteers of course, no forced jelly-bean-eating here)
• They would eat their beans one at a time. We would recalculate the theoretical probability for each flavor as one was eaten
• As we went on we calculated the probability of getting three of the "bad flavors" in a row 

This was a great activity that engaged my students at their level: candy, gross things, watching their classmates (and teacher) gag. We did all the math on whiteboards (paperless, woot!) and all it costs me was the candy $2.99 for game, $1.79 for each replacement pack from Party City. Might have been cheaper at Wal-Mart). Not too bad in my opinion (and I am super cheap when it comes to buying stuff for my classes). 

So, if you need a fun way to engage your students in the topic of probability I recommend Jelly Belly's "Bean Boozled" game!

Making Math Real: Percent, Discount, Sales Tax

One of the things I love about teaching math is that there is so much real-world application. Along with Science, it is one of the only subjects where, most of the time, I can make real-world connections with my students.

One of the things I hate about teaching math, is that the curriculum so infrequently reflects this real-world connection. (Sidenote: I recently stopped my lesson on probability with a 32 second mini-rant about how I have never in my entire life flipped a coin then spun a spinner and cared about the result. Honestly, come on curriculum peeps)

During our unit on percents I tried to remedy this lack of connection. I chose to take a lesson that involved 10 questions on discounts and sales tax and open a "mini-mall" in my classroom. I'm sure other teachers have done this much more effectively, but I had one day for this lesson (and I'm cheap and wasn't going to go out and buy a lot of items for my students to purchase like some much-more-awesome-than-me teachers do).

This is a great activity you can use for your students with minimal set up and high engagement.

Here's how it works:

1. Split your class into groups of 4. Each group will get one "Amount to Spend" card. I chose to use QR codes so students wouldn't be fighting over getting the larger amounts. 
2. Each student gets one "Discount" card. 

After that it is pretty much up to you how to run it. Here is what I did..

1. Students go a few at a time to the "mall" (a table in the back of the room where all the items to purchase are laid out) and choose one item. I made several copies of the items so there was enough for everyone and several of the popular items were still available. 
2. In groups, students calculate the amount of their item by find the discount and subtracting it. **An alternative is to have each member choose an item and then the group decides how to allocate their discounts. This gets them thinking a little more. 
3. Groups complete the recording sheet. If they have more money remaining after each member purchases something, they decide together what else to purchase and return to the "mall"
4. I announce that the mall is closing and if they want to make any final purchases, now is the time.
5. After closing, groups calculate the amount they spent. Then they calculate the sales tax for their items and answer the discussion questions. I had my students do their work on butcher paper on the desks, because that's fun. They could do whiteboards or notebooks, whatever floats your boat.

I love that this brings in real world topics like budgeting, over and under spending, sales tax (and why you have to pay it) and so many other skills that many of my students are unfamiliar with, while also teaching the skills of finding percent and discount. 

This activity was super easy to make, but if you don't want to reinvent the wheel, it is available at my shop on Teachers Pay Teachers shop. Click the button on the right sidebar or click here. 

Enjoy!

Tis the Testing Season

Tis the season.

State testing is upon us.

I teach in a large public school district in Texas which means the next few weeks will be filled with kitchy slogans somehow incorporating the word "STAAR." ("Shoot for the "STAARs!" "Be a STAAR!" and so on...)

With STAAR and other state tests fast approaching, teachers, administrators, and specialists are working and straining to find engaging (yet structured) ways to review an entire year's worth of material in 2 - 4 weeks. The problem is, there are many students who have mastered the material, and many who did not and need to be retaught pretty much everything.

There are oodles of ways to go about reviewing and many activities to trick students into practicing their material. Here is one method I've used successfully.

QR Code Scavenger Hunt:

Here's how it works. Each student needs a recording sheet and maybe a partner because that's always more fun. Cut out the cards lengthwise so that there is an answer and a QR code together, and post around the room. Students can start at any question. They scan the QR code on the right and answer the question, showing their work on their recording sheet. Once they have their answer, they look for the card with that answer on the left side. When they find it, they scan the QR code on that card to get their next question. If done correctly, students should see all questions and end up where they started.

The first time I did this I had low expectations, but I was surprised! Something about the magical QR code goodness sucks them in more than just your regular, old scavenger hunt. Try it. It's fabulous!

(Shameless plug)

Available at TPT: 

6th Grade QR Scavenger Hunt (STAAR Review)

7th Grade QR Scavenger Hunt (STAAR Review)

And the low-tech, QR free option for 7th Grade

Mind the Gap: Student Paced Video Lessons

I teach 7th grade math at a junior high. At this school, we have two options for the "sevvies" as they join us from their cutesy elementary worlds: 7th Regular Math, 7th Pre AP math. Your higher-achieving students (or those with high achieving parents) opt for Pre AP and everyone else is slotted into regular. I don't mean this to say that those students in my regular classes aren't high-acheiving, quite the opposite for some. In a gentle way, some students who are in my class should be in Pre AP, but they may not have someone at home encouraging them to try for more or to challenge themselves, so they take regular math and it's a breeze for them.

I have other students who are, let's say, less than motivated; and who have been less-than-motivated for quite a while and are now drowning in the wide gaps in their math knowledge. Also throw in the mix students who work really hard and want to be successful, but just struggle with numbers. Next, add in a dash of  students who are new to the country and are just trying to keep their head above water as they are learning a new culture, language, education system and more. 

With all of that, I have a class with a wide range of ability, motivation, and knowledge and, as the Brits say, I need to mind the gap (I'm pretty sure that's meant in a very different context, but it sounds great in a British accent in my head, so I'm going with it). 

There is a wide gap between my high-achieving and my low achieving students. Between my native speakers and my language learners, between my motivated and my "ehs." I have one class in particular that is all over the place and I have been struggling with how to get a lesson to them...to ALL of them. 

So, I tried something that worked...pretty well. I used two pieces of tech for this to work: an app called ShowMe and QR codes.

If I am going to be out for a personal day or training, to make sure my kids get the lesson, and to make it easy on the sub, I will record the lesson using the Show Me app. I am cheap, so I use the free version of the app which is very limited in what it can do, but it gets the job done. Usually, I will take screen shots or pictures of the worksheet I am doing and will insert it in as a photo so I can model and write on it. Feel free to play around with it and I will work on a post with the ins and outs of Show Me because it has one feature I love. What I love about Show Me is that, when you make a video, you can host it through Show Me. That means, when you create a video, you get a link to that video you can send to others or, as I'll show in this post, attach to a QR code. Why is this great? With other programs, you will have to upload and host your video to another site, like YouTube. That's fine and dandy if you want your voice all out there on the internet, but not me, no way. And also, our school blocks YouTube which means the kids, the people who need the video the most, can't get to it. So, yeah, that won't work. 

First things first: Make your video. This day's lesson was learning to find the surface area of pyramids from nets. We had already learned how to find the surface area of prisms so it was kind of a review, or at the very least, most students could figure it out without a lot of extra instruction. So, I had 5 questions I wanted them to know how to solve, so I made 5 videos, one for each problem that showed me working them out and the steps to solve. Each video was 1:30 to 2 minutes long. After I made the videos, I emailed the link to myself and created a QR code for each link (if you don't know how to make a QR code, read here).

Choose your video from your dashboard on Show Me.
Click the arrow-box thing to share your Show Me video.
I usually email it so I have the link for QR codes or putting on class website.  

I then made a text QR code that when scanned would show the correct answer to the problem. 

Finally, I put it all together using Powerpoint (I wasn't making a presentation, I just find things are easier to manipulate on Powerpoint instead of Word). I included the text of the question, an image (if needed) and the two QR Codes, one for the answer, one for the video. 

I made one card for each question, each a half page and printed them out on color paper (because that's more fun...but certainly not necessary). I printed enough for students to work in partners. After introducing what we were going to do, I gave each pair a set of the 5 cards and an iPad (we only have enough iPads for pairs, at best). Students worked out the problem on their own worksheet instead of writing on the cards (ain't nobody got time to make sets for each class). 

When they got their answer they scanned the Answer QR code. 

Scanning the QR Code
(Have you tried to screenshot before the reader grabs the code? Not easy)

What will appear after scanning "Video Help" QR Code

If they got it right, they moved on. If their answer was incorrect I asked them to compare their work with their partners, see if they made a calculation error and try and figure out what they did wrong (I like a little self-discovery in math). If they still couldn't figure out where they went wrong, they scanned the code and watched the short video of how to solve. 

Guys, this was amazing. 

The more advanced students paired together, solved the problems, then got to business on their homework. They weren't bored and shouting out as we slogged through at a pace that wasn't good for them. 

The shy students who are scared to ask for help had the help in their hands. I could literally help 15 groups of kids at one time through the videos. 

Students who knew most of the problems didn't have to hear their teacher prattle on about how to solve, instead they got help on exactly what they needed help on. 

And, an added perk is that I had to speak significantly less that day since my "lesson" was on the videos and could just be replayed. Instead, I walked around and corrected errors as I saw them and offered assistance exactly where it was needed instead of a blanket instruction to all. Students could work at their own pace and have their individual needs met, which I find is so hard to get done in a math classroom, especially one as diverse in ability levels as mine. 

I hope this was helpful. If you have tried other methods to solve this problem I would love to hear them! Until next time, happy tech-ing!