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Miss Grady's Geometry Blog

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Integrating Video and Audio into Lessons

Today’s technology has opened endless doors for classroom instruction.  Two of the many resources it provides for educational purposes are video and audio clips.  Video and audio clips have many uses in the classroom. Here are some examples of how then can enhance everyday instruction:

Providing instruction from a professional, from another educator, or to use when the teacher is absent

Enhancing instruction by showing real world application, examples, or history of a topic

Flipping the classroom

Activating a lesson to catch students attention

Providing extra help for struggling students or students who were absent on the day of instruction

Student presentations and sharing of work

Videoing lessons for teacher reflection

Resources:

Afrailov, A., (2012, April 2). Why Should Schools Use Videos in the Classroom. 

     [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BmedHkBCFs

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Angles with BrainPop

Miss Korilynn Grady                                                                                  

Class: Geometry

Chapter: 3- Angles and Lines

Lesson: 3.3 – Properties of Angles

Time: 46 minutes    

Assessment Prompts (What students must know to answer the LEQ):

AP#1: Students must be able to identify and label the parts of an angle.

AP#2: Students must be able to classify angles determined by their measure.

AP#3: Students must be able to measure and draw an angle within two degrees to the exact measure.

AP#4: Students must be able identify complementary and supplementary angles.

AP#5: Given one angle, students must be able to calculate its complement and supplement angle.  

Standards:

CC.2.3.7.A.2

Visualize and represent geometric figures and describe the relationships between them.

Materials: Student iPads, Evernote 3.3 note taking guide, BrainPop, Show Me App for whiteboard practice

 Lesson Essential Question:

How do I classify types of angles and describe angle  relationships?

Activating  Strategy:

Time: 2 minutes

Bell-ringer: Students will work with their group to  find the best estimated measure for three given angles.  They must also explain the process they  used to determine their estimations.  

Acceleration/Previewing: (Key  Vocabulary) Vocabulary is best learned if taught with direct instruction as a  preview and then re-taught in the context of the lesson.

Angle

Rays

Vertex

Acute

Obtuse

Straight

Right

Complimentary

Supplementary

Adjacent

Teaching  Strategy:

Time: 12 minutes

Students will watch the short BrainPop  Angles video that will review the keywords for this lesson.  Afterwards, students will fill out the  notetaking guide in Evernotes on their iPads.

 Extended  Thinking Strategy:

Time: 20 minutes

Group  Activities

Students will solve a       series of problems using algebraic expressions and types of angle       relations with their partner.       Answers will be displayed on their iPads using the Show Me App to       show the teacher to check for understanding (similar to a personal       whiteboard for each pair of students to show their answer when       prompted).  

Students will work with their partner to use BrainPop MAKE-A-MAP to show the relationships       between the key vocabulary learned in this lesson.  

 Summarizing:

Time: 6 minutes

Students will individually play the  BrainPop Sortify game where they will label bins and then group the types of  angles by placing them into the bins.

 Lesson Reflection:

Find more lessons available at BrainPop here! 

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Spread Kindness

The world would be a much nicer place for everyone if we lifted each other up and people were just kind to one another.  There is never an excuse to be mean or bully another person.  Words and actions hurt, and you never know the struggles that anyone else is going through.  

My district has joined Rachel’s Challenge in the movement to spread kindness.  The program is run by the family of Rachel Scott, the first victim of the Columbine School shooting in 1999.  The organization is a non-profit and was created in the memory of Rachel’s caring spirit.  They provide presentations and events to help build positive school environments and communities that are free of bullying.  

Here is a video introduction provided by Rachel’s Challenge:

Click here to learn more about Rachel’s Challenge

Let’s start a chain reaction of kindness! 

References:

Rachel’s Challenge. Retrieved from http://rachelschallenge.org/

[hhsgeometrygrady-blog]

Triangle Inequality Lesson with Socrative

Class: Geometry

Unit: 2- The Language and Logic of Geometry

Lesson Essential Question (LEQ):  How do I determine whether or not three side lengths can create a triangle?

Time: 46 minutes    

Assessment Prompts (What students must know to be able to answer the LEQ):

 AP#1: Students must be able to use the triangle inequality postulate to determine whether or not three side lengths can create a triangle.

AP#2: Given two sides lengths, students must be able to determine the possible values of the third side.

Standards:

Standard - CC.2.3.7.A.2

Visualize and represent geometric figures and describe the relationships between them.

Standard - CC.2.3.HS.A.3

Verify and apply geometric theorems as they relate to geometric figures.

Standard - CC.2.2.HS.D.8

Apply inverse operations to solve equations or formulas for a given variable.

Materials: 2.7 Flipchart, Lesson Master 2.7A, bag of straws with appropriate lengths and colors as per the activity chart (1 pack per group), Activity sheet (1 per student), student iPads with Evernote, Socrative, and Show Me applications

 Activating Strategy:

THINK-PAIR-SHARE:  Students will work independently for approximately 2 minutes to solve the bell-ringer.  They will discuss their answers with their partners for about 30 seconds and explain their reasoning (use drawings), and we will then share our results as a class.

Key Vocabulary: Triangle Inequality Postulate

Teaching Strategy:

Group Discovery Activity:

1) Students will work in randomly selected groups of 3-4.  Students should join their group and find a place to work somewhere around the room (will need a flat surface to work on).

2) Each group will be given a bag of straws.  Each straw is a different length and color (see corresponding chart).  As a group, students will complete the data chart by using the straws as manipulatives to determine whether or not the given side lengths in the first column will create a triangle.  Students will fill out the chart using the Show Me App by taking a picture of the chart on the board with their iPads, uploading it to Show Me, filling it out, then screenshot to add into Evernote.  If students finish early, they may try additional combinations of side lengths in the blank rows of their data sheet.

Below is a photo of what I display on the board for the activity and also the data sheet.

3) After trying each of the side combinations and determining whether or not a triangle can be made, student groups will analyze and discuss any patterns or relationships they notice between the side lengths that worked and did not work.  A class discussion will follow once all groups have made a conclusion.

We will then come back together as whole class to take notes on the Triangle Inequality Postulate via the Evernote App.  Students will download the note taking guide and fill in the blanks from my presentation on the Promethean Board.  

Extended Thinking Strategy:

Group Challenge: Suppose we have two side lengths of a triangle- 32 feet and 45 feet.  Write an inequality that describes possible lengths for the third side (HINT: use your inequality formulas given by the Triangle Inequality Postulate!). 

Summary:

Student groups will play the Space Race game in Socrative to check for understanding of the Triangle Inequality Postulate.  Students will answer seven multiple choice questions that give three sides lengths and they must determine whether or not they would make a triangle (this time without manipulatives).

 Homework:

2.7 Lesson Master

2.8- Read, KWL, & CTR questions

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Technology Utilization

During my first couple of years as a Geometry teacher, it was a struggle to make it through all of the class notes and examples in one class period, let alone give my students time for extended thinking and applying the new knowledge to real world tasks.  My high school then issued a 1 to 1 iPad initiative that provided each student a school issued iPad for the academic year.  The first thing I did was contact our district’s Integrated Technology Coach to find an app that could be used for course notes.  She recommended Evernote.  I converted each of my class flipcharts (ActivInspire) to Evernote with fill in the blanks for key words so students were still engaged during the process.  I was also able to add in pictures of all of our class examples and activities (this was such a struggle in the past because some students would do it so sloppy that it couldn’t be read or it would take forever to draw them in their notes)! Students can type or draw on the pictures to complete them once they are added.  Evernote has been a life saver for my Geometry course!  We are still able to discuss the important content with time left for applications and real world based projects! 

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TED-ED Lesson

It is that dreaded time that all of my Geometry students fear… Time to introduce mathematical proofs! They often enter my class on the first day of school and are already concerned about them!  In addition to teaching students the ability to plan, write a logical argument with justifications, and problem solve, proofs are the basis to everything we know and take for granted in Mathematics.  My TED-ED lesson introduces the need for proofs and how they relate to everyday life.  The video is followed by a series of questions to check for understanding, a class discussion, and then a journal post reflecting on how students can use the properties of proofs in their own lives.  Click on the link below to check it out!

https://ed.ted.com/on/S8qFQbwH