Using Advertisements to Teach Logic

It’s always fun to show students examples of logic “in the real world” when we begin talking about proofs.  I really like the old Direct TV commercial that is basically one long conditional statement in the form of “If you give a mouse a cookie…”.  

This is a project I’ve done with my students in the past.  It’s interesting to see what kind of advertisements they come up with.  First, students find an ad.  Honestly, the best ones are ripped out of magazines.  Then, they answer the questions about the ad.  The example that I would put on the back of the assignment was a Sketchers ad with Kim Kardashian.  When I hand out the assignment, we  go over this ad together and talk about the implied messages the ad is sending.  Then, students come up with conditional statements.

It’s just a quick project/homework assignment, but it keeps my students from asking “When are we ever going to use this?” when we start proofs.  Anything that keeps whining about proofs to a minimum is great in my book!

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Unit Circle INB

I was hoping I would get to use this interactive notebook page idea next year.  I'm a little sad that I won't!  I was secretly hoping to teach pre-cal next year...not sure why...

I found this small unit circle from Jean Adams on TpT.  It's a free download.  I like that it's small enough to fit in the notebook and still has room to label all of the important information.

I also drew a little coordinate grid to help students remember where the x and y values are positive and negative.  Sometimes it's nice to have a quick reference.

Leave a Comment algebra 2, interactive notebook, pre-calc

Function Operations INB

It's not a foldable, but I really like this interactive notebook page idea.  I (secretly) look for excuses to get out markers.  This page has colors that actually have function.  I've posted before about using color with a purpose, which basically means having students color-code their notes.

One nice thing about this page is that you can change the example problems based on the class period.  I always seem to have class periods that struggle and class periods that fly through things.  You could use different examples throughout the day, depending on the class.

Leave a Comment algebra 2, interactive notebook, pre-calc

Calculating Slope from Two Points Activity

I have a huge folder with lots of unfinished blog posts in it, so I think it’s time that I start posting them!

This is an interactive notebook page idea for calculating slope from two points.  Students should have notes on the left side of the page, and on the right side of the page, they have have this practice activity.

I will probably use this next year with my algebra 1 kids.  I may make little pockets for the slopes though.  Then they can practice sorting and resorting the slopes instead of having them glued in.

I really like that this has examples with a slope of zero and an undefined slope.  I try to include this in EVERY SINGLE thing I make with slopes, because students seem to still have so much trouble with it when they get to geometry.

You can find this activity here.

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Next Year's Plans!

So I thought I'd share a little bit about my plans for this upcoming school year!

I stayed home with my son this past school year.  I'm glad I was able to stay home with him while he was a baby, but it's time that I need to go back to work.  I will be teaching Pre-Algebra (7th grade), Algebra 1, and Geometry at a small private school.  I'm excited and nervous all at the same time!  I will be the only one teaching those classes and 7th graders are babies!  I'm also nervous about leaving my little one and balancing work life and mom life.

In my classes next year, I'm almost positive that I'm going to dive headfirst into interactive notebooks.  I've given my students foldables in the past and I've created pages for interactive notebooks, but I've never gone "all in".  I'm trying to get everything sorted out in my head and think about the procedures to get the cutting and gluing done efficiently.  My new classroom is very, very small, so I don't have much room to play with.  There isn't even room for a teacher desk!

I hope to post as much as I can about my interactive notebook journey throughout the year.  I want to share lots of my pages so you can get ideas.  I've been saving lots of ideas from Pinterest and Teachers pay Teachers.  I have this foldable bundle from 4 the Love of Math that I think is going to be SO helpful.  I think I'll be able to use some of it for Pre-Algebra too!  I've also been creating more foldables now that I know I will need later.  I have a foldable growing bundle already, but I have plans to double the size in the next month or so.  I've been dabbling in writing a full curriculum for geometry, and have a couple new units to post, but I won't have the entire thing done in time for the new school year.

Any ideas for a tiny classroom?

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