Interactive Notebook Survey

I didn't want to wait until the end of the year to give out a survey for our interactive notebooks.  After their quiz today, I gave them this to fill out.  Here's a screen shot...

Of the 33 surveys, here are a few things I found out...

- Question #1 - only 16 said they had 100% completed!  That's sad!

- Question #2 - a one, no twos, 16 threes, 12 fours and 4 fives

- Question #3 - 7 ones, 13 twos, 11threes, 2 fours and no fives

- Question #4 - a one, 2 twos, 5 threes, 13 fours and 12 fives

- Question #5 - no ones, 2 twos, 10 threes, 13 fours and 8 fives

- Question #6 - Triangle Vocab Puzzle, Law of Detachment/Law of Syllogism, Parallel Lines Flashcards, Triangle/Angle/Side Congruences, Equilateral and Isosceles Triangles, Conditional Statements, Classify Triangles Cut Out Activity, cute little folders for vocabulary, Triangles Congruences wkst (Math Teacher Mambo's Worksheet), Sum of Angles in a Triangle, Exterior Angle/Remote Interior Angles, calendars - I got to customize them to my personal liking).

- Question #7 - Most liked them all, but some said: Triangle Congruences, Proof Reasoning, Distance & Midpoint, Biconditionals IFF, Constructions, lots of vocab in first unit, Segment & Angle Addition, Parallel Lines Flashcards, Table of Contents (student says, "I get off track"), Exterior Angle/Remote Interior Angles.

- Question #8 - Most wouldn't change anything, but some said: the words would glow in the dark (that would be awesome!!), there would be more cutting and gluing, table of contents (not sure what they didn't like exactly), having to number the pages, start putting it in a binder instead of a notebook (spiral) because its not as sturdy and you can't add paper if you need to (we haven't needed to add paper, but I think they may have pulled some out for other assignments), add more notes writing down step by step what to do (good idea!), how much work we do in it like how thick the back is (vocab section), never to have flashcards in it again - I'm anti-flashcards (we only did them once! LOL), that it wasn't for a grade (I give them 2-3 days notice that I am grading it and take it as a quiz grade. This is from the student that admitted to only having done 25%, doesn't have a most or least favorite activity, but Q#4 was a 4 and Q#5 was a 3.).  And my favorite comment: Nothing. You're doing a good job.  It helps me practice and keep well-organized notes.  SUCCESS!!! 

I guess in every survey, you have a couple that Christmas tree it or leave blanks, but overall they have great feedback.  Glow in the dark words would be a super addition, but probably not real practical! Next year, I will continue to use 3-subject spirals, but will suggest the ones with plastic covers.  (I recommend that they keep it in their 3-ring binder, but many choose not to, causing it to get rather beat up.)  I don't want them to be able to add paper because it takes away from their ongoing organization, but they also need to learn not to pull paper out of it.  Grading will still take place as is.  Sometimes assigning a grade keeps kids working, because they know the assignment has value.  Some of mine will do it because I assign it, but those are a small portion.

Equilateral and Isosceles Triangles

Let me start by saying that I will be changing this lesson before I use it again!  I thought I could teach it off the cuff as I have in years past, but I found that I was teaching it differently and better the second time I taught it.**  My INB shows what I taught my first Geometry class of the day.  As I have written 5 blog posts today, I have learned that simply by typing an explanation helps me see things I would like to change, whether it's the name of the activity, directions, overall design, etc.

The good:
-each triangle is folded in half (altitude, twin triangles)
-the terms equilateral and equiangular are broken down (equi means equal, etc.)
-each triangle is glued only on the left side
-formula for side of the 30-60-90 triangle in the equilateral one.
-I questioned the 2nd class about the meaning of altitude and they said height, so I used the example of altitude of a plane being measured straight down (90 degree angle to ground).
-discussed angle bisectors and segment bisectors

The bad:
-triangles were too small
-should've use a, 2a and a radical 3, instead of a over 2, a and a radical 3 over 2
-I didn't explain altitude as well during 1st class
-didn't even use the word symmetry

**I believe that teaching is different for each class to some degree.  My teaching is better when I get feedback from my students and that happens more often in the 2nd Geometry class of the day! 

Triangles: Writing Congruence Statements

To explain the basics of triangle congruence, I created an activity (2-up) for the INB.  I continue to push my kids into reading and following directions without me explaining them or them asking a million questions.  I do remind them to "read and follow each step before moving on to the next one".

I had pre-cut colored paper into 8 pieces so their 2 triangles would fit into the top two-thirds of the page.  I like using the brad to show them that the triangles will not always have the same orientation.

I think the next time we use this activity I might have them cut out the table at the bottom of the worksheet and glue it into their INB instead of having them drawing a table like mine above.  If so, I will have to revamp the steps on the activity.

Triangle Congruences Lesson

I have been struggling to find a lesson plan for teaching SSS, SAS, ASA & AAS for about a week.  I have been teaching geometry about 12 of my 14 years and have yet to find a lesson that I truly love, that my students buy into easily.  Early in my career, I went straight by the (text) book.  As a teacher that likes to use manipulatives, I have used straws and chenille stems to have them "discover" which of the 6 abbreviations actually worked every time.  That lesson works with certain kids and I didn't feel that this year's students would like it.  It seems every year the students get more and more resistant to reading and following instructions step-by-step!

So, as a seasoned procrastinator, I designed today's lesson last night, printed it out, revamp, printed again, then photocopied before school this morning on my famous colored paper.  I don't want to get too excited, but they seemed to like it and did well identifying all 6 shortcuts (including SSA and AAA).

Here's how the class period rolled.  As the students walked in, I told them to pick up one of each sheet. After attendance, I briefly explained congruent triangles and how they could be congruent by SASASA, but that we only needed 3 letters.  I let them tell me the 6 combinations.  I drew pics of 2 triangles for each, showing the appropriate tick marks.  At this point, I told them to cut out the 10 squares and place them on the other half sheet in the correct column.  As they worked, I walked around checking answers and moving the incorrect ones for them to try again.  Some had a couple wrong, some didn't even have but a couple correct.  For those, I explained one or two and they were able to get the rest correct.  If I gave them the go-ahead, they glued the squares down, then glued/taped the activity into their INB.


This activity can be found at my TPT store.


















After everyone was done, I explained that 2 of the shortcuts (SSA and AAA) were not guarantees that the triangles were congruent and that if something doesn't work every time, we don't use it in math. The next activity was a worksheet with 2 congruent triangles for each problem.  They had to identify the shortcut and the name of the triangle that was congruent to the first one.  The letters of the triangles were written at the bottom to complete a statement.  It is an awesome self-checking worksheet that I found at Math Teacher Mambo's blog and my kids really enjoyed it.

Classifying Triangles Vocab Foldable & INB Activity

One of the first lessons in our Triangle Unit is Classifying Triangles.  I handed out this vocabulary foldable and gave my students a chance to think about the definitions before we discussed them formally.  Their vocabulary foldables are glued/taped into the third subject of a 3-subject spiral.

After going over the definition and a few examples, I gave them this Classifying Triangles Cut Out Activity.  They always have me check their work before gluing anything down.  I tell them that I don't want to reinforce their misunderstandings!

Triangles Unit: Interior Angle Sum and Exterior Angle (Remote Interior Angles)

Last week, we returned to school after Christmas break.  Monday was a teacher workday, so I worked all day on grades and lesson plans for the week.  In googling ideas for activities, I came across this site.  There I found an inquiry style worksheet to help students discover the sum of the interior angles in a triangle.  The file I found was actually a key, so I created my own based on that and tweaked it to fit my interactive notebooks (INBs).

On Tuesday, I gave my students the worksheet and a half sheet of (their choice of) colored paper and a few minutes to work on the activity.  We had a discussion about what they found, then they glued it into their INBs.  They seemed to like it so much (or maybe that's just how I perceived it!), that I made another one for discovering the relationship between the two remote interior angles and the exterior angle for Wednesday.



Triangle Angle Sums Inquiry Wkst

This is what it looks like in the INB. 

Exterior Angle Theorem Inquiry Wkst

This is what it looks like in the INB.

Angle Types Foldable & Transparent Protractors for INB

As I was working on Geometry unit plans today, I came up with an activity.  This activity was designed as a vocabulary printable/foldable to be cut out and glued into an Interactive Notebook.  It features mini file folders with vocabulary words printed on the front.

There are 6 pages in the file.  There is a page for each of the 5 angles (acute, right, obtuse, straight and reflex), as well as a page of blank ones.  On each page, there are 6 labeled file folders with 2 extra blank ones at the bottom (didn't want to waste space!). The last page can be printed and used for any lesson in any subject.

I printed mine on different colors of paper, so each student would get one of each color.

You can download the file on my TpT site.

Here are some pics...

I have also been tossing around the idea to print protractors onto transparencies for each student.  Well, I stuck one of the transparencies for copiers in my laser printer and printed out 10 business card-sized protractors. I made a pocket foldable, typed "Protractor" on the front and "glue into INB" on the back, put 4 on a page and printed them out on colored paper.

You can download the file on my TpT site.

Here are some pics...

Student INB Calendar

In my quest to design an awesome interactive notebook for my Geometry students, I thought it wouldn't be complete without a calendar that students can use to write down assignments and due dates.  I created 16 pages which will be copied 2 to a page and front/back.  On each of these 4 pages, there is a page that has "glue to your INB" and 3 calendar months...see below...

Pages will be copied upside down from each other so that when you fold and flip August up, you will see September and October inside facing the correct direction.

I have taped them onto notebook paper and put them in a 3-ring binder.  Since I'm still designing the INB, I want to have the flexibility to move pages around and add them as needed.  My calendar pages will be at the back of the INB.

The calendar is Monday thru Friday, August to June.  I made it only weekdays to allow more space for each day.  You can get a zip file from my TpT site.  The file contains an Excel version (so that you can customize your events prior to printing), a pdf version (to print and allow students to write in all events) and a Word doc (explaining the printing, photocopying and gluing).

Composition Books

Last summer, I found a pin on Pinterest that said teachers can get composition books cut in half at Home Depot or Lowe's for cheap to no cost.

Well, while shopping at Walmart today, I had to peruse the school supplies (daughter rolls eyes and smiles knowingly) as they were being freshly stocked.  Then, I found this and had to take a picture... Cute, huh?  They come in lime, black, purple, pink and aqua.

Now in the next pic, you will notice the price!

Halfway down and across that aisle are regular sized composition books, both wide and college ruled.  They cost either $0.50 for plain marble ones or $0.97 for a little fancier ones.  The ones cut in half, which are the same number of pages, are $1.97!!!  Unbelievable!!  This is one of those instances that I would use to teach my students real-world lessons...are you getting the most bang for your buck, or buck ninety seven?!?!?!  I think NOT!!

Pre-Cut Paper Circles...WCYDWT?

Oh the possibilities of these pre-cut circles... I found these last week at Michaels Arts & Crafts for $5.99.  Middle School OCD said she found a pack of 100 at Lakeshore Learning for around $4 a few years back.  I looked in their store in Tampa last week and couldn't find them.  They also don't carry it on their website.

This year (and two years ago), I used paper plates (the cheap, unwaxed ones) and had my students demonstrate their new vocab and labeling of a circle.  Here's the activity and the picture of them hanging on 2 clotheslines the width of my room (60+ students/plates).  The 9 backwards plates on the left are waiting for absent students...

I think this coming year I will use these circles and display them temporarily before having students place them into the INB.  If they put them in their INB, I won't be able to have them use the back...just a thought...

Middle School OCD uses them as a hands-on activity to show diameter, radius, circumference and area on one circle.  On another circle, she demonstrates complementary, supplementary and vertical angles.

My ideas:
GEOM - central angles and their intercepted arcs, inscribed angles and their intercepted arcs, area of sector and circle, arc length and circumference, right triangles inscribed in a semicircle, cyclic quadrilaterals, discovering pi using circumference and diameter,

TRIG - unit circle - radians, degrees and coordinates

I'm probably going to have to make a trip back to Michaels because I have more ideas than circles!!
I will keep thinking... Leave me a comment if you have any suggestions!