This is Day 1 of how I will be teaching Triangles this week.
With the new Texas standards this year, my 6th graders are supposed to already know the types of triangles, but they do not. So I really cannot spend any days on teaching classification of triangles, but I will.
Inquiry Question: How can triangles be classified or grouped?
Engage: Ask students where they have seen triangles or how could they be useful.
Explore: In groups: Cut out a sheet of triangles of all types and find 3 ways to group the triangles.
Allow students to share how they classified the triangles. (I expect that some students will already know the types of triangles, so this will be a way for me to assess who knows and who doesn't.)
After listening to student ideas, have them try again and find 3 other ways to group the triangles.
Explain: Glue notes into ISN giving definitions of triangles and watch this video.
Elaborate: Using the app Geoboard, students will make and explain all the types of triangles.
Evaluate: Write triangle riddles: I have 3 60 degree angle, I have 3 equal sides. What am I?
and a quick 4 question exit ticket.
This is the plan. I'll report back after execution.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Sunday, February 1, 2015
A Giant Hand: A Proportional Reasoning Review Activity
One of my classes was catching onto proportions fairly quickly and I wanted to give them an activity where they could apply those skills.
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| Giant Hand: A Proportional Reasoning Activity |
How to review proportional reasoning with middle school math students?
I found this link to a lesson called Hands on the Giant. I projected a giant hand onto paper and traced one for each group. Their instructions were to find the height of the giant just knowing how big its hand was. I gave them no hints and let them work.
Immediately some groups were measuring themselves and their hands and then setting up an equivalent proportion. It was great to see them pull from the math they knew to solve this problem.
The only prep was tracing the giant hands. I made about 6 per class. This could take awhile or you could get some student helpers to trace the hands for you. All the work students did was right on the butcher paper.
