THE GREEDY TRIANGLE and Polygons!

Back to my geometry classes....the students have moved from triangles to polygons and I read The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns to seven classes.

We started with 10 different polygon shapes cut out of construction paper (I have them with my die-cut machine in the workroom). Each student got a shape and had to glue it to a piece of computer paper, then create a drawing incorporating the polygon into the drawing. We got a LOT of houses and stop signs (even though some had hexagons and heptagons instead of octagons), but some students were very creative with their vision (see pictures below).

After reading the story we discussed what the book was trying to teach besides shapes and most of the students responded with answers like: friendship, being yourself, don't be greedy, love the way you are, etc.

Quadrilateral makes a bird beak.

Student creativity at work!

I then reminded the students that math was not my favorite subject and I always wanted to know WHY we needed to learn things like polygons. I found two video clips that showed how polygons are used in the "real world." (Note to self...ALWAYS bookmark the video you find, when you find it! I only used one, because I couldn't find the other one!)

I explained to the students that one of the videos showed how polygons are used to create the three-dimensional gaming worlds they compete in at home. When you take the coloring away, you see polygon on top of polygon building the blocks of the virtual world. It's very cool (but I can't find it!)

The second video clip showed how polygons are used to build recording studios and help with the perfect sound quality of a song. I had no idea polygons could be used that way! I accessed this video from our PowerVideo database.* I like being able to make those connections for the students when I can!

*Polygons. Distribution Access Inc. 2002
  Learn360. 31 January 2014
  http://www.powervideos.org/ShowVideo.aspx?ID=147992

Reading with SOL class (Second Other Language)

My ESL/SOL teacher approached me to work on an idea she had to expose her SOL students to more background information for better writing. She has found that the students have a difficult time coming up with examples of people and subject matter that applies to writing prompts because they use the same two or three references every time they write an essay. Our goal is to expose them to numerous individuals and their stories so they have a broader knowledge base for writing and relating information.

We decided our first book would be about Albert Einstein: On a Beam of Light by Jennifer Berne.
This is a wonderful story about Einstein's childhood and the things he did before he was a "genius" in the eyes of the world.

The first thing the teacher, Ms. Greene, did was show the students how to create a book for note-taking over the several stories to be read. She used a similar method as the one demonstrated in the video, but also gave the students a beautiful piece of card stock to glue to the outside for their "cover."

While I read our first story, Ms. Greene modeled taking notes on interesting information from the book and then we had the students tell us what other notes they had chosen as interesting. The students also listed and discussed characteristic of Einstein and what made him stand out from others. Then we showed this video of Einstein (Albert Einstein Warns of Dangers in Nuclear Arms Race) and discussed how English was not his first language and even though he was very smart, he had difficulty with the language just like they sometimes do.

The second book we read was Sebastian: A Book About Bach by Jeanette Winter.
 
This book introduced the students to Bach and his entire life, starting with his relatives and ending with his death. We were all shocked to learn that he had 20 children with only one wife and that he was a dedicated family man and composer. We also listened to Yo Yo Ma play Bach's music.

We've got several more books lined up to read throughout this semester. The students, Ms. Greene, and I are all looking forward to more read-alouds!

Another book for Geometry Classes

My Geometry teachers love having picture books to use in their classrooms to introduce new topics, and they want me to read to their kids as much as possible. So I started the new semester with the book What's Your Angle, Pythagoras?: A Math Adventure, by Julie Ellis (Illustrated by Phyllis Hornung).

 

Obviously, we were talking about the Pythagorean Theorem, which the students mostly knew something about already, but the story helped cement the concept for them in the coming unit. What was great about the story, is it gave three "real-world" uses for the theorem; and isn't that one of the complaints that students have today? "When am I every going to use this?" I often felt that way about math in school (and other subjects as well), but this book allowed me to show them how they could use this equation to map distance, create right angles for building and also use tools correctly. It also lent some history to the math class and gave students a look at the historical fiction genre.

After we were done reading, the teachers led the students to write about what "real-life" examples they could use for the Pythagorean Theorem. One of the principals came by for a walk-through and said the students were engaged and seemed to enjoy the story; recalling what had been read and synthesizing the information into their writings and discussions.

One of the tools I used while reading this book was Google Play. I'd not used it before, but wanted an easy way to show the book to the students. I purchased the books for a few dollars (under $6, I think) and was able to project it from my iPad mini through the AirPlay/AirServer feature available. It made it so much easier to use and manipulate the book in front of the whole class.

In a couple of weeks I'll be using a picture book to introduce polygons!

What's Your Angle, Pythagoras?

It's a new semester at Mesquite High School, and I started it off by visiting six geometry classes and sharing What's Your Angle, Pythagoras? by Jullie Ellis.

On our first day back from the break, I was sitting in on a meeting with the geometry teacher and our campus technology facilitator. They were discussing ways to incorporate iPads into a lesson on the Pythagorean Theorem. I remembered hearing about a picture book about the Pythagorean Theorem, and the teacher was open to me coming into her classroom and sharing the book as a hook to the lesson. Since our library did not have a copy, I borrowed one from one of our feeder elementary schools.

I began the lesson with a quick clip from NBC Learn about how the Pythagorean Theorem relates to football. The students enjoyed seeing a "real world" connection between geometry and sports. This was perfect timing because the National Championship game between Auburn and FSU had just occurred the night before, so I was able to show a clip from that game that illustrated how "the angle of pursuit" can change the outcome of a game. (You can watch the video at the bottom of the page: Keep your eye on #28, the defender for Auburn, who misses the "angle." If you have watched Auburn's miraculous season this year, you will understand why this is football karma at work.)

Honestly, I was a bit worried about how the students would respond to this book because I did something different this time; I  arranged the lesson before I actually read the book, which I don't advise. With most picture book lessons, I have a high-interest book in mind that I try to match to a subject or class, but this was not the case. When I read the book for the first time (after I had already set up the lesson), I thought, "Oh no. This is cheesy, and they might not like it." But I thought that the football clips might engage them, and I was right. Even though the book has some lame "right angle" jokes in it, the students still enjoyed the novelty of listening to a picture book in math class, and I was pleasantly surprised at how they responded. At the conclusion, they "turned and talked" to a partner about what they learned from the book. As I walked around the room listening to the conversations, I was able to tell that they learned what the Pythagoreum Theorem is, who discovered it, and how.

Overall, this is not the most compelling picture book that I've ever read aloud, but it worked. 

Here is the video clip from the National Championship game. Remember to keep you eye on Auburn's #28:

Post by SportsCenter.

Nelson Mandela

Like most of the world, I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Nelson Mandela. Since the Metroplex was covered in ice on Friday, December 6th, we got the rare gift of a day off from school. As I sipped my coffee and watched Good Morning America, I saw this clip that got my brain fired up, even on an Ice Day.

According to this video, the world held "a candle light vigil" for Mandela via social media (5.4 million tweets?!) upon news of his death. It made me wonder if our students know the legacy that Mandela leaves behind? And of course, it made me think about this picture book and want to share it with students:

Nelson Mandela, written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson, is a beautiful biography about the life of this great leader. I had the privilege of sharing this book with 9 different classes at MHS over the last week--8 World Geography (Freshman level) and 1 Sophomore STAAR Writing (for repeat STAAR testers). Here is how the lesson went:

1. I asked students to write down 3 facts that they knew about Nelson Mandela. My suspicions were verified--they didn't know much.
2. I showed them the clip from GMA and asked them this question: "If the world responds with 5.4 million tweets about a man's death, don't you think you should know his legacy?"
3. I read the book to the class and they were ENGAGED. It's a beautiful thing to see a picture book capture the attention of high school students. And it CAN happen.
4. After I finished the book, I asked them: What is Nelson Mandela's legacy? What can you learn from his life? They wrote.
5. Students shared their writing. It was wonderful and made my English teacher heart sing.
6. I then shared 2 of my favorite quotes from Mandela, and we discussed them:

7. I then told the students that I received news of Mandela's death via my ESPN Sports Center app (duh-duh-duh). I asked them why ESPN would notify me of his death? Some students knew about the strong sports connection with Mandela. I showed them the trailer for Invictus because it powerfully portrays how Mandela used the World Cup to unify South Africa.

That's when most of the students said that they wanted to watch Invictus over Christmas break. 

Mission. Accomplished. 

I Want my Hat Back

For 80 minutes today, I was in teacher heaven.

I had the privilege of visiting four different English I classrooms to read I Want my Hat Back by Jon Klasssen. And I did it in 80 minutes. And it ROCKED.

A few weeks ago, our English teachers went to a district staff development that touted the benefits of reading aloud to teens. When I heard this, my heart jumped with joy because I thought THIS was my "in" with the English department. I met with the English I teachers (I want to take on one grade level at a time and not stretch myself too thin. Our campus is a small city--seriously.) I talked about my crazy idea of coming into their classes to share a picture book. They loved the idea, and we discussed what skill their kids struggled with. Guess what...it's the skill that kids from Kinder to 12th grade have been struggling with since the beginning of time...MAIN IDEA. I know this because I've taught Kinder through 12th graders (not since the beginning of time, however), and They. Still. Don't. Get. Main. Idea.

I knew the perfect book. THIS ONE. I read it to 5th & 6th graders last year, and it was a HUGE HIT. And let's face it--is there really that much difference between a sixth and a ninth grader? (Beside a few inches and maybe a smidgen of maturity) It's short, hilarious, and requires readers to make many inferences. And it's simple. The goal was for me to do this mini-lesson about main idea so that they could go back into Romeo and Juliet and find the main idea in the scenes that they are reading. Scaffolding at it's best.

I admit that I woke up a little nervous this morning. Facing a classroom of Freshman again takes guts, and I was bringing in a picture book to read to them. How would they respond? Would they think I was babying them? I dug into my inner-teacher and hoped for the best.

IT. WAS. WONDERFUL.

I did my quick schpeel about how picture books are for everyone. I read them the book, and they were hooked. Engaged. Laughing. Making inferences. Supporting them with text evidence. Learning. Having fun. It was a beautiful thing to behold.

Each lesson took about 20 minutes, and I rotated though four classrooms. The teachers knew ahead of time when I was coming, so they stopped the lesson and let me interrupt. The kids were all reading Act I of Romeo and Juliet, so I think they enjoyed the levity of the picture book.

Before I left, I had the kids "turn and talk" about the main idea of the book. In every class, I noticed  the kids going directly to theme--so I backed them up and reminded them what main idea is. (This is what happens when we assume...) I praised them for going to a higher level beyond main idea because really main idea is a step down from theme. Main idea is what the story is about in a few sentences. The bare bones of the story. The kids shared their main ideas with the large group, and they were right. I then opened an umbrella, and they freaked out:

A note about the tie: It was made by a student for me.
Isn't it wonderful ?

I said I was willing to risk the years of bad luck if it would help them answer this question:  If I represented the story, then how is the umbrella like the main idea? Every class got it right--the main idea COVERS the story, just like the umbrella covers me. The stick supports the umbrella just like the details support the main idea. You could hear the light bulbs go on. Really. "OOOOOHHHHH!!!"

(Side note about the Dora umbrella: It's the only one I had in my minivan when I was brainstorming this lesson on the way to work today. Don't judge.)

So I left them with this reminder:  When faced with more challenging texts and asked to find the main idea, think about the BASIC events that COVER the story--from beginning to end. Don't include details. Just the basics. That's your main idea.

(Another side note: I used the umbrella analogy last year when I taught main idea to Kinder through sixth graders as an elementary librarian...)

Will this change their lives forever when it comes to main idea? Will they never miss this question again on a standardized test? Here's hoping, but there was a moment in each of those classrooms when I felt that connection--that moment when it clicked. As educators, those are the moments that fuel us to keep going in this hard fight. Most importantly, Freshman had FUN with a piece of literature today and they extracted meaning from it. THAT'S why I'm still riding this teacher high...

I left a copy of the picture book with each teacher (I ILLed copies from my elementary librarian peeps) so that they can share it with their classes in the other periods. As much as I loved doing this lesson, I don't know if I could do it 20 more times.

I'm hoping this is the start of something big with these 9th graders. I look forward to going back into the classrooms again and experiencing 80 more minutes in teacher heaven.

Inductive & Deductive Reasoning -- Geometry

I am way behind on this post!

I did a quick lesson in the geometry classes about Inductive and Deductive reasoning. We defined the two types and then I read Tedd Arnold's book, Parts, asking the students what type of reasoning the boy uses in the book to decide his body is falling apart. (The answer is Inductive, by the way, because he uses the pattern of what's happening to him to make his assumption.)

After the story, the students were given a 1/4 sheet of paper and an idiom. They had to draw a picture of what the idiom actually stated and then define what we really mean when we use the idiom. It wasn't as easy as you think it might have been. I realized that some idioms are not used by our students and others confuse them.

The kids love the book (I haven't found anyone who doesn't) and we had a good time with the small lesson.