ALGEBRA I INTERVENTIONDISCUSSION OF THE ALGEBRA 1 INTERVENTION DOCUMENT PROVIDED TO THE ALSDE PREVENTION AND SUPPORT SERVICES DEPARTMENT

Elizabeth (Beth) Thompson, PhD.

Etowah County Schools

Intervention Issues

I. Student’s current level of mathematics1. Prior success in mathematics2. Special Education

II. PlanningI. Have activities readily available that will help

promote critical thinking.

III. Available resources1. Parental support / community 2. ALEX – Revamped standards in recent years.3. AMSTI – great hands-on and critical thinking

activities.

I. Current Mathematics Level Know what you are dealing with!

Encourage your school to implement testing: for entering freshmen (or 7th graders) to

determine their grade level in mathematics. Look back at previous math grades.

Be aware that a student could fail pre-algebra in 8th grade and still pass to the 9th grade (technically they could have failed math several years in a row and still end up in an Algebra IA class.

I. Current Mathematics Level (cont…)

Special Education Know your schools policy on inclusion and

work as an advocate for services for your students.

Be familiar with the special education mathematics curriculum for students on the AOD (document attached). Essential Skills Mathematics I (students at 4th/5th grade level)

Essential Skills Mathematics II (students at 5th/6th grade level, etc..)

Algebraic Explorations I Algebraic Explorations II

II. Planning

Start with success! The Algebra I (IA) Curriculum includes topics

covered extensively in 7th/8th grade math. Consider an activity that allows students to share their summer while learning/reviewing graphing concepts. (Course of Study, Alg I, #12).

Ex: “I know what you did last summer” Project. This is set out as a week long lesson on ALEX. See examples on the following slides

Project Sample (slide 1 of 4):

“I know what you did last summer.”

Math Objective: To Review Fractions, Decimals, Percents, Histograms and Circle Graphs.

Teacher Objective: To make connections with students about personal interests and values.

When to assign: 1st Day of Class!

Supplies needed: Scissors, paper, Poster board, Compass, Calculator.

Can be adapted to Christmas Break for schools on block schedule.

Taken from: Thompson, NCTM Regional Conference, AL. 2005

Sample of Grading Rubric

Section/Description Points Possible

Comments Total Points received

Time Chart: Categories, Time in hours, decimal, percent.

25

Bar Graph: Legend, accurate reflection of chart.

15

Circle Graph: Legend, Accurate reflection of chart.

15

Paragraph: 100 words minimum. Proper grammar.

20

Illustrations: Clip-art, photographs or drawings.

10

Presentation: Spoke clearly, looked at audience, stayed on topic.

15

Final Grade:

Project Sample cont… (slide 2 of 4):

Taken from: Thompson, NCTM Regional Conference, AL. 2005

Student SAMPLE PROJECTProject Sample cont… (slide 3 of 4):

Taken from: Thompson, NCTM Regional Conference, AL. 2005

SAMPLE PROJECT 2 – from an ELL studentProject Sample cont… (slide 4 of 4):

Taken from: Thompson, NCTM Regional Conference, AL. 2005

II. Plan ahead (cont…)

Have activities ready to keep students constantly engaged. Journal entries – help promote dialog and understanding.

Sample entries: Do you feel students should have to check their work? Why or

why not? Do you think a teacher should give partial credit on a math

problem? Why or why not? Explain what your experience in math classrooms has felt like

throughout your education. Use no specific teacher names, but be as honest as you can, using examples when possible.

Look for this symbol on the Intervention Document for more quick ideas:

III. Use available resources

Parents/Community Contact parents regularly. Bring in guest speakers. Contact

area faith-based agencies for supplies needed. The Intervention Document uses the following resources:

AMSTI – Alabama Math/Science Technology Initiative ALEX – Alabama Learning Exchange NCTM – National Council for Teachers of Mathematics Shodor.org – A free national resource for math/science

education Also consider:

Teacher tube (for podcast and formula memorization tunes).

The following pages explain the legend on the document.

Alabama Math and Science Technology Initiative

If you find the links in this document helpful, consider going to the AMSTI website for more!

Algebra Link: http://amsti.org/Math/Algebra/tabid/129/Default.aspx

Encourage your school to become an AMSTI school!

Quick Activities

Keep students on task. Fill the last minutes of class, or the middle of a

block with a 5 minute activity: Journal Entries Critical Thinking Activities

Ex: Think of a capital letter that has two undefined slopes, one positive and one negative: Answer: M

Ex: Give them an expression and teach color grouping 2x2 +3x – 7x2 +10x - 3 2x2 +3x – 7x2 +10x – 3-5x2 +13x -3

Shodor.org – A national resource for math and science education

Entire lesson plans. A resource for teachers, parents and

students. Games and applets to help students with

conceptual understanding Example: The Maze Game

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/MazeGame/ Students have to navigate by coordinates to avoid being blown up by mines.

Illuminate Activities: http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivitySearch.aspx?grade=4&srchstr=Order%20of%20Operations

Figure This! Encourage critical thinking with through provoking problems. http://www.figurethis.org/challenges/challenge_index.htm

National Council of Teachers of Mathematic Resource

Alex Lesson links

Graphing at all levels: It’s a beautiful thing! This lesson offers links to remind students about how

to plot point, etc… and then gives them the assignment of creating their own plot dot, or picture with bounded graphs, or even conics at an Algebra II level.

Some examples from my students are shown below:

Hands-on Activities

There are a multitude of hands-on activities for students at the Algebra I level. Foldables (look these up online, kids love

them!) Outdoor Activites Art Activities (especially important for

schools that may not offer an art program on campus).

The next few slides give examples

Explore Slope

Make a list

Predict the steepest

Take measurements

Record data

Make comparisons in class

Taken from: Thompson, NCTM Regional Conference, AL. 2005

Exponential Representations

Visualize exponential growth with

rice, noodles, confetti etc…

Adapted from McDougal Little Inc. ©

This is a representation

of 2n, 2n+1, … where n ≥ 0.

Illustrating Pi (Conceptual Designs of Pi)

Pi is a relationship between the diameter of a circle and its circumference.

Given this information, some string, and a circle, see If your students can design an illustration of Pi

Taken from: Thompson, NCTM Regional Conference, AL. 2005

Visualizing Natural Log e(Algebra I students can use pi)

1 = Yellow 6 = Orange 2 = Pink 7 = Purple3 = Red 8 = Sky Blue4 = Blue 9 = Tangerine5 = Green O = white

Objective: To gain understanding of irrational numbers through visualization of Pi and/or

lneTaken from: Thompson, NCTM Regional Conference, AL. 2005

Area of a Circle

Taken from: Thompson, NCTM Regional Conference, AL. 2005

Visualize a formula… it helps!

M & M ProjectVISUALIZE Fractions, Decimals, Percents, Pictographs

• What are the different percentages of colors in the bag?

• Are the class averages different?• Create a pictograph of your data.

Great activity for days like Halloween, Valentines etc…

Taken from: Thompson, NCTM Regional Conference, AL. 2005

Math Historian Projecta.k.a. “The Baseball Card Project”

FRONT:

1. Name

2. Picture

3. Life span

BACK:

1. Field of mathematics

2. Claim to fame

3. 3 facts / discoveries

4. One quote or work sample.

5. References.

Minimum Requirements for a grade of 90

Always presented to the student with a break down of points in a grading guide (Rubric)

100 Points requires a demonstration of their work.

Samples to follow:

SAMPLE: Math Historian Project

SAMPLEMath

Historian Project 2

PROBLEMS of the DAY (or week)

How many Squares are on a checkerboard?

Remember: There are more than just the obvious 64 1x1 squares, there are 2x2’s (49), 3x3’s (36), 4x4’s (25), 5x5’s (16), 6x6’s (9), 7x7’s (4) and the one huge 8x8.

http://math.rice.edu/~lanius/domath/magicsquare.html

Problems of Day/Week

http://www.figurethis.org/challenges/challenge_index.htm 1. Line Up!  How long do you have to stand in line?

2. Beating Heart

 How fast does your heart beat?

3. Popcorn  Which shape holds the most popcorn?

4. Don't Fall In

 Why aren't manhole covers square?

5. Upside Down?

 What letters can be read the same upside down as right-side up?

6. Which Way?

 How many different ways are there to get to your destination?

And many, many more…..

In Conclusion

On this disc you will find: A copy of this PowerPoint The Algebra 1 Intervention Document Podcast Samples PowerPoint lessons

Have a great school year!