Coordinate Cities

We have been working hard in 6th grade recently, having just finished up our three units that focus on algebra. It has been great to see the transformation of the sixth graders! Most come in to these units barely having an idea of what algebra is and they come out writing and solving two step equations and inequalities! The last couple of years I have introduced a Coordinate City Project at the end of these units. Since the last couple of lessons focus on graphing, this one is a nice review of ordered pairs and the coordinate plane! In the project, students get to design a themed city on the coordinate plane. Once their city is complete, they must ask at least three questions that require ordered pairs to answer. The picture here is my example that I use to show the class!

The students always really get into this one! I think it is a combination of being able to pick a fun theme along with the open ended idea of being able to design a city! It is always fun to see some of the the funny and creative themes that they choose. I think the one that made me laugh the most this year was this Miley Cyrus themed city - including the Mall of Miley, Wrecking Ball Ave, and Sticking Tongue Out Street!

One part of the Coordinate Cities that I really enjoy is the creativity it allows for students. After all of the hard work and practice that we do during our algebra units, this project is a nice change of pace for the 6th graders. For my students who finish early, I give them the option of creating a business card to go along with their cities. As you can see, some of the business cards get pretty creative and funny! I couldn't help but laugh at this 6th graders sense of humor!

Can't believe the year is flying by so fast, but we are already set to get going with geometry! More geometry related posts to come soon!

The Math Curse!

This book and activity are just too great not to share! I actually did this with my sixth graders a while back (right before Thanksgiving!) but am just getting around to writing about it. Many of you have probably already read or heard about the hilarious book, The Math Curse, by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. These are the same authors as The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. If you haven't read Math Curse, it is definitely worth finding a copy and reading with your students. It will get them thinking, laughing, and learning about some fun math concepts!

In addition to reading the book, the last few years I have made it into a challenge for my middle schoolers. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of reading it yet, the main character falls victim to a math curse, resulting in everything turning into a math problem! The questions are engaging, wacky, and math related (well...some of them). I decided to put together a worksheet with many of the questions from the book. After reading the book with my students, I let them work individually or with a partner to answer as many of these questions correctly. I give out a small prize to the group in each class that gets the most correct! Click on the picture or link to get a free copy of the worksheet!

Math Curse Worksheet

This is a great activity if your students just need a break from the normal routine. I usually do this on a day just before a break each year, when a lot of the students are already checked out (or on vacation!). I hope all you math nerds enjoy! And if you're a science person...be sure to check out the Science Curse!

Equation and Inequality Memory

In 6th grade, we are nearing the end of our three algebra units. For us, that means we have had lots of practice writing and solving equations. Recently, we have moved on to writing, solving, and graphing inequalities! To help practice equations and inequalities I decided to create some memory games for my students to use during math centers.

I started with five different Equation Memory games - each focusing on a different type of equation (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, two-step). Each game includes 24 cards. Half of the cards have an equation and half of the cards have the matching solutions. Students take turns trying to find the matches! My students have really enjoyed playing these games this week! My Equation Memory Addition game is free, so be sure to grab your copy!

Equation Memory Addition


You can also find the rest of my memory games in my TPT store. Click on the picture below to be linked to the Equation Memory Multiplication game!

After creating the five equation games, I also wanted to create a fun game for students to practice graphing inequalities. So often, my students struggle to remember whether to used a closed or open dot! This memory game practices matching the inequality with its graph. Not only must students recognize which type of dot is needed, they also must understand which direction the arrow points on the graph. I have found that these are the two most difficult concepts for students when graphing inequalities. Inequality Memory is a fun way for students to practice! You can also grab this one for free at the following link!

Inequality Memory

Yesterday my students were getting creative with how they set up the memory game! Typically they set up the 24 cards in a 6 by 4 rectangle, but these students wanted to set it up like this! If you would like to purchase all six of the memory games as a bundle, click on the picture!

Algebra Math Centers

After a successful round of math STAR testing today, the sixth graders will be back at it tomorrow with some more functions! Here is what we have in store for math workshop!

Teacher Center
At our teacher center we will be focusing on taking a function from a table, writing it as an equation, and then being able to graph the equation using a t-chart. This lesson can be a lot to take in at first, so we are spending a second day learning about how to do this! My students that already have got it down will be working on the enrichment problems, which require them to work with functions that are a bit more complicated! Click on the picture to find a copy!

Homework Center
During the homework center, students will have an assignment from our Math Connects textbook. This will be some more practice taking a function from a table, writing an equation, and graphing the equation on a coordinate plane. Like I said, this can be a lot at first for sixth grade, so this will be an important center for students to practice what we have just covered at the teacher center! I give students the option of two different assignments...A or B. Homework A is the "regular" homework and homework B is a little more challenging. Students decide for themselves how they are feeling about a particular lesson.

Problem Solving
Tomorrow we will be starting a new Problem of the Month from the Inside Mathematics website. I've talked a lot about these before, but I have to say again how much I love these! Click the link or the picture to find out for yourself how great they are! Tomorrow I am using the Growing Staircases problem. I print off six of the problems on colored cardstock for each group to use, since there is a maximum of six students working on it at any given time during our math center rotations.

Technology/Hands-on Center
At our technology/hands-on center, my sixth graders will be playing a math review game that we learned a few months ago at the beginning of our algebra units - Algebra Top-it. I created Algebra Top-it for students to practice substituting in a number for a variable and solving expressions. The game is similar to the card game War, however students need to roll a die and flip over a card each round. After solving the expression using the number they rolled for the variable, they see who has the greater solution. Winner gets the cards! Make sure you grab a copy! Or better yet, follow my TPT store and blog and get one for free (see the banner in my store for more info!).

Have a great rest of your week! Can't believe it's almost February already!

Math Center Sunday!

With my report cards finished and lesson plans almost ready to go for the week, I thought I'd take some time to write about some of the different math centers I have been using in 6th grade math these days. If you've read my Math Workshop page, you know that my teacher center and homework center are pretty set into stone. It is the tech/hands-on center and the problem solving center that I have a little more flexibility to try out new resources!


iPads
Checking out 6 iPads to use as a technology center has been one of my go to centers this year. It is easy to plan, students love using them, and there are a lot of great math apps out there that can benefit students! I also want to try to start using them in different ways. This week I am going to set up small coordinate planes that are taped to the floor. Students will be graphing ordered pairs and functions on these graphs. I am going to try having each group take a picture on the iPads of their graph. I think this will help hold them accountable during the center and they will enjoy being able to take the pictures of what they've worked on!

Brain Busters
I recently finished making these Math Brain Busters for each of the sixth grade math common core standards. Each of the five sets (Number Systems, Ratios & Proportional Relationships, Expressions & Equations, Geometry, and Stats & Probability) have 105 questions relating to that specific standard. I also have an additional set that includes 150 questions from all five standards. I have been using these as a math center and also for students who finish early during a work time! There is something about the format of these that students love! I guess being able to flip through the questions and answers is a lot more fun than worksheets! You can find the individual sets or buy them bundled together in my TPT store. All of my bundles are 10% off for the rest of the day!

Problems of the Month

I know I have mentioned these on earlier posts, but they are too good not to share again! This is my go to resource for my problem solving center. I pick out a problem of the month from the Inside Mathematics website and have six laminated copies at the center. I usually give students about a week for each problem. They are all multi-step problems that require more time to solve. I recently have started creating a separate answer sheet to go along with the problem. Students record their answers on the answer sheet and turn it in at the end of the week. This has held the students a little more accountable for the work that they are doing at this center. I would highly recommend checking these problems out if you haven't already!

Percent Scramble
This is a fun game I created a few months ago when we were learning about how to find the percent of a number. I plan on bringing this one back out soon to use as a review center. Percent Scramble is free in my TPT store, so be sure to grab your copy! It is pretty easy to prep (just some printing and cutting out cards). In the game, students flip over a percent card and a whole number card. They must find that percent of their whole number to see how many points they get for the round. At the end of the game, both players add up their point totals to determine the winner!

Equation Top-it Games
These Equation Top-it games have been a big hit in my classroom. I created these before we started our algebra units. Everyone (or at least almost everyone) loves the classic card game War. These games have the same general idea, except that students must solve an equation to get their number for the round. I broke the games down into different types of equations. There is an addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and two-step equation game. The great part is that you can also combine the cards to create an Equation Top-it game that involves different types of equations. I have used these a lot as a center and also during our math intervention time. Here is the link to the Equation Top-it Bundle, but you can also get them separately!

As always, I'd love to hear your comments or ideas that you are using as your math centers!

The Latest in the World of 6th Grade Math - Algebra and More

It's been great getting back into the school routine as we head towards the final few weeks of January! In 6th grade math, we just finished up our first two algebra units (Expressions and Equations) and are gearing up for our final algebra unit, which focuses on functions, inequalities, and absolute value. This picture is of some of my students working on writing and solving two-step equations during math workshop. We have spent the entire last chapter practicing writing and solving equations, and my students are really starting to get it! I have been trying to incorporate as many different types of activities as I can that have students practicing these concepts!

One fun activity that I recently created is this Algebra Equation Sort. The idea is pretty simple...students get a set of cards that are mixed up. The orange cards are the solution cards. The white cards each have an equation on one side and a letter on the other. Students must sort the cards into the correct group by finding the solution to the equation. Once they are sorted, they can flip over the cards and try to unscramble the words in each group. Who doesn't want to solve equations when you end up with a "nasty, slimy, sloth?" The cards are easy to mix and match. When I used it in my classroom last week, I put students into groups of 3-4 and gave each group 3 of the orange solution cards and the five cards that went with each solution (15 total equation cards). With groups who finished early, I had them switch with another group and solve a new set of equations!

We also got a lot of practice writing and solving equations during our Review Jeopardy game at the end of the unit. We had some exciting and close games this time around! Here was the final jeopardy question. I made sure to create one that dealt with two-step equations, since that is something we have been working so hard to master! And yes...that IS an old school chalkboard that I have in my classroom - but it works great for my daily schedule, learning goals, assignment notebook board, and things like final jeopardy!

Coming up on Monday, we are taking our first shot at graphing. I'm going to try out some life size graphing to introduce our lesson! I haven't tried this in past years, so hopefully it all goes smoothly. In the past, many of my students have struggled to remember how to graph ordered pairs - which one is the x-coordinate, which one is the y-coordinate, etc. I'm hoping that getting them out of their seats and physically standing on the points will help it stick a little better! I have six of these coordinate grids taped to the ground. Students will be in groups of 3-4, with each student getting an ordered pair card. They will work together to get everyone in their group to the correct point on the graph!

One other resource that I created recently are these Expressions & Equations Brain Busters. I plan on using this set as a math center in the upcoming weeks. I have a set of 21 cards (105 problems) for each of the common core standards for sixth grade math. I also created one variety pack of 150 questions, which includes cards that have one question from each standard. Be sure to check them out, either individually or as a bundle, in my TPT store!

It has been a solid couple months of algebra in our 6th grade class! I am looking forward to finishing up this final chapter strong, before diving headfirst into our geometry units! I hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the activities we have been trying out and would love to hear your algebra ideas in the comments section below!