Below are videos of VSC Math's first chance lesson. The students generally worked really well during this lesson and did a great job learning about how to find the unit price.
Task: I set up different fruit stations around the back of the classroom. There were:
Lemons - (3 for $1.50)
Kiwis - (6 for $4.80)
Limes - (8 for $1.60)
Grapefruit (1 for $2.00)
Tangerines (8 for $3.20)
Golden Apples (4 for $5.00)
Groups were to go around to different stations and find the unit rate of each fruit, along with answering a few questions:
Here are some videos of students learning:
Note: You'll see some students gettin' jiggy to Michael Jackson's music in the videos!
While I haven't gotten into content yet, I've started to work on Unit 1 already and have been thinking about some activities (of course, ones that involve movement), that will likely be the first spotting of the kids on this blog. Going along with my battle (possibly career-long battle) to build student motivation, I decided to use introductory videos that showcase their teachers in the real world, showing the application of the unit/concepts being discussed. I will also create a "Why is Math Important?" video.
Students are familiar with Target even if it's not in their community, and helping their teachers find out which fruit has the cheaper unit price might be plenty interesting and motivating to some of them. There is an element of relevancy, prior knowledge, novelty, and entertainment that comes in making these types of videos. Students in 7th grade that I no longer have are familiar with me, so I'm sure they'll enjoy it. I look terrible!
