One of my goals as a teacher is to show students that there are many sources of support out there other than me. It's silly to think that one person can be the sole support system to about 100 students a day. When I create an activity, I keep in mind how I can encourage the students to rely on each other for help. One of my favorite activities for practice is my Sum of 3 (or 4) activity.
Sum of 3 (or 4) Activity:
All classes over the size of 5 can be broken down into groups of either 3 or 4. I create a unique worksheet for each student in the group. When each student finishes their first problem, they add their solutions together and check the sum sheet. If their sum is correct, they move on to the next problem. If their sum is incorrect, they trade papers and look for errors. If they are unable to find an error, that's when I finally step in.
For the most part this activity runs smoothly. I make it known that I'm not worried about completion of the questions, but rather that they are working together and helping each other, all while staying on task.
Once in a while I will have a student who is more advanced than his group members, and isn't willing to help out. He will work through all the problems on his worksheet and ignore the struggles of the others. Usually these students are not friends, and will work in silence within their group. Obviously as the teacher I approach this group, encourage them to help each other, blah, blah, blah. But as soon as I walk away, they still don't speak to each other. *SIGH*
I was thinking about how I could 'force' the students to stay on the same problem until their found the correct sum, a way to force them to help each other. That's where digital activities come in.
I created a sum of 3 (or 4) activity on google forms. Each problem set gives the students their 3 (or 4) problems and they type in the correct sum in order to receive the next set of problems. Problem solved (pun intended).
Check out one of these activities with the link below. The topic is finding slope given two ordered pairs.
SUM OF THREE
Sum of 3 (or 4) Activity:
All classes over the size of 5 can be broken down into groups of either 3 or 4. I create a unique worksheet for each student in the group. When each student finishes their first problem, they add their solutions together and check the sum sheet. If their sum is correct, they move on to the next problem. If their sum is incorrect, they trade papers and look for errors. If they are unable to find an error, that's when I finally step in.
For the most part this activity runs smoothly. I make it known that I'm not worried about completion of the questions, but rather that they are working together and helping each other, all while staying on task.
Once in a while I will have a student who is more advanced than his group members, and isn't willing to help out. He will work through all the problems on his worksheet and ignore the struggles of the others. Usually these students are not friends, and will work in silence within their group. Obviously as the teacher I approach this group, encourage them to help each other, blah, blah, blah. But as soon as I walk away, they still don't speak to each other. *SIGH*
I was thinking about how I could 'force' the students to stay on the same problem until their found the correct sum, a way to force them to help each other. That's where digital activities come in.
I created a sum of 3 (or 4) activity on google forms. Each problem set gives the students their 3 (or 4) problems and they type in the correct sum in order to receive the next set of problems. Problem solved (pun intended).
Check out one of these activities with the link below. The topic is finding slope given two ordered pairs.
SUM OF THREE
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