Boosting the Classroom with BrainPop
Oh, inequalities. From the one-step inequalities to the absolute value compound inequalities, it seems that this topic is one that confuses my students – from seventh grade to second year Algebra. As I familiarized myself with the seventh grade standards this year, I was actually pleased to see that I will be covering inequalities. Yes! I have the opportunity to lay the foundation for a concept that will be important throughout the rest of their secondary mathematics career.
Our current class unit was my introduction to BrainPop. I never heard of it before this section. Once I started to explore the website, I knew without a doubt that this is a great resource to use with my Math 7 students. In the back of my mind, as I plan my inequalities unit with my students, I want it to stand out. Even more than other units, I want Inequalities to be a topic that students retain and can remember learning. By using such an engaging and fun online program as BrainPop, I can support students as they practice the content using the traditional in-class Carnegie approach.
Before beginning their Inequalities studies, Math 7 students will first learn about solving one-step, two-step, and multi-step equations. Since many of these concepts crossover to inequalities, equation proficiency is essential before expecting students to translate their skills to inequalities. Students’ online Carnegie accounts will be their primary source of digital practice, as well as a multitude of in-class activities and tasks.
However, when students move to Inequalities, their regularly scheduled Carnegie lab periods can be used to access BrainPop. By searching BrainPop’s available lesson plans ideas, I found their content on Graphing and Solving Inequalities. This Unit includes a movie, quiz, Make-A-Map, FYI, and Activities. I will use the Movie, Quiz, and Make-A-Map features.
Source: Brainpop.com
The Inequalities Unit will include several weeks of instruction and many unique lesson plans. The lesson plan described below covers two days at the beginning of the unit. In this class of Math 7, I have two students with IEPs and three students with 504 Plans. The students with a 504 Plan have been diagnosed with ADHD, and the two students with an IEP have a specific learning disability. Accommodations for these students have been included in the lesson plan below. I also think that the engaging nature of BrainPop will help to address these students’ needs.
It’s time to use BrainPop to help students tackle a tricky topic!
P.S. Not familiar with BrainPop? Check out the BrainPop Channel on Youtube
Lesson Plan
Topic/Content: Inequalities (Part I) – Solving and Graphing One-Step Inequalities (Math 7)
Assessment Anchors/Standards/Eligible Content:
A1.1.1: Operations with Real Numbers and Expressions
M07.B-E.2.2: Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems.
M07.B-E.2.2.2: Solve word problems leading to inequalities of the form px + q > r or px + q < r, where p, q, and r are specific rational numbers, and graph the solution set of the inequality.
NETS-T: Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.
c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments
Learning/Student Objective:
Students will be able to-
…identify inequality symbols and read them correctly
…identify when a quantity is less than or greater than another quantity
…identify how inequalities are affected by addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
…solve one-step inequalities
…graph the solution to an inequality
Instructional Strategies/Methods/Procedures:
Day One:
Class will begin with the daily PSSA Warm-Up completed on individual tickets and reviewed on the Promethean Board, before students’ tickets are entered into our class bucket for the weekly drawing. These warm-ups are completed to further prepare students for the Math 7 PSSA.
source: education.pa.gov
Students will then use their Carnegie books to follow the lesson. ActivInspire on the Promethean Board will be used, in conjunction with the Carnegie Learning software, so that students see the same content as is in their books and can write their notes in the appropriate locations. This Carnegie lesson will include time for individual practice, partner practice, and whole-class review, as detailed throughout the Carnegie text.
With about ten minutes remaining in the class, students will complete the BrainPop quiz with the teacher as a large-class effort. The quiz will be used in Review Mode, so that students need to respond with the correct answer before they move on to the next question. A class vote will be used for the first response for each question, with the answer with the most votes getting the selection. The teacher will provide guided help throughout the quiz. This will serve as a wrap-up activity for the class.
Day Two:
The second day will be a Carnegie Lab day. Students will travel to the adjoining lab and log into their BrainPop accounts. They will first be required to watch the Movie on BrainPop from the Graphing and Solving Inequalities Unit. They will each work at their own machines and watch the movies at their own pace, using headphones.
After finishing the movie, students will then complete a Make-A-Map activity, where they will highlight the most important parts of the content in the movie. Once all students have finished these maps (they will be given 5-10 minutes to do so), they will switch seats with a neighbor, watching their videos, and discussing differences and similarities in the content they chose.
Once the Make-A-Map activity has been completed, students will be assigned the Quiz. Unlike the quiz completed as a class on the previous day, this quiz will be completed individually and in Class Mode (students will not know their score until the end). Also, they will utilize the ‘Submit to the Teacher’ feature, which allows them to send their scores to my account.
Adaptations:
Structured Carnegie notes provided with blanks for students to complete.
Provide a graphic organizer of key concepts for students to use during the individual quiz.
Allow up to 3 retakes of the individual online quiz before final grade is submitted. The highest score will be used.
Allow students to take the full-length quiz in an alternative small-group setting, if requested.
Allow students to take the individual quiz in PDF format with guided examples, if requested.
Arrange partner(s) so students are experiencing beneficial learning opportunities with the Make-A-Map activity.
Resources/Materials/Technology:
Textbook: Carnegie Learning Common Core Algebra I
Computer Lab
ActivStudio
Notebook
Structured Notes
PDF Version of Quiz, with Guide
BrainPop access
Closure:
First Day: Students will participate in a class-wide completion of the BrainPop quiz. Applicable and appropriate discussion will follow.
Second Day: If students finish their individual quiz, they will then transition to Carnegie to practice the content at the end of class. Access to a predetermined unit will be facilitated.
Assessment:
Student warm-ups will be checked during the weekly drawing.
Student work from the BrainPop quiz will be graded.
Students will also have their homework checked on following days for a completion grade.
A No-Hands-Up/Popsicle Stick Formative Assessment method will be used for student questioning and participation.
Thumbs up/Thumbs down to assess students understanding will be used at the end of the first day following the class quiz.
Student progress on the online Carnegie practice will be monitored and graded.
A quiz and test covering this material will eventually be administered.
Feb 12th, 2017 8:54:41pm
