My kids did 1.6 today. I have planned to put the activity guides on Edmodo when we truly begin to go on the computers, however, in the meantime, I have found it easier to print out 15 copies (for classes of approx. 30.) and put them in transparent sleeves. They can write out their answers in a notebook or on lined paper, which is MUCH CHEAPER. I can use this set of guides over and over and even save them for next year.
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Katherine,
I love this idea. Please keep sharing great ideas.
How did this lesson go today?
The kids (for the most part, (excepting one difficult class period) really had fun with this - I actually have extended this lesson to two days. The first day (today) we did the card sorting and I asked them to think about how and what strategies they were using to get it right. I also kept referring back to the problem-solving model (especially the reflect and then make a new plan) to attempt to get it right. Tomorrow we will continue the sorting and they will write their steps (algorithm) and we will have different groups attempt to do it the way the other groups wrote their procedures to see if they can reproduce their success. It seems to take more than one 60 minute class period.
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Thanks for sharing. I will see if this works.
I also extended out “Algorithm”. The students enjoyed the card sorting but I still felt like they were intimidated by the word “Algorithm” so after we finished this assignment, I gave them the option of creating a slide-show, write a narrative, or create a video explaining “Algorithm’s” to one of their friend’s that doesn’t know what it means. The requirements where that it had to be easy to understand and put in a fun way! After a lot of discussion, some explained algorithms in sports, music, and one even used “AL Gore” to explain it.
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The beginning of a video from Khan Academy seems helpful to me about the definition of algorithm.
I can’t get it to link, but it is called “What is an algorithm and why should you care?”
kstone, I love the idea of having kids respond with their own definitions in a creative way.
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Amy (and others),
The Khan Academy video is here and there is a great hour long documentary on Algorithms on Netflix called “The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms” (trailer here). So many awesome resources!
Brad
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