Quadratic Unit using Videos to Supplement Curriculum
- Name: Jaime Piatt
- Lesson Title: Algebra II Quadratics
- Introduction: This unit will be looking at how quadratics are used and where they are seen in architecture, action, and nature. Solving for either two, one, or no solutions in three different ways will also be a main focus. Looking at quadratics on a coordinate grid and being able to read information off the graphs that are made, connecting the information with context will be a part of this unit as well.
- Content Area and Grade or Age Level of Students: High school mathematics at the Algebra II level
- Objectives: The students will be able to-
- Graph quadratics on a coordinate grid
- Analyze quadratics on a coordinate grid
- Solve for the variables using factoring, completing the square and the quadratic formula
- Create quadratic equations using context
- Standards Addressed: Using Common Core Standards-
- Seeing Structure in Expressions (A-SSE)
- Creating Equations (A-CED)
- Reasoning with Equations and Inequalities (A-REI)
- Interpreting Functions (F-IF)
- Building Functions (F-BF)
- Linear, Quadratic, Exponential Models (F-LE)
- Relative Advantage: Being able to use videos throughout the unit allows students to go back and re-watch videos if she/he does not understand very well. There are also several other videos that can be watched over the same material if it needs to be seen in another way. Using the videos within my library also have practice problems associated with some of the videos. This allows students to practice the concept, have help on any part of the solving, and interact with the program for better comprehension. The teacher can now spend more time helping students one-on-one instead of directly teaching as a whole.
- Timeline: This unit takes about 12-14 days
- Materials: Required for students: paper, pencil, textbook (Core-Plus Mathematics Course 2), tool-kit (section notes used throughout high school to see connections from one course to the next). Materials provided by school: laptops, and graphing calculators
- Grouping Strategies: We have 15 laptops in a classroom. There may be days that students share a computer. Other days students will do individual computer work. On days when students work individually half the class can work on computers, while the other half work on book work and get individual help from the teacher. These days will also be good for students who have missing assignments or need extra help. Students sit in groups of three and work together through investigations. Changing the seating to group kids on pairs would work better on group computer days so no student is left out in watching, or interacting with the computer program.
- Learning Activities: Students will be doing both computer work (hypermedia) and also working through the curriculum. Students can intermix between using the computer and watching videos and also working through the book. It will be the job of the teacher to facilitate, ask questions, and keep the students focused in the direction we are wanting to go.
- Students will design parabolas for a building, learning how to graph and read quadratic graphs, videos will be used for skill comprehension along with interactive practice (3-4 days).
- Expanding and Factoring quadratics using area models. This is in-class discussion (1 day).
- Looking at supply and demand. Students will look at solving quadratics 3 different ways. Videos will be used along with class discussion and one-on-one help with the teacher (4-5 days).
- Individual help, make-up day. This day is used for students to work on the skills they need extra help on or expand their understanding. Students will work on computers independently while other students finish investigations and work on skills with teacher assistance (1 day before unit exam).
- Assessment: Students will be assessed throughout the unit, breaking the unit up into 3 different lessons. There is a paper/pencil quiz for each lesson along with a traditional unit test. Besides oral assessments on a daily basis, students will also be assessed by what they do on the computers. Checking on their progress in comprehension, seeing how quickly each student goes through practice problems, determining which videos have been watched, and seeing what other math concepts students took the initiative to review, or extend their learning, will all be a part of assessing their participation and on using their time wisely. A rubric will be used in determining the grade for assessing participation.
- Adaptations for Learners with Special Needs: Knowing the individual ability of each student will make adaptations easier when using videos and other hypermedia. The teacher has the ability to check on each student technologically and to give advice on what videos to watch. Students who need more time, or need more review on prerequisites can watch those videos and practice those skills to make the present unit easier to understand. Videos also give the students the ability to practice skills all the way through elementary levels which help fill the gaps within each students mathematical education. The text that is used includes Spanish resources for students who need help with this language barrier. There are several other on-line resources for students to use with language barriers. Since the number one ELL language at my school is Spanish, included is a Spanish/English dictionary for math vocabulary.
- References: Here are the links along with the text information-
- http://www.wmich.edu/cpmp/parentresource2/helpingwithhomework.html- -Spanish resources through the text
- http://www.wmich.edu/cpmp/index.html -home page to text
- http://www.khanacademy.org/ -video hypermedia used throughout this lesson for videos and interactive practice problems
- http://math2.org/math/spanish/eng-spa.htm -Spanish/English dictionary for math vocabulary