Make It Frequent
With Integers
The fourth of four things we need to do when teaching math so kids will remember.
What is the foundation for a successful outcome? What makes anyone better at anything?
I bet when you thought about those questions, you might have answered “practice.”
The old adage is true - Practice makes perfect.
When I have students who feel they do not need to do their homework/practice, I always remind them that even Michael Jordan practiced, and he practiced frequently!
Frequency does count, and it adds up to success.
Thing 4 - Make It Frequent
Speaking of frequency, how often have we as math teachers heard students ask, “When are we ever going to use this?”
While some concepts really do not offer a convincing response to this question (I’m thinking of box and whisker plots or scientific notation), the study of integers is one standard students will see the practical application of learning, and we as teachers can explain how and when integers are used in daily life.
According to most state standards, including Common Core, the introduction of integers occurs in 6th grade with the mastery of operations with integers occurring in 7th grade.
That is not much time to master this very important topic and why it is critical to make sure the practice of integers is frequent in your classroom - not a one and done then move on.
5 Ways to increase the frequency of integer practice in your classroom.
One of my favorite ways to incorporate frequency into my lessons is to begin each class with a few warm-up problems. This warm-up applies to recent homework (or it could be an extension or review problem). I look through the problems in the textbook that I didn’t assign, or perhaps even a problem that was assigned (if I knew it might be one students would struggle with). One of these warm-up problems involves integers. I use my ExciteMint strategy to increase student involvement. (more on this strategy in an upcoming post).
2. Exit tickets are a fantastic formative assessment I use all of the time! Usually, having students write on scratch paper I keep in a tub that I have collected from discards in the copy room. I’ll write one to three problems that I want them to answer or solve before leaving class - I collect the papers as students exit the classroom.
Many times the questions are over a recently taught topic to see who still needs more time for mastery on our current lesson. But, since integers are such an important part of 6th and 7th grade, I also have at least one integer problem for my students.
I can quickly sort through the exit tickets determining who I need to touch base with to clear up any misconceptions, who needs more practice, or who is ready to move on.
3. Another frequency strategy is to include integer problems on every test or quiz. By including a few integer questions on every assessment, I am sending the message to my students that this is an important skill to master and just because it is not directly related to the current topic we are studying, it is not going to go away and they are responsible for remembering all that we have learned.
Math like many subjects, including reading, is cumulative. It is critical to retain the lessons learned from past weeks and past years.
My students know they do NOT have permission to forget anything we have learned.
4. As often as I can, at least a few times a week, while meeting and greeting my students as they enter my classroom, I prepare some flashcards or questions they have to answer before entering.
If they get the answer wrong - to the end of the line they go and try again.
This is another quick formative assessment that helps me determine who still needs more time / help mastering a specific skill - in this case integers.
5. The final example of how to make interactions with integers a frequent occurrence in your classroom is using my Integer Alphabet.
I have assigned an integer value to every letter of the alphabet. This is posted as a number path above my whiteboard at the front of the classroom. At the drop of a hat students can find the “value” of any word.
I’ll ask a silly question like “who’s worth more - mom or dad?” or “Find the value of hypotenuse.” These are great filler activities. Students will scrambled to find the value of different words. It’s fun to see which words are “worth” more.
So if the letter M is a -1 and an O is 1.
MOM = -1+1-1
MOM = -1
If you would like a copy my integer alphabet, I will send it to you (for free)!
Which of these 5 strategies for making it frequent do you already use? Is there one you want to implement soon?
I’d love to hear from you other ways to make integers a frequent part of our classroom.
