Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Angry Birds Close The Year!

I guess the 2014-2015 school year is over :(

I can't believe how fast this year went. Maybe it was feeling more comfortable with my grade level and content area, maybe it was coaching both 7th grade basketball and the softball teams, maybe it was the 13 tests my students needed to prepare for... I'm not sure... Maybe it was a combination of all these factors, but I'm super bummed it's already over!

Wrapping up the school year I didn't get the opportunity to share the awesome Angry Bird inspired project that my Algebra kids got the opportunity to do. Students were grouped into small groups of four members and given a specific "version" of the Angry Birds project (Locate it here!)...Check out the original post where I found the project here! Once students had their groups, they could chose how they approached the project. Each group was given four of the Angry Birds (red, yellow, blue, and black) and specific characteristics of their travel. This included anything from distance and vertex of the flight, to table of values describing the flight, to the actual equation. Students then had to determine the height of the bird's flight (maximum), the distance of the flight, and the axis of symmetry of the flight. Each bird was different and unique. Finally, before creating their poster, students were given two pigs (King Pig and Mustache Pig) at certain coordinates that they used to determine which bird hit which pig.

After completing the Math components of the project, students were given the chance to use their artistic ability and create visual representations of their birds and their flights. This is the point where the groups got competitive! Students really got excited about working on their posters and displaying their artsy skills. We have some fabulous artists on our team :)

Students really took this project and ran with it! They actually completed it within three days! Last year...granted we stalled a little....but we took a week to complete! I don't want to say it too much...But I am really going to miss our groups from this year. Both Algebra and PreAlgebra! We had some pretty awesome, fabulous, terrific kids if I say so myself :)


 

Before signing off for the school year... (Of course you know I'll post throughout the summer...We have major vaca's planned for me and the hubs! Washington D.C. to see the parents, Ohio to see the in-laws, Outer Banks with the family, and a New York anniversary trip! I also have several Professional Development sessions planned and have to share once those are attended!) I wanted to give one last shout-out to my fabulous teammates, students, and overall school year of 2014-2015. Here's to the class of 2019! Have a wonderful summer... Until next time.... :)