New Twist on Task Cards: "Be the Expert"

       I like task cards, but I feel like I'm always looking for some way to make them better....more exciting or fun....or something.  Well, I finally found what I was looking for.  For the moment, I'm calling this version "Be the Expert" task cards.

     It's a pretty simple twist on task cards, but for me, it was just what I was looking for to take task cards to the next level.   I made the task cards with the idea that you would fold them in half, kind of making them into a tent.  On one side is the task card.  On the other side is the answer, along with space for students to work out the answer.

                           

     Each student gets one card, and they keep that card for the entire activity.  Each student must work out the problem that they got on their card, and "be the expert" for that problem.  Students then walk around, partnering up with different students, and completing each other's problems.    As students try to work each other's problems, they can help each other through it.

Here are 4 things that I loved about doing task cards this way:
1.  It got kids moving.  This was an easy way to incorporate some movement in my class, as students moved around to change partners.
2.  It helped all kids feel successful, and be successful.  Each student was in charge of understanding one problem and being able to help others.  This gave my quiet students and struggling students a chance to gain confidence.
3.  It led to great discussions.  As I listened to student discussions, I was impressed at the quality of help that I heard them giving to each other.  They weren't just giving answers but really helping each other figure out what went wrong when it was not correct.
4.  Easy way to make sure kids get instant feedback.  Students had the answers when needed so they could monitor their own progress...plus help was built in when they missed problems!

Tips if you plan to try this:
1.  Have some kind of "waiting place" for students that are waiting for a different partner.
2.  Make sure kids know that they can't work in the "waiting place".  The first time I did this my "waiting place" area kept moving around because kids would start working it out there!

     One of the great things about this idea for task cards is that you could do this with any task cards that you already have.....just print them on paper, write the answers on the back, and you're ready to go.  When I made mine, I decided to fold the task card like a tent (so the answer would be on the back) this left the inside available for some more questions.  I decided it would be a great place for an exit ticket!  If you're interested in some ready to go "Be the Expert" two-step equations task cards, click here to see them in my Teachers Pay Teacher store.

Ideas for Celebrating Pi Day

     Pi Day is a day we all love as math teachers, right???  A chance to shine light on math in a fun way.  So here are some fun ways you could celebrate Pi Day this year. 

1.  Do a Pi Day Breakout.  Breakouts (like an escape room for the classroom) are lots of fun, and great to teach those "soft skills" we're always hearing about, like collaboration and perseverance.  A quick Google search for Pi Day Breakout turned up lots of free resources.  Here's a link to a digital Pi Day Breakout, but you can find more pretty easily!

2.  Play Rolling for Pi.   This quick game is a fun way to start things off for Pi Day, or something you could do if you just have a short time to celebrate.  I give each student a six-sided number cube.  Then I have everyone roll together, and you get to remain standing as long as you are rolling the digits of pi (in order!).  So on the first roll, only those kids that rolled a 3 would remain in the game.  Then they would roll again and try to get a 1, and so on.  The kid that rolls the most digits of pi is the winner.  This game works fine with 6-sided dice for the first several digits of pi (3.1415), and you could just declare anyone that got this far the winner.  Variations of this game include using 10-sided dice or having students create a spinner to use.

3.  Pi Day Puzzles.   I have a fun (FREE!) Pi Day Sudoku puzzle in my Teachers Pay Teachers store that would be fun.  There are two puzzles; one has Pi Day trivia, while the other other has students calculating problems with circumference and area of circles.

4.  Pi Day chain contest.  This is another great way to get kids working collaboratively.  Divide your class up into groups of 3-5 students.  Each group is supposed to make a paper chain with the digits of pi in the correct order.  The group with the longest chain of accurate digits in the time given wins.

5.  Pi Day Trivia.  Take a quick break and play some trivia.  My kids love to play trivia when we have a few extra minutes.  A quick Google search can find lots of free trivia.

6.  Pi Day STEM Challenge.  I'm going to have kids create the smallest circular "landing pool" for a daredevil to dive into.....but it has to be big enough for the daredevil to hit the pool 10 times in a row!  My "diving board" will be a ruler, and my "daredevil" will be a simple pencil eraser.  You can see the set up below.  After the kids create the pool, they have to find the surface area.  Click here if you're interested in full supporting materials for this lesson!

7.  Write a Pi Day story.  Want to get your English teacher involved in Pi Day?  Here's a fun one for them!  There are two ways to do this.  One way is to have kids write a "story"....the catch is that the word lengths in the story have to follow the digits of pi.  So you start with a 3-letter word, then a 1-letter word, etc...   Another variation, is to have the kids write a normal story, but they have to work in the digits of pi in order.  This one gets fun because words like "to" count as a two, and "won" counts as one.

8.  Make pie!!!   The science teacher on my team gets involved in the day by having the kids make a cream pie as a lab, using Bunsen burners.  We have parents donate ingredients, and have half the kids make chocolate cream pie and half make butterscotch cream pie.  Then of course, at the end of the day, we eat!

9.  Pi Day problem hunt.  Give your students a printout with one page of pi digits printed out.  Have them look for problems within the digits.  The problems can be simple (1 + 4 = 5) or more complicated ones using order or operations.

10.  Pi Day Hopping Races.   If you are able to take kids outside or to the gym, this one might be fun.  Have a race where students have to hop the digits of pi.  3 hops on one foot, 1 hop on the other foot, 4 hops on the other foot, etc....

11.  Pi Day Goose Chase.  Ok, I  have to admit that I haven't tried Goose Chase EDU yet.  It's like a digital scavenger hunt.  It looks super fun, though and I'm dying to try it some time.  Here is one I created that would work for Pi Day.  Click here to see the one I made.

12.  Pi Day Scavenger Hunt.  Speaking of scavenger hunts, a paper scavenger hunt is a more traditional option.  Last year my class had a great time with this.  I had pictures posted of all kind of circular objects with the radius or diameter labeled.  Their scavenger hunt list included things like "something edible with an area of 15" or "something hot with a circumference of 20 in".  The kids got a little creative with it, and it was fun!  Click here to get one that is ready to go from my TpT store..