Minion Bookmarks

What did we do before Pinterest?  I'm not sure, but I'm guessing we [teachers] re-invented the wheel more than once.  While perusing Pinterest one day, I happened upon monster bookmarks.  Being slightly obsessed with minions, I decided to turn those monsters into minions.

These bookmarks have a base square of 2" by 2".  I used yellow card stock for the base, then had the students glue a blue 2"x 2" square on top of the yellow to make the overalls.  White card stock was used for the teeth [glued between the two triangles that are folded over] and the goggle.  Black marker and colored pencils were used to polish off the details.

Coming Soon:  A step-by-step guide in pictures!

Minions by the Season

I may have a slightly unhealthy obsession with minions.  I can't help it.  They are just so darn cute!  In an earlier post, I had a picture displaying my classroom door converted into a minion for the year.  That has been just the start!  Each month, I have been plotting his accessories.  Here is the first round of updating his accessories:

To add to the fun, each of the students has a minion on their locker with their name.  I had an extra minion, and made one for outside my classroom door.  I didn't want to leave him out of the Halloween fun, so using an overhead marker (he's been laminated), I added a mustache, goatee  and the right side of the cape.  The larger part of the cape is black card stock.

Happy Halloween!!

Interactive Math Journals: Absolute Value

Absolute Value:  My Algebra students were getting ready to solve equations containing absolute value.  To make an interactive example, we came up with the sliding example.  We first defined 'absolute value' using the Frayer Model.  For the interactive notes, I had the students cut two identical strips for the absolute value portion and what it would equal.  We wrote in numerical, variable, and expression examples.  [8/-8, x/-x, 5-8/8-5] We used the opposite of each example to show that regardless of having a positive or negative solution within the absolute value bars, the solution would always be positive.

To further tie into the Algebraic application, I had the students write down an example of solving an equation using absolute value.  I emphasized having two possible scenarios for our solution and related it back to what absolute value meant.