Schedule (Atrium)
In order to fit into the Atrium Institute format, I had to divide my Visual Algebra workshop into three parts. I put all the work involving manipulatives in the Major Strand, and organized the rest into two sessions. This means that some topics (e.g. slope) will appear in different representations at different times. See below to see what happens when, more or less.
Not mentioned below: I will share some thoughts on "Reaching the Full Range" in the Wednesday afternoon keynote, and lead a Math Teachers' Circle session on Thursday afternoon.
◊ This is a tentative schedule, based on my best estimate of how long things take. Topics may move or vanish.
◊ Because of the cumulative nature of the major strand, it is important to attend all four of those sessions.
◊ Mini-breakfast: 8:30 a.m. School day: 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Major Strand: Manipulatives in Algebra
Wednesday morning:
Geoboard 1: stairs and slope
Lab Gear 1: introduction to algebra manipulatives, the area model
Wednesday afternoon:
Lab Gear 2: perimeter, combining like terms; factoring
Difference of squares
Thursday morning:
Lab Gear 3: minus, equations, integer arithmetic
Signed Numbers game
Friday morning:
Geoboard 2: area, distance, and radicals
Lab Gear 4: selected advanced topics, including completing the square
Mini Workshop 1: Tables and Graphs
Thursday afternoon:
Polyomino Perimeter: a discovery lesson connected to many algebra topics
Reading Algebra: including story tables, a powerful representation of order of operations and equation-solving
Interpreting graphs
Mini Workshop 2: Diagrams and Applications
Friday afternoon:
The McNuggets problem: a rich number-based problem
Function Diagrams: parallel axes representation of functions
More with Graphs: optimization, inequalities