I played [math basketball] today in class. Class versus the teacher. When I told them I never lose, this was all the motivation they needed.

This kind of hyper-authoritative faux-confidence informs at least 50% of my student-teacher interaction, letting me acknowledge to them that, yeah, I realize this particular lame-duck teacher is real, that I don’t like them any more than my students do, letting me have some cake and eat it too. We get along.

I was digging through the dy/dan mailbag today and found a note asking me to explain what I have often referenced on this blog but never clarified. I swear, there isn’t any activity my kids enjoy more than basketball review. Here’s how it works:

Instructions

1. You bring in a set of questions related to the previous two week’s instruction.
2. You put up a question.
3. A kid stands up with an answer, either correct or incorrect:
   • If it’s incorrect, the student sits down, reworks the problem, and you wait for another student to stand.
   • If it’s correct, the student takes two shots with a miniature basketball into a lined trashcan. You award points according to a) the student’s distance from the trash can, and b) the competitive mode you’ve selected below.
4. Repeat.

Competitive Modes

I have used four, each with their own recommendations. Listed in descending order of popularity:

1. Class v. Teacher. The students take two shots for every right answer. The teacher takes one shot for every wrong answer. Highest point total wins either extra credit (for the class) or bragging rights (for the teacher).
2. Class v. Class. One side of the class versus the other. Seed them by mathematical and athletic ability. Highest point total wins extra credit for their team.
3. Free Market Capitalism. Everyone for him- or herself. Good for the final minutes of class. A student receives as many extra credit points (or pieces of candy) as he or she can score.
4. Class v. Arbitrary Point Total. If you’re averse to classroom competition, let the class play as one, studying and shooting to pass an arbitrary point total.

Other Release Notes

• Have the students turn in a paper with all their work on it. I make a big deal about this so everyone works the math through even if they don’t all shoot. Toss these papers after the last student leaves.
• Encourage shy students to answer math questions and pass off the ball to another student if they don’t want to shoot.
• Once a student successfully answers a question, she can’t answer again until the rest of her team answers, though she must still work through the problems.
• Student conference is way out of bounds. If the idea is that everyone works hard on the math, allowing one student to source all the answers would be counter-productive. If I catch anybody whispering answers, I give the other team a shot.
• Introduce an extraordinarily difficult and extraordinarily valuable shot halfway through the term, a 20-point shot through an open window, for instance.
• In between the math review, toss in some extraneous nonsense. Name that flag, for instance.
  

  You can find these slides anywhere “basketball” is listed in my Geometry supplement.

1. We’re going to investigate Pick’s Theorem (and then forget about it).
2. We’re going to review new area formulas with a treasure hunt.

Materials:

1. Pick’s Theorem Worksheet 1
2. Pick’s Theorem Worksheet 2
3. Treasure Hunt Stations
4. Concept Quiz 18

The Breakdown

1. Opener + Review (15 minutes)
2. Pick’s Theorem Notes (25 minutes)
3. Pick’s Theorem Classwork (10 minutes)
4. Break (5 minutes)
5. Show and Tell (1.5 minutes)
6. Treasure Hunt (30 minutes)
7. Concept Quiz (20 minutes)

Attachments

• Keynote
• PowerPoint
• Interactive QuickTime
• PDF
• Pick’s Theorem Worksheet 1
• Pick’s Theorem Worksheet 2
• Treasure Hunt Stations
• Concept Quiz 18

Slide Deck

Texas has the lowest. New Hampshire has the highest. (Houston Chronicle)

Just ask them sketch the quadrilateral. Tell ‘em you aren’t giving them any side lengths. You’re giving them something new. Ask if they see the rectangle that fits around the vertices. [Note: It’s awfully hard to tell what’s going on here without consulting the QuickTime or original slide deck.]

Subtract off the triangles. Pass out the worksheet here. (Pick’s Worksheet #2)

Once people start noticing the area is 12 for all of them, let them skip the rest. “See, this guy Pick — that’s Georg Pick, only one “e” in Georg — found out that the only thing that matters is the boundary points and the interior points.” Have them count those points.

Just a visual representation that there’s, indeed, a pattern. I asked my class to see if they could find a way to turn 6 and 14 into 12 that also worked for 5 and 16, 10 and 6, etc. Several got it. Some very quickly.

Test it out on our quadrilateral.

I’m kind of in love with this little white floater here. Gonna have to bring that scratch space back in future episodes.

Just bring it back to the start now. Nice and easy.


The treasure hunt is a kick. You post ten multiple-choice questions around the room. Students form groups or go solo and solve any problem they want. A correct answer sends them to another question somewhere in the room. They’ve done it correctly if they hit each of the ten questions in the right order. Hard to set up. Infinitely re-usable.Treasure hunt answer: 1 – 5 – 9 – 2 – 4 – 7 – 3 – 6 – 8 – 10

[Updated (years later): students who finish early function as docents at harder outposts, explaining and prompting as other students need help.]

Notes & Revisions:

1. The final classwork set for Pick’s Theorem went much faster than expected.

Veering Off Content. My algebra class and I played review basketball yesterday in order to shake off the I-Totally-Forgot-This. The rules are pretty much what you’d expect: answer a math question correctly, shoot a plastic ball into a trash can for points, maybe prizes. Just a little circus with their bread.

I dip into other content areas since 40 minutes of straight math review is too tedious even for me. (Heaven knows how my kids suffer.) We’ll break for a one-question spelling bee, for example. At least once, every teacher deserves the pleasure of thirty students each trying and failing in succession to determine the first letter of “pterodactyl.”

Because I love graphic design and because Africa has some of the wildest pastel flags I’ve ever seen, I swapped out math slides for a two-question foray into “Name That Flag!” At the exact moment I was hinting my students toward Botswana’s converted-teeshirt masterpiece, my principal walked in for an impromptu observation.

Whoops.

Fortunately I’ve got enough credibility with the administration — even on my temp contract — he assumed I had some lofty mathematical tie-in that would’ve become apparent if he had only stuck around long enough. The benefit of the doubt doesn’t feel so hot when it’s totally undeserved.

All of this has been written in case I’ve given anyone the impression I adhere perfectly to my first important ratio.