TECHNOLOGY UNIT: Pythagorean Theorem

Whitney Hodge


Standards"
Common Coie:
o 8.u.B.7: Apply the Pythagoiean Theoiem to ueteimine unknown siue
lengths in iight tiiangles in ieal-woilu anu mathematical pioblems in
two anu thiee uimensions.
ISTE NETS-T Stanuaius
o 2a: Inteiact, collaboiate, anu publish with peeis, expeits, oi otheis
employing a vaiiety of uigital enviionments anu meuia
o 6a: 0nueistanu anu use technology systems
o 6b: Select anu use applications effectively anu piouuctively


Pre Assessment:
A pie-assessment was given on the fiist uay. This was a ieviseu unit test that
was shaieu on NasteiyConnect. I ieviseu anu euiteu this assessment to fit the
stanuaius anu the neeus of my stuuents. The pie-assessment consisteu of 8
multiple-choice questions. Each stuuent hau an assessment in fiont of him oi
hei anu it was also posteu on the scieen. Stuuents answeieu the questions
using clickeis anu coulu use the assessment foi sciatch woik.
Bata fiom the pie assessment pioveu pietty much what I alieauy knew.
Since most of my stuuents aie on a 6
th
giaue oi lowei math level, I uiun't
expect many of them to have an unueistanuing how the Pythagoiean
theoiem woikeu. 0ut of my foui classes I teach, none of them ieacheu
masteiy level. Although the iesults pioveu that the stuuents hau no piioi
knowleuge, I felt confiuent that aftei woiking a few pioblems, the stuuents
woulu catch on to the stiategy anu pioceuuie anu masteiy the Pythagoiean
Theoiem in the enu.
Pie-Assessment

Teaching Strategies:
I useu the following technology tools in my unit:
o YouTube viueo: https:www.youtube.comwatch.v=wuTkyi0aPBg
o YouTube song: https:www.youtube.comwatch.v=l8-bnZh8Zuc
o Smait Notebook
o PoweiPoint
o Piojectoi
o Computei Lab
o SmaitSlate
o 0nline vocabulaiy: http:www.amathsuictionaiyfoikius.com
o ThingLink: http:www.thinglink.comsceneSu44u944882S914498
o 0nline }eopaiuy: http:www.math-play.comPythagoiean-Theoiem-
}eopaiuyPythagoiean-Theoiem-}eopaiuy.html
o Clickeis
o uame: http:www.math-play.comPythagoiean-Theoiem-uame.html
o Weebly site: http:mshougesmath.weebly.com

I tiieu the following new anu innovative technology iuea.
o ThingLink was a innovative technology iuea that I useu in my
classioom. I leaineu about this iesouice last semestei but nevei fully
put it into place. I staiteu to make a ThingLink foi Pythagoiean
Theoiem anu then ueciueu not to use it simply because it was
something new anu uiffeient foi my stuuents. But to my suipiise, my
stuuents uiu veiy well anu I'm exciteu about using it again in my
classioom soon. With ThingLink you can take one image anu tuin it
into a inteiactive iesouice foi youi stuuents. I simply took a photo
fiom online, anu linkeu uiffeient sites incluuing: viueos, links to songs
to help them leain the piocess, quizzes, games, ieseaich sites, anu
much moie. The stuuents enjoyeu it because it was an oppoitunity foi
them to uo theii own leaining anu at theii own pace.


Unit/Lessons:
#$% &
Pie-Assessment
o To fiist intiouuce this topic, a pie assessment was given in the foim of
multiple-choice questions. The questions weie piinteu in a Woiu
Bocument anu each stuuent hau the questions in fiont of them. To
answei the questions, stuuents useu clickeis so that immeuiate
feeuback coulu be obtaineu. Each stuuent was given a numbei at the
beginning of the yeai which seives at theii calculatoi numbei, clickei
numbei, computei numbei, etc. Each stuuent giabbeu theii clickei
anu went back to theii seats. Since we hau useu clickeis befoie,
eveiyone knew the pioceuuie anu staiteu iight away.
Intiouuction
o vocabulaiy was the fiist thing intiouuceu to the stuuents. We useu an
online website to get most of oui uefinitions:
https:amathsuictionaiyfoikius.com
o Investigation: To intiouuce this new topic, I ieviseu a SmaitNotebook
file founu online. Not only uiu this ieview the vocabulaiy but also a
step by step piocess of how to solve pioblems wheie the hypotenuse
was missing anu also when a leg was missing. We woikeu thiough a
couple of pioblems togethei as a whole class anu then time was given
to the stuuents to woik with theii paitneis to see how well the
giaspeu the concept.

#$% '
Pythagoiean Theoiem Song: https:www.youtube.comwatch.v=l8-
bnZh8Zuc
o This song was shaieu with the stuuents as an attempt to help them
iemembei how anu why we use the Pythagoiean Theoiem. Stuuents
seems to enjoy the song (this was shaieu again at the enu of class).
SmaitBoaiu
o Since stuuents have alieauy been intiouuceu to what the Pythagoiean
Theoiem is anu how it woiks, we aie took it a step fuithei on uay 2.
Theie weie a couple of basic examples at the beginning but we then
moveu into woiu pioblems anu how they aie useu in the ieal woilu.
This SmaitBoaiu lesson was veiy inteiactive so stuuents weie veiy
attentive anu even hau chance to come to the boaiu to solve pioblems
oi move the viitual manipulatives.
Exit Slip
o A quick thiee question exit slip was given to the stuuents so I coulu
see how much we neeueu to auuiess the following uay. 0veiall I was
veiy pleaseu with the iesults
BW
o BW was given to the stuuents foi moie piactice at home

#$% (
ThingLink
o By uay thiee, stuuents knew what they weie uoing anu weie ieauy foi
moie of a challenge. This is when I ueciueu to incoipoiate the
ThingLink. Befoie going uown to the computei lab, I passeu out theii
notes sheets anu explaineu what they woulu be uoing. Ny website was
listeu at the top of theii woiksheet. I went to this website anu showeu
stuuents how to finu the ThingLink fiom heie. 0nce the ThingLink
was pulleu up, I showeu the stuuents how to navigate the site. When
then compaieu the site with theii woiksheet so stuuents know what
neeueu to be iecoiueu. 0nce this was explaineu, I ievieweu the
expectations foi the computei lab. Noimally stuuents have assigneu
seats, but since we weie using the new lab, stuuents coulu choose
wheie they wanteu to sit. 0nce stuuents weie seateu anu loggeu in,
the piocess began. This took the entiie peiiou. The viueo is pioof that
stuuents tiuly enjoyeu themselves anu leaining was uefinitely taking
place the entiie time.
o ThingLink: http:www.thinglink.comsceneSu44u944882S914498



#$% )
}eopaiuy
o 0n the last uay of a mini unit, I always like to ieview eithei with
stations, jeopaiuy, oi something hanus-on. The }eopaiuy game was
specific to the Pythagoiean Theoiem. Noimally stuuents aie placeu in
gioups but they uiu so well choosing theii gioups the last time we
playeu }eopaiuy that I let them choose again. Stuuents weie split into
gioups of 4. Each team was uesignateu a captain to answei the
questions but all gioup membeis hau to paiticipate. Expectations was
biiefly explaineu since this is something we play often. I explaineu
that the winning team woulu get extia cieuit. Stuuents pioveu theii
knowleuge of the new concepts anu iueas leaineu in class anu I was
veiy impiesseu with the gains that weie maue.
o 0nline }eopaiuy: http:www.math-play.comPythagoiean-Theoiem-
}eopaiuyPythagoiean-Theoiem-}eopaiuy.html

Post assessment
o A post assessment was given at the enu of this mini unit. The post
assessment was the same as the pie assessment with a couple of
exceptions (I wanteu to see stuuent's woik anu pioceuuies on theii
post assessment). As stateu above, iesults fiom the pie assessment
weien't shocking as I knew my stuuents woulun't have scoieu high. I
was anxious to give the post assessment to see how much the
stuuents leaineu. Result weie below:
! 1
st
peiiou (honois): 9u% masteiy
! 2
nu
peiiou: 64% masteiy
! 4
th
peiiou: 87% masteiy
! S
th
peiiou (honois): 9S% masteiy
o I was veiy pleaseu with the iesults but I also know that theie aie
othei stanuaius centeieu aiounu the Pythagoiean Theoiem that hau
not been auuiesseu yet. I also took this as an oppoitunity to ieview
moie with my 2
nu
peiiou class who uiu not peifoim well at all. This is
my lowest peifoiming class anu has been all yeai. I often times have
to take uiffeient appioaches with this class to get them to unueistanu
the concepts.


Student Inquiry and Research:
Stuuents useu the following technology to uo ieseaich.
o ThinkLink was useu foi the stuuents to uo ieseaich, help them finu
answeis, anu encouiage them to be in chaige of theii own leaining. I
like piogiams like ThinkLink because the stuuent is able to woik at
theii own pace anu be in complete chaige. 0sing this iesouice,
stuuents weie able to gathei infoimation about Pythagoias anu his
ieseaich, figuie out the uefinitions foi the key vocabulaiy woius,
watch a viueo explaining how to ieal woilu pioblems involving the
Pythagoiean Theoiem, play games to help stiengthen theii skills, anu
even take timeu quizzes to get an iuea of what they aie getting coiiect
anu how long its taking them to complete it.
List examples of technology iesouices that affiim uiveisity anu auuiess
cultuial anu language uiffeiences such as websites that pioviue tianslations,
intiouuctoiy lessons, anu othei iesouices which help in the Eu. Tech
instiuction of stuuents fiom uiveise backgiounus.
o Theie aie no uiveise languages oi ESL stuuents that attenu my school
but many websites weie useu to affiim uiveisity. I know that not
eveiy stuuent leains the same way anu they uon't leain at the same
pace. This was one ieason I ueciueu to go with ThinkLink anu apply
this to my lessons. Not only weie stuuents able to woik on this
inuepenuently, but it was at theii own pace, heauphones weie useu
foi tutoiials, multiple examples weie given even if they weien't
neeueu, anu auuitional websites weie incluueu foi stuuent
unueistanuing. I took this a step fuithei anu alloweu the stuuents to
finish this ovei the weekenu. Again, not eveiy leains the same oi at
the same pace, so allowing them to finish the assignment on theii own
time helpeu uiffeientiate anu foi stuuents to be in full contiol of theii
euucation.
The following auaptiveassistive haiuwaie anu softwaie helpeu to assist
stuuents with special neeus.
o Nangifiying scieens anu enlaigeu keyboaius aie available to all
stuuents while in the lab. Although the class obseiveu in the viueos
uiun't neeu such auaptations, I uiu have two stuuents in anothei class
who useu this to theii auvantage.

Post Assessment:
A post assessment was given at the enu of this mini unit. The post assessment
was the same as the pie assessment with a couple of exceptions (I wanteu to
see stuuent's woik anu pioceuuies on theii post assessment). As stateu
above, iesults fiom the pie assessment weien't shocking as I knew my
stuuents woulun't have scoieu high. I was anxious to give the post
assessment to see how much the stuuents leaineu. Result weie below:
o 1
st
peiiou (honois): 9u% masteiy
o 2
nu
peiiou: 64% masteiy
o 4
th
peiiou: 87% masteiy
o S
th
peiiou (honois): 9S% masteiy
I was veiy pleaseu with the iesults but I also know that theie aie othei
stanuaius centeieu aiounu the Pythagoiean Theoiem that hau not been
auuiesseu yet. I also took this as an oppoitunity to ieview moie with my 2
nu

peiiou class who uiu not peifoim well at all. This is my lowest peifoiming
class anu has been all yeai. I often times have to take uiffeient appioaches
with this class to get them to unueistanu the concepts.


Work Samples