Graph Shop - A Thrift Shop Parody

Hey everybody!  I made a music video with some of my current and former students about graphing lines using slope and y-intercept.  So here it is!  Lyrics are below.



Schooltube version coming soon.
You can download the audio here.

I'm gonna graph some lines
Gotta get em in slope intercept form
Hit that y axis
Put the intercept on
Then use rise over run

Walk up to the class like, "What up, class is in session" 

I'm so pumped about today's sick math lesson
Graph on the board, skills so absurd
That people like, "Man! That is one dope math nerd."
Rollin' in, hecka deep, in my class you'll never sleep,
Getting that slope and y-intercept on the screen
Draped in my corduroy, students sit in front of me
Probably should get on with this, makin' it rain practice sheets 

Let's make... Graphing lines make sense!
You'll be solvin' it, graphin' it, and now its time to start Mathin it' 
Dashin' up on this problem when you finish you'll be trashin' it
Solve for y where's it hidin'
Add and subtract to both sides and
Multiply and divide
Move things away from the y, kids

I'ma get that y alone, I'ma get that y alone,
No for real - slope intercept - that's 
Y equals m x plus b
Claw it, combine it, get y alone too
Reverse PEMDAS tells you what to move
Now what's that next to X? The slope is next to X! 
And what's that number left? Must be the intercept! 
the b, the b, the y-intercept is b
Start on the y axis, graphs begin with the b
Now go and take the m now, the slope is next you see
Use the rise then run for every point you need

I'm gonna graph some lines
Gotta get em in slope intercept form
Hit that y axis
Put the intercept on
Then use rise over run

Let's get that y alone, 
That's slope intercept form, 
Let's get that y alone 
For that slope intercept form

Let's get that y alone, 
That's slope intercept form, 
Let's get that y alone 
For that slope intercept form

I'm gonna graph some lines

Gotta get em in slope intercept form
Hit that y axis
Put the intercept on
Then use rise over run

Pick up - Algebra Game

The first couple lessons I shared were from my Algebra 2 class, so I figured it was time to share something from Algebra 1.  This lesson revolves around a game that I think a student taught me years ago, but was similar to a game that we played in my college game theory class.  The kids have a lot of fun, because they get to compete and figure out strategy.  I call the game Pick up.

 I split students up into groups of twos, and give each group a few pieces of scrap paper.  I tell each group to rip up the paper to get 21 scraps of similar size.  On one of those scraps they write the words "Math Fun." Then I give them directions for the game, which goes like this:

• The 21 pieces are placed down on a desk or the floor with the "Math Fun" piece showing and visible the whole game, like above.
• Players take turns picking up at least 1, and up to 3 pieces at a time.
• Whoever must pick up the Math Fun piece loses.

Then I let the students play.  They get to practice for awhile to get a feel for some basic strategy, but soon we start a tournament. Students that don't win the first round play off for a wildcard spot or two later in the bracket.  Excitement builds, someone wins candy and then we begin discussion.

I prompt them with questions like "Well, what worked?"  The winner will definitely have figured out what to do at the end, but they won't need to step it all the way back to the start to win games, so they don't.  Then we start discussion around the question "Well, in what situation are you sure to win?"  We decide to not count the Math Fun piece because it's pretty much irrelevant and we go through each situation that occurs at the end of a player's turn assuming their opponent is playing perfectly.  It's fun for them think their way through it, and my students have been able to figure out the situations below with minimal prompting.

1- You lose, opponent takes 1.
2- You lose, opponent takes 2.
3- You lose, opponent takes 3
4- You WIN, opponent has to leave you with 1, 2 or 3.
5- You lose, opponent takes 1, leaving you with 4.
6- lose
7- lose
8- win
9- lose
10- lose
11- lose
12- win

At #8, they might see the pattern, at 12 they are sure of it.
"So, could we.... write a linear equation that would tell us the winning numbers?"
"If we counted the Math Fun piece, how would our winning situations change?  How would the equation change?"
blahblahblah Slope, blahblahblah y-intercept.  Hooray for math!

Extensions:
     Which player has the advantage if both play perfectly?
     What if you could take up to 4 pieces?  Only 2? 10?

Super Extension:
     What if you split it into 2 piles, with two special pieces, and could only take from one at a time?