Lesson 2.2.2: The Big Race (Day 48)

X'S AND Y'S

First Verse:
I walked into math class, the math teacher said,
"We're gonna graph our x's and y's."
Today, I just wanna say.
Took out my calculator to add,
Wrote the numbers on the graph.
You know my x's and y's.

Pre-Chorus:
One, two, three, they gonna run back to me,
'Cause I'm the math genius that they never have seen.
One, two, three, they gonna run back to me,
I always want an A but I keep getting a B.

Chorus:
x's and y's, I solve them,
And graph my x's and y's.
I just might try,
x's and y's.

Second Verse:
Where y = 0, that's the x-intercept,
Where x = 0, that's the y-intercept.
My my, how the lines go by.
Plus-y gets high, minus-y gets low,
Plus-x goes right, minus-x goes left.
You know, that's how the graphing goes.
(To Pre-Chorus)

Originally, these last two weeks of October would be for the last 10EDL songs -- and the most complex structures of all, the ABCD format, where D stands for the "bridge." But as it turns out, I have several previously written songs from earlier on the blog that happen to fit this part of the chapter.

Three years ago, I had a multi-day subbing assignment in an Algebra I class, and I decided that I wanted to perform a new song based on the upcoming lesson, graphing using intercepts. On YouTube, I found a parody of Elle King's "Ex's and Oh's," called "x's and y's." I changed a few lines to graphing using intercepts and performed it in the class I was covering that day.

This year, we reached the lesson on standard form yesterday, but Mondays aren't singing days. So I had to wait until today to perform this song in my second and fourth period Math I songs. It's the first time that I sang "x's and y's" since before the pandemic. (While I taught linear equations to Math 8 during my long-term assignment two years ago, eighth graders generally don't study standard form.)

Today's performance is a rousing success. Parodies are usually the easiest songs to write and perform -- the tunes are already written, so all I need are the new lyrics. And if I already know how to play the original tune (by ear), then all I need to make sure of during performance is singing the right words.

Since this is a parody, there's no need for Mocha code -- the original parodists are two former high school students who wrote it during their actual math class, Brianna and Chase. So let me use the rest of this post to mention a few other things happening in my Math I classes.

First of all, the lesson title "The Big Race" refers to a particular activity in the CPM text. Several young children are participating in a tricycle race. Each rider is moving at a constant rate, but slower riders are given a head start in order to make the race more suspenseful (and to show both slope and y-intercept).

The Big Race has already been converted to Desmos. But I fear that, while the Big Race uses linear equations to model a real-world situation, it doesn't give the students much practice (again, a common complaint of Desmos lessons). So I take one page from the packet that one of my neighbor teachers gave me during last week's Wi-Fi blackout, copy it, and have students glue them into their notebooks.

This page has two types of questions -- one where they must find the slope of a line given its graph, and the other where they are given a starting point and a slope and must draw the graph. My original plan is to have the students complete the worksheet, sing "x's and y's" midway through the period, and then transition to Desmos and the Big Race. But, as usual, it's a struggle to get the freshmen to work, and so we only complete the finding slope questions before it's time for the song and the Big Race.

Meanwhile, as I mentioned in my last post, I'm still exploring my Promethean board. I notice that it has a Whiteboard app -- and this whiteboard has a grid background, perfect for graphing. The tech guy is supposed to visit my room tomorrow morning. So if all goes well, I'll be able to use the Promethean in my fourth period class tomorrow. I hope to be able to use technology to engage my young freshmen and get them to work harder in my math classes.