Friday, March 19, 2010

Battleship for Introduction to Algebra Students




I got this idea from Tom DeRosa and his blog http://www.teachforever.com/ I have modified his original document to work for my needs.


All the students will place their 3 boats on their grid covering the correct number of points.
The teacher will shoot random shot to all students in the class. Everyone will write this down on their paper. Students will put a O for a miss and an X for a hit.
The teacher will then call on a student to fire at back. Everyone will write down this coordinate on their paper. The teacher on the Smartboard will write a O for a miss and X for a hit.


This will go back and forth until someone wins. Usually the students will win since the teacher is randomly firing.


Tom DeRosa suggests having the student explain where the point is when giving it to the rest of the class. Such as "its in the first quadrant." It is on the y-axis. Or things like this.
I've attached the lesson that I have revised from Tom DeRosa .
By the way, I have included sounds in the smartboard lesson to add the fun of BATTLESHIP.
Give it a try.


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4 comments:

  1. Mrs. FullerApril 7, 2010 at 1:58 PM

    Do you place the "ships" in the spaces or on the lines? I ask because my students often confuse the coordinates as being in the spaces rather than on the lines. Anyone have suggestions for alleviating that problem?

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  2. Dave SladkeyApril 9, 2010 at 10:59 PM

    I have the students put pencil spots on the grid. So for instance I have them put three spots for one of the ships at the three coordinates, not the spaces, of the graph. Then I have them circle that as it represents one of the ships. I think your point is a good one.

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  3. UnknownJune 3, 2010 at 9:39 AM

    I love the idea of algebra battleship. Unfortunately I just discovered it at the end of the year. I'm looking forward to using it in my class next year. I bet it really engages the students.

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  4. RicochetJune 18, 2010 at 5:54 PM

    Do you have to the smartboard software on your system to be able to save yours? I hope to be able to use one next year so am planning ahead but cannot load the smartboard part.

    ReplyDelete