This week’s Friday Fave is
Polygraph!
There are many versions, and we recently upgraded them to include our Classroom Conversations tools.
Polygraph is a game in which one partner selects a mathematical object, and the other asks yes/no questions in an effort to narrow the selections down to the first partner’s selection.
It’s a fabulous way to start your school year, or your next unit. Draw out student ideas before there is an expectation of specialized vocabulary, and in doing so, you’ll create the need for that vocabulary in the lessons to come.
Do you work with young ones who are nonetheless old enough to type? Try out Polygraph: Basic Quadrilaterals, or Advanced Quadrilaterals if you really want to challenge them.
Maybe you work with algebra students. In that case, the Friday Fave suggests the Lines or Parabolas versions of Polygraph.
Advanced algebra, college algebra, and precalculus students will be challenged by Polygraph: Rational Functions (and so will their teachers, for that matter!)
Challenge your statistics students with Polygraph: Scatter Plots (with gratitude to Megan Schmidt).
In the Fave’s experience, the majority of Polygraph sessions result in the teacher gaining new insights into their students’ mathematical minds. And that’s pretty high on the list of priorities at the beginning of the school year!
So go play Polygraph with your students. We’ll see you next Friday.