Appointment Clock: The Pythagorean Theorem
Watch a snippet of this activity in action.
APPOINTMENT CLOCK: Pythagorean Theorem
Engage your middle school students with this easy to set up purposeful practice activity that uses an appointment clock structure.
Instructions:
Give each student one (1) triangle prompt and one (1) Appointment Clock handout.
Allow students 5 minutes to move about the room and fill in names on their appointment clock. At this time students are to just create appointments. Later in the activity they will meet with their “appointment partner”.
Allow students enough time to independently determine the length of their missing side from their triangle prompt. Instruct students to copy their thinking onto the left side of the Appointment clock. (Tell them to keep their thinking hidden from other students).
Call out one of the appointment time slots to signal students to meet with their appointment partner. They are to trade triangle prompts with each other and complete their new prompt.
When each student is finished they are to peer review each other’s thinking making helpful suggestions where necessary.
Students are to trade their prompts to get their original triangle back before the teacher calls out the next appointment time.
Continue calling out appointments until all 6 slots have been met with.
Why Use An Appointment Clock Structure?
Engage your students in peer-to-peer discussion;
Students will build confidence as they self and peer assess;
Reciprocal teaching will help strengthen students understanding of pythagorean theorem.
Students will share their reasoning to defend their thinking with their peers;
It’s fun and easy to set up!
