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entertain, motivate our audience, communicate information, foster creativity, connect with new friends and helps us understand the world. With these beneficial aspects in mind, the engagement of storytelling may enhance student learning (Alterio, 2003). Although the original intent of asking stu- dents to interpret the graph of Joe’s journey was to reinforce the concepts of slope and rate of change, I soon realized that students were in fact participat- ing in the process of storytelling. As a result, I have noted that students are engaged as they work cohe- sively and creatively together in groups to create and tell their version of Joe’s story. The storytell- ing question in the activity with an example of a group’s response is shown below. I have also expanded the “Stories and Slopes” activity to include additional concepts on slopes and lines, such as the Slope-Intercept formu- la and the Point-Slope formula and have asked students to find the equation of each line segment. The table of questions and key are listed on the next page. I have also continued the “Stories and Slopes” activity by including additional questions that require students to make connections between the graph and the context of Joe’s journey. Exam- ples of these questions include:  During what period of time did Joe travel the Joe left his dorm room and travelled to his math class at a rate of 20 ft/min, but ran into Sally who needed his notes for Biology class. Joe stopped to talk with Sally for 3 minutes and then realized that he left his graphing calcula- tor in his dorm room. Because he was still on time for class, Joe returned to his room at the same rate of 20 feet/ min. It took him 2 minutes to find his graphing calculator where he ran into Jeff, his roommate. Together Joe and Jeff walked to the math building at a leisurely rate of 10 feet/min. After 3 minutes, Joe looked at his Fit Bit and noticed that he was late for class so he increased his pace to 50 ft/min and hurried to his math class. 2. In your groups, create and write your story of Joe walking to class as reflected by the graph in the text box below. You should include six sentences – each describing one of the six intervals. Your first sentence should read “Joe left his dorm room and travelled to his math class at a rate of ______ft/min.” Stories and Slopes

fastest?

 How far was Joe’s math class from his room?  How long was Joe standing still and not mov- ing? The activity may also be expanded to include stu- dent exploration and investigation in an out-of- class lab, in which students first create and write their own travel story that includes a starting loca- tion and destination. Students would next create a labeled graph of line segments with indicated slopes that models their story. My experience with the inclusion of this activity into my algebra class has been overwhelm- ingly positive. Quiz results on students’ under- standing supported the value of the activity. After the activity, students were given an application- based quiz problem on the slope concept to solve individually. Ninety-one percent of the students who completed the quiz mastered the problem and answered it correctly. Student feedback from an anonymous survey on their “Stories and Slopes” experiences also supported my observations. All students who completed the survey indicated that their understanding of the material had improved or was reinforced through their participation in the activity. Students found the hands-on approach to be engaging and commented that it helped them remember the information. They reported that they could better recognize how the concept of “slope” can be applicable in the real world and applied to everyday life. Responses to the storytelling compo- nent were also positive. Students shared that this aspect made it possible for them to visualize the “slope” concept in a different and helpful way. In fact, one student commented that storytelling has been an important part of his/her culture. Finally, student comments indicated their appreciation for the creative aspect and group inter- action of telling a group’s story, as well as the value of the writing component. Students have also responded on course evaluations that through the participation of activities, including “Stories and Slopes,” they are more comfortable explaining answers in class and are more inclined to ask group members to work on homework assignments and prepare for tests outside of class. Each semester, I look forward to the presen-

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