Padlet Card Sort

We began work on our quadratics unit. To see how much students remembered from previous instruction and to build the need to know more details, we started with a card sort ... on Padlet!

It works!

I clipped 8 graphs and 8 equations (in different forms).  I wanted to see if students could match the graphs and equations ... what attributes they remembered from their Algebra 1 course.

I pasted the 16 pictures in Padlet.

The author of a padlet is the only one who can move cards around. So I gave students editing rights: Setting (modify) >> Privacy >> Hidden Link >> Can Moderate >> Submit

Then I realized I had 8 groups of students - I needed 8 copies of the Padlet task.  Padlet has a copy feature which generated distinct URLs for the copies.  I posted the links on our class website so all students could access them easily.

When the first class began, I realized that as group members are sorting the cards, the movements don't show up real time on everyone's computer.  So we made suggestions.  Refresh often to see your teammate's work.  Or divide the task - each group member take 2 or three cards and make matches.  Or use one computer per group.

I heard great discussions around the room ... how to determine which equation went where.  I discovered which students remembered that "c" is the y-intercept; which students who knew that the factors represented x-intercepts; and so on.

The last thing I asked groups to do after we sorted and discussed was to scramble the page before they closed it.  I used the Padlets with 6 classes.  We only had a minor glitch in one group - someone accidentally deleted a card or two.  In giving students editing rights to be able to move the cards around they can also accidentally delete the cards.

The activity went well - and I will definitely use it again.  I liked this method better than cutting up dozens of cards for sure!