Yes, I know it's morbid, but you know what? It stuck!! The kids remember DEAD MAN and what he is used for.
I originally used 'sleepy man' for multiplying and dividing integers, and I couldn't figure out why they were getting hime confused with adding and subtracting. That is until someone suggested a name change because student were probably relating 'sleepy' with subtraction. And they were right!! So, his name changed to DEAD MAN and if confusion arises it is quickly and easily redirected in relation to the letters of the name and operations.
This page of notes opens up and down from that middle squiggly line.
Under the top, three properties are listed as quarter sheets folded in half.
The bottom half is used for additional example and my favorite challenge.
This challenge really made students think about and use the Dead Man tool. We then used calculators to store the values 1, -1, and 0 for p, n, and z to check their answers. If they missed one, they really worked hard to figure out why.
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