Since students were in kindergarten they’ve been taught about numbers being a certain way. Then they hit middle school, and BOOM! in walks irrational numbers. Everything was concrete, but in that moment that certainty goes by the wayside. As students start to wrap their heads around these new classes of numbers, we start simply. At first, we just want students to see two categories of numbers: rational and irrational. That’s where these nine activities come in.
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How to Teach Irrational Numbers using Interactive Notebooks
I love teaching students about irrational numbers. In 8th grade math we focus on identifying irrational numbers and approximating them on a number line. This concept is so fun for me to teach because it blows their minds. They’ve never considered that a number could be approximate and have no exact location on the number line. Some of my students get it and believe it right away. Other students resist and don’t want to believe it. Luckily, by teaching them this concept you can blow their minds without crumbling their world view- seriously, so fun! Another great thing about identifying irrational numbers and approximating them, is that this topic is very gettable. It can be a real win for struggling students. That’s what makes it one of my favorite to teach. In this post I’ll walk you through our entire interactive notebook unit that goes from identifying what irrational numbers are to approximating irrational numbers. [Read more…] about How to Teach Irrational Numbers using Interactive Notebooks
