Every year I pledge to get students to understand slope better than the year before. So, I pay close attention to exactly what makes slope tricky for students. One thing I’ve noticed over time is that it seems like they get the concept behind slope better than the abstract idea of slope. Also, there are 5 representations that we use for slope, and each one of those has its own details. It’s a lot for students to grasp. Then, they have to hold on to that newfound knowledge and apply it in unfamiliar situations. So, how do we teach unit rate and slope in a way that sticks? Today I’ll share with the way I break down this topic with students, and how I use their interactive notebooks to help them get a solid foundation with slope and unit rate. [Read more…] about How to teach unit rate and slope with interactive notebooks
slope
9 Awesome Activities for Writing Equations in Slope Intercept Form
After teaching students the concepts of slope and y-intercept year after year, there’s one thing I know for sure. They can’t get enough practice. We learn about slope for a week, and then we work with y-intercept for a week. Next, we spend two weeks comparing functions and then go into a unit about writing linear equations in slope intercept form. Along with all that, students also have to be able to look at a function and explain the situation it represents. [Read more…] about 9 Awesome Activities for Writing Equations in Slope Intercept Form
Teaching Similar Triangles and Slope in an Interactive Notebook
I love the math that we teach in junior high. Honestly, I was made to be a middle school math teacher. The topics that we teach came easy to me the first time around, and I’ve spent a lot of time figure out how to break things down for students. That is why I love this standard of using triangles to teach slope. It breaks down what slope is and uses something like triangles that students are already familar with. Some years we haven’t given this standard the attention it deserves because of time, but when we do take the time, it really helps students understand slope better. [Read more…] about Teaching Similar Triangles and Slope in an Interactive Notebook
8 Slope Intercept Word Problems Activities that Rock
It feels like the biggest emphasis in 8th grade math is slope and y-intercept. This topic is found all over the standards and goes from basic to complicated. In the end, we don’t just want students to know a whole bunch of stuff about linear expressions. We want them to be able to apply what they’ve learned about slope and y-intercept. We want students to interpret situations, make predictions, and solve problems. [Read more…] about 8 Slope Intercept Word Problems Activities that Rock
10 Activities to Practice Linear Functions Like a Boss
Slope and y-intercept make up the crux of the 8th grade math standards. We spend 5 full weeks on learning slope and y-intercept and how to apply them, not to mention all the other time throughout the year getting ready to learn about them and then reviewing and applying them. It still surprises me how complex it all becomes. When you come to think of it, students have to identify slope and the y-intercept in various way. They also have to create them in various forms, and they have to be able to interpret them in many forms as well. It can reach a point of overwhelm for both the teacher and the students. Every year I pledge to myself that I will do better to help students reach the understanding they need to have and every year I get closer to that goal. In this post I’ll share ten activity ideas that get students lots of practice with using equations of linear models to solve problems. [Read more…] about 10 Activities to Practice Linear Functions Like a Boss
