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.
To get the most out of these interactive notes, I use them with students while we learn about this concept. But we don’t stop with just taking the notes. We also use these notes to discuss slope and unit rate, to write about them, and then to talk about them some more.
It doesn’t have to be all work and no fun, but you do have to remember that students have to grind this one out to some degree. Slope makes the foundation for so many other parts of linear algebra, so we have to make sure it sticks.
Using an interactive notebook
Interactive notebooks can look very different from teacher to teacher. The main difference for me from the notebooks my teachers used in school is that students aren’t just copying things. My teachers would just have us copy their work and then practice. Interactive notebooks can include many different components, but the most important change is that they are truly interactive for students. I like to think of them as an individual textbook that students build, use, and feel a sense of ownership over. My interactive notebook units usually have 5 components, so today I’m going to show you all 5 interactive notebook steps that I use when teaching slope and unit rate.
I can statements
A quick and effective way for students to know what they’re learning about is for them to see student friendly versions of their objectives. We start each unit off by analyzing these I Can statements, and then refer back to them throughout the unit.
At the bottom of the page students reflect on their learning. I love using this page to help students assess their own learning.
These I Can Statements break down the skills for this unit. Students will need to graph, identify slope, and compare slopes and unit rates. Having the learning objectives clearly stated helps both me as the teacher, as well as the students, to keep on track and see where we need to focus our learning.
Looking for more tips & tricks on implementing interactive notebooks and foldables in your classroom? Want to get all my 7th and 8th grade I Can statements ready to download and print? You’ll want to check out this FREE mini-course on how to get the most out of interactive notebooks. It’s a 5 part series delivered right to your inbox. By the end, you’ll have your own customized plan for either starting, or ramping up, interactive notebooks in your class.
Building background for slope and unit rate
8th grade students should already have some familiarity with unit rate, which makes it a great concept to build upon when introducing slope. I like to start off with a background building activity in the interactive notebook that gets students thinking about unit rate. To get students warmed up, I ask them to guess which of four things costs the most per ounce. Then we go through each one and calculate the unit rate. Students are surprised to see which one is actually most expensive, and this gets them talking about unit rates in real life.
Graphic organizers for slope in the INB
Students need to see slope in many different formats. I like to include a few different foldable graphic organizers about slope throughout their notebook. Students need a lot of repetitions and different ways of looking at slope if they’re going to remember what it represents. Let’s look at each of these graphic organizers I use when teaching this unit:
Finding slope in different representations
Students have to be able to identify slope in a variety of representations. This foldable gives them a reference for finding slope in a table. I realized a few years ago that you have to show students both the vertical and horizontal tables. If they don’t see it in the notes, some may have a hard time figuring out how to read a table presented in the opposite direction when they see it later. This foldable notes page works as a simple reference for finding slope on tables.
Finding slope in other representations
The most common representations of slope are graphs, equations, and tables. Students will also see slope in stories and as coordinate pairs, but I like to focus on the three most common representations when students are first working with slope. The foldable below helps students see how slope and unit rate are related. They have to identify the slope and then show it in unit rate form. So many students are already somewhat familiar with unit rate, so this helps them build on their prior knowledge and add their new learning.
Comparing slopes notes
After students have a taste of slope, then they can practice comparing slopes. The foldable below gives students a scenario where they have to compare levels cleared in a video game. The information is given to them in a variety of formats and walks them through comparing slopes. You could also take the same information and make more questions to get even more practice. Another way to have students connect this idea to their lives is to have them come up with a scenario from real life and write their own questions in their notebook.
Completing practice problems together
After we’ve completed our foldables, I like to do some modeling and have student complete a little practice right there in their notebooks. This gives me a chance to see where students are with their understanding, while also providing them a model they can refer back to.
As you can see below, I encourage students to annotate and write all over the problems. They do better and remember longer when they really interact with the problems instead of just completing them. At the end of this activity I usually have students write a summary of their learning. This gives them a chance to synthesize what they’ve learned.
Slope and unit rate cheat sheet
The final piece of this unit in the interactive notebook is this cheat sheet to remind students of the “basics” when working with slope. The first thing I really want students to remember is that slope is the incline of line. From there I want them to connect that idea to real life situations as well as the other representations of slope. The Slope Guy is a little visual reminder of postive, negative, zero, and undefined slope. This sheet can be referenced from other units as well.
Putting it all together
So after all of the cutting and gluing my students have a reference for identifying slope and unit rate. They’ve also had a chance to process the concepts that they’ve learned, right there in their notebook. They can go back to this unit as we get more into slope and y-intercept. Also, these pages are a perfect place to look for answers and refreshers as students practice.
Ultimately, you have to choose what works for your situation. For example, you might not have time to use everything, or you may choose to go with a different foldable that works for your class better. The most important thing I’ve found with interactive notebooks is to have a plan that goes from the beginning of the unit to the end. I hope these notes pages inspire you for teaching slope and unit rate in your own classroom.
To see this whole notes set, ready to just print and go, check out the Unit Rate and Slope Notebook Bundle here.
Thanks so much for reading. Until next time!
