Saturday, July 27, 2013

Variable, Factors, Terms, Oh My...


Lesson 2 in the Saxon algebra book focuses on the key vocabulary associated with expressions.  The text focuses on the words: constant, variable, coefficient, factor, and term.  So, to make the lesson not just a list of vocabulary words or a bunch of Frayer models, I opted for some simple foldables that define the key vocabulary.  The picture above is how I am setting up the INB page with the students.  The pictures below show an up close view of two of them.
The outside of the top foldable.

When students lift the flap, they will see the definition of the vocabulary word.

For the terms of an expression, I wanted the students to see it separated out more, so I made this accordion style foldable.
Inside each term is in it's own box and is labeled at the top as the first, second, third, etc. term of the expression.
What I really like about this lesson is the processing that I am going to have the kiddos do.  The Saxon teacher's edition has math background notes and in this lesson, they have a Venn diagram to show how the vocabulary words are related.  They also wrote some statements that were true based on the diagram.  I turned the statements into true/false questions and the kiddos need to use the diagram to determine if the statement is true or false.  I then ask the kiddos to write two true/false questions of their own based on the diagram.  I want to have them swap notebooks and see if a friend can answer their question correctly.  I think that it is a good tie in with the first lesson that also dealt with sets and Venn diagrams.  We'll see what happens in September!


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