Starting the year off right is SO important for any class, but especially in Algebra 1, in particular. That’s why I call our first unit The Foundations of Algebra.
Everything that is done in the first unit lays the foundation for everything to come throughout the rest of the year (and for the rest of their entire HS math career) so there is a lot riding on starting the year strong. No pressure, right?
So you just found out you are working at an AVID school and are trying to figure out how to incorporate all the things into your lessons.
Lucky for you, interactive notebooks (INBs) or interactive student notebooks (ISNs) and AVID are a perfect match — but that doesn’t mean it isn’t overwhelming learning how to get started.
PS: There’s no difference between INBs and ISNs, it’s more of a tomayto/tomahto situation.
If you’re new to AVID, here’s a quick rundown:
Continue readingPlanning for the first day and first week of school can be incredibly stressful because it sets the tone for the entire year. No pressure, right?
Students are also getting non-stop information about rules, expectations, classroom procedures, and syllabi, so throwing something in to break that up is a must.
Here are 5 of my favorite activities for the first week of school, that I have used with my Algebra 1 classes over the years but are perfect for any middle school math classroom:
Continue readingInteractive notebooks are study tools at their core. There are many ways to encourage students to develop this relationship with their notebook. Here are a few:
“How do you grade interactive notebooks” is a common question I get.
And, to be honest, I don’t.
Not always anyways!
One of the most important things to ensuring that your experience with interactive notebooks runs smoothly and doesn’t waste class time is through your use of routines and the organization of your classroom. In another post I talk about supplies you’ll need and how I organize them, and in this post I’ll walk you through how to set yourself up for success with routines that utilize that organization.
If you’re wanting to do interactive notebooks, you’re going to want to make sure you have several supplies ready and organized.
This is part of my Unit 1 Interactive Notebook for Algebra 1. You can view the rest of it here.
Properties of real numbers. What a snooze fest, am I right? WRONG!
This set of notes turns that notion upside down and gets students involved in creating their own examples to demonstrate each property to make a lively and memorable lesson.
You might wonder, “why would I want to teach properties of real numbers?” It’s a simple way to help students start thinking algebraically and flexibly, especially after having a long summer off from math. These properties demonstrate nice rules for manipulating and moving numbers and variables around in expressions and will help them understand why certain moves are “legal” when we start solving equations. Helping students think flexibly and understand the structure of an expression is a huge step in their journey toward mathematical fluency.
Continue readingThis is part of my Unit 1 Interactive Notebook for Algebra 1. You can view the rest of it here.
There’s nothing trickier than picking the very first topic to cover in all of Algebra 1. So many options, so what goes first?
To start the very first unit of Algebra 1 off, I begin by talking about the real number system and how we classify numbers.
Why oh why, is this where I start, you might ask?
Instilling this vocabulary is very important in helping students be able to hold fluent conversations about math. I can’t tell you how many students I’ve had in Algebra 2 (or Pre-Calc!) over the years that have asked “what’s an integer?” and they are unable to complete a problem that they otherwise would know how to do solely because they lack the basic vocabulary and don’t understand what the question is asking.
This is silly, and I want to prevent these things from happening as much as possible. Math really is its own language, and helping students learn it will allow them to be more confident and much more successful in the long run.
Continue readingStarting the year off right is SO important for any class, but especially in Algebra 1, in particular. Everything that is done in the first unit lays the foundation for everything to come throughout the rest of the year, so there is is a lot riding on starting the year strong.
Students NEED to have a strong foundation, or else they’ll be fighting an uphill battle all year, which is no good. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what topics are most important for students to know (from vocabulary to skills), so that each following unit has a strong foundation. Here are all of the notes I used with my students during the 1st unit of Algebra 1.
If you want to look inside any of the pages included in this unit, you can take a look at these topic-specific posts for a more detailed look!
Math by the Mountain 