Algebra 2 Unit 5 Part 1

So after systems our book has us skip matrices until the end of second semester so our units go from 3 to 5. Chapter 5 in our book is titled Polynomials and is extremely long. I really wish I would have broken it up into 2 units and that's how I am going to share it here. Polynomials are all in BLUE! :)

We start of by reviewing exponent rules and monomials. This foldable I found on TPT here. Apparently this class did not get a chance for us to fill in the door about scientific notation.

Then we moves on to polynomials. We learned how to identify and name them and then how to add and subtract them. I got the graphic organizer form Math Equals Love here.

We then moved onto multiplying polynomials and I love having my students use box method. Some students try to fight it and FOIL but I hate that. I call it "double distribute" if we do use it. I made this example page just using word. I don't know how to upload my files yet so if I figure it out I will add it in.  For practice I used my sheet protectors I blogged about for distance and midpoint here. The papers I slid in have the boxes already there so they can just practice with whiteboard markers.

Then we moved onto dividing polynomials. We learned both long division and synthetic division. We glued in these steps I got from Math Equals Love but I couldn't find the page where I got them, I'll look again. I also have synthetic division bar paper I put into a sheet protector and have the students practice that way. Like I said before students love writing with dry erase markers and are more willing to make mistakes I fell because it's not permanent.

The first thing I had my students start factoring was GCF and DOTS. I think my students this year were the best I've had at factoring out the greatest common factor. I try to teach it to them as "undistributing." For Difference of Two Squares I used a graphic organizer from Math Equals Love here but made it my own and tweaked it a little.

We then moved onto factoring trinomials. This is the first year I taught it as the "X Box" method. I always have used the x method but this year we added in the box. It's not anything new and lots of teachers use it but I just made the examples page in word and put the x and box there for them. When we did rational expressions second semester they seemed to remember factoring trinomials pretty well.

Next was factoring cubes and I also just tweaked a graphic organizer from Math Equals Love at the same link above. Again I have a factor by grouping scaffolding that I have the students use to practice problems in the sheet protectors as white board problems. My students did really well with those as long as they didn't have to rearrange them first.

Lastly I had my students glue in this factoring flow chart I found here and take a couple of notes as a to which method to use based on the number of terms. This comes in handy once all the factoring questions are all mixed together.

This is where I wish I would have stopped the unit and tested but unfortunately I went with the book and kept the chapter going. Next year will be better though and I will break Ch 5 into two units. So the next post will be the notes on Radicals and Rational Exponents.