We spent the first 2 weeks back from our break going over patterns and rules. We really hit the students hard with patterns the first week and let them develop their own rules. I spent a week one summer a few years back in a Maryline Burns Algebra techniques class and learned al ot from it that allowed me to apply her methods. The students did very well in developing rules and this week adopted quite well to a more formalized approach to rule development.
My only regret is that since I teach 8th grade pre-algebra we stop at the point of developing rules from graphs and tables, It seems like it would be a natural progression to teach the students about slope at this point while we have their interest instead of waiting another year. Or maybe this is a necessary stopping point, I would be interested in hearing some opinions on what the rest of you think.
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Having been an algebra teacher, I would have been really happy if my students already had a concept of slop when they arrived. The pre-algebra curriculum does do a good job of preparing the students so it should be less work for the algebra teacher. They should be able to graph a function as well as find points on a function which any algebra teacher would love.
ReplyDeleteI find that even if not in the curriculum, it is important to show students why they will need the information in the future. A lot of the things we teach have real world applications and those are important to mention, but it is also important to show how a concept will be used next year or the year after. The kids who have seen it before or can understand the higher concepts feel special that they know "higher" math. They kids who don't, well at least they know they better learn it because it will keep coming up in higher grades!
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