Last year, when I was looking for creative ideas to teach like terms to my adult learners, I made up Like Termominoes. And I got to class ready to unveil them to a class full of excited students … and then all the things happened and they didn’t exactly get a triumphal unveiling.
So, this year, the unit rolled around again and I got a second chance. (I love a second chance)
I still have a tiny class (facing a different set of all things) but! we learned like terms, with some furrowed brows and some tired brains, but learned it and students walked out feeling triumphant (and their triumph matters so much more than my dominoes’)
Lesson Sketch: Combining Like Terms
The thinking:
For my adult learners, one of the key tasks in algebra is just getting comfortable with how it’s written. Notation, variables, a whole suite of new symbols. So we’re focusing hard on the terms, here, and less on any calculation.
The sequence:
- Our spiral review (always) ,
- This silly video (because, humor helps, and also it’s such a good metaphor)
- A whole class discussion starting with what an inefficient (my word, students often are blunter….) way to place an order that is, transitioning to examples in algebraic notation. (My slides are available as a free download in my TPT shop)
- Like term-ominoes
- Independent practice
- Exit ticket ….. and out.
The Tweaks:
A house (classroom?) rule clarification that you can match to any place on the dominoes on the table, not just the ends of the arrangements (with appreciation for the students who wanted to show off their double match)
I took the scoring out. My original plan included a score sheet, where points were awarded based on the coefficient of the combined term. I decided it was one more moving piece than I wanted, and skipped it.
(And, while I was at it, I updated the version on TPT to include the new recording sheet)
