I include warm ups as part of my daily routine. My goal for warm ups is to allow students to work on Math Practice 3 each day. I have placed my students into homogeneous pairs to facilitate this process and grade them on a rubric. Please watch the video below for information on today's Warm Up- Interpreting Algebraic Expressions Day 1.
For the first week of each new partnership, I will present a question that partners need to answer to each other. This will help them get comfortable talking to each other since they will be doing that a lot.
Today's topic is: If you had one extra hour of free time a day, how would you use it?
First thing, students need to finish matching the tables of values to the algebraic expressions and the verbal statements (Math Practice 2). Once this is finished, we will add area models cards (Math Practice 4). Each pair of students will need a large piece of paper and a glue stick. Encourage the students to verbally discuss each set before pasting it down. Walk around and provide feedback. Again, the lesson guide at the website offers some excellent samples of student/teacher interactions as well as the complete directions.
The lesson on the MAP website suggests having each pair of students justify why two expressions are equivalent (Math Practice 3). My classes have as many as 15 or 16 pairs so this may become unwieldy. One possibility would be to have pairs share their justification with another pair sitting next to them. You can then call on a couple of pairs or ask for volunteers to share equivalent expressions that were particularly interesting or tricky. This will allow everyone to get to participate without taking 15 to 20 minutes to do so.
The final portion involves the white boards just like the beginning of the lesson on the previous day. I have put the white board problems on a PowerPoint.
Here is today's exit ticket: Write an algebraic expression that is equivalent to 6(x + 3) and draw a picture to show the area it represents. This problem will give you a snap shot on how confident students are with this lesson. This is located on PowerPoint- Interpreting Algebraic Expressions Day 2.
Pass back the corrected Pre-Assessment as well as a blank copy. Let the students know that they get to change/update their answers. Both papers will be collected the next day as homework. This is located in the link in Section 2.