In this lesson, I want my students to consider finding the coordinates of the vertex of a parabola to be one step in the process of finding all of the key features of a quadratic function. Since this is a synthesis day, I will have each student work on Today's Warmup independently for a few minutes. I want students in the mode of pulling things together in their own mind. After a few minutes, I will ask one student to post his/her work on the board. While he/she works, I will let the rest of the class compare their answers with a partner. I expect students to verify their answers with a partner and with the solution on the board. I will decide whether to have a class discussion based on the number of students whose answers are not correct.
After doing the first example on Parabola_Key_Features as a class, I plan to ask students to work with a partner on the other three questions. I encourage students to use the graphic organizer from our work together as a resource.
As they work, here are some thing that I will be watching for:
In my classroom, it seems like time always runs short at the close of a lesson. With that said, I make sure not to rush today's closing activity. For today's Ticket out the Door I have students examine this list of_features independently. I ask each student to write down the features they are completely confident in finding on their own. I tell students that these lists can be as long or as short as necessary. Students can put their choices on a half sheet of paper with a line down the middle. As students leave I collect this list as feedback of the general comfort level of the class as well as the specific needs of students in the class.