Polynomials Day 1

 Well, today I started with my thin-slicing.  The kids did great!

I started with a simple monomial multiplication problem: 

$3x^2·8x^4$

I showed them how to expand, then rearrange the factors: $3·8·x·x·x·x·x·x$

and how it simplifies to $24x^6$

Then, we grouped and started thin-slicing! After about three or four problems, which included expressions with more than one variable and/or exponents of 1, students were asked to create a shortcut (they love a good shortcut!).

Each group understood that they were multiplying the coefficients and adding the exponents (we did some reminders that they are called "coefficients" and not "constants"). Great!!

I continued on with multiplying a monomial by a polynomial, making each example a little bit more complex than the previous. The studetns were already familiar with the distributive property but where they got themselves in trouble was what to do after distributing. About 4 of the 10 groups started combining terms and needed a little hint about how we only combine like terms. After that, it was smooth sailing!!

The most exciting (for me) part of the class was our first attempt at the four-quadrant notes. I gave them a fill-in the blank and another example. They completed the notes at their boards, then into their notebooks. I'll be curious to see how this will affect them going forward. I'm thinking of allowing them to use the notes on their quizzes for the unit, but that isn't the norm for our school and I don't want to create any issues.

All in all, a good first day. Not perfect, but good.