Functions

I'm trying to catch up on blogging...boy has it been too long!  I thought I'd share all the function work that we have been doing in Algebra lately.

Domain and Range:  We defined domain and range and practiced the definitions with tables/mapping diagrams to get them familiar with the words, but the main goal was to give the domain and range of graphs.  After some conversations with the Algebra 2 teacher, we decided to stick with continuous graphs and use compound inequality notation.

To help the students picture domain and range we created a foldable I have been looking forward to since I first read about it last year.  Sarah wrote about it here.  Here is where Sarah found the graphs.

I didn't like that the graphs took 5 pieces of paper.  I have 90 Algebra students, I can not copy that much paper.  I also felt like there was a lot of blank space, so I used my snipping tool and made my own version that was only 2 pages long.  I still only made enough for groups to share.  I numbered them so that they could tell which was the x-axis and so that they could write the domain and range on a separate paper.

Here are my materials:

• Foldable
• Graphs
• Handout for recording

It is still the best domain/range lesson that I have done.  I love it and plan to do it again next year.  A few things I would change:

• There are a couple graphs I might switch out for others that were in the original document.
• My students should be taught compound inequality notation, not just given blanks to fill in.
• Introduce infinity AFTER practicing with non-infinite graphs.

Function/Not a Function:  At my school we are discussing different intervention techniques through a book study.  Most recently we were focused on vocabulary strategies.  I thought it was time to try out the Frayer model for vocabulary and you can see that below in our notes.  I maybe should have made it larger, but I think it's OK.

To practice determining function/not a function, students did a card sort I first read about from Sarah.  This is probably my second most anticipated lesson that I read about this summer.  Here is her post.  Here is where she got it.  Here is a link to the card sort.

Function Notation:  By the time we got to function notation, I felt as thought I had overused the copier, so I gave some regular notes.  I still tried to color-coat though :)  I used Sarah's notes (different Sarah) as a guide.  We did practice on a worksheet because I had a sub that day.

Enjoy!
- Kathryn