Introducing the Unit Circle!

Juiced Up Special Angles!


I am lucky in that the teacher that has my students the year before my class is excellent! She teaches them Geometry then sends them to me for Algebra 2. So this year when I started our section on trig functions with special angles some of my students recognized the ratios they had memorized from the year before! I used this to my advantage when I introduced the unit circle. I created flow chart for 30-60-90, 45-45-90, and 60-30-90 triangles. The first column shows the side lengths they would recognize from Geometry. The second column shows the lengths (excluding x) with space to show the Sine, Cosine, Tangent. The third column is where I introduce the Unit Circle with a radius 1 and we do the work to change each hypotenuse accordingly. On the next page we plotted our coordinate pairs around the circle.


The students moved through the flow chart with ease. They understood the connection between each column and the placement around the unit circle! It was one of those moments when only the teacher knows what an advantage they are giving their students. The students just moved through lesson thinking creating the unit circle was breeze... wow.




https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Introduction-to-the-Unit-Circle-2495564

Juicy Projects

Juice up your math curriculum with an optional project!

Each quarter I offer an optional project for students who would like the chance to bring up their grades. It is worth 100 points, the same as a full chapter test grade. Originally, the project was made optional for struggling students that are motivated to bring up their grade. However, I observed other encouraging outcomes of the optional projects:

·       Students are surprisingly motivated and positive when it is their choice going into a project. It is the only time of year when students applaud and cheer for an assignment!

·      Parents are grateful for an alternative assessment. It provides an opportunity for their son/daughter to be praised for work well done. Also, if a student chooses not to do the project their lack of motivation is clear.

·      For some students it is the only mathematical assessment that they will ever earn an A on. 100 points is significant and when students can take pride in this grade it can take some negativity and anxiety out of the math classroom. 

·       Students with high grades are rewarded because there is no need for them to participate (the optional grade will not change their average).

Interested in optional project ideas? I have several handouts available each with complete details and editable rubrics ready to use. Click on the link to find a list of applicable projects to juice up the secondary math classroom!
Link to Projects and Rubrics