Algebra 1: Solving Equations and Inequalities

Hello all! I feel like it has been forever since I blogged, but I do have a plan this year to blog AT LEAST three times a week. I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the summer that I will finish up my Masters and take a two month break from doing anything work related. It was soooo nice but now I am feeling the stress of coming back to work. Last school year, I was the Algebra 1 Math Interventionist and this year, they are changing my title to "Math Instructional Coach." I am very excited about this new journey and I am really looking forward to it!

We had GREAT success on our Algebra 1 STAAR scores last year and we saw an increase in our scores from 72% to 87%. The past school year was the first school year that the Algebra team used interactive notebooks and we are all in agreement to use them again this year due to our huge success! There have been some changes in our scope and sequence from our district curriculum coordinator. For example, the team decided to teach solving equations and solving inequalities together.

I am still planning to use the following Simplifying Expressions foldable and activity that I blogged about here.  

We are "chunking" this foldable since it lands on a pep rally day and we will complete a matching activity just over combining like terms.

The following pages will be new this year to adjust to teaching equations and inequalities together.

I absolutely LOVE the following pages over solving multi-step equations. A co-worker of mine has used the following acronym for over 3 years now in her classroom and she feels that this is the only thing that has really stuck with her students.

After the multi-step equations foldable, we will complete a "truth or lie" activity on Google Slides. As a team, we are trying to incorporate more writing into our Algebra 1 classes. Students will find the cards that are "lies" and give an explanation. I have blogged about error analysis activities before (Click Here) and I absolutely love the results that I receive back from students. Our district uses Schoology and you are able to easily input the Google Slides link into Schoology for students to submit their work.

After reviewing solving multi-step equations, we are planning to go over solving equations and inequalities with variables on both sides. Currently, I am planning to use an activity that I did last year where students solved 12 problems that had answers as either 0, 1, All Real Numbers, or No Solution. I found this activity to be extremely helpful in clearing up any student misunderstandings. 

Has anyone else taught equations and inequalities together? This will be brand new to the Algebra 1 team this year and I am curious as to any pros or cons. 

I am also wearing this shirt any time we review solving equations... From my experience, students are visual learners and they remember any of my shirts! lol  Click here if you want one too!

You can find several other blog posts over solving equations that I previously wrote about here: 

• Previous Post #1
• Previous Post #2
• Previous Post #3

Here are some of the files that I wrote about in this post. Please feel free to share and use!

• Combining Like Terms Cut and Paste
• Two Step Equations Foldable
• Steps to Solving Multi-Step Equations
• Multi-Step Equations Foldable
• Multi-Step Equations Truth or Lie Google Slides Activity
• Variables on Both Sides Foldable
• Solving Equations and Inequalities with Variables Both Sides Activity