Reply To: Lesson 2-4 Question & Sharing

[Noel McMillin]

I did the angle sum theorem lesson today. I attached the students’ observations via Padlet. I, of course, wanted the students to see the angle position for each of the three triangles but we just did not get there. I was happy to see the students recognized how all three were congruent but we did not get much further. I decided to punt. I instructed the kids to open Google slides and make their own triangles, copy and paste them two times, and construct their own straight line. It became a little more teacher-directed, but the connections started to happen without me stating that the angles inside a triangle always equal 180 degrees.

Upon reflection, I think maybe next time I might show them the construction of the straight line rather than simply starting with the picture already put together.

On a side note, my 8th-grade lesson involving proportions and indirect measurement started with a picture and two simple (but powerful) questions – “What do you notice?” and “What do you wonder?”. Two questions that I did not ask prior to this class.