(Maddie Ware/Math Essentials/18 February 2021)

I. TOPIC:
The purpose of this lesson is to expose the students to polynomials. They will
learn about the types of polynomials, degree of polynomials, and standard form.
II. OBJECTIVE:
Given teacher instruction and guidance, TSWBAT label a polynomial by its
degree and terms to 80% accuracy. (Standard CC.2.2.HS.D.5 – Use polynomial
identities to solve problems.)
III. TEACHING PROCEDURES:
a. Introduction (Anticipatory Set):
i. Ask the students how the pretest went yesterday. See if they have any
questions that are sticking out to them from the day before. Gauge to see
how much they actually remember about polynomials.
ii. Break up the word, polynomial. Poly means multiple, so we are going to
be working with multiple terms.
b. Development 1:
i. Pass out the worksheet to the students.
ii. Starting at the top, you can see that we have already started to talk about
the definition. We said a polynomial is multiple terms, so first we have to
know the definition of a term. Ask if anyone knows what a term is.
iii. Give the students the definition: A number or a product and a number and
a variable. An example would be 5 or 10x. Can you come up with
another example of a term?
iv. Now using that definition, a polynomial is a single term (but it has a
different name) or sum or difference of multiple terms.
c. Development 2:
i. Moving down on the worksheet, we are going to be talking about the types
of polynomials. Polynomials can have any number of terms, so we can
label them based on the number of terms they have.
ii. I will give you the first one. It is monomial. Ask the students for
examples of a monomial, only one term.
iii. Now ask for volunteers of what they think the rest of them are. The
-nomial ending is going to stay the same, but the prefix is going to change
based on the number of terms.
iv. Binomial is two, trinomial is three. Rather than continuing to label them,
anything greater than 3 terms is just called the number of terms. So 4 is a
4 term polynomial. What would we say for an n-term? It could be 5 or it
could be 1 million.
d. Development 3:
i. The next way to label a polynomial or a term is by degree. Degree of a
term and degree of a polynomial are slightly different.
 ii. What should go in the blank: the sum of the BLANK of all variables of the
term. What do we call this little number at the top of the variables?
Exponents
e. Guided Practice 3:
i. We are going to do the first example together. What is the degree of
4x^3? Good, it is 3 because there is only one so there is nothing to add it
too.
f. Independent Practice 3:
i. I am going to give you 30 seconds to do the next two on your own.
ii. Ask for students to share what they got for the second and third example.
Remind the students that no exponent on a variable is the same as having
an exponent of 1, so we need to add these together in the second example.
g. Development 4:
i. A degree of a polynomial is a little bit easier. Rather than adding all the
exponents together, can someone tell me what we are going to look for?
ii. The greatest degree goes in the blank.
iii. To help with finding the degree of a polynomial, we use something called
standard form. Does anyone know what standard form is?
iv. Standard form is when the degree decreases from the 1st term to the last
term.
v. When we look at the degree of polynomials, there are also names for each
degree. If I have 0 degrees, meaning it is just a number, then it is constant.
One degree is linear, 2nd degree is quadratic, and 3rd degree is cubic. Ask
for students to share an example for each type.
h. Development 5:
i. The last topic we are going to cover today is coefficients. A coefficient is
simply the number part of the term. So no exponents or variables, just the
number. The leading coefficient is the same thing except it is the first
term in the polynomial when it is in standard form. Someone remind me
what standard form is please.
i. Guided Practice 5:
i. We are going to do this big one together and one of the small problems
before I give you time to work on your own.
ii. This first blank is pointing to the first number in the polynomial so what is
it called? Leading coefficient.
iii. The second blank is just pointing to another number in the middle that is
attached to an exponent so that is just a coefficient.
iv. Lastly, when a number is by itself it is just called a constant.
v. Now when we are labeling this polynomial, we have to look at two things:
the number of terms and the degree of the polynomial. Starting with the
degree, what is it? Good 3 which when we look on the other side means
cubic. And how many terms does it have? Also 3, which is a trinomial.
So this one is called a cubic trinomial.
 j. Independent Practice 5:
i. Allow the students to complete the problems on their own. Walk around
to answer any questions.
ii. If everyone finishes around the same time, then we will go over the
answers as a class. If not, then pass out the second handout to the students
who finish first.
iii. Go over one problem on the handout with the students and then allow
them to work on the rest by themselves.
k. Closure:
i. As we are wrapping up, remind me of the two ways to label a polynomial.
1. By term and by degree!
IV. MATERIALS:
1. Computer
2. White Board
3. Camera
4. Worksheet
V. ADAPTATIONS/PLAN MODIFICATIONS:
i. For students who are struggling to complete the problems on their own, I
can continue to work through the problems together on the board.
ii. For students who struggle with reading, I will make sure to read the
directions aloud so that everyone is on the same page and is able to focus
on the math concepts more than the reading.
iii. For students who have visual impairments, I will make sure to use a dark
marker on the board and have the students sit closer to the board.
VI. EVALUATION:
a. Formative – All of the guided and independent practices above. I will also be
looking at the worksheet to make sure that the students completed the first five
practice problems to 80% accuracy.
b. Summative – At the end of the unit, the students will take a post test on
polynomials. It will be 18 points, one for each question. Proficiency will be
determined based on the amount of growth the students showed from the pretest
to the post test.
VII. REFLECTION:
a. Were the students engaged throughout the entire lesson? Did the understand the
concepts after being taught? Were they able to complete the practice problems on
their own?
b. If I were to teach the lesson again, what would I do differently? Did I explain the
concept of polynomials thoroughly? Was I able to answer any questions that the
students had for me?