If you know me you know that I love to empower students and I never underestimate their ability to solve a math problem. I applied this mentality to create a unit for graphing quadratic functions that was entirely student-led and developed students’ conceptual understanding in a big way. It also relied on student collaboration and communication and ended up being one of my favorite units to teach in Algebra 2! The unit teaches students to graph parabolas from vertex form, standard form, and factored form.
To check out a FREE unit of differentiated task cards CLICK HERE!
Graphing Quadratic Functions Group Notes
Each lesson starts with the group notes, which are scaffolded to allow for easy entry and a quick build to the lesson’s skills. For example, the first lesson leads students through identifying the independent and dependent variable in a situation (prior knowledge), graphing the points where a soccer ball is on the ground (aka the x-intercepts of a parabola in the context of the situation), and then finding the maximum height that the soccer ball reaches (the vertex of the parabola).
This is the best part of the lesson! Students are working together answering questions and reasoning with a real world problem. They’re able to grasp the conceptual reasons behind the steps involved in graphing a parabola.
I have students work in groups of four throughout the entire unit. Most years I keep the groups the same for the duration of the unit, but I occasionally I’ve changed group composition. I give a group test at the end of the unit, so it was important to me to maintain a group’s integrity and help them build their communication skills with each other to be successful on the unit assessment.
Interactive Notebook Foldable
Once they’ve completed the group notes and I’ve circulated amongst the students to gauge understanding, I lead a whole class discussion with a foldable as our guide. This is a discussion, rather than direct teaching, because students have already completed the group notes and have a foundational understanding of how to graph the parabola from the given form. They can tell ME how to graph a parabola, rather than me telling THEM (amen!).
The foldable is short and sweet – meant to be completed as a summary or a recap, rather than a detailed and exhaustive reteaching. Remember, students just learned the material in their groups, so this is just an opportunity to address any misconceptions or answer lingering questions.
Assignment
All three lessons include an assignment and answer key. It’s important for students to practice their new skills! They can complete the assignment either individually or in their groups. I typically like to see students practice individually at this point to make sure they’re not relying on others for understanding.
Assessment
If you purchase this unit from my TpT store, you also get a bonus download: the unit assessment with an answer key.
Let me know if you use this student-led unit in your classroom! Like I said, it’s my favorite way to teach and really empowers my students!
Don’t forget, you can get a FREE unit of differentiated task cards by clicking HERE!
Happy teaching,
Natasha