Reflection on lines and angles unit
Last week we started a unit on lines and angles. Every year that I have taught this unit I have used the same guided notes (slightly revised each year, but the bones have remained). This unit is very vocab heavy, including but not limited these terms:
Complimentary angles
Corresponding angles
Vertical angles
Adjacent angles
Transversal
Parallel lines
Triangle Sum Theorem
and more!
The guided notes usually take an entire lesson and sometimes spill into the next day, without actually applying any of the information. This year I scrapped all that. What vocabulary do they need to know to be successful in this unit? They don't need the textbook definition of "vertical angles." They need to be able to recognize angles that across from each other when 2 lines cross, and understand that those angles are congruent. So I think in all these discussions about academic vocabulary, we also need to keep our eye on the ball. What do students need to know to be successful with the material? I think their understanding of the word "congruent" is far more important than memorizing "vertical angles" - and I'm going to say something unpopular here - if they're not being tested on it. In this instance, they are not being assessed on the definition of vertical angles, they are being assessed on the knowledge that they are congruent.
I think I've gotten a lot more "bang for my buck" teaching this unit this year by slowing down on 1 picture of a transversal, and really diving in to what is happening with each angle, rather than spending 2 days on vocab that they will never really use.
To be clear, I absolutely value the teaching of and the use of academic vocabulary. I just think it's interesting to be in a unit where I am being told by my Lead to focus on the calculations and let the vocab go, unlike our last unit. What I am finding is that students are braver in our class discussions if there's less pressure to use certain words. If they can tell me the angles are across from each other and therefore congruent, that's the skill. Same if they can tell me the angles are next to each other and therefore not congruent. This is actually giving them an opportunity to refine previously learned vocabulary, like "right angle," "parallel," "congruent," etc., and I am seeing those terms used more regularly in our discussions.
What a great example of how just studying vocab words doesn't translate into better knowledge or skills. You're having students work with the concepts and the terms, and that's creating better retention and understanding. I love how the students are now using the correct terms in their discussions. Geometry has a lot of vocabulary, and I think you've found a way to teach the concepts and the vocabulary terms at the same time through meaningful interactions. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI love hearing a math teacher's perspective! I appreciate that you were selective about the words they needed to be successful instead of making them memorize all of the terms just because.
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