Choosing a Factoring Strategy

What students learn

Students learn to take out the GCF, count the terms left to choose the difference of squares, a trinomial method or grouping, factor completely, and tell when a quadratic does not factor.

See inside

Watch out

A student factors 4x² − 100 as (2x + 10)(2x − 10).

The mistakes it targets

• Uses a pattern before taking out the GCF
• Factors a sum of squares as a difference
• Writes a perfect square without testing the middle term
• Stops when the GCF is 1
• Stops before every factor is finished
• Drops the GCF from the final answer

The interactive Teacher Deck (31 slides, PowerPoint)

• The Learn page taught on screen: 8 fill-in blanks, each filled on its own click as students write it
• The worked example one slide per step (three steps), each with the reason for the step
• Six practice and three apply problems: a your-turn slide with a think-time bar, then the solution one line per click
• Jump buttons on every slide: go straight to any problem, the answer bank or the exit ticket
• Speaker notes on each problem: the question to ask, the worked answer and the common error to listen for
• A completed deck PDF (19 pages) with every slide fully built, to print or post

The student packet (9 pages)

• Learn: guided notes with four definitions, the key rule, a worked example and a Watch Out error pair
• Practice: two warm-up, two standard and two stretch problems, with an answer bank for self-checking that hides three common-mistake decoys
• Apply: one word problem, a reasoning prompt and one error analysis
• Assess: an exit ticket of four items, two per page, with an I-can self-rating
• Homework (page 5): eight new problems, two warm-up, four standard and two stretch
• Answer key (pages 6–7): every problem worked step by step, six common mistakes with what to do about each, and a grading guide, plus the homework key (page 8)
• Color and ink-saver editions of the whole packet