Rationals

Do your students struggle finding common denominators when adding and subtracting rational expressions? I created this finding common denominators activity a few years ago when I was teaching Algebra 2. I found that my students needed plenty of practice identifying what the least common denominator should be before we ever spent time practicing how to …

This identity crisis task from Mark Dugopolski involves creating an identity involving a rational equation. I like this type of task because it looks much scarier than it actually is until your math brain kicks in. Can you determine the value of a that will make this equation an identity? I found this question in …

I really, really like this rational expression problem from Blitzer’s Pre-Calculus book. I will definitely be using it with my Algebra 2 students when we do complex fractions! In one short sentence, five words or less, explain what (this complex fraction) does to each number x.

I created this finding asymptotes foldable for my Algebra 2 students to glue in their interactive notebooks. The images on the outside of this asymptote foldable were borrowed from CoolMath.  Here’s the link to the page where these images are found. Free Download of Finding Asymptotes Foldable

I created this Adding or Subtracting Rational Expressions Foldable for my Algebra 2 students to glue in our interactive notebooks. On the outside of the foldable, I gave students five steps for adding or subtracting rational expressions with blanks to fill in as we went over each step. We practiced these steps with the six …

I created this complex fractions graphic organizer notes for my Algebra 2 students to glue in their interactive notebooks. I provided my students with 5 Steps for Simplifying Complex Fractions. After completing the graphic organizer notes, we did a page of practice problems in our interactive notebooks. Free Download of Complex Fractions Graphic Organizer Notes

I created this solving rational equations foldable for my Algebra 2 students to walk them through the steps of how to solve a rational equation. The front of the foldable features the steps with blanks to fill in the missing words. The inside of the foldable features four practice problems that I got from various …

I created this rational expressions question stack activity for my Algebra 2 students. Question stacks are my favorite self-checking practice activity to create for my students. This question stack covers both simplifying rational expressions and adding and subtracting rational expressions. I have my students work through these in groups with mini dry erase boards. This …

My Algebra 2 kids are working with rational expressions.  I’m pretty sure it’s my least favorite topic to teach in the world.  It’s tedious, and it’s a nightmare for my students who haven’t fully mastered factoring.  My students have traditionally struggled with remembering that they can only cancel factors and not terms.  I started fighting …

I created these complex fraction notes for my Algebra 2 students to write in their interactive notebooks. They refer back to our notes over multiplying and dividing rational expressions.