Day 77: Area of Triangles

6th Grade Math Standards: 6.G.1 Find the area of right triangles, other triangles, special quadrilaterals, and polygons by composing into rectangles or decomposing into triangles and other shapes; apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems. MA.1.a. Use the relationships among radius, diameter, and center of a circle to find its circumference and area. MA.1.b. Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving the measurements of circles

Objective: Determine the area of a triangle; summarize how the area of a triangle formula is related to the area of a rectangle

Agenda:

1. WODB #21 
2. QSSQ 
3. Recap from yesterday about why the formula is A = b x h for a parallelogram and a rectangle
4. Pepper and HW review
5. Area of a triangle notes
6. Area of a triangle exit ticket
7. Area of a triangle practice/homework

Assessment: The notes were essentially me circumventing the room as students discovered for themselves how to get the area of a triangle. The exit ticket was done with turning point clickers. The homework was started in class.

Glass Half-Full: The exit ticket was a new feature this year on this lesson. I wanted the students to utilize the clickers because it had been a while and I also wanted to have some form of transition from notes to homework. The problem with this exit ticket is that it is all about the answer and not about the process for how that answer is found. As experience with sixth grade has taught me, students will find a way to "muff the punt" when it comes to going back and forth with area formulas of triangles and quadrilaterals.

Regrets: Students had a hard time finding the base and height of the triangles, so perhaps giving them the first homework problem's base and height would save some aggravation on their part. I also did not show them a problem in which the perimeter of a triangle is given in addition to the height of the triangle.