Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Parallel means a "pair of L's"

Why is Geometry so hard for some students? I believe it has everything to do with the large number of new vocabulary words that aren't really used outside of the Math classroom.  Acute, Obtuse, Right, and Straight Angles; Parallel, Perpendicular, and Intersecting Lines; Prisms; and the list goes on.  While I haven't figured out a great way for students to assign meaning to all of those words, I just love my little memory aid for remembering what Parallel lines look like. 

I'm sure I'm not the first teacher to ever come up with this phrase, but I love this neat way to remember what Parallel lines look like because it's just so EASY to remember :)



The best part about it is that my students like to say it, too.  It's just so darn catchy!  So, every time we deal with parallel lines, I ask them what Parallel means, and they respond with the little ditty.

 When my students ask, "But what about when the lines are sideways or diagonal?" I ask them what they think they can do, and they usually figure out that they can rotate their paper or tilt their head until they see the L's.

Easy-peezy!

the craft rookie

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