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The Pythagorean Theorem

One of my favorite 8th grade math concepts is the Pythagorean Theorem. Maybe it has to do with the fact that my student teaching unit was on the Pythagorean Theorem or because you can easily find the Pythagorean Theorem as a part of the world outside of the math classroom. Either way Pythagoras made his way right to my heart with the Pythagorean Theorem.

Academic Vocabulary

I always start a new unit off with academic vocabulary. We make a fun foldable or graphic to help us remember all the different vocab words.

In addition, when the academic word first pops up in our unit, we write it in our interactive notebooks.

The Pythagorean Theorem Beginner’s Activity

Back in March 2020, we went virtual. One of the concepts that I needed to cover during our virtual time was the Pythagorean Theorem. I used this activity to show students how the theorem worked.

Inside of the Pythagorean Theorem Beginner’s Activity, students will interact with 6 different pieces. Read more about this activity here!

Academic vocab with visuals
Labeling a triangle using pre-created labels
Recreating the formula using drag and drop pieces
Pythagorean Theorem Example problem walking through each of the steps
Partially done problem for students to drag and drop pre-created pieces into the missing portions
A mostly incomplete problem for students to type in the missing numbers

Moving into Practice

Now that students have a preliminary knowledge of what the Pythagorean Theorem is, we can now move into practicing the concept. When I move into this phase, I stick with whole numbers. Just at the beginning. I do this for two reasons:

Whole numbers are easier to work with. If your classroom has students working below grade-level, it makes learning new concepts less challenging.
It’s a form of self-checking. I am a HUGE fan of self-checking activities, both digital and printable. If during this phase, students receive a decimal answer, they know they need to go back as see what went wrong.

Once students have sufficiently developed their skills, I will first tell them we will be moving into decimal answers. Then we talk about how many decimal places and what not. But I tell them to consider this transition as a “promotion” because they have been doing such a fabulous job that they deserve the extra challenge.

Finding the Hypotenuse

This resource is a printable resource with a DIGITAL worksheet via Google Slides! The digital worksheet is identical to the printable one. Meaning, whether you are teaching in person, online, or hybrid, I’ve got you covered. It also includes a corresponding Google Forms that is great for assigning to students on Google Classroom or whatever platform you use. I have set up this Google Forms to be self-grading, minus the short answer question. It includes all of the same questions as the worksheet, but in a different form. It works great as a homework assignment or review for later!

Finding the Missing Leg

Similar to what I have to offer for Finding the Hypotenuse, I have it for Finding the Missing Leg. I have Guided Notes with Practice and then a Mystery Puzzle.

The Proof & Converse

You might sense a theme, but this part also has a set of guided notes with practice!

Finding Distance with the Pythagorean Theorem

I feel like this is the least taught part of the Pythagorean Theorem. According to the Common Core State Standard 8.G.8, students need to apply the Pythagorean Theorem to find the distance between two points on a coordinate graph.

This activity includes guided notes and practice in both a printable and digital form. I also included a Google Forms that can be used homework or additional practice. You can check it out here.

Miss Kuiper