Master Math Notebook: Divisibility Rules (part 4 of a gazillion parts)



Hopefully, this will be a relatively short post to make up for the War and Peace length post of yesterday:).  I just wanted to take a few minutes to share what I added to my Master Math Notebook this morning.

Divisibility Rules

One of the things that my students struggle with is finding the logic in math.  If their neighbor knows the answer, it must be because they are smarter or they have some magic trick.  I remember feeling this way.  In middle school, I was totally lost as my classmates shouted out answers in Pre-Algebra.  I just sat there sinking further and further in to my seat, hoping that my teacher would ignore me.  It literally seemed as if they knew a secret that I didn't, and that must mean I was stupid.  

It wasn't until my mom made me go to ask for help in college that I realized what had happened.  My tutor took one look at my diagnostic test, and asked if I had been sick a lot in 3rd and 4th grade.  I had pneumonia, not once, not twice, but three times.  I had completely missed division and fractions.  Since I was excelling in everything else, my teachers overlooked it or assumed I knew - I didn't, it was a foreign language to me.  

My tutor, Kevin, saved me and helped me get my first A in any math class.  One of the first things he showed me was the "magic" of the divisibility rules.  Every year, I try to drum them into my students.

Remember when I said I was going to steal Elizabeth's (of Hodges Herald) divisibility foldable?  Well,  I modified it just a little.

Since my kids usually struggle with note-taking, and we have a limited amount of time, I made this semi-foldable for their notebooks.  The title and numbers are just outlines so that they can color them in. 
This page will be in the Basics portion of their notebook, right after the multiple charts.  I decided to tape the top flap on the side.  The rest of it is glued down.  This is the finished product for my Master Math Notebook.  

If you are interested in downloading this document, click here to get for FREE from my TpT store!  Have a great weekend:)

3 comments

  1. Thanks for sharing! This will be perfect for my kiddo that I have for 6th grade math. I feel guilty only having 1, but there are a small number of 6th graders in my building that are on IEPs. I love that the notes are there, since my students struggle with note taking as well. Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a cute foldable! I'll have to think of a way to work this into my Language Arts classroom. Great for vocabulary too! Thanks for sharing!

    ~Amy
    http://middleschoolminions.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I might borrow this. I have no doubt my seventh graders could make their own, but it would take a while...I tried to teach them the divisibility rules last year (in sixth grade) but I don't think it "stuck." We did a foldable of types of triangles last year, and they enjoyed that and referred back to it...

    Celeste
    http://teachingwithborrowedwisdom.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete