Place students in groups of four. Write the problem on the overhead or board. Use problems that are more sophisticated, similar to numbers 5, 6, 7, & 8, on the practice page. Have each group complete the problem. Peer collaboration allows the students to feed off of one another and work at the problem until the group arrives at the correct answer. Now, split the groups so that there are two students in each group. Have the students work through another problem. Split the group again so that students are now working on their own and pose another problem. Check student answers.
This would be a good time for a quiz. The students have had a good deal of practice and will usually perform quite well on a quiz. Be sure to vary the directions when asking questions regarding Rationalizing Denominators. Students can become confused about what information they are being asked to find. * Remind students that whenever there is a radical in the denominator, it has to be rationalized. * Remind students to use the distribute method or FOIL when there are two binomial terms in the fractions. Students often forget this step. * Remind students how to find the reciprocal of an expression.
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