Looking for an activity idea for factoring polynomials?  These “Factoring Brochures” are simple, yet one of my favorite projects. This project is described in my Algebra 1 Polynomials and Factoring Unit.  Many people have asked for samples and I was excited to find some during a recent clean-out!

All students need is a piece of paper folded into thirds and some markers!  I required my students to make a cover, then designate these sections inside: (1) factoring a greatest common factor (GCF), (2) Factoring a difference of squares (3) Factoring a trinomial where a = 1 (4) factoring a trinomial where a > 1, and (4) factoring four terms.

Here is a photo of some of my favorite covers:

For the inside, they had to describe HOW to factor the polynomial, then provide 2-3 examples with varying levels of difficulty.   Here are some photos of the inside:

They usually used their notes to help them with the inside. I think this is great because they are taking information from class and summarizing it.  I allowed my students to use these guides on their quizzes leading up to our unit test.  By the time we got to the unit test, they didn’t need them anymore.

For Algebra 2, you can easily combine the trinomials section and then add a section for sum and difference of cubes!

Not only is this an easy project, it’s purposeful too!

~Gina~
All Things Algebra