🚀 Which Method Wins?

Students rotate through a rapid mini-whiteboard challenge in small groups using three quadratics: one that highlights GCF first, one suited to trinomial factoring, and one that can be approached by grouping, plus a non-factorable-over-the-reals example. The class compares speed, accuracy, and clarity of each method, then discusses the essential question and how factors connect to roots, including why one example leads to complex solutions and why quadratics have two roots in general. Students complete the first entry in a Quadratic Factoring Evidence Log with an initial CER-style claim, one piece of supporting worked evidence, one limitation or counterexample, and a brief peer exchange where they share with a partner, receive one challenge question, and revise. The class ends with a quick math talk on which method felt most efficient today and one focus or persistence strategy used during mistakes.