7.

6 Factoring by Grouping
This is a set of guiding questions and materials for creating your own lesson plan on factoring
by grouping.

Common Core State Standards: A.SSE.2

Learning Objectives
 To understand when to factor by grouping.
 To learn how to factor by grouping.

Guiding Questions
 How do we factor a polynomial with more than three terms?
o 2x3 – 2x2 + 3x – 3
 In general, we don’t have a way of factoring polynomials of more than three terms, but
what happens if we “group” terms that have a common factor and pull out that factor?
 There seems to be more than one way to do this, how do we know which way to group?
o Keep the goal (factoring) in mind.
 2x (x – 1) + 3(x – 1).
2

o How many terms do we have now?

o What do those terms have in common, if anything?
 (x – 1)(2x2 + 3)

Notes for Teachers

 If students have never been exposed to this factoring technique, it might take 10 to 15
minutes or more for them to explore and solve this problem. Don’t rush them. The time
that a teacher spends on exploration will pay off in understanding. It will also make for a
more efficient use of time since you won’t have to spend time repeating something that
was not understood.

Video of the Day

 7.6.1 Factoring by Grouping
o Description: Factoring by the grouping technique
o Tags: factoring, grouping, Hector Rosario, A.SSE.2

Exercises and Problems

 North Carolina Common Core Math 1 Item Bank, Nagy-Lup, p. 19

Online Resources
 Khan Academy: Factoring by Grouping Applied to Quadratics