Ideas + Resources + More for the 5th - 8th Grade Math Classroom
I personally believe that it’s a good idea to start thinking ahead to the next school year around this time of year. I admit that I don’t normally start planning until August but this year I am getting a head start because I believe it will allow me to be much less stressed come September.Read more about Long-Term Planning (Algebra I)[…]
Whenever possible I like to have students discover or figure out the lesson on their own (with some guidance from me, of course), rather than simply teaching them an algorithm. One such topic is factoring trinomials. I start my lesson on factoring trinomials with a = 1 by giving students 4 binomial multiplication problems andRead more about Discovery Lesson: Factoring Trinomials[…]
Just a quick post today to share a fun, quick Easter activity I’ve done in the past with Algebra/Pre-Algebra classes in case you want to try it… Fill up an odd number of Easter eggs with pennies (put the same number of pennies in each egg). Hide the eggs in the classroom before class begins.Read more about Fun Algebra Easter Egg Hunt Activity[…]
I’m writing about another favorite activity of mine that I use for a few different topics throughout the year – walkarounds. They require minimal prep from the teacher and are a great, effective way to practice certain skills. This post is specifically about the linear equations walk-around activity I do with my Algebra kids afterRead more about Linear Equations Walk Around Activity[…]
Today I’m writing about a simple idea that makes 2-step equations easy for kids – a box “trick”. Students obviously have already learned how to solve one-step equations before being introduced to two-step equations, so I introduce 2-step equations by giving students a simple one-step equation. The only difference is that I use an indexRead more about Breaking Down 2 Step Equations[…]
Let me start by saying that relays are not an original idea..maybe you have been doing them for years…but they are new to me, (and i love them) so I figured I’d share in case anyone else has never tried relays with their class. How they work: Take a problem that requires multiple steps toRead more about Turn Multi-Step Problems into Team Activities[…]
Slope is an important topic for pre-algebra, 8th grade math, and algebra. I was trying to come up with a new idea for practicing slope and I came up with the following: I made 32 cards with ordered pairs on them. All of the coordinates of the ordered pairs are between -3 and 3. IRead more about Teaching Slope – Fun Activity Idea[…]
I am a HUGE fan of group work! I love having students work together in my math classes for practice work, problem solving, review games, etc. Occasionally I allow my students to pick their own groups, but more often than not I assign them because: No students are ever left out or the last oneRead more about A Creative Approach to Grouping in the Middle School Math Classroom[…]
Just a quick post today (to make up for my last 3 being sooo long)! Does anyone else have students who can’t seem to draw a decent coordinate plane on a piece of graph paper? I never would have thought that tracing a horizontal and vertical line on a piece of graph paper would beRead more about Coordinate Planes Freebie[…]
As it is almost time to start preparing classrooms for the coming school year, I thought I would share my top 10 list of things I couldn’t live without as a middle school math teacher. 10. Class sets of rulers, protractors, and compasses We don’t use these all that often but they definitely come inRead more about Top 10 Things Every Middle School Math Teacher Should Have For Their Classroom[…]
