Ideas + Resources + More for the 5th - 8th Grade Math Classroom
Multiplying and dividing integers are, in my opinion, the hardest operations to teach to students and it took me a few years before I found a good way to have these operations make sense to students. After I am confident that my students are comfortable adding and subtracting integers, I move on to the finalRead more about Hands-On Integer Operations (Part 3: Multiplication & Division)[…]
After I spend 2-3 days teaching integer addition (click here to read my post on adding integers) and am confident my students are comfortable with it, I move onto subtraction. I start by giving students two color counters again and put an easy question on the board for them to solve independently: -5 – (-2)Read more about Hands-On Integer Operations (Part 2: Subtracting Integers)[…]
Integer operations are truly a make or break middle school math concept. Students who “get” integers will be much better off than students who don’t, in terms of their future math success. That’s why I really take my time when teaching integers each year. I’m breaking up my blog post on teaching integer operations intoRead more about Hands-On Integer Operations (Part 1: Adding Integers)[…]
Today’s 6th grade lesson was on rotational symmetry. I have found that students tend to be less familiar and less comfortable with rotational symmetry than they are with line symmetry (and sometimes mix the two up), so I try to find ways to make it more clear and understandable to them. I had several differentRead more about My Spin on Symmetry[…]
I started my unit on Geometry with my 6th graders before Christmas break. We got as far as the basic vocabulary and different types of angles. I decided to begin with polygons after break, so my first post-Christmas lesson was on triangles. We started off by discussing the different ways to classify triangles – byRead more about A Little Sum-thing about Triangles[…]
