Math
Resource Round-Up: Must-Haves for Mastering Equations!
In my 7th grade math class, we are in full swing of our equations unit – one of my personal favorites! I consider integers and equations to be the most important units in all of 7th-grade math, and want to give my students tons of practice to cement their skills. If you’re looking to refresh your equations unit, are looking for supplemental resources, or are planning for some tutoring and summer school activities, don’t worry – I’ve done the legwork for you! Here are some equations practice activities that my students and I have loved! Self-Correcting Digital Mazes At the
Not Just Another Worksheet – Easy Digital Activities Your Students Will Love!
With copy limits, limited time, and absent students, printed paper copies of assignments can truly be a hassle! During Covid, a lot of teachers were forced to use digital practice activities, and many have continued to make them a constant in their classrooms due to the many benefits of digital activities! Benefits of Digital Practice Activities Here are my favorite types of digital practice activities to mix up the workflow and avoid just another worksheet! Digital Task Cards Digital Task Cards are a simple, straightforward activity! Often created on Google Slides, these are slides that often have just one question
3 Quick Ways to Get Students Talking in Math Class!
Sometimes, my math classroom can feel like it’s all teacher-directed instruction. I’m guilty of being the main talker in my classroom – I have so much content to get through and so little time! Plus, I don’t want my students talking about math strategies incorrectly, and many of my students want to sit quietly and let someone else do the talking. Sound familiar? But one thing my old teaching professors would say keeps popping up in my mind – “the person doing the talking is doing the learning”? Well, I want that to be my students, not me! So, I’ve
How to Prepare for End-of-Year State Testing: Tips & Tricks for Teachers
April and May bring many things – flowers, warmer weather, field trips, and fresh air. However, they also bring the dreaded end of the year state tests. For students and teachers alike, high-stakes state testing is draining and disheartening. However, you can take steps to help your students feel more prepared for these unavoidable assessments. Practice Common Types of Test Questions Obviously, with each grade level, the questions on the state test will increase in difficulty. However, many times, the question types remain similar. Taking time to teach, model, and practice each of the common testing question types will help
Mastering Fractions: Effective Intervention Strategies
Fractions are one of the most difficult math concepts for students to master. Each year, I see students in 7th and 8th grade who struggle with a wide range of basic fraction skills, including differentiating what a numerator and denominator actually mean. Of course, school closures with COVID-19 did not help! Many teachers and parents alike are wondering what to do when students struggle with fraction operations. However, there are some strategies that can be used to teach fractions that could make a big difference for your struggling students, especially when used consistently! Use Multiple Strategies Many of our struggling
Engaging Resources & Strategies to Make Fractions Stick in Your Classroom
In my opinion, fractions are the hardest concept for elementary and middle school students to truly understand – and many students agree with me! Each year, I have middle schoolers who can’t tell me what a numerator really means or try to add or subtract denominators within a problem, so fraction review is something I am very familiar with! Here are my favorite ways to review and practice fraction skills throughout the year! Multi-Strategy Packets Solving abstract fraction problems requires a deep conceptual understanding that many students aren’t prepared for. I love using multiple strategies to solve each problem to
Add a Dash of Holiday Spirit to Your Math Class: Easy Tips & Effortless Ideas
As soon as the first snowflake falls here in Michigan, my students are thinking about winter break. This makes it really hard to hold their concentration and motivate them to do their best on school work for weeks in December! I’m sure my class is not the only one that feels like we are hanging on by a thread! Here are my favorite ways to engage students with popular math topics with a fun holiday twist! A quick note: In order to include all of my students, I try to focus on general winter themes in my classroom, like snowmen
Resource Round-Up: Must-Haves for Mastering Integer Operations
Let’s face it, integer operations are an essential math skill. However, they can be incredibly difficult to truly cement into the brains of middle school and high school students. Think about it: students spend 6 or more years learning that 3 + 5 is always 8, no matter what. This fact, and other math facts like it, become engrained and automatic. But suddenly, near the start of seventh grade, we start to tell them that -3 + 5 isn’t 8. It can be frustrating and confusing! It takes a lot of time to unlearn the very math facts that elementary
4 Effortless Ways to Celebrate Halloween in your Math Classroom
Halloween is right around the corner, and if your students are anything like mine this time of year, they are bouncing off the walls! My students are so excited to share candy, plan out costumes, and plot their trick-or-treating route. Shockingly, they are not as excited about practicing math…WEIRD! It goes without saying that surviving this time of year takes some patience, extra coffee, and a game plan! Here are my favorite ways to easily celebrate the spooky season and keep my students engaged, without adding a ton of extra prep to my plate! Halloween Ice Breaker Game Set If
The Fraction List Strategy: A Frustration-Free Strategy for Adding & Subtracting Unlike Fractions!
As a math interventionist, one topic that I see students struggling with year after year is adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators. Earlier in my career, I remember struggling through a fraction unit, trying the 4 square method, multiplication charts, and anything I could remember from my own days in school or find on Pinterest, all without seeing much growth. I knew I needed to do something differently, leading to the creation of my new favorite fraction strategy! Since then, I’ve used this strategy with students year after year and will never go back! The Fraction List strategy is
We All Make Mistakes – Error Analysis in the Middle School Math Resource Classroom
We all make mistakes, so let’s learn from them! One of the most difficult parts of being a teacher is having a great lesson with your students and thinking they are totally understanding the math concept, only to have them complete an exit ticket or homework assignment completely wrong! It can be discouraging, especially when their mistakes can be easily avoided and are a result of just not paying attention to their work! Sound familiar? This happens all the time in my middle school math resource classroom – and I can guarantee that my students are doing the same thing
Just Give Them Multiplication Charts, Already!
Every now and then, I see a post on a teacher facebook group regarding middle school students and their lack of automaticity with math facts. Teachers flood the comments with well-intentioned suggestions of math fact websites and games to play or share similar struggles from their own classrooms. I always comment the same thing, ‘give them a multiplication chart and move on’! I understand why these posts happen so often. When I was growing up, math fact memorization was a huge deal. We had timed “math minutes”, which were timed races to determine who had memorized their facts. They caused