Make it Middle School

Vertical learning can transform a math classroom. When students get out of their chairs and work on non-permanent surfaces, they start to communicate and think more effectively. The following set of 67 problems are examples of activities I use to engage student thinking. The problems allow students to approach math from more than one perspective. As my school year progressed, I would randomly use different problems to review concepts taught earlier in the semester. These problems and this approa

Problem Solving is the cornerstone of a successful math program. The following 25 problems can be used individually or with groups. A problem solving rubric is included to help assess a student's ability to communicate their understanding and mathematical processes. I have used these problems successfully in my 20 years as a middle school teacher, and I have grouped them according to strand. Enjoy!

Vertical learning can transform a math classroom.  When students get out of their chairs and work on non-permanent surfaces, they start to communicate and think more effectively.The following set of 80 problems are examples of activities I use to engage student thinking.  The problems allow students to approach math from more than one perspective.  As my school year progressed, I would randomly use different problems to review concepts taught earlier in the semester.  These problems and this app

At the best of times, the study of fractions is still a difficult thing to do. The following game is meant to make fractions a little more fun. After you have worked through some of the basic operations and problem solving, this Powerpoint game can be used to assess student understanding. Students can also be put into groups and play against each other. You can modify some of the questions without changing the programming of the game too. It’s both fun and diagnostic at the same time!

Once students have reviewed all four operations with integers, have them put their knowledge to work creating a game where other students guess their integers based on clues they provide. Samples are provided which model what students are expected to do.

These algebra riddles are a great way for kids to think creatively and imaginatively about algebra, variables, and equations.  There are 25 different puzzles, labelled as either easy, medium, or difficult. With medium and difficult puzzles, students may need to go through guess and checks, or they might need to rework equations and substitute into other equations. These puzzles serve as models for your students to create their own.  Although it’s algebra, the themes are meant for kids to have f

The video "Did You Know" has many interesting statistics about the world we live in. Whether it be the number of jobs a person will have in their life, or the number of users on Facebook, the world looks a lot different than it did 30, 20, even 10 years ago! An interesting comment comes up on this video. At one point, there is a suggestion that “we live in exponential times.” The purpose of this data management assignment is to try to understand what it means to live in exponential times. T

The follow group of videos include such lessons as two variable data sets (scatterplots), histograms, calculating averages, and how graphs can misrepresent data. There are a variety of assignments and assessment rubrics included with these instructional videos.

This instructional video takes students through the step by step process of building a histogram. Topics that are covered include calculating the range, creating a frequency table based on student determined intervals, and building the histogram. Similar to other lessons in my distance learning math series, GIFs and music are used to make the material a bit more fun and interesting for students.

This video reviews how to determine the general term of a sequence (the algebraic expression). Students review how to set up a table of values and then solve for the general term by determining the multiplier and constant for each pattern. The final example before the video quiz also goes over the strategy for solving a decreasing linear pattern. As with other videos in my distance learning series, music and GIFs are used to help with student interest and engagement.

Teaching students how to do operational work with integers is an important skill, yet students must also learn to think more deeply about integers. Creating riddles is a good way for your students to work with sets of different number and work beyond operational questions. This product has a couple of examples for students to use as models when they create their own integer riddles.

This video reviews how to graph a linear pattern. Two different patterns are placed on the same graph so that students can see how the slope changes depending on the pattern rule. The lesson concludes with a brief introduction to the run and rise of a line created by graphing a linear pattern. As with other videos in my distance learning series, music and GIFs are incorporated to make the instruction more engaging for students.

The video "Did You Know" has many interesting statistics about the world we live in. Whether it be the number of jobs a person will have in their life, or the number of users on Facebook, the world looks a lot different than it did 30, 20, even 10 years ago! An interesting comment comes up on this video. At one point, there is a suggestion that “we live in exponential times.” The purpose of this data management assignment is to try to understand what it means to live in exponential times. T

This lesson and assignment introduce students to the steps needed to purchase a car. Steps include calculating tax, factoring in a down payment, calculating simple interest on a loan, and determining either monthly or biweekly payments. As with other videos in my distance learning math series, GIFs and music are used to make the lesson more engaging for students.

This video walks students through the definition of scientific notation and how to convert a number in standard form to one in scientific notation. GIFs and fun music are used to help with student interest and engagement. Like other videos in my distance learning series, this lesson is meant to offer a review of the concept. No work is assigned.

This is a culminating task giving students the opportunity to budget for a year while traveling abroad. Students must budget for a 4 month stay in 3 different countries: Australia, Japan, and Thailand. Different job opportunities are provided for each country, and students need to source out and budget for expenses such as accommodation, food, entertainment, etc. The jobs students must select are meant to be unique, generating strong interest. The video is fun and engaging, and there is a wo

This instructional video reviews how a scatterplot is used to determine a relationship between two variables. The video reviews how a two variable data set can also be displayed using circle graphs and double bar graphs. Three different scatterplots show the three kinds of relationships that potentially exist with two variables: positive, negative, and no relationship. The possibility of outliers is also addressed. Like my other instructional math videos, music and gifs help to make the mate

This instructional video goes over four different ways that people can manipulate the way you think about an issue by misrepresenting data on a graph. Whether it be manipulating the y-axis or cherry picking data, the manipulation of information on a graph can be difficult to detect, and students need the critical skills and practise to discern when information might not be as it appears. An assignment where students are asked to practise creating altered graphs is included. A rubric is also i

This video attempts to put the fun in math fundamentals. Using the symbols of an angel and devil, the video goes over some of the rules children will need to help determine whether a number is prime or composite.

This video has an excellent review on how to obtain common factors and multiples from larger numbers. With some upbeat music and funny GIF's, students learn how to obtain the GCF and LCM of numbers using prime factorization and a Venn diagram.