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Adventures in Junior High and Mathematics

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Teaching Students to Analyze Function Graphs Like a Champ

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How to Model and Think Through Analyzing Function Graphs

To introduce students to analyzing function graphs, I start off with a model & think through activity. This activity lines up with Common Core math standard 8.F.B.5 to use functions to model relationships between quantities. This modelling activity consists of a presentation and the student follow along guide. As students follow along, they have to identify where the graph starts, what happens in the middle and where it ends. When they look at how it starts, they’re focusing on what exactly is being measured. They continue to answer all those same questions throughout the activity.

In this post I’ll show you step by step how to show students exactly what they need to do when analyzing function graphs, and how to make it stick in their minds forever! [Read more…] about Teaching Students to Analyze Function Graphs Like a Champ

How to Make Adding Integers Stick Forever

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Students spend their whole lives working with positive numbers. Then one day we’re like, “Hey, guess what guys? Some numbers are negative. Surprise!” We then wonder why they have such a hard time acclimatizing to this newfound knowledge. How can we break this sad cycle? I find that for many students, if you want them to really understand what they’re doing with adding positive and negative integers, you have to do a lot of background building and even some unteaching from what they’re used to. [Read more…] about How to Make Adding Integers Stick Forever

Teaching Mean Absolute Deviation Like a Rock Star

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Mean absolute deviation can sound very intimidating. I remember being in a master’s class and we had to find the standard deviation of some data. Most people in the class had no clue what to do. Most 7th grade math teachers have been teaching math since before the Common Core came on the scene, so this makes mean absolute deviation a new topic for many of us.

If you’re like me, you get worried when there’s a new topic. You want to teach it right, but you’re not confident with how to teach it. At least, not yet. It’s taken me a bit of time to feel comfortable with it, but this year I had so much fun teaching this concept. Let me show you step by step how I broke down and taught my 7th grade students about mean absolute deviation.

[Read more…] about Teaching Mean Absolute Deviation Like a Rock Star

How to Teach Compound Probability and Make it Stick

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Teaching probability gets kids interested because it so naturally involves dice, playing cards, and spinners. What 7th grade doesn’t love to spin things? Usually, they get in trouble for spinning things, so when we pull out the spinners and tell them to spin it, they look at us in disbelief. They wonder if it’s a trick. We reassure them that they won’t get in trouble, and quickly they are hands-on, having a great time experimenting with probability.

I love how incorporating these manipulatives has a way of getting and keeping students’ attention. In this post I’ll break down for you how I chunk out and teach compound probability. (If you’re looking for just ways to practice this skill, check out this post with 12 activity ideas.)

[Read more…] about How to Teach Compound Probability and Make it Stick