Idea Galaxy

Adventures in Junior High and Mathematics

Math Teaching Tips

12 Days of Christmas Math Activities for Middle School

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The month of December is a crazy time of year in the classroom. The kids are excited, and the teachers are excited too. Fortunately, there’s some easy ways to add seasonal spice to your math classroom. Christmas math activities keep students engaged during this exciting time of year.

Some simple adjustments, like adding seasonal clip art to your work or bringing in some Christmas school supplies as prizes, can go a long way. You have to walk a fine line of not getting the students distracted, but at the same time bringing that seasonal cheer into the class. Students definitely appreciate the effort and will be a little more engaged at a time of year that is otherwise full of distractions. [Read more…] about 12 Days of Christmas Math Activities for Middle School

12 One Step Equation Activities That Are Out of this World

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In 8th grade we expect that students already know how to solve one step equations. Many of them do, but there are others that struggle with them. I work with students who qualify for math lab, a second dose of math during the day. The majority of my students missed basic concepts when they were supposed to learn them in a previous grade. So, practicing solving one-step equations works as a review for most students, but it seems like a new topic for others.

Today I’ll share with you 12 activities and ideas to get your students understanding and practicing with solving one step equations.
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10 Activities to Help Students Practice Properties of Exponents

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When it comes to teaching math, I’m not the biggest fan of just having kids memorize rules. However, when teaching properties of exponents, you literally need students to understand a set of rules.

So, here’s what I like to do: first, introduce the rules through a discovery activity. Then, walk students through what to do in different circumstances. After you’ve given them instruction on all of the properties, then they just need practice. To make the practice most effective, students need a lot of it. Plus, they need to see the properties mixed together so they’re prepared for anything. In this post I’ll share with you my favorite ways to get students the practice they need with properties of exponents. [Read more…] about 10 Activities to Help Students Practice Properties of Exponents

10 Activities to Make Practicing Scientific Notation Awesome

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Scientific notation is such a great topic to study because it shows students a really practical application in math. I love how it makes sense that you would actually use scientific notation in many different situations. It’s fun to illustrate really, really big numbers, and really, really small numbers. Plus, these numbers show up again and again in students’ science classes. Scientific notation activities help students see just how practical and prevalent these numbers really are. I’m excited to share with you 10 activity ideas that are sure to be hits in your classroom.

Plus, converting to and from scientific notation seems to make sense to kids. I feel like this is a concept where students can have a lot of success. Whenever we get to a topic like this, not only do I want students to get it and rock it, I also want to leverage their success with this topic to feel more confidence in math and be willing to try harder on other topics.

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12 Distributive Property Activities That Rock

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Ever since I first learned about the distributive property, I’ve loved it. I can’t explain it, but the idea just made sense to me. The distributive property was one of the first things that I remember learning that was really conceptual and not just computational. Now, I get the chance to bring this same love of math to students everyday. Not all of my students share my love of distributive property (sadly), but I hope that through engaging activities and conceptual experiences they can start to enjoy it. [Read more…] about 12 Distributive Property Activities That Rock