I love the math that we teach in junior high. Honestly, I was made to be a middle school math teacher. The topics that we teach came easy to me the first time around, and I’ve spent a lot of time figure out how to break things down for students. That is why I love this standard of using triangles to teach slope. It breaks down what slope is and uses something like triangles that students are already familar with. Some years we haven’t given this standard the attention it deserves because of time, but when we do take the time, it really helps students understand slope better. [Read more…] about Teaching Similar Triangles and Slope in an Interactive Notebook
8th grade math
How to Teach Parallel Lines Cut By a Transversal Using Interactive Notebooks
I suppose it’s fair to say that I don’t really love geometry. I mean, I find some of the topics interesting, but there are other topics that don’t do anything for me. Of course, you can’t let the students know which topics are which! But, between you and me, my favorite geometry topic has to be teaching students about parallel lines cut by a transversal. It’s probably because you can easily add algebra concepts to it, we get to color lots of angles, and it just makes sense to my pattern-seeking brain. [Read more…] about How to Teach Parallel Lines Cut By a Transversal Using Interactive Notebooks
9 How Many Solutions Activities
In 8th grade math when we introduce the concept of how many solutions there can be to a system of equations, it pretty much blows students minds. They get so used to everything having one right answer and it being one number. But when we start talking about the different number of solutions, now they have to identify how many answers it may have, and some of them fight against that idea. In our scope and sequence we introduce this topic when we learn about solving multi-step equations that have a variable on both sides because you can have infinite solutions or no solutions in these cases. We teach it again later in the year when we get to solving systems of equations. Check out these nine activities sure to help students understand and find how many solutions exist in a system of equations. [Read more…] about 9 How Many Solutions Activities
13 Activities for Making Parallel Lines Cut by a Transversal Memorable
The patterns made when a parallel lines are cut by a transversal are really cool to recognize. I feel like once you see the pattern then you can understand why the angles are either congruent or supplementary. Unfortunately, it’s not always so easy for students to see the pattern. So, teaching students about transversals offers a great opportunity to reinforce with students the good mathematical practice of always looking for patterns in mathematics. Many of the practice activities listed below for this topic bring a chance to look at things visually. [Read more…] about 13 Activities for Making Parallel Lines Cut by a Transversal Memorable
Teaching Scientific Notation: 4 Questions to Help Students Understand
When teaching students how to convert numbers from standard notation to scientific notation and back the other way, it’s a common practice to teach them the steps. However, this approach risks reducing this concept to a series of steps that students may or may not remember later. Instead of approaching converting with scientific notation as a set of procedures, I find that teaching students how to think about the process really helps it stick.
Here’s how I use 4 questions when teaching scientific notation to get students thinking about numbers and converting between standard and scientific notation.
[Read more…] about Teaching Scientific Notation: 4 Questions to Help Students Understand
