You may have heard this complaint or even made it yourself: “These tests are more about reading than they are about math!”  Students are increasingly asked to understand and apply math to situations, rather than just perform an operation on numbers. This involves reading the math text that sets out the problem scenario.
Add to that […]

Do your middle school students not complete reading assignments or not comprehend them when they do? Is student motivation an issue you struggle with? Do you feel that your students need assistance comprehending the textbook?
Our newest Explore In Depth publication, Reading Comprehension in Science, is now available. We’ve done our best to provide you with helpful […]

As in other subjects, writing forces us to order our thoughts, make them clear to others. In mathematics, writing, as difficult as it is, helps students organize their understandings of concepts and set out for themselves their reasoning about a problem and its solution.  As stated in the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, “students […]

Science, like other disciplines, has a specialized vocabulary, encompassing both terms that represent scientific concepts and those that describe process skills. Although science education focuses on inquiry and hands-on experiences, current research shows that teachers must also help students develop vocabulary to be successful in both the content and methods of science.
However, this is often […]

There are middle school projects that gain impact through collaboration with students outside your own classroom, such as estimating the average amount of water used per person per day. This problem takes on deeper relevance when averages are compared to those of classrooms around the country and the world. Other projects, such as finding the circumference […]

You may have heard tales of hidden math treasure out there on the World Wide Web, but how to find it for your middle school classroom? Consider this blog post a treasure map, with X marking five sites that we’d like to recommend for productive digging. At each you will find activities, lessons, or projects that […]

Computer technology as an instructional tool for the teaching of mathematics offers unique “hands-on” environments in which abstract concepts can be explored. These environments enable active engagement by students, an experimental approach to math concepts, and an avenue to understanding abstract ideas not readily accessible through other mediums. Virtual manipulatives are the key. In animated […]

Students often answer with the formula: “Add all the numbers together and divide, etc.” with no strong idea of what “average” means. Few adults, in fact, distinguish among the measures of central tendency: mean, median, and mode, but tend to lump them into a general idea of “what’s typical” of the data. Not a bad place to […]

Is there anything more difficult to explain at 5th and 6th grade level than the rules for multiplying and dividing fractions? These resources offer support in explaining the concepts that underlie the rules. Visual, interactive models are provided where possible. You will also find opportunities for your students to practice their skills in this area […]

As teachers, we all want our students to understand those concepts underpinning addition and subtraction of fractions— the concept of equivalent fractions, in particular. These resources offer teaching ideas on both the concepts and the skills, including demonstrations of addition and subtraction as well as problems for practice. I looked hard for material that would […]