Do you find that your middle school students still become confused with decimals? Not unusual! The resources here offer support in explaining the concepts underpinning addition and subtraction of decimals, in particular, place value. They also include demonstrations of addition and subtraction and opportunities for practice. The goal for students, as stated in NCTM’s Focal […]

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 […]

Understanding ratio and proportion, one of NCTM’s Focal Points for grade 7, presents a real challenge for all levels of middle school. Here are classroom-friendly ways to explore the topic from several angles. Each involves visuals or hands-on activities that bring students into close contact with the abstract concept of ratio. Let other teachers hear your ideas […]

Factors and their multiples are so important to students’ work with fractions and number theory. These concepts come under the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Number and Operations Standard for the middle grades. The resources here are all hands-on, if only virtually. Important to their success is the classroom talk that the resources […]

Really understanding what fractions are, how they fit on the number line, and how to operate with them - add, subtract, multiply, divide - is central to learning decimals and percentages. According to the NCTM Principles and Standards, students in the middle grades should be expected to acquire a deeper understanding of fractions, decimals, and […]

Middle school students often need to practice basic facts. The web sites listed below get the students thinking about the operations in a problem-solving way. In the first resource, the problem can have more than one solution, challenging students to practice their skills in reasoning and proof. A possible follow-up would be to have the […]

The order of operations rules are important now in evaluating numerical expressions and later in the study of algebra. The featured resources offer explanations, examples of what goes wrong when the rules are misapplied, and problems to solve.
Amby’s Math Resources: Order of Operations
Check out this online tutorial offering a pre-test, practice exercises, and a post-test. […]

“Words! Words! Words!” sang Eliza Doolittle in the musical My Fair Lady. “I’m so sick of words!” But students have to master the vocabulary of mathematics. This is especially difficult for those learning a new language even as they struggle with new mathematics vocabulary. The first two resources deal with mathematical terms themselves, while the […]

Math games open an arena for strategic planning and reasoning, one of the NCTM Process Standards. Many games also provide practice in basic operations or problem solving, and all motivate the active participation we hope for in the classroom.
The Maths File Game Show
A collection of 12 interactive games that deal with basic concepts of […]