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 […]

The Middle School Portal 2: Math and Science Pathways (MSP2) project will be hosting a series of free webinars over the next few months. The first four are all about integrating technology - Interactive Notebooks (7/25), Moodle for Middle School (8/5), Digital Storytelling (8/12), and Wikis for the Classroom (8/19) - Wednesdays at 2-2:45pm EST. […]

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 […]

Bob Panoff, executive director of Shodor and CSERD: Computational Science Education Reference Desk is passionate about using computational science teaching methods to stimulate student engagement in learning math and science from grades K to gray!
In a recent article for the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) entitled “Simulations Deepen Scientific Learning,” he explains the […]

The latest online publication from the Middle School Portal is now available - Forensic Science: Middle School. We’ve searched the web for the best resources associated with this topic but I’m sure we haven’t found all the great ones. We’d like your help - do you know of other resources we should include? If you […]

Reading the math textbook or handouts or extended response problems presents built-in challenges. The vocabulary of mathematics can be confusing, with some words meaning one thing in a mathematical context and another in everyday settings. Symbols can look alike, and different symbols can represent the same operation (for example, *, x, and • for multiplication). […]

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 […]

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 […]

Your textbook has many, many problems on finding the measurements of a circle, so I looked for problems that are off the beaten track. The result is an unusual set of applications to the circle, therefore challenging but intriguing, I think, for middle school classes. Let your colleagues know of your own ideas  and comments […]