Creating any part of a curriculum from scratch is a challenge! Unit plans are no different. Changing standards, multiple preps, and a too-short planning period are not a recipe for success. However, creating a unit plan will save you time in the long run. Let’s create a unit plan that helps students learn the course material while also saving your sanity. What exactly is a unit ...
Ideas for Teaching Transformations
Transformations is a big meaty unit in 8th grade math that students will revisit in Algebra 1 with quadratic functions. Let’s talk about all the ways you can help your students succeed with transformations! CCSS and TEKS Standards Let's take a look at what the standards actually say regarding transformations: Released STAAR Question from 2019 Backwards planning (looking ...
Properties of Exponents
There is a great paradox in teaching math: the more simple a topic, the more likely it will cause complete confusion in your classroom. Cue - properties of exponents. If you have experienced students mixing up all the laws of exponents or if you are about to teach them for the first time, then you are in the right place. Laws of Exponents Standards The standards are pretty ...
Teaching One- and Two-Step Inequalities
What I love so much about inequalities are the infinite solutions. For so much of students’ previous math experience, there is one exact answer. When it comes to inequalities, it is fun to push students to think of their answers beyond “x<4” and brainstorm all of the infinite solutions that x can be and then connect it to the graph. Below, I have outlined a few ideas and ...
Tips for Using Math Activities with All Access
Classroom activities are where math comes alive! Personally, I loved the discourse, the teamwork, and the application that occurred with my students when working through an activity. Here are some broad stroke tips for how to implement activities in your math classroom. Filter the Activities On the New Platform The All Access platform makes finding aligned activities easier ...
Unit Overviews in All Access
Our All Access Unit Overviews received a makeover this month! At Maneuvering the Middle, we strive to create AND update resources that teachers use for planning and teaching. Let’s talk about what is new, what has been removed, and some tips for implementing the unit overviews in instruction. FEATURES OF THE UNIT OVERVIEW The unit overviews serve as a comprehensive guide to each ...
Accommodations that Reach All Learners
Middle school math students come to your class with varying needs and abilities! Accommodations are adjustments made to the environment, curriculum, or assessment that make it possible for students to learn and succeed. How is this different from a modification? Years ago, the special education teacher on my campus, Ms. Mease, explained the difference between accommodations and ...
10+ Decimal Activities and Lessons
Decimal activities are crucial to the practice necessary to master decimal operations. There are so many real-world applications. Today I am listing all of the decimal lessons and activities I found after scouring the internet, and of course, Maneuvering the Middle! Adding and Subtracting Decimals Teaching Adding and Subtracting Decimals blog post - Before you start teaching ...
Questioning Strategies for 100% Engagement
With the new school year upon us, let’s discuss some ways to level-up our questioning strategies we are using in our instruction. What are questioning strategies? Effective questioning is a skill or practice that a teacher employs to gauge the understanding of material from students at any given time during her lesson. Simply put, teachers drive student understanding through ...
Lesson Planning Using Our New Platform
Our All Access subscription has moved to an incredible, new platform! With new technology comes adjustment, so I thought it would be pertinent to explain how the new platform was designed with teachers who are lesson planning (and very busy) in mind! The New Platform is Search-Friendly The new platform is much more user-friendly! Gone are the days of opening several tabs or ...