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It seems like it takes more and more to get students motivated now. Throw math work at them, and they will act like you've just asked them to scrub toilets. Fortunately, you can do a lot to get kids more "into" what's going on in the classroom. Finding really good activities can go a long way toward engaging middle school math students.
Energizers. Developed by East Carolina University, these math "energizers" incorporate physical activity into lessons. The activities are perfect for students who need to move, and made fun enough that students should not feel embarrassed to participate.
Concept Development Units. These units contain full lesson plans with interactive content intended to assist students in developing their overall understanding of specific units of study. The units of study are broken up into specific types of content to make it easier to navigate toward what you want to accomplish.
Illuminations. Find a plethora of activities for middle school math students here. Select a grade level and a strand. You'll find some great stuff here!
Math Goes to the Movies. Find movie clips that you can use for teaching math, clip descriptions, and questions to go with them. What student doesn't like watching videos now and then?
Use Algebra Tiles. Mathbits has a template that you can download to making your own math tiles and a corresponding PowerPoint on how to use algebra tiles to teach all sorts of things, like solving equations, working with polynomials, multiplying integers, and beyond.
Use PowerPoint for Games. Here's a great links that includes Jeopardy and Bingo games as well as other activities that you can use to reinforce the things you teach in the classroom.
TI Math Nspired. Find teacher notes, classroom activities, and tutorials for using your TI calculators to teach all sorts of math concepts.
IXL Math. They call it "practice that feels like play." Students can work on a wide variety of topics and get immediate feedback with their online practice. They get a "Smart Score" based on an algorithm that helps students feel the most successful.
Khan Academy. I'd be remiss not to mention the benefits of using Khan Academy in the classroom. There are online tutorial videos and practice problems. If you sign up for a teacher account, which is absolutely free, you can individual the learning of each student. The program will tell you what the students need help with in addition to what they've mastered. You can select whatever math concepts you want your students to learn at any time.
CCSS Math. If you want to find activities that align to the Common Core for any grade level this place will give it to you. You select a grade level and an objective, and you will get a list of resources to help you teach that objective. Fabulous resource!
While engaging middle school math students might come with some challenges, you will find so many great resources online for helping your students access the curriculum. Hopefully this resource page gives you a great head start for propelling your students forward this school year!
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