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Grade 6

Unit 1: Area and Surface Area

Illustrative MathematicsDesmos Math 6–A1
Topic A: Reasoning to Find Area 
Lesson 1: Tiling the PlaneUnit 1
Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Finding Area by Decomposing and Rearranging
Lesson 3: Reasoning to Find Area
Unit 1
Lesson 2: Letters
Topic 2: Parallelograms
Lesson 4: Parallelograms
Lesson 5: Bases and Heights of Parallelograms
Lesson 6: Area of Parallelograms
Unit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Topic 3: Triangles
Lesson 7: From Parallelograms to TrianglesUnit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms
Lesson 8: Area of TrianglesUnit 1
Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available)
Lesson 9: Formula for the Area of a Triangle
Lesson 10: Bases and Heights of Triangles
Unit 1
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms
Topic 4: Polygons
Lesson 11: PolygonsUnit 1
Lesson 2: Letters
Lesson 8: Pile of Polygons
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Unit 7
Lesson 11: Polygon Maker
Topic 5: Surface Area
Lesson 12: What is Surface Area?Unit 1
Lesson 9: Renata´s Stickers [Free lesson]
Lesson 13: PolyhedraUnit 1Lesson 10: Plenty of Polyhedra
Lesson 14: Nets and Surface AreaUnit 1
Lesson 10: Plenty of Polyhedra
Lesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available)
Lesson 13: Take It To Go
Lesson 15: More Nets, More Surface AreaUnit 1
Lesson 10: Plenty of Polyhedra
Lesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available)
Lesson 12: Face Value
Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 16: Distinguishing Between Surface Area and Volume
Topic 6: Squares and Cubes 
Lesson 17: Squares and CubesUnit 6
Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes
Lesson 18: Surface Area of a Cube 
Topic 7: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 19: Designing a TentUnit 1
Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)

Unit 2: Introducing Ratios

Topic 1: Introducing Ratios
Lesson 1: Introducing Ratios and Ratio LanguageUnit 2Lesson 1: Pizza Maker [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available)
Lesson 2: Representing Ratios with DiagramsUnit 2Lesson 1: Pizza Maker [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available)Lesson 3: Rice Ratios (Print available)
Topic 2: Equivalent Ratios
Lesson 3: RecipesUnit 2Lesson 1: Pizza Maker [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Rice Ratios (Print available)
Lesson 4: Color MixturesUnit 2Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1Lesson 12: Mixing paint, Part 2
Lesson 5: Defining Equivalent RatiosUnit 2Lesson 3: Rice Ratios (Print available)Lesson 4: Fruit Lab [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Community LifePractice Day 1 (Print available)
Topic 3: Representing Equivalent ratios
Lesson 6: Introducing Double Number Line DiagramsUnit 2Lesson 5: Balancing Act
Lesson 7: Creating Double Line DiagramsUnit 2Lesson 5: Balancing ActLesson 6: Product prices (Print available)
Lesson 8: How Much for One?Unit 2Lesson 6: Product prices (Print available)
Lesson 9: Constant SpeedUnit 2Lesson 8: World Records (Print available)
Lesson 10: Comparing Situations by Examining RatiosUnit 2Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1 
Topic 4: Solving Ratio and Rate Problems
Lesson 11: Representing Ratios with TablesUnit 2Lesson 9: Disaster Preparation [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Navigating a Table of Equivalent Ratios
Lesson 13: Tables and Double Line Diagrams
Unit 2Lesson 6: Product prices (Print available)Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1
Lesson 14: Solving Equivalent Ratio ProblemsUnit 2Lesson 6: Product prices (Print available)Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1Lesson 10: BalloonsLesson 11: Community Life (Print available)
Topic 5: Part-Part-Whole Ratios
Lesson 15: Part-Part-Whole RatiosUnit 2Lesson 12: Mixing paint, Part 2Lesson 13: City Planning
Lesson 16: Solving More Ratio ProblemsUnit 2Lesson 13: City PlanningLesson 14: Lunch Waste (Print available)
Topic 6: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 17: A Fermi ProblemUnit 2Lesson 13: City PlanningLesson 14: Lunch Waste (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Unit 3: Rates and Percentages

Topic 1: Units of Measurement 
Lesson 1: The Burj KhalifaUnit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Topic 2: Unit Conversion
Lesson 2: Anchoring Units of MeasurementUnit 3
Lesson 1: Many Measurements (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Measuring with Different-Sized Units
Lesson 4: Converting Units
Unit 3
Lesson 2: Counting Classrooms
Lesson 3: Pen Pals
Topic 3: Rates
Lesson 5: Comparing Speeds and PricesUnit 2
Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) 

Unit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory
Lesson 6: Interpreting Rates
Lesson 7: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit Rates
Unit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: More About Constant SpeedUnit 2
Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) 

Unit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 9: Solving Rate ProblemsUnit 3
Lesson 7: More Soft Serve
Topic 4: Percentages
Lesson 10: What Are percentagesUnit 3
Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals
Lesson 11: Percentages and Double Number LinesUnit 3
Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals
Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available)
Lesson 12: Percentages and Tape DiagramsUnit 3
Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available)
Lesson 13: Benchmark percentagesUnit 3
Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson]
Lesson 14: Solving Percentage Problems
Lesson 15: Finding This Percent of That
Lesson 16: Finding the Percentage
Unit 3
Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available)
Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown
Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals
Lesson 13: A Country as a Village
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 17: Painting a RoomUnit 3
Lesson 13: A Country as a Village
Lesson 7: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit RatesUnit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson]

Unit 4: Dividing Fractions

Topic 1: Making Sense of Division 
Lesson 1: Size of Divisor and Size of Quotient
Lesson 2: Meanings of Division
Unit 4Lesson 1: Cookie Cutter
Lesson 3: Interpreting Division SituationsUnit 4Lesson 2: Making Connections (Print available)
Topic 2: Meanings of Fraction Division
Lesson 4: How Many Groups (Part 1)Unit 4Lesson 3: Flour Planner [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Flower Planters 
Lesson 5: How Many Groups (Part 2)Unit 4Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)
Lesson 6: Using Diagrams to Find the Number of GroupsUnit 4Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: What Fraction of a Group?
Lesson 8: How Much in Each Group? (Part 1)
Lesson 9: How Much in Each Group? (Part 2)
Unit 4Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Topic 3: Algorithm for Fraction Division
Lesson 10: Dividing by Unit and Non-Unit FractionsUnit 4Lesson 7: Break It DownLesson 8: Potting SoilLesson 9: Division Challenges 
Lesson 11: Using an Algorithm to Divide FractionsUnit 4Lesson 9: Division ChallengesPractice Day
Topic 4: Fractions in Lengths, Areas, and Volumes
Lesson 12: Fractional LengthsUnit 4Lesson 11: Classroom Comparisons
Lesson 13: Rectangles with Fractional Side LengthsUnit 4Lesson 12: Puzzling Areas (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 14: Fractional Lengths in Triangles and Prisms
Lesson 15: Volume of PrismsUnit 4Lesson 13: Volume Challenges
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 16: Solving Problems with FractionsUnit 4Lesson 10: Swap Meet (Print available)
Lesson 17: Fitting Boxes into BoxesUnit 4Lesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available)

Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base Ten

Topic 1: Warming Up to Decimals 
Lesson 1: Using Decimals in a Shopping ContextUnit 5Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals (Print available) [Free lesson]
Topic 2: Adding and Subtracting Decimals
Lesson 2: Using Decimals to Represent Addition and SubtractionUnit 5Lesson 3: Fruit by the PoundLesson 4: Missing Digits
Lesson 3: Adding and Subtracting Decimals with Few Non-Zero DigitsUnit 5Lesson 4: Missing Digits
Lesson 4: Adding and Subtracting Decimals with Many Non-Zero Digits 
Topic 3: Multiplying Decimals
Lesson 5: Decimal Points in ProductsUnit 5Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 6: Methods for Multiplying DecimalsUnit 5Lesson 5: Decimal MultiplicationLesson 6: Multiplying with AreasLesson 7: Multiplication methods (Print available)
Lesson 7: Using Diagrams to Represent MultiplicationUnit 5Lesson 5: Decimal MultiplicationLesson 6: Multiplying with Areas
Lesson 8: Calculating Products of DecimalsUnit 5Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas
Topic 4: Dividing Decimals
Lesson 9: Using the Partial Quotients MethodUnit 5Lesson 8: Division Diagrams
Lesson 10: Using Long DivisionUnit 5Lesson 8: Division DiagramsLesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)
Lesson 11: Dividing Numbers That Result in Decimals
Lesson 12: Dividing Decimals by Whole Numbers
Lesson 13: Dividing Decimals by Decimals
Unit 5Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 14: Using Operations on Decimals to Solve ProblemsUnit 5Lesson 11: Movie Time [Free lesson]
Lesson 15: Making and Measuring Boxes
Lesson 12: Dividing Decimals by Whole Numbers 
Lesson 13: Dividing Decimals by DecimalsUnit 5Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)

Unit 6: Expressions and Equations

Lesson 1: Tape Diagrams and Equations
Lesson 2: Truth and Equations
Unit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available)
Lesson 3: Staying in BalanceUnit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available)Lesson 3: Hanging Around
Lesson 4: Practice Solving Equations and Representing Situations with EquationsUnit 6Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available)
Lesson 5: A New Way to Interpret a and bUnit 6Lesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available)
Topic 2: Equal and Equivalent
Lesson 6: Write Expressions Where Letters Stand for NumbersUnit 6Lesson 6: Vari-applesLesson 7: Border Tiles
Lesson 7: Revisit PercentagesUnit 3Lesson 10: What’s Missing?Lesson 11: Cost BreakdownLesson 12: More Bicycle Goals
Lesson 8: Equal and EquivalentUnit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available)Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 6: Vari-apples
Topic 9: The Distributive Property, Part 1Unit 6Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]
Lesson 10: The Distributive Property, Part 2
Lesson 11: The Distributive Property, Part 3
Unit 6Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available)
Topic 3: Expressions with Exponents
Lesson 12: Meaning of ExponentsUnit 6Lesson 10: PowersLesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 13: Expressions with Exponents
Lesson 14: Evaluating Expressions with Exponents
Lesson 15: Equivalent Exponential Expressions
Unit 6Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes
Topic 4: Relationships Between Quantities 
Lesson 16: Two Related Quantities, Part 1
Lesson 17: Two Related Quantities, Part 2
Lesson 18: More Relationships
Unit 6Lesson 13: Turtles All the WayLesson 14: Representing RelationshipsLesson 15: Connecting Representations (Print available)
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 19: Tables, Equations, and Graphs, Oh My!Unit 6Lesson 16: Subway fares (Print available) [Free lesson]

Unit 7: Rational Numbers

Topic 1: Positive and Negative Numbers
Lesson 1: Positive and Negative NumbersUnit 7Lesson 1: Can You Dig In [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Lesson 2: Points on the Number LineUnit 7Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Lesson 3: Comparing Positive and Negative Numbers
Lesson 4: Ordering Rational Numbers
Unit 7Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Using Negative Numbers to make Sense of ContextsUnit 7 Lesson 4: Sub-Zero
Lesson 6: Absolute Value of Numbers
Lesson 7: Comparing Numbers and Distance from Zero
Unit 7Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line
Topic 2: Inequalities
Lesson 8: Writing and Graphing InequalitiesUnit 7Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Lesson 9: Solutions of Inequalities
Lesson 10: Interpreting Inequalities
Unit 7Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Comparing WeightsLesson 8: Shira´s Solutions
Topic 3: The Coordinate Plane
Lesson 11: Points on the Coordinate Plane
Lesson 12: Constructing the Coordinate Plane
Unit 7Lesson 9: Sand Dollar SearchLesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane
Lesson 13: Interpreting Points on a Coordinate PlaneUnit 7Lesson 9: Sand Dollar SearchLesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate PlaneLesson 11: Polygon Maker
Lesson 14: Distances on a Coordinate PlaneUnit 7Lesson 11: Polygon MakerLesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available)
Lesson 15: Shapes on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 1Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane [Free lesson]Lesson 2: LettersLesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available)Lesson 6: Triangles and ParallelogramsUnit 7Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available)Lesson 11: Polygon MakerLesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available)
Topic 4: Common Factors and Common Multiples
Lesson 16: Common FactorsUnit 5Lesson 15: Common factors
Lesson 17: Common MultiplesUnit 5Lesson 14: Common Multiples
Lesson 18: Using Common Multiples and Common FactorsUnit 5Lesson 14: Common MultiplesLesson 15: Common factorsPractice Day 2 (Print available)
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 19: Drawing on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 7Lesson 11: Polygon MakerLesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available)

Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions

Topic 1: Data, Variability, and Statistical Questions
Lesson 1: Got Data?
Lesson 2: Statistical Questions
Unit 8Lesson 1: Screen TimeLesson 2: Dot Plots
Topic 2: Dot Plots and Distributions
Lesson 3: Representing Data Graphically
Lesson 4: Dot Plots
Lesson 5: Using Dot Plots to Answer Statistical Questions
Unit 8Lesson 2: Dot PlotsLesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Lots More Dots
Lesson 6: Interpreting Histograms
Lesson 7: Using Histograms to Answer Statistical Questions
Lesson 8: Describing Distributions on Histograms
Unit 8Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson]Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available)
Topic 3: Measures of Center and Variability
Lesson 9: Mean
Lesson 10: Finding and Interpreting the Mean as a Balance Point
Unit 8Lesson 7: Snack Time
Lesson 11: Variability and MADUnit 8Lesson 8: Pop It!
Lesson 12: Using Mean and MAD to Make ComparisonsUnit 8Lesson 9: Hoops
Topic 4: Median and IQR
Lesson 13: MedianUnit 8Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson]Lesson 12: In the News
Lesson 14: Comparing Mean and MedianUnit 8Lesson 12: In the News
Lesson 15: Quartiles and Interquartile RangeUnit 8Lesson 13: Pumpkin Patch
Lesson 16: Box PlotsUnit 8Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 17: Using Box PlotsUnit 8Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 18: Using Data to Solve ProblemsUnit 8Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available)

Unit 9: Putting It All Together

Topic 1: Making Connections
Lesson 1: Fermi Problems
Lesson 2: In Our Class Were the World
Unit 3Lesson 13: A Country as a Village
Lesson 3: Rectangle MadnessUnit 5Lesson 14: Common MultiplesLesson 15: Common factors
Topic 2: Voting
Lesson 4: How Do We Choose?Unit 2Lesson 13: City PlanningLesson 14: Lunch Waste (Print available)
Lesson 5: More than Two ChoicesUnit 3Lesson 13: A Country as a Village
Lesson 6: Picking RepresentativesUnit 8Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available)

Grade 7

Unit 1: Scale Drawings

Illustrative MathematicsDesmos Math 6–A1
Topic 1: Scaled Copies 
Lesson 1: What are Scaled Copies?Unit 1Lesson 1: Scaling Machines [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Corresponding Parts and Scale FactorsUnit 1Lesson 2: Scaling Robots Unit 3Lesson 1: Toothpicks
Lesson 3: Making Scaled Copies
Lesson 4: Scaled Relationship
Unit 1Lesson 3: Make It Scale Unit 4Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Lesson 5: The Size and the Scale FactorUnit 1Lesson 4: Scale Factor Challenges
Lesson 6: Scaling and AreaUnit 1Lesson 5: TilesPractice Day 1 (Print available)
Topic 2: Scale Drawings 
Lesson 7: Scale DrawingsUnit 1Lesson 6: Introducing ScaleLesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Scale Drawings and Maps 
Lesson 9: Creating Scale Drawings
Lesson 10: Changing Scales in Scale Drawings
Unit 1Lesson 8: Scaling StatesLesson 9: Scaling BuildingsLesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)
Lesson 11: Scales without Units 
Lesson 12: Units in Scale DrawingsUnit 1Lesson 8: Scaling StatesLesson 9: Scaling BuildingsLesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Topic 3: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 13: Draw It to ScaleUnit 1Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)

Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships

Topic 1: Representing Proportional Relationships with Tables
Lesson 1: One of These Things Is Not Like the OthersUnit 2Lesson 1: Paint [Free lesson] 
Lesson 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships with TablesUnit 2Lesson 2: Balloon FloatLesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 3: More About Constant of ProportionalityUnit 2Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)Unit 4Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Topic 2: Representing Proportional Relationships with Equations 
Lesson 4: Proportional Relationships with EquationsUnit 2Lesson 4: Robot FactoryLesson 5: SnapshotsLesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 5: Two Equations for Each Relationship
Lesson 6: Using Equations to Solve Problems
Unit 2Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 7: All Kinds of EquationsPractice Day
Topic 3: Comparing Proportional and Nonproportional Relationships 
Lesson 7: Comparing Relationships with TablesUnit 2Lesson 2: Balloon FloatLesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 8: Comparing Relationships with EquationsUnit 2Lesson 4: Robot FactoryLesson 5: SnapshotsLesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 7: All Kinds of EquationsLesson 11: Four RepresentationsLesson 12: Water Efficiency
Lesson 9: Solving Problems About Proportional RelationshipsUnit 2Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Topic 4: Representing Proportional Relationships with Graphs
Lesson 10: Introducing Graphs of Proportional Relationships
Lesson 11: Interpreting Graphs of Proportional Relationships
Lesson 12: Using Graphs to Compare Relationships
Lesson 13: Two Graphs for Each Relationship
Unit 2Lesson 8: Dino Pops [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Gallon ChallengeLesson 10: Three TurtlesLesson 11: Four RepresentationsLesson 12: Water Efficiency
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 14: For RepresentationsUnit 2Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available)
Lesson 15: Using Water EfficiencyUnit 2Lesson 12: Water Efficiency

Unit 3: Measuring Circles

Topic 1: Circumference of a Circle 
Lesson 1: How Well Can You Measure?Unit 3Lesson 1: Toothpicks
Lesson 2: Exploring Circles
Lesson 3: Exploring Circumference
Lesson 4: Applying Circumference
Unit 3Lesson 2: Is It a Circle?Lesson 3: Measuring Around [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Circumference and Wheels 
Topic 2: Area of a Circle
Lesson 6: Estimating AreasUnit 3Lesson 5: Area Strategies
Lesson 7: Exploring the Area of a Circle
Lesson 8: Relating Area to Circumference
Unit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)Lesson 7: Why Pi?Lesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Circle vs. SquarePractice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 9: Applying Area of CirclesUnit 3Lesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)
Topic 3: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 10: Distinguishing Circumference and AreaUnit 3Lesson 7: Why Pi?
Lesson 11: Stained-Glass WindowsUnit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)

Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages

Topic 1: Proportional Relationships with Fractions 
Lesson 1: Lots of Flags
Lesson 2: Ratios and Rates with Fractions
Lesson 3: Revisiting Proportional Relationships
Lesson 4: Half as Much Again
Unit 4Lesson 1: Mosaics [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Peach Cobbler (Print available)Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Lesson 5: Say It with Decimals 
Topic 2: Percent Increase and Decrease 
Lesson 6: Increasing and DecreasingUnit 4Lesson 4: More and LessLesson 5: All the EquationsLesson 6: 100% (Print available)Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)Lesson 11: Bookcase BuilderLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: One Hundred percentUnit 4Lesson 6: 100% (Print available)
Lesson 8: Percent Increase and Decrease with EquationsUnit 4Lesson 5: All the Equations
Lesson 9: More and Less than 1% 
Topic 3: Applying Percentages
Lesson 10: Tax and Tip
Lesson 11: Percentage Contexts
Unit 4Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)Lesson 11: Bookcase BuilderLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Finding the PercentagesUnit 4Lesson 4: More and Less
Lesson 13: Measurement Error
Lesson 14: Percent Error
Lesson 15: Error Intervals
Unit 4Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder
Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 16: Posing Percent ProblemsUnit 4Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)Lesson 11: Bookcase BuilderLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson]Practice Day

Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic

Topic 1: Interpreting Negative Numbers 
Lesson 1: Interpreting Negative NumbersUnit 5Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson]
Topic 2: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers
Lesson 2: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 3: Changing Elevation
Unit 5Lesson 2: More Floats and AnchorsLesson 3: BumpersLesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Money and Debts 
Lesson 5: Representing SubtractionUnit 5Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 6: Subtracting Rational Numbers
Lesson 7: Adding and Subtracting to Solve Problems
Unit 5Lesson 3: BumpersLesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Number PuzzlesLesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Changing TemperaturesLesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Topic 3: Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers
Lesson 8: Position, Speed, and Direction
Lesson 9: Multiplying Rational Numbers
Lesson 10: Multiply!
Unit 5Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 11: Dividing Rational NumbersUnit 5Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 12: Negative Rates 
Topic 4: Four Operations with Rational Numbers 
Lesson 13: Expressions with Rational NumbersUnit 5Lesson 9: Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 14: Solving Problems with Rational NumbersLesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 12: Arctic Ice Sea (Print available)
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Topic 5: Solving Equations When There Are Negative Numbers 
Lesson 15: Making and Measuring Boxes 
Lesson 16: Representing Contexts with Equations 
Topic 6: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 17: The Stock market

Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Topic 1: Representing Situations of the Form px + q and p(+ q) = r
Lesson 1: Relationships Between Quantities
Unit 2 Lesson 1: Paint [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Balloon Float
Unit 4 Lesson 1: Mosaics [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Peach Cobbler (Print available)
Unit 6 Lesson 1: Toothpicks and Tiles
Lesson 2: Reasoning about Contexts with Tape Diagrams
Lesson 3: Reasoning about Equations with Tape Diagrams
Lesson 4: Reasoning about Equations and Tape Diagrams (Part 1)
Lesson 5: Reasoning about Equations and Tape Diagrams (Part 2)
Unit 6Lesson 2: Smudged ReceiptsLesson 3: EquationsLesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)
Lesson 6: Distinguishing between Two Types of SituationsUnit 6Lesson 6: Balancing EquationsLesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available)
Topic 2: Solving Equations of the Form px + q and p(+ q) = and Problems That lead to Those Equations 
Lesson 7: Reasoning about Solving Equations (Part 1)Unit 6Lesson 5: Balancing MovesLesson 6: Balancing EquationsLesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available) 
Lesson 8: Reasoning about Solving Equations (Part 2)Unit 6Lesson 5: Balancing MovesLesson 6: Balancing EquationsLesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available)Lesson 9: Always-Equal Machines
Topic 9 Dealing with Negative Numbers 
Lesson 10: Different Options for Solving One EquationUnit 6Lesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available)Lesson 9: Always-Equal MachinesLesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available)
Lesson 11: Using Equations to Solve ProblemsUnit 6Lesson 12: Community Day (Print available)
Lesson 12: Solving Problems about Percent Increase or DecreaseUnit 4Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)
Topic 3: Inequalities 
Lesson 13: Reintroducing InequalitiesUnit 6Lesson 13: I Saw the SignsLesson 15: BudgetingLesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson]
Lesson 14: Finding Solutions to Inequalities in Context
Lesson 15: Efficiency Solving Inequalities
Unit 6Lesson 14: Unbalanced HangersLesson 15 Budgeting (Print available)Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson]Lesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available)
Lesson 16: Interpreting Inequalities
Lesson 17: Modeling with Inequalities
Unit 6Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson]Lesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Topic 4: Writing Equivalent Expressions 
Lesson 18: Subtraction in Equivalent ExpressionsUnit 6Lesson 9: Always-Equal MachinesLesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available) 
Lesson 19: Expanding and FactoringUnit 6Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding (Print available)Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available)
Lesson 20: Combining Like Terms (Part 1)
Lesson 21: Combining Like Terms (Part 2)
Lesson 22: Combining Like Terms (Part 3)
Unit 6Lesson 2: Smudged ReceiptsLesson 6: Balancing EquationsLesson 8: Factoring and Expanding (Print available)Lesson 9: Always-Equal MachinesLesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 23: Applications of ExpressionsUnit 6Lesson 12: Community Day (Print available)

Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms

Topic 1: Angle Relationships
Lesson 1:Relationships of Angles
Unit 7 Lesson 1: Pinwheels Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams
Lesson 2: Adjacent Angles
Lesson 3: Nonadjacent Angles
Unit 7Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams
Lesson 4: Solving for Unknown AnglesUnit 7Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Angle DiagramsLesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available)
Lesson 5: Using Equations to Solve for Unknown AnglesUnit 7Lesson 3: Angle DiagramsLesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson]
Topic 2: Drawing Polygons with Given Conditions 
Lesson 6: Building Polygons (Part 1)
Lesson 7: Building Polygons (Part 2)
Unit 7Lesson 6: Is It Enough?
Lesson 8: Triangles with 3 Common MeasuresUnit 7Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Lesson 9: Drawing Triangles (Part 1)
Lesson 10: Drawing Triangles (Part 2)
Unit 7Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OneLesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Topic 3: Solid Geometry
Lesson 11: Slicing SolidsUnit 7Lesson 9: Slicing Solids
Lesson 12: Volume of Right PrismsUnit 7Lesson 10: Simple Prisms
Lesson 13: Decomposing Bases for AreasUnit 7Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Lesson 14: Surface Area of Right PrismsUnit 7Lesson 10: Simple PrismsLesson 11: More Complicated PrismsLesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available)
Lesson 15: Distinguishing Volume and Surface Area
Lesson 16: Applying Volume and Surface AreaUnit 7Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 17: Building Prisms

Unit 8: Probability and Sampling

Topic 1: Probabilities of Single Step Events
Lesson 1: Mystery Bags
Lesson 2: Chance Experiments
Lesson 3: What Are Probabilities?
Unit 8 Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Mystery Bag
Lesson 4: Estimating Probabilities Through Repeated ExperimentsUnit 8Lesson 4: Spin ClassLesson 5: Is It Fair?Lesson 6: Fair Games
Lesson 5: More Estimating ProbabilitiesUnit 8Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 6: Estimating Probabilities Using SimulationUnit 8Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate ItLesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Topic 2: Probabilities of Multi-step Events
Lesson 7: Simulating Multi-step EventsUnit 8Lesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate ItLesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 8: Keeping Track of All Possible OutcomesUnit 8Lesson 4: Spin ClassLesson 5: Is It Fair?Lesson 6: Fair Games
Topic 9: Multi-step experiments
Lesson 10: Designing SimulationsUnit 8Lesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate ItLesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Topic 3: Sampling
Lesson 11: Comparing Groups
Lesson 12: Larger Populations
Lesson 13: What Makes a Good Sample?
Lesson 14: Sampling in a Fair Way
Unit 8Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Headlines
Topic 4: Using Samples
Lesson 15: Estimating Population Measures of Center
Lesson 16: Estimating Population Proportions
Unit 8 Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 11: HeadlinesLesson 12: Flower Power
Lesson 17: More about Sampling Variability
Lesson 18: Comparing Populations Using Samples
Lesson 19: Comparing Populations with Friends
Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Plots and SamplesLesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available)Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available)
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 20: Memory TestUnit 8Lesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available)Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available)

Grade 8

Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence

Illustrative MathematicsDesmos Math 6–A1
Topic 1: Rigid Transformations 
Lesson 1: Moving in the PlaneUnit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Naming the MovesUnit 1Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Grid MovesUnit 1Lesson 3: Transformation GolfLesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Getting CoordinatedUnit 3Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 4: Making the MovesUnit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated
Lesson 5: Coordinate MovesUnit 1Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated
Lesson 6: Describing TransformationsUnit 1Lesson 5: Getting CoordinatedLesson 6: Connecting the Dots [Free lesson]
Topic 2: Properties of Rigid Transformations 
Lesson 7: No Bending or StretchingUnit 1Lesson 7: No Bending, No Stretching
Lesson 8: Rotation PatternsUnit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated
Lesson 9: Moves in Parallel
Lesson 10: Composing Figures
Unit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles
Topic 3: Congruence 
Lesson 11: What is the Same?
Lesson 12: Congruent Polygons
Lesson 13: Congruence
Unit 1 Lesson 7: Are They the Same?Lesson 9: Are They Congruent?Practice Day (Print available)
Topic 4: Angles in a Triangle
Lesson 14: Alternate Interior Angles
Lesson 15: Adding the Angles in a Triangle
Unit 1 Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available)
Lesson 16: Parallel Lines and the Angles in a TriangleUnit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 17: Rotate and TessellateLesson 13: Tessellate [Free lesson]

Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope

Topic 1: Dilations
Lesson 1: Projecting and ScalingUnit 2Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Circular Grid
Lesson 3: Dilations with No Grid
Lesson 4: Dilations on a Square Grid
Lesson 5: More Dilations
Unit 2Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Match My DilationLesson 4: Dilations on a Plane
Topic 2: Similarity 
Lesson 6: SimilarityUnit 2Lesson 5: Transformations Golf with DilationsLesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Similar Polygons 
Lesson 8: Similar Triangles
Lesson 9: Side Length Quotients in Similar Triangles
Unit 2Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough?Lesson 8: Shadows
Topic 3: Slope
Lesson 10: Meet SlopeUnit 2Lesson 9: Water SlideLesson 10: Points on a PlanePractice Day (Print available)Unit 3Lesson 3: PostersLesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Translations Unit 4Lesson 8: When Are They the Same?
Lesson 11: Writing Equations of LinesUnit 3Lesson 3: PostersLesson 6: TranslationsLesson 10: SolutionsLesson 11: Pennies and Quarters Unit 4Lesson 3: Balanced MovesLesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 12: Using Equations of LinesUnit 3Lesson 9: Coin Capture
Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 13: The Shadow KnowsUnit 2Lesson 8: Shadows

Unit 3: Linear Relationships

Topic 1: Proportional Relationships 
Lesson 1: Understanding Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Graphs of Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Water Tank Unit 5Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 3: Representing Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson] Unit 5Lesson 4: Window FramesLesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 4: Comparing Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3Lesson 3: Posters
Topic 2: Representing Linear Relationships
Lesson 5: Introduction to Linear RelationshipsUnit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Stacking CupsUnit 5Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 6: More Linear RelationshipsUnit 5Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 7: Representations of Linear RelationshipsUnit 3Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 8: Translating mx + bUnit 3Lesson 3: PostersLesson 6: Translations
Topic 3: Finding Slopes 
Lesson 9: Slopes Don’t Have to be PositiveUnit 3Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: TranslationsLesson 7: Water CoolerLesson 8: Landing Planes
Lesson 10: Calculating SlopeUnit 3Lesson 7: Water CoolerLesson 8: Landing Planes
Lesson 11: Equations of All Kinds of LinesUnit 3Lesson 3: PostersLesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Translations
Topic 4: Linear Equations 
Lesson 12: Solutions to Linear EquationsUnit 3Lesson 3: PostersLesson 6: TranslationsLesson 10: Solutions Unit 4Lesson 3: Balanced MovesLesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 13: More Solutions to Linear EquationsUnit 3 Lesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: TranslationsLesson 7: Water CoolerLesson 10: Solutions
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 14: Using Linear Relations to Solve ProblemsUnit 3 Lesson 11: Pennies and Quarters

Unit 4: Linear Equations and Linear Systems

Topic 1: Puzzle Problems 
Lesson 1: Number PuzzlesUnit 4Lesson 1: Number machines
Topic 2: Linear Equation in One Variable 
Lesson 2: Keeping the Equation BalancedUnit 4Lesson 2: Keep It Balanced
Lesson 3: Balanced MovesUnit 4Lesson 3: Balanced Moves
Lesson 4: More Balanced MovesUnit 4Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 5: Solving Any Linear EquationUnit 4Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 6: Strategic SolvingUnit 4Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 7: All, Some, or No Solutions
Lesson 8: How many Solutions?
Unit 4Lesson 7: All, Some, or None?
Lesson 9: When Are They the SameUnit 4Lesson 8: When Are They the Same?
Topic 3: Systems of Linear Equations
Lesson 10: On or Off the Line?Unit 4Lesson 7: All, Some, or None?Lesson 8: When Are They the Same?Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2
Lesson 11: On Both of the Lines
Lesson 12: Systems of Equations
Lesson 13: Solving Systems of Equations
Unit 4 Lesson 9: On or Off the Line?Lesson 10: On Both LinesLesson 11: Make Them Balance [Free lesson]Lesson 12: Line Zapper [Free lesson]Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 14: Solving More Systems 
Lesson 15: Writing Systems of EquationsUnit 4 Lesson 14: Strategic Solving, Part 2 (Print available)
Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 16: Posing Problems with Systems of EquationsUnit 4 Lesson 14: Strategic Solving, Part 2 (Print available)

Unit 5: Functions and Volume

Topic 1: Inputs and Outputs 
Lesson 1: Inputs and OutputsUnit 5Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Introduction to FunctionsUnit 5Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Function or Not?
Topic 2: Representing and Interpreting Functions 
Lesson 3: Equations of FunctionsUnit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson] Unit 5Lesson 3: Function or Not?Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 4: Tables, Equations, and Graphs of Functions
Lesson 5: More Graphs of Functions
Unit 5Lesson 4: Window FramesLesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 6: Even More Graphs of Functions 
Lesson 7: Connecting Representations of FunctionsUnit 5Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: (Print available)Charge!
Topic 3: Linear Functions and Rates of Change
Lesson 8: Linear FunctionsUnit 2Lesson 9: Water SlideLesson 10: Points on a PlaneUnit 3Lesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 9: Linear ModelsUnit 5Lesson 3: PostersLesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 10: Piecewise Linear FunctionsUnit 5Lesson 9: Piecing It Together
Topic 4: Cylinder and Cones 
Lesson 11: Filling Containers 
Lesson 12: How Much Will Fit? 
Lesson 13: The Volume of a CylinderUnit 5Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson]Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders
Lesson 14: Finding Cylinder DimensionsUnit 5Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson]Lesson 12: Scaling CylindersLesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 15: The Volume of a ConeUnit 5Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 13: Cones [Free lesson]Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 16: Finding Cone DimensionsUnit 5Lesson 12: Scaling CylindersLesson 13: Cones [Free lesson]Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Topic 5: Dimensions and Spheres 
Lesson 17: Scaling One DimensionUnit 5Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders
Lesson 18: Scaling Two Dimensions 
Lesson 19: Estimating a Hemisphere 
Lesson 20: The Volume of a Sphere
Lesson 21: Cylinders, Cones, and Spheres
Unit 5Lesson 15: SpheresPractice Day 2 (Print available)
Topic 6: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 22: Volume As a Function of …Unit 5Lesson 15: Spheres

Unit 6: Associations in Data

Topic 1: Does This Predict That? 
Lesson 1: Organizing DataUnit 6 Lesson 1: Click Battle
Lesson 2: Plotting DataUnit 6 Lesson 2: Wing Span
Topic 2: Associations in Numerical Data 
Lesson 3: What a Point in a Scatter Plot MeansUnit 6 Lesson 1: Click BattleLesson 2: Wing SpanLesson 3: Robots [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City
Lesson 4: Fitting a LineUnit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Fit Fights [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Interpreting SlopesLesson 8: Animal BrainsPractice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson]Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 5: Describing Trends in Scatter PlotsUnit 6 Lesson 1: Click BattleLesson 2: Wing SpanLesson 3: Robots [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City(Print available)Practice Day 1 [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: The Slope of a Fitted LineUnit 6 Lesson 6: Interpreting SlopesLesson 7: Scatter Plot CityPractice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson]Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 7: Observing More patterns in Scatter PlotsUnit 6 Lesson 1: Click BattleLesson 2: Wing SpanLesson 3: Robots [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City
Lesson 8: Analyzing Bivariate DataUnit 6Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit
Topic 3: Associations in Categorical data 
Lesson 9: Looking for AssociationsUnit 6Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Federal BudgetsPractice Day 3 (Print available)
Lesson 10: Using Data Displays to Find associationsUnit 6Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit
Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 11: Gone in 30 SecondsUnit 6Lesson 11: Federal Budgets

Unit 7: Exponents and Scientific Notation

Topic 1: Exponent Review 
Lesson 1: Exponent ReviewUnit 7 Lesson 1: Circles [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Combining Exponents
Topic 2: Exponent Rules 
Lesson 2: Multiplying Powers of 10
Lesson 3: Powers of Powers of 10
Lesson 4: Dividing Powers of 10
Unit 7 Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers  
Lesson 5: Negative Exponents with Powers of 10Unit 7 Lesson 5: Zero and Negative ExponentsLesson 6: Write a Rule (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 6: What about Other Bases? 
Lesson 7: Practice with Rational Bases
Lesson 8: Combining Bases 
Topic 3: Scientific Notation 
Lesson 9: Describing Large and Small Numbers using Powers of 10Unit 7 Lesson 7: Scales and Weights
Lesson 10: Representing Large Numbers on the Number Line
Lesson 11: Representing Small Numbers on the Number Line
Unit 7 Lesson 8: Point Zapper
Lesson 12: Applications of Arithmetic with Powers of 10Unit 7  Lesson 8: Point ZapperLesson 9: Use Your Powers
Lesson 13: Defining Scientific Notation
Lesson 14: Multiplying, Dividing, and Estimating with Scientific Notation
Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Star Power
Lesson 15: Adding and Subtracting with Scientific NotationUnit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson]Lesson 12: City LightsLesson 13: Star Power
Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 16: Is a Smartphone Smart Enough to Go to the Moon?Lesson 13: Star Power Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Unit 8: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers

Topic 1: Side Lengths and Areas of Squares
Lesson 1: The Areas of Squares and Their Side LengthsUnit 8Lesson 1: Tilted Squares
Lesson 2: Side Lengths and AreasUnit 8Lesson 2: From Squares to RootsLesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 3: Rational and Irrational Numbers
Lesson 4: Square Roots on the Number Line
Lesson 5: Reasoning about Square RootsUnit 8Lesson 2: From Squares to RootsLesson 3: Between SquaresLesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Topic 2: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 6: Finding Side Lengths of TrianglesUnit 8Lesson 6: The Pythagorean TheoremLesson 7: Pictures to Prove ItLesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: A Proof of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It
Lesson 8: Finding Unknown Side LengthsUnit 8Lesson 11: Pond Hopper
Lesson 9: The ConverseUnit 8Lesson 9: Make It Right
Lesson 10: Applications of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Finding Distances in the Coordinate PlaneUnit 8Lesson 11: Pond Hopper
Topic 3: Side Lengths and Volumes of Cubes
Lesson 12: Edge Lengths and Volumes
Lesson 13: Cube Roots
Unit 8Lesson 5: Filling Cubes
Topic 4: Decimal Representation of Rational and Irrational Numbers
Lesson 14: Decimal Representation of Rational and Numbers
Lesson 15: Infinite Decimal expansions
Unit 8Lesson 12: Fractions to DecimalsLesson 13: Decimals to Fractions
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 16: When Is the Same Size Not the Same Size?Unit 8Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson]

Unit 9: Putting It All Together

Topic 1: Tessellations
Lesson 1: Tessellations of the Plane
Lesson 2: Regular Tessellations
Lesson 3: Tessellating Polygons
Topic 2: The Weather
Lesson 4: What Influences Temperature?
Lesson 5: Plotting the Weather
Lesson 6: Using and Interpreting a Mathematical Model

Grade 6

Unit 1: Area and Surface Area

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 1: Area and Surface AreaUnit 1: Area and Surface Area
Unit 7: Positive and Negative Numbers
Lesson 1: The TangramUnit 1
Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane
Lesson 2: Exploring the TangramUnit 1
Lesson 2: Letters
Sub-Unit 1 : Area of Special Polygons
Lesson 3: Tilting the PlaneUnit 1
Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane
Lesson 4: Compositing and Rearranging to Determine AreaUnit 1
Lesson 2: Letters
Lesson 5: Reasoning to Determine AreaUnit 1
Lesson 2: Letters
Lesson 6: ParallelogramsUnit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available)
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 7: Bases and Heights of ParallelogramsUnit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available)
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 8: Bases and Heights of ParallelogramsUnit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available)
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 9: From Parallelograms to TrianglesUnit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available)
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms
Lesson 10: Bases and Heights of TrianglesUnit 1
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms
Lesson 11: Formula for the Area of a TriangleUnit 1
Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available)
Lesson 12: From Triangles to TrapezoidsUnit 1
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms
Lesson 13: PolygonsUnit 1
Lesson 2: Letters
Lesson 8: Pile of Polygons Practice Day 1 (Print available)

Unit 7
Lesson 11: Polygon Maker
Sub-Unit 2: Nets and Surface Area
Lesson 14: What is Surface Area?Unit 1
Lesson 9: Renata’s Stickers
Lesson 15: Nets and Surface Area of Rectangular PrismsUnit 1
Lesson 10: Plenty of Polyhedra
Lesson 11:Nothing but Nets(Print available)
Lesson 12: Face Value
Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)
Lesson 16: Nets and Surface Area of PrismsUnit 1
Lesson 12: Face Value
Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)
Lesson 17: Constructing a RhombicuboctahedronUnit 1
Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)
Lesson 18: Simplifying Expressions for Squares and CubesUnit 1
Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes
Lesson 19: Simplifying Expressions Even More Using ExponentsUnit 1
Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 20: Designing a Suspended Tent 

Unit 2: Introducing Ratios

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 2: Introducing RatiosUnit 2: Introducing Ratios
Lesson 1: Fermi Problems 
Sub-Unit 1: What are Ratios?
Lesson 2: Introducing Ratios and Ratio LanguageUnit 2
Lesson 1: Pizza Maker
Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available)
Lesson 3: Representing Ratios with DiagramsUnit 2
Lesson 1: Pizza Maker
Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available)
Lesson 3:Rice Ratios (Print available)
Lesson 4: A Recipe for Purple Oobleck 
Lesson 5: Kapa Dyes 
Sub-Unit 2:Equivalent Ratios
Lesson 6: Defining Equivalent RatiosUnit 2
Lesson 3: Rice Ratios (Print available)
Lesson 4: Fruit Lab (Print available)
Lesson 11: Community Life (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 7: Representing Equivalent Ratios with Tables 
Lesson 8: Reasoning with Multiplication and Division (optional) 
Lesson 9: Common Factors 
Lesson 10: Common Multiples 
Lesson 11: Navigating a Table of Equivalent RatiosUnit 2
Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available)
Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1
Lesson 12: Tables and Double Number Line DiagramsUnit 2
Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available)
Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1
Lesson 13: Tempo and Double Number LinesUnit 2
Lesson 5: Balancing Act
Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available)
Sub-Unit 3: Solving Ratio Problems 
Lesson 14: Solving Equivalent RatiosUnit 2
Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available)
Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1
Lesson 10: Balloons
Lesson 11: Community Life (Print available)
Lesson 15: Part-Part-Whole RatiosUnit 2
Lesson 12 Mixing Paint, Part 2
Lesson 13: City Planning
Lesson 16: Comparing Ratios 
Lesson 17: More Comparing and Solving 
Lesson 18: Measuring with Different-Sized Units 
Lesson 20: More Fermi Problems 

Unit 3: Rates and Percentages

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 3: Rates and PercentagesUnit 2: Introducing Ratios
Unit 3: Unit Rates and percentages
Lesson 1: Choosing Representation for Student CouncilLaunch Lesson
Sub-Unit 1: Rates
Lesson 2: How Much for One?Unit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 3: Constant Speed  
Lesson 4: Comparing SpeedsUnit 2
Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) 

Unit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 5: Soft Serve
Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Interpreting RatesUnit 3
Lesson 8: World Records (Print available) 

Unit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 5: Soft Serve
Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory
Lesson 6: Comparing Rates 
Lesson 7: Solving Rate ProblemsUnit 3
Lesson 7: More Soft Serve
Sub-Unit 2: Percentages
Lesson 8: What Are percentages?Unit 3
Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies
Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals
Lesson 9: Determining Percentages 
Lesson 10: Benchmark PercentagesUnit 3
Lesson 7: Lucky Duckies
Lesson 11: Finding This Percent of ThatUnit 3
Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available)
Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown
Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals
Lesson 13: A Country as a Village
Lesson 12: This Percent of What 
Lesson 13: Solving Percentage ProblemsUnit 3
Lesson: 10: What’s Missing (Print available)
Lesson: 11: Cost Breakdown
Lesson: 12: More Bicycle Goals
Lesson: 13: A Country as a Village
Lesson 14: If Our Class Were the World 
Lesson 15: Voting for a School Mascot 

Unit 4: Dividing Fractions

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Lesson 1: Seeing Fractions
Sub-Unit 1: Interpreting Division Scenarios
Lesson 3: Relating Multiplication and Division 
Lesson 4: Size of Divisor and Size of QuotientUnit 4
Lesson 1: Cookie Cutter
Sub-Unit 2: Division with Fractions
Lesson 5: How Many GroupsUnit 4
Lesson 3: Flour Planner
Lesson 4: Flower Planters
Lesson 4: Garden Bricks (Print available) 
Lesson 6: Using Diagrams to Find the Number of GroupsUnit 4
Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)
Lesson 6: Fill the Gap
Lesson 7: Dividing with Common DenominatorsUnit 4
Lesson 6: Fill the Gap
Lesson 8: How Much in Each Group? (Part 1)Unit 4
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 9: How Much in Each Group? (Part 2)Unit 4
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 10: Dividing by Unit and Non-Unit FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 7: Break It Down
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 9: Division Challenges
Lesson 11: Using an Algorithm to Divide FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 9: Division Challenges Practice Day
Lesson 13: Fractional LengthsUnit 4
Lesson 12: Puzzling 
Lesson 14: Area with Fractional LengthsUnit 4
Lesson 9: Puzzling Area (Print available)
Lesson 15: Volume of PrismsUnit 4
Lesson 13: Volume Challenges (Print available)
Lesson 16: Fish Tanks Inside of Fish TanksUnit 4
Lesson 10: Swap Meet
Lesson 17: Now, Where Was That Bus?Unit 4
Lesson 10: Capstone

Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base Ten

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Lesson 1: Precision and World Records 
Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting Decimals 
Lesson 2: Speaking of Decimals…Unit 5
Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals (Print available)
Lesson 3: Adding and Subtracting DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 3: Fruit by the Pound
Lesson 4: Missing Digits
Lesson 4: X Games Medal ResultsUnit 5
Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams
Sub-Unit 2: Multiplying Decimals
Lesson 5: Decimal Points in ProductsUnit 5
Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 6: Methods for Multiplying DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas
Lesson 7: Multiplication Methods (Print available)
Lesson 7: Using Diagrams to Represent MultiplicationUnit 5
Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas
Lesson 8: Calculating Products of DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas
Sub-Unit 3: Dividing Decimals
Lesson 9: Exploring Division 
Lesson 10: Using Long DivisionUnit 5
Lesson 8: Division Diagrams
Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)
Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)
Lesson 11: Dividing Numbers That Result in DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)
Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)
Lesson 12: Using Related Expressions to Divide with Decimals 
Lesson 13: Dividing Multi-Digit DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)
Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)
Lesson 14: The So-called World’s Littlest Skyscraper

Unit 6: Expressions and Equations

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 6: Expressions and EquationsUnit 6: Expressions and Equations
Lesson 1: Detecting Counterfeit Coins
Sub-Unit 1: Expressions and Equations in One Variable
Lesson 2: Write Expressions Where Letters Stand for Numbers 
Lesson 3: Tape Diagrams and Equations 
Lesson 4: Truth and EquationsUnit 6
Lesson 1: Weight for It
Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available)
Lesson 5: Staying in BalanceUnit 6
Lesson 1: Weight for It
Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available)
Lesson 3: Hanging Around
Lesson 6: Staying in Balance with Variables 
Lesson 7: Practice Solving EquationsUnit 6
Lesson 3: Hanging Around
Lesson 4: Hanging It Up
Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available)
Lesson 8: A New Way to Interpret a over bUnit 6
Lesson 4: Hanging It Up
Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available)
Lesson 9: Revisiting Percentages
Sub-Unit 2: Equivalent Expressions
Lesson 10: Equal and Equivalent (Part 1)Unit 6
Lesson 1: Weight for It
Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available)
Lesson 3: Hanging Around
Lesson 6: Vari-apples
Lesson 11: Equal and Equivalent (Part 2)Unit 6
Lesson 1: Weight for It
Lesson 2: Five Equations (Print available)
Lesson 3: Hanging Around
Lesson 6: Vari-apples
Lesson 12: The Distributive Property, Part 1Unit 6
Lesson 8: Products and Sums
Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available)
Lesson 13: The Distributive Property, Part 2Unit 6
Lesson 8: Products and Sums
Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available)
Lesson 14: Meaning of ExponentsUnit 6
Lesson 10: Powers
Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 15: Evaluating Expressions with ExponentsUnit 6
Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes
Lesson 16: Analyzing Exponential Expressions and EquationsUnit 6
Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes
Sub-Unit 3: Relationships Between Quantities
Lesson 17: Two Related Quantities, Part 1Unit 6
Lesson 13: Turtles All the Way
Lesson 14: Representing Relationships
Lesson 15: Connecting Representations (Print available)
Lesson 18: Two Related Quantitites, Part 2Unit 6
Lesson 13: Turtles All the Way
Lesson 14: Representing Relationships
Lesson 15: Connecting Representations (Print available)
Lesson 19: Creating a Class Mobile 

Unit 7: Rational Numbers

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 7: Rational Numbers
Unit 1: Area and Surface Area
Unit 7: Positive and Negative Numbers
Lesson 1: How Far? Which Way?
Sub-unit 1: Negative Numbers and Absolute Value
Lesson 2: Positive and Negative NumbersUnit 7
Lesson 1: Can You Dig In
Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Lesson 3: Points on the Number LineUnit 7
Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Lesson 4: Comparing IntegersUnit 7
Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available)
Lesson 5: Comparing and Ordering Rational NumbersUnit 7 
Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available)
Lesson 6: Using Negative Numbers to Make Sense of Contexts>Unit 7
Lesson 4: Sub-Zero
Lesson 7: Absolute Value of NumbersUnit 7
Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line
Lesson 8: Comparing Numbers and Distance from ZeroUnit 7
Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line
Sub-Unit 2: Inequalities
Lesson 9: Writing Inequalities 
Lesson 10: Graphing Inequalities 
Lesson 11: Solutions to One or More InequalitiesUnit 7
Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel
Lesson 7: Comparing Weights
Lesson 8: Shira´s Solutions
Lesson 12: Interpreting InequalitiesUnit 7
Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel
Lesson 7: Comparing Weights
Lesson 8: Shira´s Solutions
Sub-Unit 3: The Coordinate Plane
Lesson 13: Extending the Coordinate Plane 
Lesson 14: Points on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 7
Lesson 9: Sand Dollar Search
Lesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane
Lesson 15: Interpreting Points on a Coordinate PlaneUnit 7
Lesson 9: Sand Dollar Search
Lesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane
Lesson 11: Polygon Maker
Lesson 16: Distances on a Coordinate PlaneUnit 7
Lesson 11: Polygon Maker
Lesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available)
Lesson 17: Shapes on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 1
Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane
Lesson 2: Letters
Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available)
Lesson 6: Triangles and Parallelograms

Unit 7
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available)
Lesson 11: Polygon Maker
Lesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available)
Lesson 18: Lost and Found Puzzles 
Lesson 19: Drawing on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 7
Lesson 11: Polygon Maker
Lesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available)

Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 8: Data Sets and DistributionsUnit 8: Describing Data
Lesson 1: Plausible Variation or New Species?
Sub-Unit 1: Statistical Questions and Representing Data
Lesson 2: Statistical QuestionsUnit 8
Lesson 1: Screen Time
Lesson 2: Dot Plots
Lesson 3: Interpreting Dot PlotsUnit 8
Lesson 2: Dot Plots
Lesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available)
Lesson 4: Lots More Dots
Lesson 4: USing Dot Plots to Answer Statistical QuestionsUnit 8
Lesson 2: Dot Plots
Lesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available)
Lesson 4: Lots More Dots
Lesson 5: Interpreting HistogramsUnit 8
Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens
Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available)
Lesson 6: Using Histograms to Answer Statistical QuestionsUnit 8
Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens
Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available)
Lesson 7: Describing Distributions on HistogramsUnit 8
Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens
Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available)
Sub-Unit 2: Measures of Center
Lesson 8: Mean as a Fair ShareUnit 8
Lesson 7: Snack Time
Lesson 9: Mean as a Balance PointUnit 8
Lesson 7: Snack Time
Lesson 10: MedianUnit 8
Lesson 11: Toy Cars
Lesson 12: In the News
Lesson 11: Comparing Mean and MedianUnit 8
Lesson 12: In the News
Sub-Unit 3: Measures of Variability
Lesson 12: Describing Variability 
Lesson 13: Variability and MAD 
Lesson 14: Variability and IQRUnit 8
Lesson 13: Pumpkin Patch
Lesson 15: Box PlotsUnit 8
Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 16: Comparing MAD and IQR 
Lesson 17: Asian Elephant Populations 

Grade 7

Unit 1: Scale Drawings

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 1: Scale DrawingsUnit 1: Scale Drawings
Unit 3: Measuring Circles
Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages
Lesson 1: Scale-y Shapes 
Sub-Unit 1: Scaled Copies 
Lesson 2: What are Scaled Copies?Unit 1
Lesson 1: Scaling Machines
Lesson 3: Corresponding Parts and Scale FactorsUnit 1
Lesson 2: Scaling Robots 
Unit 3
Lesson 1: Toothpicks
Lesson 4: Making Scaled CopiesUnit 1
Lesson 3: Make It Scale 
Unit 4
Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Lesson 5: The Size of the Scale FactorUnit 1
Lesson 4: Tiles
Lesson 6: Scaling and AreaUnit 1
Lesson 5: Tiles Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Sub-Unit 2: Scale Drawings 
Lesson 7: Scale DrawingsUnit 1
Lesson 6: Introducing Scale
Lesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available)
Lesson 8: Creating Scale DrawingsUnit 1
Lesson 8: Scaling States
Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings
Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)
Lesson 9: Scale Drawings and Maps 
Lesson 10: Changing Scale in Scale DrawingsUnit 1
Lesson 8: Scaling States
Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings
Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)
Lesson 11: Scales without Units 
Lesson 12: Units in Scale DrawingsUnit 1
Lesson 8: Scaling States
Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings
Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)Practice Day (Print available)
Lesson 13: Build Your Brand 

Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 2: Introducing Proportional RelationshipsUnit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships
Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages
Lesson 1: Making Music 
Sub-Unit 1: Representing Proportional Relationships with Tables and Equations
Lesson 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships with TablesUnit 2
Lesson 2: Balloon Float
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)
Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 3: More About Constant of ProportionalityUnit 2
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)

Unit 4
Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Lesson 4: Comparing Relationships with TablesUnit 2
Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Snapshots
Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available)
Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 5: Proportional Relationships and EquationsUnit 2
Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Snapshots
Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available)
Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 6: Speed and Equations 
Lesson 7: Two Equations for Each RelationshipUnit 2
Lesson 4: Two and Two (Print available)
Lesson 5: Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 8: Using Equations to Solve ProblemsUnit 2
Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available)
Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 9: Comparing Relationships with EquationsUnit 2
Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Snapshots
Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available)
Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available)
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Lesson 10: Solving Problems About Proportional RelationshipsUnit 2
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Sub-Unit 2: Representing Proportional Relationships with Graphs 
Lesson 11: Introducing Graphs of Proportional RelationshipsUnit 2
Lesson 8: Dino Pops
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Lesson 11: Four Representations
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Lesson 12: Interpreting Graphs of Proportional RelationshipsUnit 2
Lesson 8: Dino Pops
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Lesson 11: Four Representations
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Lesson 13: Using Graphs to Compare RelationshipsUnit 2
Lesson 8: Dino Pops
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Lesson 11: Four Representations
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Lesson 14: Two Graphs for Each RelationshipUnit 2
Lesson 8: Dino Pops
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Lesson 11: Four Representations
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Lesson 15: Four Ways to Tell One Story (Part 1) 
Lesson 16: Four Ways to Tell One Story (Part 2) 
Lesson 17: Welcoming Committee 

Unit 3: Measuring Circles

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 3: Measuring CirclesUnit 3: Measuring Circles
Lesson 1: The Wandering Goat 
Sub-unit 1: Circumference of a Circle 
Lesson 2: Exploring CirclesUnit 3
Lesson 2: Is it a Circle?
Lesson 3: Measuring Around
Lesson 3: How Well Can You Measure? 
Lesson 4: Exploring CircumferenceUnit 3
Lesson 2: Is It a Circle?
Lesson 3: Measuring Around
Lesson 5: Understanding π 
Lesson 6: Applying CircumferenceUnit 3
Lesson 2: Is It a Circle?
Lesson 3: Measuring Around
Lesson 7: Circumference and Wheels 
Sub-Unit 2: Area of a Circle
Lesson 8: Exploring the Area of a CircleUnit 3
Lesson 5: Area Strategies
Lesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)
Lesson 7: Why Pi?
Lesson 8: Area Challenges
Lesson 9: Circle vs. Square
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 9: Relating Area to CircumferenceUnit 3
Lesson 5: Area Strategies
Lesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)
Lesson 7: Why Pi?
Lesson 8: Area Challenges
Lesson 9: Circle vs. Square
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 10: Applying Area to CirclesUnit 3
Lesson 6:Radius Squares (Print available)
Lesson 11: Distinguishing Circumference and AreaUnit 3
Lesson 7: Why Pi?
Lesson 12: Capturing Space 

Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 4: PercentagesUnit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages
Lesson 1: (Re)Presenting the United States 
Lesson 2: Understanding Percentages and Decimals 
Lesson 3: Percent Increase and DecreaseUnit 4Lesson 4: More or Less
Lesson 4: Determining 100%Unit 4Lesson 6: 100% (Print available)
Lesson 5: Determining Percent ChangeUnit 4Lesson 7: Percent Machines
Lesson 6: Percent Increase and Decrease With EquationsUnit 4Lesson 5: All the Equations
Lesson 7: Using Equations to Solve Percent ProblemsUnit 4Lesson 5: All the Equations
Sub-Unit 2: Applying Percentages 
Lesson 8: Tax and TipUnit 4
Lesson 8: Tax and Tip
Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)
Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)
Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder
Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems
Lesson 9: Percent ContextsUnit 4
Lesson 8: Tax and Tip
Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)
Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)
Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder
Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems
Lesson 10: Determining the PercentageUnit 4
Lesson 4: More and Less
Lesson 11: Measurement ErrorUnit 4
Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder
Lesson 12: Error IntervalsUnit 4
Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder
Lesson 13: Writing Better Headlines 

Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 5: Rational Number ArithmeticUnit 5: Rational Number Artithmetics
Lesson 1: Target: Zero 
Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers 
Lesson 2: Interpreting Negative Numbers
Lesson 3: Changing TemperaturesUnit 5
Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors
Lesson 3: Bumpers
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available)
Lesson 4: Adding Rational Numbers 
Lesson 5: Money and Debts 
Lesson 6: Representing SubtractionUnit 5
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 7: Subtracting Rational Numbers (Part 1)Unit 5
Lesson 3: Bumpers
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available)
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles
Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Lesson 8: Subtracting Rational Numbers (Part 2)Unit 5
Lesson 3: Bumpers
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available)
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles
Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Lesson 9: Adding and Subtracting Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 3: Bumpers
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available)
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles
Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Sub-Unit 2: Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers 
Lesson 10: Position, Speed, and TimeUnit 5
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 11: Multiplying Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 12: Multiply!Unit 5
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 13: Dividing Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 7: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 14: Negative Rates 
Sub-Unit 3: Four Operations with Rational Numbers 
Lesson 15: Expressions with Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 9: Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 16: Say It With Decimals 
Lesson 17: Solving Problems with Rational NumbersLesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 12: Arctic Ice Sea (Print available)
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Lesson 18: Solving Equations With Rational Numbers 
Lesson 19: Representing Contexts With Equations 
Lesson 20: Summiting Everest 

Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and InequalitiesUnit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships
Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages
Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities
Lesson 1: Keeping the Balance 
Lesson 2: Balanced and UnbalancedUnit 6
Lesson 1: Toothpicks and Tiles
Lesson 2: Balanced and UnbalancedUnit 6
Lesson 1: Toothpicks and Tiles
Lesson 3: Reasoning About Solving Equations (Part 1)Unit 6
Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts
Lesson 4: Reasoning About Solving Equations (Part 2)Unit 6
Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts
Lesson 3: Equations
Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)
Lesson 5: Dealing with Negative NumbersUnit 6
Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts
Lesson 3: Equations
Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)
Lesson 5: Dealing with Negative NumbersUnit 6
Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding (Print available)
Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep
Lesson 6: Two Ways to Solve One EquationUnit 6
Lesson 4: Seeing Struction (Print available)
Lesson 7: Practice Solving EquationsUnit 6
Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts
Lesson 3: Equations
Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)
Sub-Unit 2: Solving Real-World Problems Using Two-Step Equations 
Lesson 8: Reasoning With Tape DiagramsUnit 6
Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts
Lesson 9: Reasoning About Equations and Tape Diagrams (Part 1)Unit 6
Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts
Lesson 10: Reasoning About Equations and Tape Diagrams (Part 2)Unit 6
Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts
Lesson 11: Using Equations to Solve ProblemsUnit 6
Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts
Lesson 3: Equations
Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available) 
Lesson 12: Solving Percent Problems in New WaysUnit 6
Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)

Unit 4
Lesson 7: Percent MachinesPractice Day 1 (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Sub-Unit 3: Inequalities 
Lesson 13: Reintroducing InequalitiesUnit 6
Lesson 1: Toothpicks and Tiles
Lesson 14: Solving InequalitiesUnit 6
Lesson 5: Balancing Moves
Lesson 6: Balancing Equations
Lesson 13: I Saw the Signs
Lesson 15: Finding Solutions to Inequalities in ContextUnit 6
Lesson 13: I Saw the Signs
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 16: Efficiently Solving InequalitiesUnit 6
Lesson 10: Collect the Squares
Lesson 17: Interpreting InequalitiesUnit 6
Lesson 13: I Saw the Signs
Lesson 14: Unbalanced Hangers
Lesson 15: Budgeting (Print available)
Lesson 18: Modeling With Inequalities 
Sub-Unit 4: Equivalent Expressions 
Lesson 19: Subtraction in Equivalent Expressions 

Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and PrismsUnit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms
Lesson 1: Shaping Up 
Sub-Unit 1: Angle Relationships 
Lesson 2: Relationships of AnglesUnit 7
Lesson 1: Pinwheels
Lesson 2: Friendly Angles
Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams
Lesson 3: Supplementary and Complementary Angles (Part 1) 
Lesson 4: Supplementary and Complementary Angles (Part 2) 
Lesson 5: Vertical AnglesUnit 7
Lesson 2: Friendly Angles
Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams
Lesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Using Equations to Solve for Unknown AnglesUnit 7
Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams
Lesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Like Clockwork 
Sub-Unit 2: Drawing Polygons with Given Conditions 
Lesson 8: Building Polygons (Part 1)Unit 7
Lesson 6: Is It Enough?
Lesson 9: Building Polygons (Part 2)Unit 7
Lesson 6: Is It Enough?
Lesson 10: Triangles with Three Common MeasuresUnit 7
Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Lesson 11: Drawing Triangles (Part 1)Unit 7
Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Is It Enough?
Lesson 7: More Than One
Lesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 12: Drawing Triangles (Part 2)Unit 7
Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Is It Enough?
Lesson 7: More Than One
Lesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Sub-Unit 3: Solid Geometry
Lesson 13: Slicing SolidsUnit 7
Lesson 9: Slicing Solids
Lesson 14: Volume of Right PrismsUnit 7
Lesson 10: Simple Prisms
Lesson 15: Decomposing Bases for AreasUnit 7
Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Lesson 16: Surface Area of Right PrismsUnit 7
Lesson 10: Simple Prisms
Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available)
Lesson 17: Distinguishing Volume and Surface Area
Lesson 18: Applying Volume and Surface AreaUnit 7
Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities

Unit 8: Probability and Sampling

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 8: Probability and SamplingUnit 8: Probability and Sampling
Lesson 1: The Invention of Fairness 
Lesson 2: Chance Experiments 
Lesson 3: What are Probabilities?Unit 8
Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available)
Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson
Lesson 3: Mystery Bag
Lesson 4: Estimating Probabilities Through Repeated ExperimentsUnit 8
Lesson 4: Spin Class
Lesson 5: Is It Fair?
Lesson 6: Fair Games
Lesson 5: Code Breaking (Part 1)
Lesson 6: Code Breaking (Part 2)
Sub-Unit 2: Probabilities of Multi-Step Events
Lesson 7: Keeping Track of All Possible OutcomesUnit 8
Lesson 4: Spin Class
Lesson 5: Is it Fair?
Lesson 6: Fair Games
Lesson 8: Experiments With Multi-Step Events  
Lesson 9: Simulating Multi-Step Events 
Lesson 10: Designing Simulations 
Sub-Unit 3:Sampling
Lesson 11: Comparing Two PopulationsUnit 8
Lesson 10: Crab Island
Lesson 11: Headlines
Lesson 12: Larger PopulationsUnit 8
Lesson 10: Crab Island
Lesson 11: Headlines
Lesson 13: What Makes a Good Sample?Unit 8
Lesson 10: Crab Island
Lesson 11: Headlines
Lesson 14: Sampling in a Fair WayUnit 8
Lesson 10: Crab Island
Lesson 11: Headlines
Lesson 15: Estimating Population Measures of CenterUnit 8
Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train?
Lesson 10: Crab Island
Lesson 11: Headlines
Lesson 12: Flower Power
Lesson 16: Estimating Population ProportionsUnit 8
Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train?
Lesson 10: Crab Island
Lesson 11: Headlines
Lesson 12: Flower Power
Lesson 17: Presentation of Findings 

Grade 8

Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and CongruenceUnit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence
Unit 3: Proportional and Linear Relationships
Lesson 1: Tessellations 
Sub-Unit 1: Rigid Transformations 
Lesson 2: Moving in the PlaneUnit 1
Lesson 1: Transformers
Lesson 3: Symmetry and Reflection 
Lesson 4: Grid MovesUnit 1
Lesson 3: Transformation Golf
Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available)
Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated

Unit 3
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 5: Making the MovesUnit 1
Lesson 1: Transformers
Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding
Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available)
Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated
Lesson 6: Coordinate Moves (Part 1)Unit 1
Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available)
Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated
Lesson 7: Coordinate Moves (Part 2)Unit 1
Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available)
Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated
Lesson 6: Describing TransformationsUnit 1
Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated
Lesson 6: Connecting the Dots
Sub-Unit 2: Rigid Transformations and Congruence 
Lesson 9: No Bending or StretchingUnit 1
Lesson 7: No Bending, No Stretching
Lesson 10: What is the Same?Unit 1
Lesson 7: Are They the Same?
Lesson 9: Are They Congruent?
Lesson 11: Congruent PolygonsUnit 1
Lesson 7: Are They the Same?
Lesson 9: Are They Congruent?
Sub-Unit 4: Angles in a Triangle 
Lesson 13: Line Moves 
Lesson 14: Rotation Patterns 
Lesson 15: Alternate Interior AnglesUnit 1 
Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available)
Lesson 16: Adding the Angles in a TriangleUnit 1
Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available)
Lesson 17: Parallel Lines and the Angles in a TriangleUnit 1 
Lesson 10: Transforming Angles
Lesson 18: Creating a Border Pattern Using Transformations 

Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 2: Dilations and SimilarityUnit 2: Dilations and Similarity
Lesson 1: Projecting and Scaling 
Sub-Unit 1: Dilations
Lesson 2: Circular GridUnit 2
Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations
Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf
Lesson 3: Match My Dilation
Lesson 4: Dilations on a Plane
Lesson 3: Dilations on a Plane 
Lesson 4: Dilations on a Square GridUnit 2
Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations
Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf
Lesson 3: Match My Dilation
Lesson 4: Dilations on a Plane
Lesson 5: Dilations with CoordinatesUnit 2
Lesson 4: Dilations on a Plane
Sub-Unit 2: Similiarity
Lesson 6: SimilarityUnit 2
Lesson 5: Transformations Golf with Dilations
Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available)
Lesson 7: Similar PolygonsUnit 2
Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available)
Lesson 8: Similar TrianglesUnit 2
Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough?
Lesson 8: Shadows
Lesson 9: Ratios of Side Lengths in Similar Triangles
Lesson 12: Optical Illusions 

Unit 3: Linear Relationships

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 3: Proportional and Linear RelationshipsUnit 3: Proportional and Linear Relationships
Unit 4: Linear Equations and Linear Systems
Unit 5: Functions and Volume
Lesson 1: Visual Patterns 
Sub-Unit 1: Proportional Relationships 
Lesson 2: Proportional Relationships 
Lesson 3: Understanding Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials
Lesson 4: Graphs of Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials
Lesson 2: Water Tank 

Unit 5
Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 5: Representing Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials 
Unit 5
Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available)
Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 6: Comparing Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 3: Posters
Sub-Unit 2: Linear Relationships
Lesson 7: Introduction to Linear RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials
Lesson 4: Stacking Cups

Unit 5
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available)
Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 8: Comparing Linear Relationships 
Lesson 9: More Linear RelationshipsUnit 5
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available)
Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 10: Representations of Linear RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 5: Flags
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available)
Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 11: Writing Equations for Lines Using Two Points 
Lesson 12: Translating mx + bUnit 3
Lesson 3: Posters
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 13: Slopes Don’t Have to be PositiveUnit 3
Lesson 5: Flags
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 7: Water Cooler
Lesson 8: Landing Planes
Lesson 10: Calculating SlopeUnit 3
Lesson 7: Water Cooler
Lesson 8: Landing Planes
Lesson 14: Writing Equations for Lines Using Two Points, Revisited 
Lesson 11: Equations of All Kinds of LinesUnit 3
Lesson 3: Posters
Lesson 4: Stacking Cups
Lesson 5: Flags
Lesson 6: Translations
Sub-Unit 3: Linear Equations 
Lesson 16: Solutions to Linear EquationsUnit 3
Lesson 3: Posters
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 10: Solutions

 Unit 4
Lesson 3: Balanced Moves
Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 17: More Solutions to Linear EquationsUnit 3 
Lesson 4: Stacking Cups
Lesson 5: Flags
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 7: Water Cooler
Lesson 10: Solutions
Lesson 18: Coordinating Linear Relationships 
Lesson 19: Rogue Planes 

Unit 4: Linear Equations and Linear Systems

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 4: Linear Equations and Systems of Linear EquationsUnit 4: Linear Equations and Systems of Linear Equations
Lesson 1: Number PuzzlesUnit 4
Lesson 1: Number machines
Sub-Unit 1: Linear Equations in One Variable 
Lesson 2: Writing Expressions and Equations
Lesson 3: Keeping the BalanceUnit 4
Lesson 2: Keep It Balanced
Lesson 4: Balanced Moves (Part 1)Unit 4
Lesson 3: Balanced Moves
Lesson 5: Balanced Moves (Part 2)Unit 4
Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 6: Solving Any Linear EquationsUnit 4
Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available)
Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 7: How Many Solutions? (Part 1)Unit 4
Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available)
Lesson 8: How Many Solutions? (Part 2)Unit 4
Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available)
Lesson 9: Strategic Solving 
Lesson 10: When Are They the SameUnit 4
Lesson 8: When Are They the Same?
Sub-Unit 2: Systems of Linear Equations
Lesson 11: On or Off the Line?Unit 4
Lesson 9: On or Off the Line?
Lesson 12: On Both of the LinesUnit 4
Lesson 10: On Both Lines
Lesson 13: Systems of Linear EquationsUnit 4
Lesson 11: Make Them Balance
Lesson 14: Solving Systems of Equations (Part 1)Unit 4
Lesson 14: All, Some, or None? Part 2
Lesson 15: Solving Systems of Equations (Part 2)Unit 4
Lesson 12: All, Some, or None? Part 2
Lesson 16: Writing Systems of Linear EquationsUnit 4
Lesson 14: Strategic Solving, Part 2 (Print available)
Lesson 17: Pay Gaps 

Unit 5: Functions and Volume

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 5: Functions and VolumeUnit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope
Unit 3:
Proportional and Linear Relationships
Unit 5:
Functions and Volume
Lesson 1: Pick a Pitch 
Sub-Unit 1: Representing and Interpreting Functions 
Lesson 2: Introduction to FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 2: Guess My Rule
Lesson 3: Equations of FunctionsUnit 3
Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 4: Graphs of Functions (Part 1)Unit 5
Lesson 3: Function or Not?
Lesson 5: Graphs of Functions (Part 2)Unit 5
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare
Lesson 6: Graphs of Functions (Part 3)Unit 5
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 7: Connecting Representations of FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available)Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 8: Comparing Linear Functions 
Lesson 9: Modeling with Linear Functions 
Lesson 10: Piecewise Linear FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 9: Piecing It Together
Sub-Unit 2: Cylinder, Cones, and Spheres 
Lesson 11: Filling Containers 
Lesson 12: The Volume of a CylinderUnit 5
Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 11: Cylinders
Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders
Lesson 13: Determining Dimensions of CylindersUnit 5
Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 14: The Volume of a ConeUnit 5
Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 13: Cones
Lesson 15: Determining Dimensions of ConesUnit 5
Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders
Lesson 13: Cones
Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 16: Estimating a Hemisphere 
Lesson 17: The Volume of a SphereUnit 5
Lesson 15: Spheres
Lesson 18: Cylinders, Cones and SpheresUnit 5
Lesson 15: Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 19: Scaling One Dimension 
Lesson 20: Scaling Two Dimensions 
Lesson 21: Packing Spheres 

Unit 6: Exponents and Scientific Notation

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 6: Exponents and Scientific NotationUnit 7: Exponents and Scienctific Notation
Lesson 1: Create a Sierpinski Triangle 
Sub-Unit 1: Exponent Rules 
Lesson 2: Reviewing ExponentsUnit 7
 Lesson 1: Circles
Lesson 2: Combining Exponents
Lesson 3: Multiplying PowersUnit 7 
Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available)
Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers
Lesson 4: Dividing PowersUnit 7 
Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available)
Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers
Lesson 5: Negative ExponentsUnit 7 
Lesson 5: Zero and Negative Exponents
Lesson 6: Powers of PowersUnit 7 
Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available)
Lesson 7: Different Bases, Same Exponent 
Lesson 8: Practice with Rational BasesUnit 7
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Sub-Unit 2: Scientific Notation 
Lesson 9: Representing Large Numbers on the Number LineUnit 7
Lesson 8: Point Zapper
Lesson 10: Representing Small Numbers on the Number LineUnit 7
Lesson 8: Point Zapper
Lesson 11: Applications of Arthithmetic with Powers of 10Unit 7
Lesson 8: Point Zapper
Lesson 9: Use Your Powers
Lesson 12: Definition of Scientific NotationUnit 7
Lesson 10: Solar System
Lesson 11: Balance the Scale
Lesson 13: Star Power
Lesson 13: Multiplying, Dividing, and Estimating with Scientific NotationUnit 7
Lesson 11: Balance the Scale
Lesson 13: Star Power
Lesson 14: Adding and Subtracting with Scientific NotationUnit 7
Lesson 11: Balance the Scale
Lesson 12: City Lights
Lesson 13: Star Power
Lesson 15: Is a Smartphone Smart Enough to Go to the Moon? 

Unit 7: Irrationals and the Pythagorean Theorem

Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 7: Irrationals and the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8: The Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers
Lesson 1: Sliced Bread
Sub-Unit 1: Rational and Irrational Numbers
Lesson 2: The Square RootUnit 8
Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots
Lesson 3: The Ares of Squares and Their Side LengthsUnit 8
Lesson 1: Tilted Squares
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 4: Estimating Square RootsUnit 8
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 4: Root Down
Lesson 5: The Cube RootUnit 8
Lesson 5: Filling Cubes
Lesson 6: Rational and Irrational NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 14: Hit the Target
Lesson 7: Decimal Representations of Rational NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals
Lesson 8: Converting Repeating Decimals Into FractionsUnit 8
Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions
Sub-Unit 2: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 9: Observing the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 10: Proving the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It
Lesson 11: Determining Unknown Side LengthsUnit 8
Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle
Lesson 12: Converse of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 9: Make it Right
Lesson 13: Distances on the Coordinate Plane (Part 1)Unit 8
Lesson 11: Pond Hopper
Lesson 13: Distances on the Coordinate Plane (Part 1)Unit 8
Lesson 11: Pond Hopper
Lesson 14: Distances on the Coordinate Plane (Part 2)Unit 8
Lesson 11: Pond Hopper
Lesson 15: Applications of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle
Lesson 10: Taco Truck
Lesson 16: Pythagorean Triples

Unit 8: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers

Amplify MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Unit 8: Associations in DataUnit 6: Associations in Data
Lesson 1: Creating a Scatter PlotUnit 6
Lesson 1: Click Battle
Sub-Unit 1: Associations in Data
Lesson 2: Interpreting Points on a Scatter PlotUnit 6
Lesson 3: Robots
Lesson 3: Observing Patterns in a Scatter PlotUnit 6
Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City
Lesson 4: Fitting a Line to DataUnit 6
Lesson 4: Dapper Cats
Lesson 5: Fit Fights
Lesson 5: Using a Linear ModelUnit 6
Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes
Lesson 6: Interpreting Slope and y-interceptUnit 6
Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes
Lesson 7: Analyzing Bivariate DataUnit 6
Lesson 8: Animal Brains
Lesson 8: Looking for AssociationsUnit 6
Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit
Lesson 9: Using Data Displays to Find AssociationsUnit 6
Lesson 10: Finding Associations
Lesson 11: Federal Budgets

Grade 6

Unit 1: Expressions and Equations: Area, Algebraic Expressions, and Exponents

iReady ClassroomDesmos Math 6–A1
Lesson 1: Find the Area of a ParallelogramUnit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 2: Find the Area of Triangles and Other PolygonsUnit 1
Lesson 7: Off the Grid, Part 2
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 3: Use Nets to Find Surface AreaUnit 1
Lesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 4: Work with Algebraic ExpressionsUnit 6
Lesson 6: Vari-apples
Lesson 5: Write and Evaluate Expressions with ExponentsUnit 6
Lesson 4: Hanging it Up
Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 6: Find Greatest Common Factor and Least Common MultipleUnit 5
Lesson 14: Common Multiples
Lesson 15: Common Factors
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Unit 2: Decimals and Fractions: Base-Ten Operations, Division with Fractions, and Volume

Unit 3: Ratio Reasoning: Ratio Concepts and Equivalent Ratios

Unit 4: Ratio Reasoning: Unit Rates and Percent

Unit 5: Algebraic Thinking: Equivalent Expressions and Equations with Variables

Unit 6: Positive and Negative Numbers: Absolute Value, Inequalities, and the Coordinate Plane

Lesson 23: Understand Positive and Negative NumbersUnit 7
Lesson 1: Can You Dig It [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Sub-Zero
Lesson 24: Order Positive and Negative NumbersUnit 7
Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 25: Understand Absolute ValueUnit 7
Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 26: Write and Graph One-Variable InequalitiesUnit 7
Lesson 6: Tunnel Travels [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Comparing Weights
Lesson 8: Shira’s Solutions
Lesson 27: Understand the Four-Quadrant Coordinate PlaneUnit 7
Lesson 9: Sand Dollar Search
Lesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane
Lesson 11: Polygon Maker
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 28: Solve Problems in the Coordinate PlaneUnit 7
Lesson 12: Graph Telephone
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Unit 7: Statistical Thinking: Data Distributions and Measures of Center and Variability

Grade 7

Unit 1: Proportional Relationships: Ratios, Rates, and Circles

Unit 2: Numbers and Operations: Add and Subtract Rational Numbers

Unit 3: Numbers and Operations: Multiply and Divide Rational Numbers

Lesson 11: Understand Multiplication with Negative IntegersUnit 5
Lesson 6: Floating in Groups
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 12: Multiply and Divide with Negative NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 13: Express Rational Numbers as Terminating or Repeating DecimalsUnit 4
Lesson 13: Decimal Deep Dive (Print available)
Lesson 14: Use the Four Operations with Negative NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Practice Day 2  (Print available)

Unit 4: Algebraic Thinking: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Unit 5: Proportional Reasoning: Percents and Statistical Samples

Unit 6: Geometry: Solids, Triangles, and Angles

Lesson 25: Solve Problems Involving Area and Surface AreaUnit 7
Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available)
Lesson 26: Solve Problems Involving VolumeUnit 7
Lesson 10: Simple Prisms
Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 27: Describe Plane Sections of Three-Dimensional FiguresUnit 7
Lesson 9: Slicing Solids
Lesson 28: Find Unknown Angle MeasuresUnit 7
Lesson 1: Pinwheels
Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 29: Draw Plane Figures with Given ConditionsUnit 7
Lesson 6: Is It Enough
Lesson 7: More Than One?
Lesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)

Unit 7: Probability: Theoretical Probability, Experimental Probability, and Compound Events

Lesson 30: Understand ProbabilityUnit 8
Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson]
Lesson 31: Solve Problems Involving Experimental ProbabilityUnit 8
Lesson 4: Spin Class
Lesson 5: Is It Fair?
Lesson 32: Solve Problems Involving Probability ModelsUnit 8
Lesson 6: Fair Games
Lesson 33: Solve Problems Involving Compound EventsUnit 8
Lesson 7: Weather or Not
Lesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)

Grade 8

Unit 1: Geometric Figures: Rigid Transformations and Congruence

iReady ClassroomDesmos Math 6–A1
Lesson 1: Understand Rigid Transformations and Their PropertiesUnit 1
Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Transformation Golf
Lesson 2: Work with Single Rigid Transformations in the Coordinate PlaneUnit 1
Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: No Bending, No Stretching
Lesson 9: Are They Congruent?
Practice Day (Print available)
Lesson 3: Work with Sequences of Transformations and CongruenceUnit 1
Lesson 3: Transformation Golf

Unit 2: Geometric Figures: Transformations, Similarity, and Angle Relationships

Unit 3: Linear Relationships: Slope, Linear Equations, and Systems

Lesson 8: Graph Proportional Relationships and Define SlopeUnit 2
Lesson 9: Water Slide

Unit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Water Tank
Lesson 3: Posters
Lesson 7: Water Cooler
Lesson 8: Landing Planes
Lesson 9: Derive and Graph Linear Equations of the Form y = mx + bUnit 3
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 9: Coin Capture
Lesson 10: Solve Linear Equations in One VariableUnit 4
Lesson 1: Number Machines
Lesson 2: Keep It Balanced
Lesson 11: Determine the Number of Solutions to One-Variable EquationsUnit 4
Lesson 7: All, Some, or None
Lesson 8: When Are They the Same?
Lesson 12: Understand Systems of Linear Equations in Two VariablesUnit 4
Lesson 9: On or Off the Line?
Lesson 10: On Both Lines
Lesson 13: Solve Systems of Linear Equations AlgebraicallyUnit 4
Lesson 11: Make Them Balance [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Line Zapper [Free lesson]
Lesson 14: Represent and Solve Problems with Systems of Linear EquationsUnit 4
Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2
Lesson 14: Strategic Solving, Part 2 (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Unit 4: Functions: Linear and Nonlinear Relationships

Lesson 15: Understand FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Function or Not?
Lesson 16: Use Functions to Model Linear RelationshipsUnit 5
Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 17: Compare Different Representations of Functions
Lesson 18: Analyze Functional Relationships Qualitatively
Unit 5
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]

Unit 5: Integer Exponents: Properties and Scientific Notation

Unit 6: Real Numbers: Rational Numbers, Irrational Numbers, and the Pythagorean Theorem

Lesson 23: Find Square Roots and Cube Roots to Solve ProblemsUnit 8
Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Filling Cubes
Lesson 24: Express Rational Numbers as Fractions and DecimalsUnit 8
Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals
Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions
Lesson 25: Find Rational Approximations of Irrational NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson]
Lesson 26: Understand the Pythagorean Theorem and its ConverseUnit 8
Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 27: Apply the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It
Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Make It Right
Lesson 11: Pond Hopper
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 28: Solve Problems with Volumes of Cylinders, Cones, and SpheresLesson 10: Volume Lab
Lesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders
Lesson 13: Cones [Free lesson]
Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 15: Spheres

Unit 7: Statistics: Two-Variable Data and Fitting a Linear Model

Lesson 29: Analyze Scatter Plots and Fit a Linear Model to DataUnit 6
Lesson 3: Robots [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson]
Practice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Fit Fight [Free lesson]
Lesson 30: Write and Analyze an Equation for Fitting a Linear Model to DataUnit 6
Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes
Lesson 7: Scatter Plot CityLesson 8: Animal Brains
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 31: Understand Two-Way TablesUnit 6
Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit
Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson]
Lesson 32: Construct and Interpret Two-Way TablesUnit 6
Lesson 11: Federal Budgets
Practice Day 3

Grade 6

Module 1: Ratios and Unit Rates

Eureka MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Topic A Representing and Reasoning About Ratios 
Lesson 1: Ratios
Lesson 2: Ratios
Unit 2
Lesson 1: Pizza Maker [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available)
Lesson 3: Equivalent Ratios
Lesson 4: Equivalent Ratios
Unit 2
Lesson 3: Rice Ratios
Lesson 4: Fruit Lab [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Balancing Act
Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1
Lesson 8 World Records (Print available)
Lesson 11 Community Life (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 5: Solving Problems by Finding Equivalent Ratios
Lesson 6: Solving Problems by Finding Equivalent Ratios
Unit 2
Lesson 5 Balancing Act
 
Lesson 7: Associated Ratios and the Value of a Ratio
Lesson 8: Equivalent Ratios Defined Through the Value of a Ratio
Unit 2
Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available)
Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1
Topic B Collections of Equivalent Ratios 
Lesson 9: Tables of Equivalent RatiosUnit 2
Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available)
Lesson 7: Mixing Paint, Part 1
Lesson 10: The Structure of Ratio Tables-Additive and MultiplicativeUnit 2
Lesson 10: Balloons
Lesson 11: Community Life (Print available)
Lesson 11: Comparing Ratios Using Ratio TablesUnit 2
Lesson 10: Balloons
Lesson 12: From Ratio Tables to Double Number Line DiagramsUnit 2
Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available)
Lesson 8: World Records (Print available)
Lesson 12: Mixing Paint, Part 2
Lesson 14: Lunch Waste (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 13: From Ratio Tables to Equations Using the Value of a Ratio 
Lesson 14: From Ratio Tables, Equations, and Double Number Line Diagrams to Plots on the Coordinate Plane 
Lesson 15: A Synthesis of Representations of Equivalent Ratio Collections 
Topic C Unit Rates 
Lesson 16: From Ratio to RatesUnit 2
Lesson 8: World Records (Print available)
 
Unit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory
Lesson 17: From Rates to Ratios 
Lesson 18: Finding a Rate by Dividing Two QuantitiesUnit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory
Lesson 7: More Soft Serve
Lesson 19: Comparison Shopping-Unit Price and Related Measurement Conversions
Lesson 20: Comparison Shopping-Unit Price and Related Measurement Conversions
Lesson 21: Getting the Job Done—Speed, Work, and Measurement Units
Lesson 22: Getting the Job Done—Speed, Work, and Measurement Units
Unit 3
Lesson 2: Counting Classrooms
Lesson 3: Pen Pals
Lesson 23: Problem-Solving Using Rates, Unit Rates, and Conversions.Unit 3
Lesson 13: A Country as a Village
Topic D Percent 
Lesson 24: Percent and Rates per 100Unit 3
Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals
Lesson 25: A Fraction as a Percent 
Lesson 26: Percent of a Quantity.Unit 3
Lesson 10: What´s Missing? (Print available)
Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown
Lesson 27: Solving Percent Problems
Lesson 28: Solving Percent Problems
Lesson 29: Solving Percent Problems
Unit 3
Lesson 10: What´s Missing? (Print available)
Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown
Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals
Lesson 13: A Country as a Village
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Module 2: Arithmetic Operations Including Division of Fractions

Lesson 1: Interpreting Division of a Fraction by a Whole Number—Visual Models.Unit 4
Lesson 2: Making Connections (Print available)
Lesson 2: Interpreting Division of a Whole Number by a Fraction —Visual Models.Unit 4
Lesson 1: Cookie Cutter
Lesson 3: Flour Planner [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Flower Planters
Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)
Lesson 3: Interpreting and Computing Division of a Fraction by a Fraction—More Models
Lesson 4: Interpreting and Computing Division of a Fraction by a Fraction—More Models
Unit 4
Lesson 5: Garden Bricks
Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Break It Down
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 9: Division Challenges
Lesson 10: Swap Meet (Print available)
Practice Day
Lesson 5: Creating Division Stories. 
Lesson 6: More Division Stories. 
Lesson 7: The Relationship Between Visual Fraction Models and Equations 
Lesson 8: Dividing Fractions and Mixed NumbersUnit 4
Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)
Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson]
Topic B Multi-Digit Decimal Operations—Adding, Subtracting, and Multiplying
Lesson 9: Sums and Differences of DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Fruit by the Pound
Lesson 4: Missing Digits
Lesson 10: The Distributive Property and the Products of DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 6: Multiplying with Areas
Lesson 7: Multiplication Methods (Print available)
Lesson 11: Fraction Multiplication and the Products of DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 7: Multiplication Methods (Print available)
Topic C Dividing Whole Numbers and Decimals
Lesson 12: Estimating Digits in a Quotient 
Lesson 13: Dividing Multi-Digit Numbers Using the AlgorithmUnit 5
Lesson 9: Long Division Launch
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 14: The Division Algorithm—Converting Decimal Division into Whole Number Division Using Fractions. 
Lesson 15: The Division Algorithm—Converting Decimal Division into Whole Number Division Using Mental Math 
Topic D Number Theory—Thinking Logically About Multiplicative Arithmetic 
Lesson 16: Even and Odd Numbers 
Lesson 17: Divisibility Tests for 3 and 9 
Lesson 18: Least Common Multiple and Greatest Common FactorUnit 5
Lesson 14: Common Multiples
Lesson 15: Common Factors
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 19: The Euclidean Algorithm as an Application of the Long Division Algorithm 

Module 3: Rational Numbers

Lesson 1: Positive and Negative Numbers on the Number Line—Opposite Direction and ValueUnit 7Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Lesson 2: Real-World Positive and Negative Numbers and Zero.
Lesson 3: Real-World Positive and Negative Numbers and Zero.
Unit 7 Lesson 4: Sub-Zero
Lesson 4: The Opposite of a Number
Lesson 5: The Opposite of a Number’s Opposite
Lesson 6: Rational Numbers on the Number Line
Unit 7Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Topic B Order and Absolute Value
Lesson 7: Ordering Integers and Other Rational Numbers
Lesson 8: Ordering Integers and Other Rational Numbers
Lesson 9: Comparing Integers and Other Rational Numbers
Unit 7Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 10: Writing and Interpreting Inequality Statements Involving Rational Numbers 
Lesson 11: Absolute Value—Magnitude and Distance
Lesson 12: The Relationship Between Absolute Value and Order
Unit 7Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line
Lesson 13: Statements of Order in the Real World. 
Topic C Rational Numbers and the Coordinate Plane 
Lesson 14: Ordered Pairs
Lesson 15: Locating Ordered Pairs on the Coordinate Plane
Unit 7Lesson 9: Sand Dollar SearchLesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate PlaneLesson 11: Polygon Maker
Lesson 16: Symmetry in the Coordinate Plane. 
Lesson 17: Drawing the Coordinate Plane and Points on the PlaneLesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane
Lesson 18: Distance on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 7Lesson 11: Polygon Maker
Lesson 19: Problem Solving and the Coordinate PlaneUnit 7Lesson 12: Graph Telephone (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Module 4: Expressions and Equations

Topic A Relationships of the Operations 
Lesson 1: The Relationship of Addition and Subtraction 
Lesson 2: The Relationship of Multiplication and Division 
Lesson 3: The Relationship of Multiplication and Addition. 
Lesson 4: The Relationship of Division and Subtraction 
Topic B Special Notations of Operations 
Lesson 5: ExponentsUnit 6Lesson 10: PowersLesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 6: The Order of Operations 
Topic C Replacing Letters and Numbers 
Lesson 7: Replacing Letters with Numbers
Lesson 8: Replacing Numbers with Letters
Unit 6Lesson 7: Border TilesLesson 12: Squares and Cubes
Topic D Expanding, Factoring, and Distributing Expressions 
Lesson 9: Writing Addition and Subtraction ExpressionsUnit 6Lesson 6: Vari-applesLesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences
Lesson 10: Writing and Expanding Multiplication Expressions
Lesson 11: Factoring Expressions
Lesson 12: Distributing Expressions
Unit 6Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences
Lesson 13: Writing Division Expressions 
Lesson 14: Writing Division Expressions 
Topic E Expressing Operations in Algebraic Form 
Lesson 15: Read Expressions in Which Letters Stand for Numbers
Lesson 16: Write Expressions in Which Letters Stand for Numbers
Lesson 17: Write Expressions in Which Letters Stand for Numbers
Unit 6Lesson 6: Vari-applesLesson 7: Border Tiles
Topic F Writing and Evaluating Expressions and Formulas 
Lesson 18: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Addition and Subtraction
Lesson 19: Substituting to Evaluate Addition and Subtraction Expressions
Lesson 20: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Multiplication and Division
Lesson 21: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—Multiplication and Addition
Unit 6Lesson 7: Border TilesLesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and DifferencesLesson 12: Squares and Cubes
Lesson 22: Writing and Evaluating Expressions—ExponentsUnit 6Lesson 10: PowersLesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)Lesson 12: Squares and CubesPractice Day 2 (Print available)
Topic G Solving Equations 
Lesson 23: True and False Number Sentences
Lesson 24: True and False Number Sentences
Unit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]
Lesson 25: Finding Solutions to Make Equations TrueUnit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Five Equations
Lesson 26: One-Step Equations—Addition and SubtractionUnit 6Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Five EquationsLesson 3: Hanging Around
Lesson 27: One-Step Equations—Multiplication and Division
Lesson 28: Two-Step Problems—All Operations
Lesson 29: Multi-Step Problems—All Operations
Unit 6Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and Solve
Topic H Applications of Equations 
Lesson 30: One-Step Problems in the Real World
Lesson 31: Problems in Mathematical TermsLesson Lesson 32: Multi-Step Problems in the Real World
Unit 6Lesson 3: Hanging AroundLesson 4: Hanging It UpLesson 5: Swap and SolvePractice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 33: From Equations to Inequalities
Lesson 34: Writing and Graphing Inequalities in Real-World Problems
Unit 7Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Comparing WeightsLesson 8: Shira´s Solutions

Module 5: Area, Surface Area, and Volume Problems

Topic A: Area of Triangles, Quadrilaterals, and Polygons
Lesson 1: The Area of Parallelograms Through Rectangle FactsUnit 1Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Off the Grid
Lesson 2: The Area of Right Triangles
Lesson 3: The Area of Acute Triangles Using Height and Base
Unit 1Lesson 5: Exploring Triangles (Print available)Lesson 6: Triangles and ParallelogramsLesson 7: Off the Grid, Part 2
Lesson 4: The Area of All Triangles Using Height and BaseUnit 1Lesson 6: Triangles and ParallelogramsLesson 7: Off the Grid, Part 2
Lesson 5: The Area of Polygons Through Composition and DecompositionUnit 1Lesson 2: LettersLesson 8: Pile of PolygonsPractice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 6: Area in the Real World 
Topic B Polygons on the Coordinate Plane 
Lesson 7: Distance on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 1Lesson 8: Pile of Polygons
Lesson 8: Drawing Polygons in the Coordinate PlaneUnit 7Lesson 11: Polygon Maker
Lesson 9: Determining Perimeter and Area of Polygons on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 1Lesson 8: Pile of Polygons
Lesson 10: Distance, Perimeter, and Area in the Real World 
Topic C Volume of Right Rectangular Prisms 
Lesson 11: Volume with Fractional Edge Lengths and Unit CubesUnit 4Lesson 11: Classroom ComparisonsLesson 12: Puzzling Areas (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Volume ChallengesLesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available)
Lesson 12: From Unit Cubes to the Formulas for Volume  
Lesson 13: The Formulas for Volume 
Lesson 14: Volume in the Real WorldUnit 4Lesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available)
Topic D Nets and Surface Area 
Lesson 15: Representing Three-Dimensional Figures Using Nets
Lesson 16: Constructing Nets
Lesson 17: From Nets to Surface Area
Unit 1Lesson 10: Plenty of PolyhedraLesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available)Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)
Lesson 18: Determining Surface Area of Three-Dimensional FiguresUnit 1Lesson 9: Renata´s Stickers [Free lesson]Lesson 10: Plenty of PolyhedraLesson 11: Nothing But Nets (Print available)Lesson 13: Take It To Go (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 19: Surface Area and Volume in the Real World 
Lesson 19a: Addendum Lesson for Modeling―Applying Surface Area and Volume to Aquariums 
Lesson 3: The Area of Acute Triangles Using Height and BaseUnit 1Lesson 5 Exploring TrianglesLesson 6 Triangles and ParallelogramsLesson 7 Off the Grid, Part 2

Module 6: Statistics

Topic A Understanding Distributions 
Lesson 1: Posing Statistical QuestionsUnit 8 Lesson 1: Screen TimeLesson 2: Dot Plots
Lesson 2: Displaying a Data Distribution
Lesson 3: Creating a Dot Plot
Unit 8 Lesson 2: Dot PlotsLesson 3: Minimum Wage (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Lots More Dots
Lesson 4: Creating a Histogram
Lesson 5: Describing a Distribution Displayed in a Histogram
Unit 8Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson]Lesson 6: DIY Histograms (Print available)
Topic B Summarizing a Distribution That Is Approximately Symmetric Using the Mean and Mean Absolute Deviation 
Lesson 6: Describing the Center of a Distribution Using the Mean
Lesson 7: The Mean as a Balance Point
Unit 8Lesson 7: Snack Time
Lesson 8: Variability in a Data DistributionUnit 8Lesson 8: Pop It!
Topic 9: The Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD).Unit 8Lesson 9: Hoops
Lesson 10: Describing Distributions Using the Mean and MAD
Lesson 11: Describing Distributions Using the Mean and MAD
Unit 8Lesson 10 Hollywood Part 1Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Topic C Summarizing a Distribution That Is Skewed Using the Median and the Interquartile Range 
Lesson 12: Describing the Center of a Distribution Using the MedianUnit 8Lesson 11: Toy Cars [Free lesson]Lesson 12: In the News
Lesson 13: Describing Variability Using the Interquartile Range (IQR)Unit 8Lesson 13: Pumpkin Patch
Lesson 14: Summarizing a Distribution Using a Box Plot
Lesson 15: More Practice with Box Plots
Unit 8Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 16: Understanding Box PlotsUnit 8Lesson 14: Car, Plane, Bus, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Topic D Summarizing and Describing Distributions 
Lesson 17: Developing a Statistical Project 
Lesson 18: Connecting Graphical Representations and Numerical SummariesUnit 8Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens [Free lesson]
Lesson 19: Comparing Data DistributionsUnit 8Lesson 15: Hollywood Part 2
Lesson 20: Describing Center, Variability, and Shape of a Data Distribution from a Graphical Representation
Lesson 21: Summarizing a Data Distribution by Describing Center, Variability, and Shape
Unit 8Lesson 16: Hollywood Part 3 (Print available)
Lesson 22: Presenting a Summary of a Statistical Project 
Lesson 3: Creating a Dot PlotUnit 8Lesson 2 Dot PlotsLesson 3 Minimum Wage [Free lesson]Lesson 4 Lots More Dots

Grade 7

Module 1: Ratios and Proportional Relationships

Eureka MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Topic A Proportional Relationships 
Lesson 1: An Experience in Relationships as Measuring RateUnit 2
Lesson 1: Paint [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Balloon Float
 
Unit 4
Lesson 1: Mosaics [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Peach Cobbler (Print available)
Lesson 2: Proportional RelationshipsUnit 2  
Lesson 2: Balloon Float
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)
 
Unit 4
Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Lesson 3: Identifying Proportional and Non-Proportional Relationships in Tables
Lesson 4: Identifying Proportional and Non-Proportional Relationships in Tables
Unit 2
Lesson 2: Balloon Float
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)
Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Identifying Proportional and Non-Proportional Relationships in Graphs
Lesson 6: Identifying Proportional and Non-Proportional Relationships in Graphs
Unit 2
Lesson 8: Dino Pops [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available)
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Topic B Unit Rate and the Constant of Proportionality 
Lesson 7: Unit Rate as the Constant of ProportionalityUnit 2
Lesson 2: Balloon Float
Lesson 8: Representing Proportional Relationships with Equations
Lesson 9: Representing Proportional Relationships with Equations
Unit 2
Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Snapshots
Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 10: Interpreting Graphs of Proportional RelationshipsUnit 2
Lesson 8: Dino Pops [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available)
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Topic C Ratios and Rates Involving Fractions 
Lesson 11: Ratios of Fractions and Their Unit Rates
Lesson 12: Ratios of Fractions and Their Unit Rates
Unit 2
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)
Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Snapshots
Lesson 6: Two and Two [Free lesson]
Lesson 13: Finding Equivalent Ratios Given the Total QuantityUnit 2  
Lesson 2: Balloon Float
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)
Lesson 14: Multi-Step Ratio Problems 
Lesson 15: Equations of Graphs of Proportional Relationships Involving FractionsUnit 2
Lesson 8: Dino Pops [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Lesson 11: Four Representations
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Topic D Ratios of Scale Drawings 
Lesson 16: Relating Scale Drawings to Ratios and RatesUnit 1
Lesson 1: Scaling Machines [Free lesson]
Lesson 17: The Unit Rate as the Scale FactorUnit 1
Lesson 2: Scaling Robots
Lesson 3: Make It Scale
Lesson 4: Scale Factor Challenges
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 18: Computing Actual Lengths from a Scale DrawingUnit 1
Lesson 6: Introducing Scale
Lesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 19: Computing Actual Areas from a Scale DrawingUnit 1
Lesson 5: Tiles
Lesson 6: Introducing Scale
Lesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Scaling States (Print available)
Lesson 20: An Exercise in Creating a Scale Drawing
Lesson 21: An Exercise in Changing Scales
Lesson 22: An Exercise in Changing Scales
Unit 1
Lesson 8: Scaling States (Print available)
Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings
Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Module 2: Rational Numbers

Topic A Addition and Subtraction of Integers and Rational Numbers 
Lesson 1: Opposite Quantities Combine to Make ZeroUnit 5
Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Using the Number Line to Model the Addition of Integers
Lesson 3: Understanding Addition of Integers
Lesson 4: Efficiently Adding Integers and Other Rational Numbers
Lesson 5: Understanding Subtraction of Integers and Other Rational Numbers
Unit 5
Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Lesson 6: The Distance Between Two Rational Numbers 
Lesson 7: Addition and Subtraction of Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 3: Bumpers
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 10; Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 8: Applying the Properties of Operations to Add and Subtract Rational Numbers 
Lesson 9: Applying the Properties of Operations to Add and Subtract Rational Numbers 
Topic B Multiplication and Division of Integers and Rational Numbers 
Lesson 10: Understanding Multiplication of Integers
Lesson 11: Develop Rules for Multiplying Signed Numbers
Unit 5
Lesson 6: Floating in Groups
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 12: Division of IntegersUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 13: Converting Between Fractions and Decimals Using Equivalent Fractions 
Lesson 14: Converting Rational Numbers to Decimals Using Long DivisionUnit 4
Lesson 13: Decimal Deep Dive (Print available)
Lesson 15: Multiplication and Division of Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available)
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 16: Applying the Properties of Operations to Multiply and Divide Rational Numbers 
Topic C Applying Operations with Rational Numbers to Expressions and Equations 
Lesson 17: Comparing Tape Diagram Solutions to Algebraic SolutionsUnit 6
Lesson 2: Smudged Receipts
Lesson 3: Equations
Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)
Lesson 18: Writing, Evaluating, and Finding Equivalent Expressions with Rational Numbers
Lesson 19: Writing, Evaluating, and Finding Equivalent Expressions with Rational Numbers
Unit 5
Lesson 9 Expressions
Lesson 20: Investments—Performing Operations with Rational Numbers
Lesson 21: If-Then Moves with Integer Number Cards
Lesson 22: Solving Equations Using Algebra
Lesson 23: Solving Equations Using Algebra
Unit 6
Lesson 3: Equations
Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)
Lesson 6: Balancing Equations
Lesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available)
Lesson 12: Community Day (Print available)
 
Unit 5
Lesson 3: Bumpers

Module 3: Expressions and Equations

Topic A Use Properties of Operations to Generate Equivalent Expressions 
Lesson 1: Generating Equivalent Expressions
Lesson 2: Generating Equivalent Expressions
Unit 5 Lesson 9: Expressions (Print available)Unit 6Lesson 9: Always-Equal MachinesLesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available)
Lesson 3: Writing Products as Sums and Sums as Products
Lesson 4: Writing Products as Sums and Sums as Products
Unit 6 Lesson 2: Smudged ReceiptsLesson 6: Balancing EquationsLesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available)Lesson 8: Factoring and ExpandingLesson 9: Always-Equal MachinesLesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available)Lesson 12: Community Day (Print available)
Lesson 5: Using the Identity and Inverse to Write Equivalent Expressions 
Lesson 6: Collecting Rational Number Like Terms 
Topic B Solve Problems Using Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities 
Lesson 7: Understanding EquationsUnit 6Lesson 2: Smudged ReceiptsLesson 5: Balancing MovesLesson 6: Balancing Equations
Lesson 8: Using If-Then Moves in Solving Equations
Lesson 9: Using If-Then Moves in Solving Equations
Unit 6Lesson 2: Smudged ReceiptsLesson 6: Balancing EquationsLesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available)Lesson 8: Factoring and Expanding (Print available)Lesson 9: Always-Equal MachinesLesson 10: Collect the Squares [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Equation Roundtable (Print available)Lesson 12: Community Day (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 10: Angle Problems and Solving EquationsUnit 7Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Angle DiagramsLesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Angle Problems and Solving Equations 
Lesson 12: Properties of Inequalities
Lesson 13: Inequalities
Lesson 14: Solving Inequalities
Unit 6Lesson 14: Unbalanced HangersLesson 15: Budgeting (Print available)Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson]Lesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available)
Lesson 15: Graphing Solutions to InequalitiesUnit 6Lesson 13: I Saw the SignsPractice Day 2 (Print available)
Topic C Use Equations and Inequalities to Solve Geometry Problems 
Lesson 16: The Most Famous Ratio of AllUnit 3Lesson 2: Is It a Circle?Lesson 3: Measuring Around [Free lesson]
Lesson 17: The Area of a CircleUnit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)Lesson 7: Why Pi? (Print available)Lesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Circle vs. SquarePractice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 18: More Problems on Area and CircumferenceUnit 3Lesson 4: Perimeter ChallengesLesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)Lesson 7: Why Pi? (Print available)Lesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Circle vs. Square
Lesson 19: Unknown Area Problems on the Coordinate Plane
Lesson 20: Composite Area Problems
Unit 3Lesson 4: Perimeter ChallengesPractice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 21: Surface Area
Lesson 22: Surface Area
Lesson 23: The Volume of a Right Prism
Lesson 24: The Volume of a Right Prism
Unit 7Lesson 10: Simple PrismsLesson 11: More Complicated Prisms Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print Available)Lesson 13: Popcorn PossibilitiesPractice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 25: Volume and Surface Area
Lesson 26: Volume and Surface Area
Unit 7Lesson 13: Popcorn PossibilitiesPractice Day 2

Module 4: Percent and Proportional Relationships

Topic A Finding the Whole 
Lesson 1: PercentUnit 4Lesson 1: Mosaics [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Peach Cobbler (Print available)Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Lesson 2: Part of a Whole as a PercentUnit 4Lesson 1: Mosaics [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Peach Cobbler (Print available)
Lesson 3: Comparing Quantities with PercentUnit 4Lesson 1: Mosaics [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Peach Cobbler (Print available)Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Lesson 4: Percent Increase and DecreaseUnit 4Lesson 4: More and LessLesson 5: All the EquationsLesson 6: 100% (Print available)Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)Lesson 11: Bookcase BuilderLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Finding One Hundred Percent Given Another Percent 
Lesson 6: Fluency with PercentsUnit 4Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)Lesson 11: Bookcase BuilderLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson]
Topic B Percent Problems Including More Than One Whole 
Lesson 7: Markup and Markdown ProblemsUnit 4Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)Lesson 11: Bookcase BuilderLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Percent Error Problems
Lesson 9: Problem Solving When the Percent Changes
Unit 4Lesson 4: More and LessLesson 5: All the EquationsLesson 6: 100% (Print available)Lesson 7: Percent machines [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)Lesson 11: Bookcase BuilderLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson]
Lesson 10: Simple Interest 
Lesson 11: Tax, Commissions, Fees, and Other Real-World Percent ApplicationsUnit 4Lesson 8: Tax and TipLesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)Lesson 11: Bookcase BuilderLesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson]Practice Day (Print available)
Topic C Scale Drawings 
Lesson 12: The Scale Factor as a Percent for a Scale Drawing 
Lesson 13: Changing ScalesUnit 1Lesson 1: Scaling Machines [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Scaling RobotsLesson 3: Make It ScaleLesson 4: Scale Factor ChallengesLesson 5: TilesLesson 6: Introducing ScaleLesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Scaling States (Print available)Lesson 9: Scaling BuildingsLesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available) Unit 3Lesson 1 Toothpicks
Lesson 14: Computing Actual Lengths from a Scale DrawingUnit 1Lesson 6: Introducing ScaleLesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Scaling States (Print available)Lesson 9: Scaling BuildingsLesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available) Unit 3Lesson 1: Toothpicks
Lesson 15: Solving Area Problems Using Scale DrawingsUnit 1Lesson 5: Tiles
Topic D Population, Mixture, and Counting Problems Involving Percents 
Lesson 16: Population ProblemsUnit 8Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Headlines
Lesson 17: Mixture Problems 
Lesson 18: Counting Problems 

Module 5: Statistics and Probability

Topic A Calculating and Interpreting Probabilities 
Lesson 1: Chance ExperimentsUnit 8Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Mystery Bag
Lesson 2: Estimating Probabilities by Collecting Data
Lesson 3: Chance Experiments with Equally Likely Outcomes
Lesson 4: Calculating Probabilities for Chance Experiments with Equally Likely Outcomes
Unit 8Lesson 3: Mystery BagLesson 4: Spin ClassLesson 5: Is It Fair?Lesson 6: Fair Games
Lesson 5: Chance Experiments with Outcomes That Are Not Equally LikelyUnit 8Lesson 4: Spin ClassLesson 5: Is It Fair?Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or Not
Lesson 6: Using Tree Diagrams to Represent a Sample Space and to Calculate ProbabilitiesUnit 8Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or Not
Lesson 7: Calculating Probabilities of Compound EventsUnit 8Lesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Topic B Estimating Probabilities 
Lesson 8: The Difference Between Theoretical Probabilities and Estimated Probabilities
Lesson 9: Comparing Estimated Probabilities to Probabilities Predicted by a Model
Unit 8Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 10: Conducting a Simulation to Estimate the Probability of an EventUnit 8Lesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 11: Conducting a Simulation to Estimate the Probability of an Event
Lesson 12: Applying Probability to Make Informed Decisions
Unit 8Lesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)
Topic C Random Sampling and Estimating Population Characteristics 
Lesson 13: Populations, Samples, and Generalizing from a Sample to a PopulationUnit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 11: HeadlinesLesson 12: Flower Power
Lesson 14: Selecting a Sample
Lesson 15: Random Sampling
Lesson 16: Methods for Selecting a Random Sample
Unit 8Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Headlines
Lesson 17: Sampling VariabilityUnit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 13: Plots and Samples
Lesson 18: Sampling Variability and the Effect of Sample Size
Lesson 19: Understanding Variability When Estimating a Population Proportion
Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 13: Plots and SamplesLesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available)
Lesson 20: Estimating a Population Proportion 
Topic D Comparing Populations 
Lesson 21: Why Worry About Sampling Variability?Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 13: Plots and SamplesLesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available)
Lesson 22: Using Sample Data to Compare the Means of Two or More Populations
Lesson 23: Using Sample Data to Compare the Means of Two or More Populations
Unit 8Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Plots and SamplesLesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available)Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available)

Module 6: Geometry

Topic A Unknown Angles 
Lesson 1: Complementary and Supplementary AnglesUnit 7Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams
Lesson 2: Solving for Unknown Angles Using Equations
Lesson 3: Solving for Unknown Angles Using Equations
Lesson 4: Solving for Unknown Angles Using Equations
Unit 7Lesson 1: PinwheelsLesson 2: Friendly AnglesLesson 3: Angle DiagramsLesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson]
Topic B Constructing Triangles 
Lesson 5: Identical TrianglesUnit 7Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than One
Lesson 6: Drawing Geometric ShapesUnit 7Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OneLesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)
Lesson 7: Drawing Parallelograms 
Lesson 8: Drawing TrianglesUnit 7Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OneLesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 9: Conditions for a Unique Triangle―Three Sides and Two Sides and the Included
Lesson 10: Conditions for a Unique Triangle—Two Angles and a Given Side Angle
Unit 7Lesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)
Lesson 11: Conditions on Measurements That Determine a TriangleUnit 7Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OneLesson 8: Can You Draw It? (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 12: Unique Triangles―Two Sides and a Non-Included Angle 
Lesson 13: Checking for Identical Triangles
Lesson 14: Checking for Identical Triangles
Unit 7Lesson 6: Is It Enough?Lesson 7: More Than OnePractice Day 1
Lesson 15: Using Unique Triangles to Solve Real-World and Mathematical Problems 
Topic C Slicing Solids 
Lesson 16: Slicing a Right Rectangular Prism with a Plane
Lesson 17: Slicing a Right Rectangular Pyramid with a Plane
Lesson 18: Slicing on an Angle
Unit 7Lesson 9: Slicing Solids
Lesson 19: Understanding Three-Dimensional Figures 
Topic D Problems Involving Area and Surface Area 
Lesson 20: Real-World Area ProblemsUnit 3Lesson 5: Area Strategies
Lesson 21: Mathematical Area ProblemsUnit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)
Lesson 22: Area Problems with Circular RegionsUnit 3Lesson 5: Area StrategiesLesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson]
Lesson 23: Surface Area
Lesson 24: Surface Area
Unit 7Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available)Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Topic E Problems Involving Volume 
Lesson 25: Volume of Right PrismsUnit 7Lesson 10: Simple PrismsLesson 11: More Complicated PrismsLesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Lesson 26: Volume of Composite Three-Dimensional ObjectsUnit 7Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Lesson 27: Real-World Volume ProblemsUnit 7Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities

Grade 8

Module 1: Integer Exponents and Scientific Notation

Eureka MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Topic A Exponential Notation and Properties of Integer Exponents 
Lesson 1: Exponential NotationUnit 7 Lesson 1 Circles [Free lesson]Lesson 2 Combining Exponents
Lesson 2: Multiplication of Numbers in Exponential Form
Lesson 3: Numbers in Exponential Form Raised to a Power
Unit 7 Lesson 2 Combining ExponentsLesson 3 Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 4 Rewriting Powers
Lesson 4: Numbers Raised to the Zeroth Power
Lesson 5: Negative Exponents and the Laws of Exponents
Unit 7 Lesson 5 Zero and Negative ExponentsLesson 6 Write a Rule (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 6: Proofs of Laws of Exponents 
Topic B Magnitude and Scientific Notation 
Lesson 7: MagnitudeUnit 7 Lesson 7 Scales and Weights
Lesson 8: Estimating QuantitiesUnit 7 Lesson 7: Scales and WeightsLesson 8: Point ZapperLesson 9: Use Your Powers
Lesson 9: Scientific Notation
Lesson 10: Operations with Numbers in Scientific Notation
Unit 7 Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Star Power
Lesson 11: Efficacy of Scientific NotationUnit 7 Lesson 13: Star Power
Lesson 12: Choice of Unit 
Lesson 13: Comparison of Numbers Written in Scientific Notation and Interpreting Scientific Notation Using TechnologyUnit 7  Lesson 13: Star Power Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Module 2: The Concept of Congruence

Topic A Definitions and Properties of the Basic Rigid Motions 
Lesson 1: Why Move Things Around?
Lesson 2: Definition of Translation and Three Basic Properties
Unit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Translating LinesUnit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson] Unit 3Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 4: Definition of Reflection and Basic Properties
Lesson 5: Definition of Rotation and Basic Properties
Lesson 6: Rotations of 180 Degrees
Unit 1Lesson 1: Transformers [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Moving Day (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Getting Coordinated
Topic B Sequencing the Basic Rigid Motions 
Lesson 7: Sequencing Translations
Lesson 8: Sequencing Reflections and Translations
Unit 1Lesson 3: Transformation GolfLesson 6: Connecting the Dots [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Sequencing Rotations
Lesson 10: Sequences of Rigid Motions
Unit 1Lesson 3: Transformation GolfLesson 6: Connecting the Dots [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Tessellate [Free lesson]Practice Day
Topic C Congruence and Angle Relationships 
Lesson 11: Definition of Congruence and Some Basic PropertiesUnit 1 Lesson 7: Are They the Same?Lesson 8: No Bending, No StretchingLesson 9: Are They Congruent?Practice Day
Lesson 12: Angles Associated with Parallel LinesUnit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles  
Lesson 13: Angle Sum of a TriangleUnit 1 Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available)
Lesson 14: More on the Angles of a TriangleUnit 1 Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available)Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out [Free lesson]
Topic D: The Pythagorean Theorem 
Lesson 15: Informal Proof of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It
Lesson 16: Applications of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8Lesson 10: Taco TruckPractice Day 2 (Print available)

Module 3: Similarity

Topic A Dilation 
Lesson 1: What Lies Behind “Same Shape”?Unit 2Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Properties of Dilations
Lesson 3: Examples of Dilations
Unit 2Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Match My DilationLesson 4: Dilations on a Plane (Print available)
Lesson 4: Fundamental Theorem of Similarity
Lesson 5: First Consequences of FTS
Unit 2Lesson 5: Transformations Golf with DilationsLesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Dilations on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 8Lesson 4: Dilations on a Plane (Print available)
Lesson 7: Informal Proofs of Properties of Dilations 
Topic B Similar Figures 
Lesson 8: Similarity
Lesson 9: Basic Properties of Similarity
Unit 2Lesson 5: Transformations Golf with DilationsLesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 10: Informal Proof of AA Criterion for SimilarityUnit 2Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough?
Lesson 11: More About Similar TrianglesUnit 2Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough?Lesson 8: Shadows
Lesson 12: Modeling Using SimilarityUnit 2Lesson 8: ShadowsLesson 9: Water SlideLesson 10: Points on a PlanePractice Day 
Topic C The Pythagorean Theorem 
Lesson 13: Proof of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8Lesson 6: The Pythagorean TheoremLesson 7: Pictures to Prove ItLesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle [Free lesson]
Lesson 14: The Converse of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8 Lesson 9: Make It Right

Module 4: Linear Equations

Topic A Writing and Solving Linear Equations 
Lesson 1: Writing Equations Using Symbols 
Lesson 2: Linear and Nonlinear Expressions in x 
Lesson 3: Linear Equations in xUnit 4Lesson 3: Balanced MovesLesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 4: Solving a Linear EquationUnit 4Lesson 3: Balanced MovesLesson 4: More Balanced MovesLesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 5: Writing and Solving Linear EquationsUnit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials Unit 4Lesson 3: Balanced MovesLesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 6: Solutions of a Linear EquationUnit 3Lesson 10: Solutions Unit 4Lesson 3: Balanced MovesLesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 7: Classification of SolutionsUnit 4Lesson 7: All, Some, or None?
Lesson 8: Linear Equations in Disguise 
Lesson 9: An Application of Linear Equations 
Topic B Linear Equations in Two Variables and Their GraphsUnit 3Lesson 2: Water TankLesson 3: PostersLesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 10: A Critical Look at Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Water TankLesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Water CoolerLesson 8: Landing PlanesLesson 9: Coin Capture
Lesson 11: Constant RateUnit 2Lesson 9: Water SlideLesson 10: Points on a PlanePractice Day  Unit 3Lesson 3: PostersLesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Translations Unit 4Lesson 8: When Are They the Same?
Lesson 12: Linear Equations in Two VariablesUnit 3Lesson 3: PostersLesson 6: Translations Unit 4Lesson 3: Balanced MovesLesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 13: The Graph of a Linear Equation in Two VariablesUnit 3 Lesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: TranslationsLesson 7: Water CoolerLesson 10: SolutionsLesson 11: Pennies and Quarters
Lesson 14: The Graph of a Linear Equation―Horizontal and Vertical LinesUnit 3 Lesson 9: Coin CapturePractice Day  [Free lesson]
Topic C Slope and Equations of Lines 
Lesson 15: The Slope of a Non-Vertical LineUnit 3Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: TranslationsLesson 7: Water CoolerLesson 8: Landing Planes
Lesson 16: The Computation of the Slope of a Non-Vertical LineUnit 3Lesson 7: Water CoolerLesson 8: Landing Planes
Lesson 17: The Line Joining Two Distinct Points of the Graph 𝑦 = 𝑚x + 𝑏 Has Slope mUnit 3Lesson 7: Water Cooler
Lesson 18: There Is Only One Line Passing Through a Given Point with a Given SlopeUnit 3Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 7: Water Cooler
Lesson 19: The Graph of a Linear Equation in Two Variables Is a LineUnit 3Lesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 20: Every Line Is a Graph of a Linear EquationUnit 3Lesson 3: PostersLesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 21: Some Facts About Graphs of Linear Equations in Two VariablesUnit 3Lesson 3: PostersLesson 6: TranslationsPractice Day 
Lesson 22: Constant Rates RevisitedUnit 2Lesson 9: Water SlideLesson 10: Points on a Plane Unit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Water TankLesson 3: Posters
Lesson 23: The Defining Equation of a LineUnit 3Lesson 10: SolutionsLesson 11: Pennies and Quarters
Topic D Systems of Linear Equations and Their Solutions 
Lesson 24: Introduction to Simultaneous EquationsUnit 4Lesson 7: All, Some, or None?Lesson 8: When Are They the Same?Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2
Lesson 25: Geometric Interpretation of the Solutions of a Linear SystemUnit 4  Lesson 9: On or Off the Line?Lesson 10: On Both LinesLesson 11: Make Them Balance [Free lesson]Lesson 12: Line Zapper [Free lesson]Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 26: Characterization of Parallel LinesUnit 3 Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 27: Nature of Solutions of a System of Linear EquationsUnit 4  Lesson 9: On or Off the Line?
Lesson 28: Another Computational Method of Solving a Linear System 
Lesson 29: Word Problems 
Lesson 30: Conversion Between Celsius and Fahrenheit 
Topic E Pythagorean Theorem 
Lesson 31: System of Equations Leading to Pythagorean Triples 

Module 5: Examples of Functions from Geometry

Topic A Functions 
Lesson 1: The Concept of a FunctionUnit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Formal Definition of a FunctionUnit 5 Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson] Lesson 3: Function or Not?
Lesson 3: Linear Functions and ProportionalityUnit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson] Unit 5Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 4: More Examples of FunctionsUnit 5Lesson 3: Function or Not?Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 5: Graphs of Functions and EquationsUnit 5Lesson 4: Window FramesLesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 6: Graphs of Linear Functions and Rate of ChangeUnit 2Lesson 9: Water SlideLesson 10: Points on a Plane Unit 3Lesson 4: Stacking CupsLesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 7: Comparing Linear Functions and GraphsUnit 5Lesson 3: PostersLesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Graphs of Simple Nonlinear Functions 
Topic B Volume 
Lesson 9: Examples of Functions from GeometryUnit 8Lesson 1: Tilted SquaresLesson 2: From Squares to Roots
Lesson 10: Volumes of Familiar Solids—Cones and CylindersUnit 5Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson]Lesson 12: Scaling CylindersLesson 13: Cones [Free lesson]Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 11: Volume of a SphereUnit 5 Lesson 15: Spheres Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Module 6: Linear Functions

Topic A Linear Functions 
Lesson 1: Modeling Linear RelationshipsUnit 5 Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 2: Interpreting Rate of Change and Initial ValueUnit 2Lesson 9: Water SlideLesson 10: Points on a Plane Unit 3Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Water TankLesson 3: PostersLesson 4: Stacking Cups
Lesson 3: Representations of a LineUnit 5Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesLesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 4: Increasing and Decreasing Functions
Lesson 5: Increasing and Decreasing Functions
Unit 5Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Topic B Bivariate Numerical Data 
Lesson 6: Scatter Plots
Lesson 7: Patterns in Scatter Plots
Unit 6 Lesson 1: Click BattleLesson 2: Wing SpanLesson 3: Robots [Free lesson]Practice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Informally Fitting a LineUnit 6 Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson]Lesson 5: Fit Fights [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Interpreting SlopesLesson 7: Scatter Plot CityLesson 8: Animal BrainsPractice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson]Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 9: Determining the Equation of a Line Fit to Data 
Topic C Linear and Nonlinear Models 
Lesson 10: Linear Models
Lesson 11: Using Linear Models in a Data Context
Unit 5 Lesson 4: Window FramesLesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]Lesson 6: Graphing StoriesUnit 6 Lesson 6: Interpreting SlopesLesson 8: Animal BrainsPractice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 12: Nonlinear Models in a Data Context 
Topic D Bivariate Categorical Data 
Lesson 13: Summarizing Bivariate Categorical Data in a Two-Way TableUnit 6 Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit
Lesson 14: Association Between Categorical VariablesUnit 6 Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson] Lesson 11: Federal Budgets Practice Day 3

Module 7: Introduction to Irrational Numbers Using Geometry

Topic A Square and Cube Roots 
Lesson 1: The Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 2: Square RootsUnit 8
Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Existence and Uniqueness of Square Roots and Cube RootsUnit 8
Lesson 5: Filling Cubes
Lesson 4: Simplifying Square RootsUnit 8
Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 5: Solving Equations with Radicals 
Topic B Decimal Expansions of Numbers 
Lesson 6: Finite and Infinite Decimals
Lesson 7: Infinite Decimals
Lesson 8: The Long Division Algorithm
Lesson 9: Decimal Expansions of Fractions, Part 1
Lesson 10: Converting Repeating Decimals to Fractions
Unit 8
Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals
Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions
Lesson 11: The Decimal Expansion of Some Irrational Numbers 
Lesson 12: Decimal Expansions of Fractions, Part 2 
Lesson 13: Comparing Irrational NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 14: Hit the Target
Lesson 14: Decimal Expansion of π 
Topic C The Pythagorean Theorem 
Lesson 15: Pythagorean Theorem, RevisitedUnit 8
Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It
Lesson 16: Converse of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 9: Make It Right
Lesson 17: Distance on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 8
Lesson 11: Pond Hopper
Lesson 18: Applications of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson]
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Topic D Applications of Radicals and Roots 
Lesson 19: Cones and Spheres 
Lesson 20: Truncated Cones 
Lesson 21: Volume of Composite Solids 
Lesson 22: Average Rate of Change 
Lesson 23: Nonlinear Motion 

Families and caregivers, welcome to Amplify Desmos Math California
6–12!

Welcome to the Amplify Desmos Math California Grade 6–12 Caregiver Hub. We’ve designed this space to help you support your student at every stage of their math journey.

In class, your student engages with digital lessons using devices as well as write-in Student Edition books. They also may be assigned digital or print practice outside of class. Below, you’ll find some suggestions and resources for how you can support their learning at home.

Learn more about Amplify Desmos Math California.

Para la versión en español, haga clic aquí.

Ilustración de una persona en silla de ruedas con un casco que dirige la colocación de una pieza triangular, rodeada de símbolos matemáticos.

Caregiver Unit Resources

For every unit of the program, we’ve created a Caregiver Resource that provides a summary of each lesson, plus a problem to try with your student (and an answer key). These resources will be available in both English and Spanish, as well as a glossary of key terms in both languages.

  • Coming soon!
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Unit refresh videos

Unit 1

  • Sub-Unit 1a – Calculating the Area of Parallelograms
  • Sub-Unit 1b – Calculating the Area of Triangles
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Determining the Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Dividing Fractions Using Tape Diagrams
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Dividing Fractions Using Common Denominators
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Determining the Volume of Prisms With Fractional Dimensions

Unit 5

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Adding and Subtracting Decimals
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Multiplying Decimals Using Area Models
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Dividing Decimals Using Fractions
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Converting Between Fractions, Percents, and Decimals

Unit 6

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Writing and Solving Equations
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Writing Equivalent Expressions Using the Area Model
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Evaluating Expressions With Exponents
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Interpreting Graphs

Unit 7

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Ordering and Comparing Positive and Negative Numbers
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Identifying Solutions to Inequalities
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Plotting Points on the Coordinate Plane

Unit 8

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Creating Dot Plots
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Calculating Mean Absolute Deviation
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Interpreting Box Plots
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Predicting Population Using Sample Data (For use with Amplify Desmos Math New York)
  • Sub-Unit 5 – Predicting Sample Spaces Using Proportional Relationship (For use with Amplify Desmos Math New York)

Unit 1

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Using Ratios to Determine the Scale Factor Between Scaled Copies
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Using Ratios to Determine Unknown Scales in Scale Drawings

Unit 2

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining the Constant of Proportionality
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Writing Equations for Proportional Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Comparing Proportional Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Representing Proportional Relationships with Multiple Representations

Unit 3

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining the Circumference of a Circle
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Calculating Areas of Complex Shapes

Unit 4

Unit 5

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Adding and Subtracting Positive and Negative Number
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Dividing Integers
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Solving Real-World Problems Involving Positive and Negative Numbers

Unit 6

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Writing Equations from Descriptions and Tape Diagrams
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Solving Equations With Positive and Negative Numbers
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Solving Inequalities

Unit 7

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining Unknown Angle Measures
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Determining If Three Segments Form a Triangle
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating the Surface Area of Prisms

Unit 8

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Predicting Sample Spaces Using Proportional Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Predicting Population Using Sample Data

Unit 1

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining Coordinates After a Rotation
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Using Rigid Transformations to Determine if Two Figures on the Grid are Congruent
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Determining Unknown Interior and Exterior Angles

Unit 2

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Performing Dilations on a Square Grid
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Determining Missing Side Lengths in Similar Triangles
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating Slope By Drawing Similar Triangles on a Coordinate Plane

Unit 3

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Writing Equations to Represent Proportional Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Interpreting Slope and Intercepts of Linear Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating Slope Given Two Points

Unit 4

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Solve Single-Variable Equations with Parentheses
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Graphing

Unit 5

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Justifying Whether a Graph Represents a Function
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Comparing Properties of Linear Functions
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating Volumes of Cylinders

Unit 6

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Interpreting Points on a Scatter Plot
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Using Lines of Fit to Make Predictions
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating Missing Values in Two-Way Tables

Unit 7

Unit 8

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Approximating Square Roots
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Calculating Unknown Side Lengths
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Identifying Rational and Irrational Numbers

Unit 1

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining If a Sequence is Arithmetic, Geometric or Neither
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Using Visual Patterns or Terms in the Sequence to Write Explicit Expressions for Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences

Unit 2

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Solving Linear Equations
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Solving Multi-Variable Linear Equations
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Graphing Solutions of Two-Variable Linear Inequalities

Unit 3

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Calculating Values in Two-Way and Relative Frequency Tables
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Comparing Data Using Mean and Standard Deviation
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Interpreting Slope and y-intercept in Context

Unit 4

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Evaluating Function Notation
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Writing Domain and Range with Inequalities
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Graphing Piecewise-Defined Functions
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Writing Recursive Definitions in Function Notation

Unit 5

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Substitution
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Graphing Solutions to Systems of Inequalities

Unit 6

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Writing Exponential Functions from Graphs
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Calculating Percent Change in Exponential Functions
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Writing Equivalent Expressions Using Radicals and Rational Exponents
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Writing Exponential Functions Involving Compound Interest

Unit 7

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Describing Key Features of Parabolas
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Graphing Quadratic Functions in Factored Form
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Writing Quadratic Functions in Vertex Form

Unit 8

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Rewriting Factored-Form Expressions in Standard Form
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Solving Quadratic Equations by Graphing
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Solving Quadratic Equations by Completing the Square
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Solving Quadratic Equations Using the Quadratic Formula

Unit 1

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining If a Sequence is Arithmetic, Geometric or Neither
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Using Visual Patterns or Terms in the Sequence to Write Explicit Expressions for Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences

Unit 2

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Solving Linear Equations
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Solving Multi-Variable Linear Equations
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Graphing Solutions of Two-Variable Linear Inequalities

Unit 3

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Substitution
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Graphing Solutions to Systems of Inequalities
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Writing Equations for Parallel and Perpendicular Lines

Unit 4

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Evaluating Function Notation
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Writing Domain and Range with Inequalities
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Writing Recursive Definitions in Function Notation

Unit 5

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Writing Exponential Functions from Graphs
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Calculating Percent Change in Exponential Functions
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Writing Exponential Functions Involving Compound Interest

Unit 6

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Drawing Perpendicular Bisectors
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Determining Coordinates After a Rotation
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Using Rigid Transformations to Determine if Two Figures on the Grid are Congruent

Unit 7

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Calculating Values in Two-Way and Relative Frequency Tables
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Comparing Data Using Mean and Standard Deviation
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Interpreting Slope and y-intercept in Context

Access Amplify Desmos Math California at home.

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  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the username and password provided by your student’s teacher.
  • Select the desired grade level.

Once logged in, you and your student can view work by opening previous assignments.

Learn how to navigate the student home page.

Support math learning at home.

You can support your student’s math learning outside of school in many ways:

Relate math to daily activities at home, whether you’re baking, grocery shopping, or planning a trip. Your student can help you calculate the prices when you use a coupon, figure out how to cut a recipe in half, or determine the amount of gas you’ll need to make it to your destination.

Invite your student to walk you through how they solved each problem or talk about any parts that were challenging for them. To encourage the use of math language, consider asking, “How do you know?,” “How can you show your thinking?,” or “How would you describe that?” If students get stuck, consider asking questions like, “What information do you know here?” or “How could you represent this problem?”

Emphasize that getting stuck is part of the process and a necessary part of learning. Many students (and adults!) fear making mistakes, but research shows that making mistakes helps your brain grow. When your student gets stuck on a problem, encourage them to try different strategies, even if they think they can’t do it or will get it wrong.

We hope your student enjoys exploring math, working with friends to solve problems, and learning new and interesting concepts. And we hope you enjoy this exciting math journey with them!

Get more information.

Have a question about Amplify Desmos Math California? Visit our Help Library to search for articles with answers to your program questions. For additional support, please contact your student’s teacher.

i-Ready Classroom-NEW

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Grade K

Unit 1: Position, Length, Height, and Sorting

Lesson 2: Describe and Compare Length and Height, Session 3Connecting Cubes

Unit 2: Numbers to 5, Shapes and Weight

Lesson 4: Count, Show and Write Numbers to 5, Session 2Skye’s Style
Lesson 5: Compare Numbers to 5, Session 4Matching Groups
Lesson 5: Compare Numbers to 5, Session 5Designing Shoes With Skye
Lesson 6: Three-Dimensional Shapes and Weight, Session 1What’s That Shape?
Lesson 6: Three-Dimensional Shapes and Weight, Session 2Building Solid Shapes
Lesson 6: Three-Dimensional Shapes and Weight, Session 5Putting Solid Shapes Together

Unit 3: Addition and Subtractions with 5 and Shapes,

Lesson 8: Two-Dimensional Shapes,
Session 1
So Much Sorting
Lesson 8: Two-Dimensional Shapes,
Session 2
What’s That Shape Called?
Another Shape

Unit 4: Numbers to 10 and Shapes

Lesson 11: Count, Show, and Write Numbers to 10, Session 1Investigate: Cafeteria Math
Fingers as Math Tools
Lesson 12: Compare Numbers to 10, Session 1Moving and Grooving
Fingers and Counters
Lesson 12: Compare Numbers to 10, Session 2More, Fewer, or the Same
Comparing Words
Lesson 12: Compare Numbers to 10, Session 5Forest Friends
Lesson 14: Compose and Decompose 10, Session 2Harry’s Hamster Wheel
Lesson 14: Compose and Decompose 10, Session 3Harry Explores Space
Lesson 14: Compose and Decompose 10, Session 4Showing What We Know About 10
Lesson 14: Compose and Decompose 10, Session 5Harry Explores the Ocean

Unit 6: Addition and Subtraction Within 10

Lesson 20: Add Within 10, Session 1Investigate: Casey’s Town
What Does It Mean to Add?
Lesson 20: Add Within 10, Session 2How Many Objects?
Lesson 20: Add Within 10, Session 3How Many Objects in Pictures?
How Will You Count?
Lesson 21: Subtract Within 10, Session 1What Does It Mean to Subtract?
Lesson 22: Add and Subtract to Solve Wold Problems, Session 1The Bus Depot

Unit 7: Teen Numbers and Shapes

Lesson 23: Compose and Decompose Teen Numbers with Tools and Drawings, Session 2Investigate: Packing Snacks
Getting Ready for the Game
Pass, Shoot, Score
Lesson 23: Compose and Decompose Teen Numbers with Tools and Drawings, Session 3How Many on the Field?
Lesson 25: Compose and Decompose Teen Numbers with Symbols, Session 2Jersey Jam!
People at the Park

Grade 1

Unit 1: Relating Addition and Subtraction

Lesson 2: Add and Subtract Within 10, Session 1What’s the Difference?
Leaping Lily Pads!
Investigate: Let’s Grow!
Lesson 2: Add and Subtract Within 10, Session 3Packing a Picnic
Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 2Tutu’s Garden in Maui
Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 2Replanting Huli
Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 3The Kalo Plants
Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 4A Community Working Together
Lesson 5: Solve Word Problems to 10, Session 5Helping Others

Unit 2: Addition and Subtraction Within 20

Lesson 6: Teen Numbers, Session 2Same Number, Different Ways
Lesson 7: Add Three Numbers, Session 2Making 10
Kitten Coaster

Unit 4: Using Tens and Ones to Organize and Count

Lesson 15: Tens and Ones, Session 1Investigate: Game Points
Lesson 15: Tens and Ones, Session 3Meeting Yara
It’s a Match
Lesson 16: Numbers to 120, Session 1How Many Cubes?
Boris’s Thimbles
Lesson 21: Add Two-Digit Numbers, Session 1How Many Tens?
Investigate: Squashes at the Playground
Lesson 21: Add Two-Digit Numbers,
Session 2
Town Helpers
Lesson 21: Add Two-Digit Numbers,
Session 3
Making Squash Butter

Unit 5: Operations with Tens and Ones

Lesson 19: Addition with Two-Digit Numbers, Session 2From Park to Table

Unit 6: Geometry and Measurement

Lesson 22: Shapes, Session 1Shapes Ying Saw
Lesson 23: Break Shapes Into Equal Parts, Session 2Fair and Square
One of the Parts, All of the Parts
Lesson 23: Break Shapes Into Equal Parts, Session 5A Bigger Part

Grade 1 (ADM G2)

Unit 1: Relating Addition and Subtraction

Lesson 1: Partner Pairs for 10, Session 3Ways to Make 10
Lesson 2: Add and Subtract Within 10, Session 3Exploring Within 10

Grade 2

Unit 1: Numbers Within 20

Lesson 2: Using Mental Math Strategies to Subtract, Session 1Awesome Aquariums

Unit 2: Numbers Within 100

Lesson 10: Solve Word Problems Involving Money, Session 1Investigate
Lesson 10: Solve Word Problems Involving Money, Session 2Discovering Coins (Part 1)
The Toy Stand
Lesson 10: Solve Word Problems Involving Money, Session 3How Much Money?
Discovering Coins (Part 2)
Lesson 10: Solve Word Problems Involving Money, Session 4The Craft Stand at the Block Party

Unit 3: Numbers Within 1000

Lesson 12: Three-Digit Numbers, Session 1Investigate: A Mistake in Mom’s Office
What Makes a Hundred?
Lesson 12: Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2Looking for Patterns
Lesson 13: Read and Write Three-Digit Numbers, Session 1What’s the Value?
Lesson 13: Read and Write Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2Mail Call!
Lesson 13: Read and Write Three-Digit Numbers, Session 3A New Representation
What’s Your Name?
All the Ways!
Lesson 15: Mental Addition and Subtraction, Session 2Turtle Hurdle
Lesson 16: Add Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2There’s Something About Berries
Lesson 18: Using Addition and Subtraction Strategies with Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2Baking With Skunk

Unit 4: Length

Lesson 25: Solving Problems About Length, Session 2Lengths of Jungle Animals
Lesson 27: Sorting and Organizing Data, Session 1Messy Measurements
Lesson 27: Sorting and Organizing Data, Session 3Bracelets and Wristbands
Lesson 26: Add and Subtract on the Number Line, Session 1Investigate
Time to Line Up!
In Full Bloom
Lesson 26: Add and Subtract on the Number Line, Session 2What’s That Number?
Lesson 26: Add and Subtract on the Number Line, Session 3Greater Than, Less Than, or Equal to

Unit 5: Shapes and Arrays

Lesson 28: Recognize and Draw Shapes, Session 2Frame It!
Lesson 28: Recognize and Draw Shapes, Session 3Measure It, Draw It
Lesson 32: Even and Odd Numbers,
Session 1
Can You Share?
Lesson 32: Even and Odd Numbers,
Session 2
Everybody, Find A Partner!
Lesson 32: Even and Odd Numbers,
Session 3
Is It Even or Odd?

Grade 2 (ADM G3)

Unit 2: Numbers Within 100

Lesson 6: Adding Two-Digit Numbers, Session 1Panda Patterns
Lesson 12: Understand Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2Investigate: Creating a Photo Gallery
Lesson 16: Add Three-Digit Numbers, Session 2How Would You Solve It?
Adding Your Way
What Is an Algorithm?
Lesson 16: Add Three-Digit Numbers, Session 3Using Fewer Digits
Determining Sums of 2 or More Addends
Lesson 16: Add Three-Digit Numbers, Session 3Adding Strategically

Unit 4: Length

Lesson 27: Read and Make Line Plots, Session 2The Plot Chickens
Let’s Make a Line Plot

Grade 3

Unit 2: Multiplication and Division

Lesson 4: Understand the Meaning of Multiplication, Session 1Equal Groups
Lesson 6: Multiply with 3, 4, and 6, Session 2Rectangles and Arrays
Lesson 8: Use Order and Grouping to Multiply, Session 2Arrays of Flavor
Lesson 11: Understand How Multiplication and Division Are Connected, Session 1It’s Chili in Here!
Lesson 12: Multiplication and Division Facts, Session 3Relating Quotients to Familiar Products

Unit 3: Multiplication

Lesson 19: Scaled Graphs, Session 1Puppy Pile
Lesson 19: Scaled Graphs, Session 42, 5, or 10?
Lesson 14: Understand Area, Session 1Tiling Figures
Lesson 14: Understand Area, Session 2Which Covers More Space?
Lesson 15: Multiply to Find Area, Session 3Area Hunt
Lesson 17: Solve One-Step Word Problems Using Multiplication and Division, Session 2Division and Multiplication Equations

Unit 4: Fractions

Lesson 21: Understand Fractions on a Number Line, Session 1Cat Crossing
Lesson 21: Understand Fractions on a Number Line, Session 2Fractions on the Number Line
Lesson 21: Understand Fractions on a Number Line, Session 3Location, Location, Location

Unit 6: Shapes

Performance TaskInvestigate: Comparing Rugs
Lesson 30: Understand Categories of Shapes, Session 1Piho’s Shapes
Lesson 31: Classify Quadrilaterals, Session 1Rectangles, Squares, and Rhombuses
Lesson 31: Classify Quadrilaterals, Session 3More Quadrilaterals

Grade 4

Unit 2: Operations

Lesson 6: Understand Multiplication as a Comparison, Session 1Sticker Mania
Lesson 6: Understand Multiplication as a Comparison, Session 2Representing “Times as Many”
Going Swimming
Lesson 8: Multiples and Factors, Session 1Hamster Homes
Lesson 8: Multiples and Factors, Session 3Factor or Multiple?
Lesson 8: Multiples and Factors, Session 4A Number Game
Lesson 9: Number and Shape Patterns, Session 1How Does It Grow?

Unit 3: Multi-Digit Operations and Measurement

Lesson 11: Multiply by One-Digit Numbers, Session 1Investigate: Packing Lei
Counting Flowers for Lei
Lesson 11: Multiply by One-Digit Numbers, Session 3A Lei Making Workshop
A Reasonable Answer
Three of a Kind
Lesson 12: Multiply by Two-Digit Numbers, Session 2Growing Flowers for the Lei
Double Decomposition
Lesson 12: Multiply by Two-Digit Numbers, Session 3Revisiting Strategies
How Many Supplies?

Unit 4: Fractions, Decimals, and Measurement

Lesson 17: Understand Equivalent Fractions, Session 1Investigate: Building Your Own Number Line
Fraction Strips
Lesson 18: Understand Equivalent Fractions, Session 3Chop It
All Kinds of Fractions
Lesson 19: Fraction Addition and Subtraction, Session 1Pizza Problems
Lesson 20: Add and Subtract Fractions, Session 4Math Pizzeria
Lesson 24: Multiply Fractions by Whole Numbers, Session 2Equal Groups of Fractions
Lesson 25: Fractions as Tenths and Hundredths, Session 3Investigate: Different Units
Lesson 26: Relate Decimals and Fractions, Session 2A New Way to Write Tenths
A New Way to Write Hundredths
Lesson 26: Relate Decimals and Fractions, Session 4Are They Equivalent?
Lesson 27: Compare Decimals, Session 2How Can You Compare?
Lesson 27: Compare Decimals, Session 3Robot Factory
Lesson 27: Compare Decimals, Session 4What’s the Order

Unit 5: Geometry and Measurement

Lesson 30: Points, Lines, Rays, and Angles, Session 3Angle Adventures
Lesson 31: Angles, Session 1The Spin on Angles
Lesson 32: Add and Subtract with Angles, Session 3Angles in Motion

Grade 5

Unit 1: Whole Number Operations and Applications

Lesson 2: Find Volume Using Unit Cubes, Session 1Which is Largest
Lesson 2: Find Volume Using Unit Cubes, Session 2Packing the Barge
Lesson 3: Find Volume Using Formulas, Session 3Putting it Together
Figures Made of Prisms
Lesson 4: Multiply Multi-Digit Numbers, Session 1Partial Products Everywhere
Lesson 4: Multiply Multi-Digit Numbers, Session 4How Do They Compare?
Lesson 5: Divide Multi-Digit Numbers, Session 4Emptying the Water Tank

Unit 2: Decimals and Fractions

Lesson 6: Understand Decimal Place Value, Session 1Investigate: Numbers Between Numbers
Lesson 6: Understand Decimal Place Value, Session 2What Is One Thousandth?
Lesson 8: Read and Write Decimals,
Session 1
Say What?
Place Value Patterns
Lesson 9: Compare and Round Decimals, Session 2Selling Collectibles
Lesson 9: Compare and Round Decimals, Session 3The Claw
Which Way Down the Mountain?
Lesson 9: Compare and Round Decimals, Session 4Rounding Races
Lesson 7: Understand Powers of 10, Session 1Monarch Butterflies
All About That Base
Powers of 10 Parade

Unit 3: More Decimals & Fractions

Lesson 18: Fractions as Division, Session 1Investigate: Sharing Sandwiches
Division Story Problems
Making Generalizations
Investigate: Folding Paper
Lesson 18: Fractions as Division, Session 2Sharing More Sandwiches
Dance Breaks
Lesson 19: Multiplication by a Fraction, Session 2Parts of Parts
Lesson 20: Multiply Fractions to Find Area, Session 2One Part of One Part
Lesson 20: Multiply Fractions to Find Area, Session 3Making Food
Lesson 22: Multiply Fractions in Word Problems, Session 3Installing Turf
Rows and Columns
Lesson 22: Multiply Fractions in Word Problems, Session 4Messy Multiplication
Applying Fraction Multiplication
Lesson 21: Exploring Multiplication as Scaling, Session 1Chores at Animal Haven
The Re-size-inator

Unit 5: Algebraic Thinking and the Coordinate Plane

Lesson 31: Understand the Coordinate Plane, Session 1Bullseye!
Lesson 31: Understand the Coordinate Plane, Session 2Creating a Coordinate System
Coordinating Satellite Repairs

Grade 6

Unit 1: Expressions and Equations: Area, Algebraic Expressions, and Exponents

iReady ClassroomAmplify Classroom
Lesson 1: Find the Area of a ParallelogramUnit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms
Exploring Parallelograms, Part 2

Unit 2: Decimals and Fractions: Base-Ten Operations, Division with Fractions, and Volume

Lesson 7: Add, Subtract, and Multiply Multi-Digit DecimalsUnit 4
Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals
Lesson 8: Divide Whole Numbers and Multi-Digit DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 13: Movie Time
Lesson 9: Understand Division with FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 3: Flour Planner
Lesson 10: Divide FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 6: Fill the Gap

Unit 3: Ratio Reasoning: Ratio Concepts and Equivalent Ratios

Lesson 12: Understand Ratio ConceptsUnit 2
Lesson 1: Pizza Maker
Lesson 13: Find Equivalent RatiosUnit 2
Lesson 4: Fruit Lab
Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation

Unit 4: Ratio Reasoning: Unit Rates and Percent

Lesson 15: Understand Rate ConceptsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Many Measurements
Lesson 16: Use Unit Rates to Solve ProblemsUnit 3
Lesson 6: Soft Serve
Lesson 17: Understand PercentsUnit 3
Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies

Unit 5: Algebraic Thinking: Equivalent Expressions and Equations with Variables

Lesson 19: Write and Identify Equivalent ExpressionsUnit 6
Lesson 8: Products and Sums
Take Away (coming soon!)
Lesson 22: Analyze Two-Variable RelationshipsUnit 6
Lesson 16: Subway Fares
Take Away (coming soon!)

Unit 6: Positive and Negative Numbers: Absolute Value, Inequalities, and the Coordinate Plane

Lesson 23: Understand Positive and Negative NumbersUnit 7
Lesson 1: Can You Dig It?
Lesson 24: Order Positive and Negative NumbersUnit 7
Lesson 4: Order in the Class
Lesson 26: Write and Graph One-Variable InequalitiesUnit 7
Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels

Unit 7: Statistical Thinking: Data Distributions and Measures of Center and Variability

Lesson 30: Use Dot Plots and Histograms to Describe Data DistributionsUnit 8
Lesson 3: Minimum Wage
Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens
Lesson 31: Interpret Median and Interquartile Range in Box PlotsUnit 8
Lesson 11: Toy Cars

Grade 7

Unit 1: Proportional Relationships: Ratios, Rates, and Circles

iReady ClassroomAmplify Classroom
Lesson 2: Find Unit Rates Involving Ratios and FractionsUnit 2
Lesson 1: Paint
Lesson 4: Represent Proportional RelationshipsUnit 2
Lesson 6: Two and Two
Lesson 5: Solve Proportional Relationship Problems
Lesson 6: Solve Area and Circumference Problems Involving CirclesUnit 3
Lesson 3: Measuring Around
Lesson 9: Area Challenges

Unit 2: Numbers and Operations: Add and Subtract Rational Numbers

Lesson 7: Understand Addition with Negative NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors
Lesson 8: Add with Negative NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors
Lesson 9: Understand Subtraction with Negative IntegersUnit 5
Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors
Lesson 10: Add and Subtract Positive and Negative NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors

Unit 3: Numbers and Operations: Multiply and Divide Rational Numbers

Lesson 14: Use the Four Operations with Negative NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles

Unit 4: Algebraic Thinking: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Lesson 19: Write and Solve InequalitiesUnit 6
Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep

Unit 5: Proportional Reasoning: Percents and Statistical Samples

Lesson 20: Solve Problems Involving Percents Unit 4
Lesson 5: Percent Machines
Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!)
Lesson 22: Understand Random SamplingUnit 8
Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities
Lesson 24: Compare PopulationsUnit 8
Lesson 10: Crab Island

Unit 6: Geometry: Solids, Triangles, and Angles

Lesson 28: Find Unknown Angle MeasuresUnit 7
Lesson 2: Friendly Angles
Lesson 4: Missing Measures

Unit 7: Probability: Theoretical Probability, Experimental Probability, and Compound Events

Lesson 30: Understand ProbabilityUnit 8
Lesson 1: How Likely?
Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities

Grade 8

Unit 1: Geometric Figures: Rigid Transformations and Congruence

iReady ClassroomAmplify Classroom
Lesson 1: Understand Rigid Transformations and Their PropertiesUnit 1
Lesson 1: Transformers
Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding
Lesson 2: Work with Single Rigid Transformations in the Coordinate PlaneUnit 1
Lesson 4: Moving Day

Unit 2: Geometric Figures: Transformations, Similarity, and Angle Relationships

Lesson 4: Understand Dilations and SimilarityUnit 2
Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf
Lesson 6: Describe Angle RelationshipsUnit 2
Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt
Lesson 7: Describe Angle Relationships in TrianglesUnit 1
Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out

Unit 3: Linear Relationships: Slope, Linear Equations, and Systems

Lesson 8: Graph Proportional Relationships and Define SlopeUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials
Lesson 13: Solve Systems of Linear Equations AlgebraicallyUnit 4
Lesson 11: Make Them Balance
Lesson 12: Line Zapper

Unit 4: Functions: Linear and Nonlinear Relationships

Lesson 15: Understand FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing
Lesson 2: Guess My Rule
Lesson 16: Use Functions to Model Linear RelationshipsUnit 5
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare

Unit 5: Integer Exponents: Properties and Scientific Notation

Lesson 19: Apply Exponent Properties for Positive Integer ExponentsUnit 7
Lesson 1: Circles
Lesson 3: Power Pairs
Lesson 22: Work with Scientific NotationUnit 7
Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific
Lesson 11: Balance the Scale

Unit 6: Real Numbers: Rational Numbers, Irrational Numbers, and the Pythagorean Theorem

Lesson 23: Find Square Roots and Cube Roots to Solve ProblemsUnit 8
Lesson 4: Root Down
Lesson 25: Find Rational Approximations of Irrational NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 10: Taco Truck
Lesson 27: Apply the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle
Lesson 28: Solve Problems with Volumes of Cylinders, Cones, and SpheresUnit 8
Lesson 11: Cylinders
Lesson 13: Cones

Unit 7: Statistics: Two-Variable Data and Fitting a Linear Model

Lesson 29: Analyze Scatter Plots and Fit a Linear Model to DataUnit 6
Lesson 3: Robots
Lesson 4: Dapper Cats
Lesson 6: Find the Fit

Disclaimer

This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Families and caregivers, welcome to Amplify Desmos Math 6–12!

Welcome to the Amplify Desmos Math Grade 6–Algebra 2 Caregiver Hub. We’ve designed this space to help you support your student at every stage of their math journey. 

In class, your student engages with digital lessons using devices as well as write-in Student Edition books. They also may be assigned digital or print practice outside of class. Below, you’ll find some suggestions and resources for how you can support their learning at home.

Learn more about Amplify Desmos Math.

Para la versión en español, haga clic aquí.

Person wearing a construction hat and safety vest in a wheelchair, discussing with a phone and controlling the placement of a large triangular piece in a construction setting, with math symbols around.

Caregiver Unit Resources

For every unit of the program, we’ve created a Caregiver Resource that provides a summary of each lesson, plus a problem to try with your student (and an answer key). These resources are available in both English and Spanish, as well as a glossary of key terms in both languages.

Unit 1: Area and Surface Area

Unit 2: Introducing Ratios

Unit 3: Rates and Percentages

Unit 4: Dividing Fractions

Unit 5: Decimal Arithmetic

Unit 6: Expressions and Equations

Unit 7: Positive and Negative Numbers

Unit 8: Describing Data

Unit 1: Scale Drawings

Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships

Unit 3: Measuring Circles

Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages

Unit 5: Operations With Positive and Negative Numbers

Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms

Unit 8: Probability and Sampling

Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence

Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Slope

Unit 3: Proportional and Linear Relationships

Unit 4: Linear Equations and Linear Systems

Unit 5: Functions and Volume

Unit 6: Associations in Data

Unit 7: Exponents and Scientific Notation

Unit 8: The Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers

Unit 1: Area and Surface Area

Unit 2: Introducing Ratios and Rates

Unit 3: Fractions and Decimals

Unit 4: Expressions and Equations

Unit 5: Proportional Relationships

Unit 6: Percentages

Unit 7: Positive and Negative Numbers

Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions

Course Glossary

Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence

Unit 2: Scale Drawings, Dilations, and Similarity

Unit 3: Equations and Inequalities

Unit 4: Linear Relationships and Systems of Linear Equations

Unit 5: Functions

Unit 6: Associations in Data

Unit 7: Volume and Surface Area

Unit 8: Exponents and Scientific Notation

Unit 9: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers

Course Glossary

Unit 1: Patterns and Sequences

Unit 2: Linear Equations and Inequalities

Unit 3: Describing Data

Unit 4: Describing Functions

Unit 5: Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities

Unit 6: Exponential Functions

Unit 7: Quadratic Functions

Unit 8: Quadratic Equations

Unit refresh videos

Unit 1

  • Sub-Unit 1a – Calculating the Area of Parallelograms
  • Sub-Unit 1b – Calculating the Area of Triangles
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Determining the Surface Area of Rectangular Prisms

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Dividing Fractions Using Tape Diagrams
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Dividing Fractions Using Common Denominators
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Determining the Volume of Prisms With Fractional Dimensions

Unit 5

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Adding and Subtracting Decimals
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Multiplying Decimals Using Area Models
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Dividing Decimals Using Fractions
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Converting Between Fractions, Percents, and Decimals

Unit 6

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Writing and Solving Equations
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Writing Equivalent Expressions Using the Area Model
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Evaluating Expressions With Exponents
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Interpreting Graphs

Unit 7

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Ordering and Comparing Positive and Negative Numbers
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Identifying Solutions to Inequalities
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Plotting Points on the Coordinate Plane

Unit 8

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Creating Dot Plots
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Calculating Mean Absolute Deviation
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Interpreting Box Plots
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Predicting Population Using Sample Data (For use with Amplify Desmos Math New York)
  • Sub-Unit 5 – Predicting Sample Spaces Using Proportional Relationship (For use with Amplify Desmos Math New York)

Unit 1

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Using Ratios to Determine the Scale Factor Between Scaled Copies
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Using Ratios to Determine Unknown Scales in Scale Drawings

Unit 2

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining the Constant of Proportionality
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Writing Equations for Proportional Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Comparing Proportional Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Representing Proportional Relationships with Multiple Representations

Unit 3

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining the Circumference of a Circle
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Calculating Areas of Complex Shapes

Unit 4

Unit 5

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Adding and Subtracting Positive and Negative Number
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Dividing Integers
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Solving Real-World Problems Involving Positive and Negative Numbers

Unit 6

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Writing Equations from Descriptions and Tape Diagrams
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Solving Equations With Positive and Negative Numbers
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Solving Inequalities

Unit 7

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining Unknown Angle Measures
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Determining If Three Segments Form a Triangle
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating the Surface Area of Prisms

Unit 8

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Predicting Sample Spaces Using Proportional Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Predicting Population Using Sample Data

Unit 1

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining Coordinates After a Rotation
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Using Rigid Transformations to Determine if Two Figures on the Grid are Congruent
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Determining Unknown Interior and Exterior Angles

Unit 2

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Performing Dilations on a Square Grid
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Determining Missing Side Lengths in Similar Triangles
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating Slope By Drawing Similar Triangles on a Coordinate Plane

Unit 3

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Writing Equations to Represent Proportional Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Interpreting Slope and Intercepts of Linear Relationships
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating Slope Given Two Points

Unit 4

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Solve Single-Variable Equations with Parentheses
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Graphing

Unit 5

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Justifying Whether a Graph Represents a Function
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Comparing Properties of Linear Functions
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating Volumes of Cylinders

Unit 6

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Interpreting Points on a Scatter Plot
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Using Lines of Fit to Make Predictions
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Calculating Missing Values in Two-Way Tables

Unit 7

Unit 8

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Approximating Square Roots
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Calculating Unknown Side Lengths
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Identifying Rational and Irrational Numbers

Unit 1

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Determining If a Sequence is Arithmetic, Geometric or Neither
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Using Visual Patterns or Terms in the Sequence to Write Explicit Expressions for Arithmetic and Geometric Sequences

Unit 2

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Solving Linear Equations
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Solving Multi-Variable Linear Equations
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Graphing Solutions of Two-Variable Linear Inequalities

Unit 3

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Calculating Values in Two-Way and Relative Frequency Tables
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Comparing Data Using Mean and Standard Deviation
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Interpreting Slope and y-intercept in Context

Unit 4

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Evaluating Function Notation
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Writing Domain and Range with Inequalities
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Graphing Piecewise-Defined Functions
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Writing Recursive Definitions in Function Notation

Unit 5

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Substitution
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Graphing Solutions to Systems of Inequalities

Unit 6

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Writing Exponential Functions from Graphs
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Calculating Percent Change in Exponential Functions
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Writing Equivalent Expressions Using Radicals and Rational Exponents
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Writing Exponential Functions Involving Compound Interest

Unit 7

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Describing Key Features of Parabolas
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Graphing Quadratic Functions in Factored Form
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Writing Quadratic Functions in Vertex Form

Unit 8

  • Sub-Unit 1 – Rewriting Factored-Form Expressions in Standard Form
  • Sub-Unit 2 – Solving Quadratic Equations by Graphing
  • Sub-Unit 3 – Solving Quadratic Equations by Completing the Square
  • Sub-Unit 4 – Solving Quadratic Equations Using the Quadratic Formula

Access Amplify Desmos Math at home.

Your student will have access to all learning, practice, and assessment materials through the Amplify platform. Students can access the digital curriculum in school and at home by following these simple instructions.

  • Click the Amplify Desmos Math button.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the username and password provided by your student’s teacher.
  • Select the desired grade level.

Once logged in, you and your student can view work by opening previous assignments.

Learn how to navigate the student home page.

Support math learning at home.

You can support your student’s math learning outside of school in many ways:

Relate math to daily activities at home, whether you’re baking, grocery shopping, or planning a trip. Your student can help you calculate the prices when you use a coupon, figure out how to cut a recipe in half, or determine the amount of gas you’ll need to make it to your destination.

Invite your student to walk you through how they solved each problem or talk about any parts that were challenging for them. To encourage the use of math language, consider asking, “How do you know?,” “How can you show your thinking?,” or “How would you describe that?” If students get stuck, consider asking questions like, “What information do you know here?” or “How could you represent this problem?”

Remind your student that getting stuck is part of the process and a necessary—beneficial, even!—part of learning. Many students (and adults) fear making mistakes. But research shows that making mistakes helps our brains grow. When your student gets stuck on a problem, encourage them to keep trying different strategies, even if they’re not sure they’re right.

We hope your student enjoys exploring math, working with friends to solve problems, and learning new and interesting concepts. And we hope you enjoy this exciting math journey with them!

Get more information.

Have a question about Amplify Desmos Math? Visit our help library to search for articles with answers to your program questions. For additional support, please contact your student’s teacher.

S5-03. Cultivating a joy of learning with Sesame Workshop

A blue graphic with text reading "Math Teacher Lounge" in multicolored letters and "Amplify." at the bottom, with abstract geometric shapes and lines as decoration.

Listen as we chat with Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, senior vice president of curriculum and content for Sesame Workshop! Continuing our theme of math anxiety this season, we sat down with Dr. Truglio to chat about Sesame Street and her thoughts on how to spread a growth mindset to young children and put them on course to academic achievement and long-term success.
 
Listen today and don’t forget to grab your MTL study guide to track your learning and make the most of this episode!

Download Transcript

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (00:00):
Children don’t come with this math anxiety. Math anxiety is learned.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:07):
Welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson.

Dan Meyer (00:11):
And I’m Dan Meyer.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:12):
Hello, Dan Meyer.

Dan Meyer (00:14):
Great to see you, Bethany. We are on episode three. Can you believe it?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:18):
So, I feel like we’ve just started scratching the surface about math anxiety. We’ve talked to two amazing researchers. We’ve talked about what math anxiety is, how it’s often screened for some of the causes, some of the consequences … I mean, we’ve had some good conversations. Dan, what do you think?

Dan Meyer (00:38):
Definitely, I think that the consequences have only grown more dire in my head. I’m not sure how you feel about the consequences. But, you know, it is enough for me that we ask students to take mathematics for much of their childhoods, to worry about their anxiety, taking that. But to hear about from these researchers about all the different things that correlate with math achievement and math anxiety—talking about future careers, certainly, but even some other, more serious lifelong concerns? That gives me a lot of motivation to continue this study of math anxiety here with you on the show.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:14):
It is really widespread. It has a big impact, not only on students, but on parents, on educators. You know, it’s—

Dan Meyer (01:23):
Multi-generational.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:25):
Yes. And you know, so often when folks think of math anxiety, what I hear them say is, “Oh, yeah, in high school is when math really ramps up. That’s when anxiety starts.” But we know that it starts in our youngest learners. And our research has already backed that up. We know it. I’ve seen it in my classroom. You may have seen it with some students you work with. And let me tell you, it starts young.

Dan Meyer (01:52):
It does start early. Right now, I have a son that’s just started kindergarten, and he seems relatively math-positive, but we’ve known from our interviews on this show and other kinds of experiences that oftentimes, that feeling —that math is for me, and I am for math, and we are all friends — can turn on a single moment. It seems like one teacher says a thing that changes a student’s perception of themselves as a mathematician or of math itself. So I keep waiting with bated breath, hoping not to find that one moment that changes our current open posture towards mathematics. So now it’s time to really dive into some strategies for combating math anxiety.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:34):
To help us out, we’ve called on a pretty exciting guest. I am so excited, Dan Meyer! We are being joined by Dr. Rosemarie Truglio. She is Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content at Sesame Workshop. Sesame Workshop! As in, “Tell me how to get to Sesame Street.” Dan, I have to tell you, I spent many, many hours of my childhood watching Sesame Street. I have to ask, do you have happy Sesame Street memories? Is this part of your formation, Dan Meyer?

Dan Meyer (03:08):
At this point? In my advancing years, and the brain cells that I have left, Sesame Street is really kind of just a vibe in my head. But that vibe is such a pleasant one. One in which like nothing bad could happen. One in which learning is common and normalized and fun. And you just kind of feel at home, constantly.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:33):
I don’t know about the “just the vibe” part, because for me, it is visceral. I’m there. I am actually … I mean, I might still be there.

Dan Meyer (03:42):
You could reenact some of the skits?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:44):
. You didn’t watch Sesame Street with your kiddos when they were younger?

Dan Meyer (03:49):
We watched a lot of Elmo. A lot of Elmo. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:52):
Next-generation Sesame Street. Well, I think it’s so perfect that we’re gonna be talking about what Sesame Workshop does to help combat math anxiety and create a positive connection and relationship with mathematics. So I’m really excited to hear what Dr. Truglio and her team have been working on. And here’s our conversation with Dr. Truglio.

Dan Meyer (04:15):
Welcome to the show, Dr. Truglio. It is an honor.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (04:18):
Great to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Dan Meyer (04:20):
You are Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content at Sesame Workshop, which definitely sounds like the coolest job in the world to both four-year-old me and also Now me. Would you just help us help us with some backstory of how you ended up here, and what you do at Sesame Workshop?

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (04:38):
Sure. It is a pretty cool job. And I am very fortunate that I’ve been in this position for the past 26 years. So, I am a developmental psychologist, and my job is to help Sesame Workshop identify curriculum needs, so that we could address them in the content that we create on the show and across our various platforms. So, Sesame Street is currently in its 53rd season. And we just, wrapped production for the 54th season, which we’ll debut next fall. And Sesame Street began with an experiment: Can television actually teach children school readiness skills, to have them better prepared for school? Especially those children who did not have access to formal education during the preschool years? And it is what we call a whole-child curriculum, because we’re dealing with all of the school readiness needs. So that that includes the academic needs, their social-emotional needs, and their health needs, as well as what we call these cognitive processing skills—how children learn content. Right? So it’s not just content skills, but how you approach learning and how you actually learn content. So as a grad student, I was fortunate to work at the Center for Research on the Influences of Television on Children. Very special center. It was at the University of Kansas. And my advisors, developmental psychologists, they studied the effects of television on children, both the positive effects and the negative effects. And so part of their research was to actually look at the longterm educational effects of Sesame Street. So I was working with Sesame Street content as a grad student, and then came to New York City. My first job was Assistant Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. And when this position became available, Director of Research at the time, it was called, I took that job. And so my job was to oversee both the curriculum and the implementation of the curriculum, as well as the research. Because what we know, our co-founder, Joan Ganz Cooney has always said, for Sesame Street to be a successful educational program, production has to work closely with early childhood educators. They are the ones who know the curriculum and, and develop the curriculum goals, as well as the developmental psychologists who actually study how children are paying attention to the content. But more importantly, what are they comprehending from the content? And we all have to work together. Because even though we are the experts, the real experts are the children themselves. So nothing is deemed final until we actually show the children and see what they are learning from the content that we are producing.

Dan Meyer (07:54):
Are you referring to like, test audiences of kids then?

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (07:57):
Yeah, I guess you could call it test audiences. I mean, I don’t. I don’t like to call it that because I see them as co-collaborators. I don’t see them as a test audience. Because, as I said, they’re the experts. It’s a collaboration. I mean, they’re the experts. And so I wanna know—

Dan Meyer (08:12):
As collaborators. I got it now. Yeah.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (08:14):
They help us. So that’s exactly what we tell the children too. So it’s called formative research. You know, we, we do what we call, um, storybook testing, an animated version of a storybook to have some little movement and see are they finding the story engaging, but more importantly, are they picking up on the intended educational lesson that we’re trying to teach in the story. So they are co-collaborators. they’re the ones who are helping us get the story just right for them.

Dan Meyer (08:46):
That’s really exciting, and makes me think about what classes might be like if students were regarded in that kind of lens as well. I just wanna say that my four-year-old self is on this interview as well, and is re-contextualizing all the stuff I saw as a kid. And it just felt like, at the time, you folks turned the camera on and went down to the street and we just had this real natural time. And it’s great to hear about all the intense preparation and co-construction at work and work that went into that time. Yeah,

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (09:12):
It’s about a year preparation from start to finish. From the start of identifying, “What is the educational need? Is it an academic need? Is it a social-emotional need? Is it a health need? Is it a cognitive-processing need?” And then once we have the need identified, we have what we call a curriculum seminar. We bring in the experts who are studying this topic with preschoolers, because we wanna get it, we wanna get it right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:41):
Which, by the way, little behind the scenes: How often do you get to go to set?

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (09:46):
So we’re in a production probably about six weeks out of the year. Covid really messed things up. ‘Cause we have to be really—we have very strict Covid protocols, but there is someone on my team—and sometimes we have to, you know, rotate for availability—but there’s always an educator on set.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:06):
Awesome.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (10:07):
Because even though you stick to the script, questions arise; they wanna make changes; sometimes they have to cut; things are running too long and they have to cut and we gotta figure out where to cut. So there’s always an educator on set.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:19):
But sometimes you go and have lunch, like—.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (10:21):
Oh, I go, yes. Sometimes I go—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:23):
And just hang out with Big Bird, right?

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (10:24):
Sometimes I go hang out with Big Bird. No, those are my friends!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:27):
They are!

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (10:28):
No, no, I go hang out with them. They’re my friends. Yes.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:32):
When I think about Sesame Street and I think about … like, I can’t help but smile. Because I think I have such fond memories of the characters. I mean, we invited them, my mom invited them, into our home, right? And, you know, now I have a two-year-old and there’s no doubt that I’m gonna introduce him to Sesame Street. And I see how it really does feel like the folks who are doing this work, you and your team, you have a deep respect for children. So it makes sense that you call your test collaborators “collaborators,” right? They’re a part of it. And you know, I love that. And Sesame Street makes me smile. However, I’m like, we’re talking about math anxiety. And it’s so interesting, because as Dan and I were talking about our memories of Sesame Street … you know, it’s like Sesame Street feels like there’s not much anxiety. I mean, there are problems, and there’s problem solving, and it’s not like everything is perfect. But we figure it out. And it’s OK to make mistakes and it’s OK to try again. And a lot of times, we don’t see that in the math classroom—or at least, how folks talk about math. So, how do you all think about anxiety, about how to prevent it? Like, when you’re doing your work, you know that math anxiety is a real thing. But then that’s not translated in these experiences and the relationships with math that you’re building with your viewers.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (12:07):
Yeah, that’s a really good question, because it’s really easy, because our core audience are two- to four-year-olds and they love math. And what’s not to love, right? Because they are figuring the world out as they’re exploring the world. So you said something really interesting, that when you turn on the TV—when you turned on the TV when you were a child, and now you’re a mom of a two-year-old, we wanna make sure that the show represents content that is relevant and meaningful to our target audience. And that comes through with the characters. So all of our characters have very specific personalities, as all children do. And our characters represent all children, in terms of not only personality, but interest and learning styles, ’cause we wanna see—we wanna make sure that children see themselves in these characters. And we have a character who actually loves math. And he’s The Count.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:12):
I’m like, “I know! I know who it is!” I will save you my impression. Although I have done it for my child. But I’ll save our listeners .

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (13:20):
And you know, he’s an adult character. Some of our characters are preschoolers, like Elmo and Abby—they’re preschoolers—and Zoe. But The Count is an adult. He lives in the castle and he just loves numbers. But what’s really important is while we have The Count to explain—not explain to, but to portray to children, cause we don’t explain anything; we show children that math is more than number, right? Math is a pretty wide concept. Which is what I love about math. And the other thing about math is math language. The language of math. ‘Cause when we’re teaching children vocabulary words, we’re also teaching children the concept. Be it a math concept or a science concept or a social-emotional concept. So children don’t come with this math anxiety. Math anxiety is learned and it’s unfortunate. It’s picked up by their observations of the adults in their lives, who sometimes say out loud, “I don’t like math,” or “Math is hard,” or even worse, “I’m not good at math.” Or may even label it as math anxiety. That word won’t mean anything to a young child. But it then provides a, whaddya call it, like a negative valence for something that they never felt negative about. Because as they’re growing and interacting with the world, math is all around them. And there’s that sense of awe and wonder and joy, especially as they’re learning and they’re figuring it out. So I think we have to reframe math. Instead of saying “math anxiety,” we have to talk about the joy of math and all the wonderful joys that come with the exploration of these math concepts. Number is great. We know kids love numbers. We know that they love to count and use a big word here: enumerate . Because so many parents don’t make this distinction. They’ll say, “Oh, my child is counting!” Well, there’s rote counting, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, which is important. But then it’s like there’s an item for each number. So it’s one Cheerio, two Cheerios. And then as you point to each number, you are then figuring out what the set is, of the number of objects that you have. And then you get at what I love to call the meaningfulness of math. Right? Number has meaning. And as I said, it’s all part of your everyday activities. It’s part of—it’s in your kitchen; you’re following recipes; you’re measuring; you’re weighing. It’s at bath time, right? You could have the sorting of nested cups and you could, you know, and once again, the math language: big, bigger, biggest. These are relational concepts. You could then count what sinks and what floats, if you’re doing science. And then you could put them in two different buckets, and count. These are the items that sunk and these are the items that float. So math and bath time could be a lot of fun. And then there’s math and music. Music is so rich with math, as you talk about rhythm and tempo and dynamics and pitch and duration. That’s all math.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:57):
The way that you talk about it, it is so rich, right? It is so multi-layered. And you know, I’ve shared on the podcast before: I’ve actually had parents in parent-teacher conferences say that, “Well, I wasn’t good at math either,” or “Math’s really not my thing.” And it’s really—it is, it’s rooted in that fear. And so I do see the way that you’re talking about it; I see that come through in Sesame Street. That, in a lot of ways, it’s reeducating parents, right? Because we hope that our caregivers are sitting next to their kiddo and enjoying it together and having conversations about it later. And there’s a way that parents then are also getting their own sense of what math can be, expanded. And I think there’s such a beauty in that. And I love the way that you talk about that, that you really are looking at, “Well, we wanna celebrate counting and the joyfulness of that. And let’s use math talk, you know, and let’s use these words and try out these ideas.” And it’s not because you’re trying to check some list. But you’re really exploring it and having fun together.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (18:03):
And you’re embracing it. And you mentioned the word “mistake.” So often when it comes to math, if you make a mistake—you make a mistake in counting or, you know, we’re not doing a lot of math equations on Sesame Street, but that’s when people feel like they can’t do math. ‘Cause they made a mistake. And that’s something that we are trying to address on Sesame Street, that it’s OK to make mistakes and you learn through mistakes. But you have to have—and I’m gonna come up with this other phrase now—you have to have what we call a growth mindset. What that means is that I may not be able to do this yet. Like, it’s called “the power of yet.” So we know that learning any concept, it takes time and practice. And how do we have children embrace the process, right? So often we focus on right and wrong. Now, there is right and wrong with math, of course. You know, there’s a right answer and there’s a wrong answer. But how do we focus, not on the end product, but the process through which you are engaging in? So let’s talk about measurement. Let’s talk about measuring the length and the width or the height of something. You might make some mistakes along the way, but you’re processing it. My son used to make all of these little structures for all his little play animals. Well, you know, he would measure and think he got it right. And then when he put the animals in, of course, you know, either the animal was too wide or it was too tall. And he would have to redo it. But you’re not redoing it from scratch, you’re redoing it now from experience. “I realize that if I’m gonna put the giraffe in with the elephant, I’m gonna need something wide as well as high.” Right? For the length, tall. And that’s process. And then, for children, when they figure it out, that “oops” and “aha”—the “aha” was like, “I did it!” And it’s so empowering, you know, giving them agency—not swooping in and saying, “All right, I’ll fix it for you. You know, we got the wide elephant and the tall giraffe and I’ll you know…”. NO! Having them do it. And another fun activity is in what we call informal measurement. And that’s like getting something of an equal size. It could be paper clips or it could be same-size blocks, and then measuring how long something is. So if it’s measured by blocks versus paperclips, you’re gonna have a lot more paperclips than you are blocks. And that kind of comparison is so fascinating for children. And so that’s measurement. And now we have counting. Like, how many paperclips long is something versus how many blocks long is something.

Dan Meyer (21:02):
So checking my understanding here, you’ve talked about how caregivers and other adults can transmit math anxiety by naming it and claiming it for themselves. And you’ve talked about, some really exciting ways that adults can involve students and kids in different kinds of math. I’d love to go upstream with you a little bit and wonder out loud, where does this anxiety come from initially? It’s gotta be more than adult one to kid two talking about anxiety, and transmitting it from human to human. What is the original spring from which all this anxiety flows?

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (21:36):
Yeah. I do think it does—a lot of it does come from the adults in their lives. It’s unfortunate, because there is a lot of math talk about it, right? I can’t do math; I’m not good at math. Even when you’re at a restaurant and you get the bill and someone’s figuring out the tip, I can’t tell you how often it’s like, “Pass the bill, because I can’t do math.” Or if you actually then bring gender into it, you know, “Oh, girls aren’t good at math,” and that’s not true. There’s no evidence of that whatsoever, right? So in the younger grades, there’s no gender difference in terms of math ability. What’s also interesting about even socioeconomic status differences, you don’t see a lot of differences between low-income and middle-income children when it comes to math skills. Where you see differences is children’s ability to talk about their mathematical thinking. So if a child doing a math problem is asked, “How did you solve the problem?”, low-income children don’t often have the language to explain their thinking. So that’s something that we did on Sesame Street, where we focused a lot on what we call math talk. So, not just show number and show doing math, but actually narrate and giving the language. Because math literacy is one of the predictors of overall school achievement. So there’s that. They’re getting it from the adults in their lives. They’re getting it, unfortunately, sometimes from their teachers. But I think the anxiety comes from the fear of making mistakes. Because math, there is right and wrong, and always wanting to get the right answer. So that’s why this whole idea of reframing, and saying, “But really, it’s in the process.” So, you know, my son, math is not his strong suit. And I’ve been doing a lot of growth mindset with him as well. And there was a teacher that he had—I think in like 10th or 11th grade—who said, “In a test, I don’t wanna—I’m not even gonna look at the answer. I wanna see the process through which you GOT to this answer. And I’m going to grade the process. So the process could yield a right answer; it could yield a wrong answer. But you’re gonna get graded on the process. Because I wanna see how you are approaching the problem and how you’re thinking it through.” And I think that is a great example of, maybe, to try to reduce math anxiety. Because if you can get people excited about the process through which you’re learning—and that applies to all subjects, it’s not just math!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:36):
I’m like, that applies to life! Right?

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (24:38):
That applies to life!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:39):
That’s so spot on. Wow. Yeah.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (24:41):
But I think that there’s so much focus on right and wrong, and not really understanding the value of the process. So on Sesame, we’ve been doing a lot of “oops” and “ahas.” You know, we’re gonna make mistakes, but what’s important is what do you DO when you make a mistake? So there’s a great episode with The Count. A couple of years ago. The Count was counting. Something he does every day. A lot of time, every day, ’cause he’s obsessed with counting and numbers. And he was counting an array of items.

Gladys the Cow (25:17):
I need 10 sandwiches all together.

The Count (25:22):
Well, of course.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (25:23):
And he made a mistake.

Elmo (25:25):
The Count?

The Count (25:25):
Hmm?

The Count (25:25):
Elmo thinks The Count made a little mistake.

The Count (25:31):
No mistake.

The Count (25:32):
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (25:33):
And first time ever, did he make a mistake. And he fell apart.

The Count (25:38):
I must make sure that that never happens again. So I shall never count again.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (25:46):
And that’s an example of showing that, you know, you could get upset when you make a mistake, but what’s important is you gotta come back and you gotta come back to doing what you love. In his case, is counting and letting him know that it was an “oops.” But you learn that mistakes are OK. It’s OK to make a mistake and continue to do what you love.

The Count (26:13):
I must keep trying and you should, too.

Elmo (26:17):
Yeah!

The Count (26:17):
So come, let’s count the carrots together!

Elmo (26:18):
Oh, cool!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:19):
And what a beautiful gift to show kiddos. Show that to kiddos, right? And to the adults. I wanna, you know, really acknowledge it, and say, “Hey look this, it’s OK.” And again, you’re giving them that language. That’s such a gift.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (26:34):
Thank you.

Dan Meyer (26:34):
We spend a lot of time wondering why other subjects don’t seem to suffer from this negative perception. And I think you’ve unlocked a lot of that. You’ve mentioned that there are issues that cut across different subject areas, but I think from my own experience and research and interviews, it seems that in ELA and the social sciences, there’s this aspect where you need to come up with a claim and “how are you seeing this?” And there are multiple defensible claims. And I love how you imported that generous pedagogy over into math with this example of a teacher who says, “You know what? It’s about the process here.” Disassociating answer and process.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (27:09):
And I think the other thing is like, when children are engaged in a project, for parents to point out: “You’re doing math!” Because they don’t realize that they’re doing math. Once again, math is so often equated solely with numbers and mathematical computations. So it was really interesting—the same is true for science. You know, when we’re talking to parents about the use of everyday—like, going to the supermarket or making dinner or bath time, there’s so much math and science in the everyday. And then when you point it out to them—”you’re doing math”—it’s like, “I’m doing math!” Like, you’re setting the table for a family of six: you’re doing math. That’s called one one-to-one correspondence. “I’m doing math: I’m setting the table.” Yeah, but you’re doing math. You can’t set the table because you have to know how many people are gonna be sitting at the table for dinner. You can’t follow a recipe without doing math. You can’t go shopping without doing math. There’s quantity; you gotta figure out how many peppers you gotta buy, or pounds. “I gotta get a bunch of potatoes and I gotta put ’em in the scale. And I have to get two pounds of potatoes.”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (28:29):
So your book Ready for School: A Parent’s Guide to Playful Learning for Children Ages Two to Five. First, as a parent of a young toddler, I gotta say it’s such a tool; it’s such a resource. It’s very conversational. And I think about these ideas a lot, both in my work and, you know, just for fun. And yet, even if this wasn’t my chosen field, I still feel like it’s just so accessible. And I wanna flag something.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (29:01):
Thank you.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:01):
Yeah, no. Thank YOU. . I wanna flag something that you said in the math chapter You were talking about the joy of math, and you said when it comes to our children, caregivers: “take pleasure in reading stories together, especially at bedtime, which in many households is a regular part of a child’s routine. But somehow the notion of introducing math concepts to our children seems daunting. In fact, some studies have shown that parents harbor a strong belief that while it’s important and pleasurable to support their child’s reading skills, it’s the responsibility of the schools to take care of teaching math.” And that quote, I highlighted it, I starred it! And I would love for you to say a little more about that, because you have given us already, like, a bounty of ideas that as caregivers we can do with our kiddos or the kiddos in our lives. And we’ve seen that even what they’re learning in school, it may not be the freeing, joyful math language that we hope our kiddos have access to.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (30:05):
Yeah, I’m glad you brought that up. Because a lot of our focus is on how children learn through playful experiences, and how they learn through play in particular. And there are so many playing, either a game or even playing ideas—like we talked about building, you know, a house for animals or building a fort. It’s just so filled with math. And I wish I could narrate for every young parent how I would hope that they would talk as they are co-engaged in this activity. And I think … we asked about, with the anxiety, the adults have to find the joy in math first. They have to see the math. That’s the problem. That’s why I hope that my book provides that. I want you to know that you are doing math and I want you to know that your child is what we call a mathematician—or in the science chapter, is a STEMist. Your child is already doing science, technology, engineering, and math. STEM is so integrated. So to acknowledge them—because babies are doing math! Babies know, they can distinguish between a small quantity and something that is a of a larger quantity and want the larger. Right? So, it’s natural for them. And they are taking it all in. I mean, the joy of watching a child just early counting: you know, one, two. And trying to then figure out the meaningfulness of two. It’s not three objects. There are actually two. And for a parent to see the joy in that I think is step one. And then to see the richness and how expansive math is, and that power of, oops, “I made a mistake, don’t freak out,” and then [not] say, “See, I’m not good at math,” but say, “Let me try again. I know I could figure this out.” Right? It’s all of that supportive language and supportive experiences that builds this mindset, a positive mindset. So that you hope that when you get into the higher grades, they’re not walking in and saying, “I can’t, I can’t do math.”

Dan Meyer (32:26):
Yeah. Super helpful. I think you point at one of the grownups—great powers in the world of kids, which is to label. To name things. And you know, you’ve talked about how grownups should ideally downplay some of their negative experiences with mathematics for the sake of the kid, but also to play up the positive stuff that they’re doing as mathematics. Like that right there, that’s math. I would love to know … you have an extremely loud megaphone to communicate messages about math and the world and everything through Sesame Street. One of the biggest that there is—and I just wonder if you could step out and imagine you had a magic wand to wave over the world in which students grow up, play and learn—what would you do like to help students have better associations or less math anxiety? And, you know, learn more about math itself?

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (33:19):
If I had a magic wand, I would give everyone what we call a growth mindset that nothing is fixed and everything can be changed if you put the time and effort into the process, and enjoy the process. The joy of learning. I think, you know, it’s really sad. I don’t wanna be sad on your show. But when we were getting ready for the 50th anniversary, I was wondering, “What is gonna be the curriculum focus?” You know, we just came off of literacy and math literacy and social-emotional development. And we talked about the power of play. Playful learning. And building careers. Give children sophisticated play scenarios so that they could explore what they may wanna be when they grow up. Because there’s a concept: If I can see it, I can play it, I can be it. Right? So where are those portrayals? And it’s like, “What are we gonna do for the 50th?” And I had a convening of experts across all disciplines, and brought them into a room. And I said, you know, “What keeps you up at night? Like, what are you worried about?” Sort of like the State of the Union of Child Development. And this is where the sad part is. They talked about how that sense of joy, that sense of wonder, that sense of curiosity, that sense of flexible thinking and creative thinking, was disappearing in early childhood. Wow. If it’s disappearing in early childhood, we are in big, big trouble . ‘Cause I could see it disappearing later on, you know, as you advance in grade. But what do you mean, it’s disappearing in childhood? And then they talked about the fear of making mistakes. And that goes against—it’s the opposite of a growth mindset. And so we have to bring back that sense of joy, wonder, asking those why questions and embracing them. So it’s another problem parents have. They’re fine with the “why” questions until the “whys” become so difficult they don’t have the answers. And then they don’t want the “why” questions, because now they feel like they’re not smart enough to answer their child’s “why” questions. How do I flip that around to be much more positive and say, “You know, I don’t know! But let’s find out together. Let’s explore together; let’s experiment together.” That’s what I mean about the shift in the mindset, that growth mindset. We should not know all of the answers, but where’s the joy of, “Wow, I don’t know, let’s go find out together”? And that applies to math too. But you have to have that open mindset. You have to—you, as yourself, have to have that growth mindset.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:20):
I love that magic wand. I want that magic wand! And I think what—like Dan said about this megaphone, this opportunity to reach so many young people, so many caregivers—what a gift! And I’m so grateful that you took time to be in the lounge with us, and that you have shared these ideas. Because truly, I think, like you said, it’s really our youngest learners, right? How can we create and cultivate these opportunities for our youngest learners to find the joy in mathematics and just in learning, right?

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (36:54):
Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:55):
So thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Truglio. We are deeply grateful for your insight and for all the work you do. And we continue to invite the world of Sesame Street into our homes.

Dr. Rosemarie Truglio (37:08):
Thank you. Thank you for allowing us to come into your home, and for you to re-learn with your child as you’re watching Sesame Street. Because it’s very much a parenting show, as it is for a child-directed show, because we are blessed to have these wonderful human cast members who are the stand-ins for parents. And so we are often giving you the language for how to talk about and how to problem-solve together. So thank you.

Dan Meyer (37:43):
Thanks so much for listening to our conversation with Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content at Sesame Workshop.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (37:51):
Dr. Truglio is also the author of Sesame Street Ready for School, A Parents Guide to Playful Learning for Children Ages Two to Five, and we’re gonna make sure we put a link to that in the show notes because it is really, really a rich resource. I’m diving in. I have so many ideas bookmarked that I wanna try out with my kiddo.

Dan Meyer (38:09):
Yeah, it’s really exciting to see—like, for a classroom educator, I just kinda assumed that a lot of math learning happens in the classroom context. That’s my lens. So yeah, I loved reading the book and seeing all the different opportunities for parents for just out there in the world, in front of your house, at the supermarket. All the different opportunities there are for mathematical thinking, and then to think about how to bring that into some of those routines and ideas into the classroom, into formal schooling.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (38:35):
Exactly. Exactly. Like Dr. Truglio said, the caregivers’s disposition about mathematics matters so deeply. Your teachers’ dispositions about mathematics, their beliefs, the way that you hear people talking about math, that impacts our learners. That impacts—like, as a student, that impacts what you think is possible for yourself. So I love this, re-educating ourselves about what math can look like out in the world, in everyday conversations. I don’t know. I really, really appreciated this conversation with Dr. Truglio.

Dan Meyer (39:12):
Same. Yeah. We’d love to hear what you folks think about the work. the book, her ideas. Definitely get in touch with us. Subscribe to Math Teacher Lounge, wherever you get podcasts. And keep in touch with us on Facebook at Math Teacher Lounge Community, and on Twitter at MTL show.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:27):
Also, if you haven’t already, please subscribe to Math Teacher Lounge wherever you get your podcast. And if you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a rating and a review. It’ll help more listeners find the show. And while you’re at it, let a friend know about this episode, because you enjoyed it; they might enjoy it. On our next episode, we’re gonna be chatting with Dr. Heidi Sabnani and taking a closer look at best practices for coaching teachers to reduce their own math anxiety.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (39:56):
One of the teachers that I worked with had done her student teaching with a teacher who had math anxiety and who never taught math. And so she entered her teaching career never having taught math before or seeing it taught.

Dan Meyer (40:10):
Thanks again for listening, folks.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:12):
Bye.

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What Dr. Rosemarie Truglio says about math

“We all have to work together, because even though we are the experts [on curriculum and education], the real experts are the children themselves.”

– Dr. Rosemarie Truglio

Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content, Sesame Workshop

Meet the guest

Rosemarie T. Truglio, Ph.D. is the Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content at Sesame Workshop. Dr. Truglio is responsible for the development of the interdisciplinary curriculum on which Sesame Street is based and oversees content development across platforms (e.g., television, publishing, toys, home video, and theme park activities).  She also oversees the curriculum development for all new show production, including  Bea’s Block, Mecha BuildersEsme & RoyHelpsters, and Ghostwriter. Dr. Truglio has written numerous articles in child and developmental psychology journals and presented her work at national and international conferences. Her current book is Ready for School! A Parent’s Guide to Playful Learning for Children Ages 2 to 5, published by Running Press (2019).

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About Math Teacher Lounge

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

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S5-02. Uncovering the causes of math anxiety

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We’re continuing our season theme of math anxiety, going beyond the basics, diving deeper into what causes it, and how we can help students move forward. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Erin Maloney from the University of Ottawa to better understand what’s actually happening in the brain when a person experiences math anxiety, and how we can take steps to shift student mindsets in a positive direction.
 
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Download Transcript

Dr. Erin Maloney (00:00):

It’s the anxiety itself in many ways that can cause people to underperform.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:06):

Welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson.

Dan Meyer (00:10):

And I’m Dan Meyer.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:11):

This is episode two of our new season, all about math anxiety. Who has it? What is it? What do we do about it?

Dan Meyer (00:20):

I’m learning so much, learning a ton.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:22):

I loved our first conversation with Dr. Gerardo Ramirez, episode one, our first episode of the season. Really, our goal with that conversation was just to—we need to talk about the basics of it, for reals. Like, what is math anxiety?

Dan Meyer (00:36):

What is it? How do you measure it? How’s it defined? Super-helpful stuff.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:40):

There’s not only one way that it’s measured. But it’s like, in active research right now, how are folks making sense of it? And I think Dr. Ramirez did such a fantastic job of sharing that with our listeners. And I learned a lot. You learned a lot, Dan?

Dan Meyer (00:56):

I did. And I’m also super-excited to take that knowledge that we have developed together and go and build on top of it and keep on climbing up up the mountain here, and learn more about math anxiety. Which is why we’re super-excited to have a guest on, Dr. Maloney, who is going to help us learn more—especially about what happens to the brain when it’s experiencing math anxiety. There’s some really complex stuff that happens there, including the role of parents and educators in creating and resolving math anxiety. And I think we’ll also learn that the whole situation is a bit of a hot mess. And we’ll try to make it a little bit less messy together.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:34):

Little bit less messy. Dan, if we do nothing else, can we make it a little less messy?

Dan Meyer (01:41):

I sometimes prefer more mess, but in this case I prefer less. So.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:45):

I have a two-year-old, so everything is a mess.

Dan Meyer (01:47):

Your life is mess. Yes. <laugh> Right. Well, I’m excited for you folks to hear this. It was a delightful conversation, so yeah, tune in. We are joined by Dr. Erin Maloney.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:56):

Let’s go. We are joined by Dr. Erin Maloney, associate professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, where she directs the Cognition and Emotion Laboratory, as well as serving as the Canada Research Chair in Academic Achievement and Well-being. Welcome to the show, Dr. Maloney. We’re so excited to have you in the Lounge.

Dr. Erin Maloney (02:20):

Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This is fantastic.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:24):

So our last season was all about math and joy. And even when I read your title, I felt more joyful. Like, somebody is thinking about academic achievement, but with well-being in mind. I love it.

Dr. Erin Maloney (02:39):

Aw, thank you.

Dan Meyer (02:40):

Cognition and emotion!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:42):

E-mo-tion!

Dr. Erin Maloney (02:43):

I don’t think they can be separate. I think that you have to think about them together, ’cause they’re so intricately connected.

Dan Meyer (02:49):

Love that. People try, but we love that. Yeah. That’s our vibe here, too.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:52):

People try. That was a big problem with my math anxiety. They just wanted…there was no room for my emotion. They’re like, stop weeping at your desk—

Dan Meyer (03:00):

It’s rearranging neurons….

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:01):

—you’re distracting the other children. So would you mind telling us the story of how you even got interested in this topic? You know, when you tell people that you study math anxiety—or, actually, I don’t know how you describe it to them; I’m hopeful you bring in that well-being part—but how did you get here? What do you, what do you, what do you…yeah, tell us! We love it!

Dr. Erin Maloney (03:23):

<laugh> I feel like what you’re actually asking is, “How did you make life choices that got you to here?” <Laugh>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:29):

Justify your life choices! Ready? Go!

Dr. Erin Maloney (03:32):

<laugh> Whoo. OK. So, all right. So we often, in psychology, we joke that instead of doing research, we do “me-search.” And that’s, that’s admittedly true in my case. I was a student who absolutely loved math up until about eighth grade, and then something changed, and all of a sudden I was terrified of math and I had absolutely no sense of self-efficacy in it. Despite trying really hard, I was extremely anxious about it. And so I initially, I set out…my parents were completely convinced that I was absolutely capable of doing mathematics and that I was getting in my own way. And when I went to university, I decided to prove them wrong. So I set out to prove that some people just can’t do math, and that’s the end of it. And, you know, 20 plus years later, my parents were right. And it turns out that many people—well, I would argue virtually everyone—can do math. And that if you are really anxious about it, it can get in the way. And interestingly, you know, in, in the years that we’ve been doing this research, there’s really good strategies that can be used—that hopefully we get a chance to chat about—that can really help reduce the amount of anxiety that students are experiencing. But I really did set out, like the bold teenager that I was, to prove my parents wrong. And that backfired <laugh>. So I know it’s kind of a strange answer, but it’s the truth. So I was really interested in understanding why it was some people just could not do math.

Dan Meyer (05:10):

That makes two for two so far, on guests for this season who did a version of me-search. And I feel like this is pretty common for a lot of researchers. Like, I wanna figure out…my experience as a teacher, the part where you, I think, diverge from a lot of people I knew in grad school, myself included, is that you actually let counter evidence change your perspective on things. Whereas I feel like a lot of us go in: “I know this is true and I’m gonna gather data!” and lo and behold, I’m true! But only now, with the research TM, you know, trademarked research, attached to it. So that’s, really exciting. Thanks for sharing that.

Dr. Erin Maloney (05:43):

No, you’re welcome.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:44):

But don’t people say that the more personal you get, the more universal it is? Right? So if you go and get your doctorate about something that you think is just your experience or in your brain, then people are gonna be gonna be like, “Wait a second; you think that too?” “Wait, that math anxiety isn’t just you?” I don’t know, it sounds like a pretty great path to me. When you tell folks that you study math anxiety or when you’re speaking to folks about your research, do you find that there is a lot of folks who relate to what you’re studying? Or how does that conversation typically go?

Dr. Erin Maloney (06:20):

Yeah, so it is I think an extremely relatable topic. Not in the sense that everyone experiences anxiety about math, but everyone seems to know somebody who’s really anxious about math. Or everyone’s at least aware of the stereotype that like some people are math people and some people aren’t, and that’s just the way it is. So it feels like everyone has feelings about math and everyone seems very happy to share those feelings. So one thing I’ve always found really interesting, and actually, so I, I know you mentioned that you had Gerardo on recently. Gerardo and I have had really interesting conversations about how people are really quick to tell you that they hate math and they can’t do math, and they’re anxious about math. And I’ve yet to have anyone ever tell me they hate reading, they can’t read, they’re really anxious about reading as an adult. So for some reason math seems really different. And in that sense people always seem to be pretty excited to talk about their feelings towards math.

Dan Meyer (07:23):

Yeah, definitely. Been on an airplane or two myself and had those conversations. You know, people asking to be reseated because they found out that I do math for a living or whatever. Or just unburdening themselves, for sure. I’m super-curious: I think that the fact that you are doing the me-search is reason enough to want to dedicate your life to this study. But I am curious: If you were gonna justify to someone else, why is math anxiety important to study? What are its consequences, even outside of math education? What would you say to that?

Dr. Erin Maloney (07:57):

So I think it’s probably not hard to convince people that success in math is important, right? So we know that children who start elementary school behind in mathematics tend to stay behind in mathematics, unless they have any kind of very targeted intervention. We know that children who do worse in mathematics throughout K to 12 education in general get lower-paying jobs when they’re older. We also know that when they do worse than mathematics relative to their peers, there’s fewer jobs that are open to them, relative to if they excelled in math. Right? And so I think in many ways there are really clear consequences for students who are not comfortable with math and who avoid it. But I think one of the really, really interesting things about math anxiety, and maybe part of why I’ve fallen in love with it as a research topic is that it’s the anxiety itself in many ways that can cause people to underperform. So it’s not just the case that people who are bad at math are anxious about it. It’s actually that the anxiety itself can cause you to do worse in math. And that for me is really exciting, ’cause it means that if we can change your mindset, then we can really set you on a path with several more options available to you career-wise. And I think that is really empowering.

Dan Meyer (09:18):

Hmm. Yeah, definitely. And I’d love for you to explore — your laboratory is the cognition and emotion laboratory, which I love, how you’re creating those linkages between how you feel about a thing and what your opportunities or your aptitude for learning it. I’m really curious, can you say more about the, the relationship there? How does feeling anxiety impair your ability to do mathematics?

Dr. Erin Maloney (09:41):

Yeah, so feeling anxiety, typically what you tend to experience is these negative thoughts and ruminations. So you can imagine, you’re somebody who doesn’t really love math, you’re pretty anxious about it; you know, Bethany, maybe you’ve had this kind of experience before. I’m gonna call you out on it. I’ve had it many times, where you sit down to do a math test and all of a sudden you’re not focusing on the actual math test in front of you. You’re focusing on things like the consequences of not doing well on this. Right? Or “my parents are gonna be really disappointed if I don’t pass this test,” or “my teacher is gonna think negatively negative of me,” or sometimes we see things like, “I’m a girl, girls don’t do math.” These types of stereotypes. And what happens is that those thoughts actually tie up really important cognitive resources, like, really important memory resources, that you need to do the math test. And so if you are trying to essentially do two things at once, right? You’re trying to deal with all these negative thoughts that are distracting you and you’re trying to do the math test, then you’re not going to do as well as someone who’s sitting down and doesn’t have all of these distracting thoughts to deal with. And we actually know that from research that we have in our lab right now, where we just ask people like, “Hey, when you did this math test, what kind of stuff are you thinking about?” what we find is that the people who are really anxious about math report a whole bunch of thoughts that are unrelated really to the math test, per se. It’s more about the consequences of doing poorly. And as a result of those thoughts, they actually end up doing worse.

Dan Meyer (11:14):

This has been really helpful to figure out, how the emotional state of doing math affects the ability to do math. And it’s really interesting how you’re saying that the direction of the causality can go from the emotions to the cognition. And I’m just curious then, what is the source of the bad emotions about math? Where does that come from? Is it nature? Is it nurture? Some combination? How do you see it?

Dr. Erin Maloney (11:39):

Yeah, so one, that’s a fantastic question. And there’s been a whole bunch of people all around the world that have been spending a lot of time really trying to pinpoint that down. And I think the answer is that it’s, you know, it’s complex. So most of what it’s looking like right now is that it is a combination of both. So essentially what we find is that kids who start elementary school who are a little bit behind in math—and for the question of why they’re behind, that’s also complex; it could be genetics, it could be just environmental input, before the child ever entered formal schooling kind of thing—but in essence, what we find is that kids that start school behind in mathematics, those are the children who are most likely to develop anxiety about math by the time they’re finished first grade. OK? But we also know that once they’ve developed the anxiety about math, then that’s when they get these thoughts and ruminations that kind of tie up those memory resources, that then is gonna make it harder for them to succeed in math tests. So you get into this sort of vicious cycle, right? Where maybe you start behind a little bit and then you develop the anxiety, the anxiety causes you to underperform relative to what you should be able to, so now you’re even further behind, you get more anxious because you’re not doing as well as you’d like to…but again, kind of coming back to the “Why are the children starting behind in the first place?” Some of that seems to be the role that parents are playing in the household. So some kids come from a household where parents are playing a lot more math games with them, talking about mathematical concepts on a regular basis. Maybe they have older siblings who are, you know, practicing arithmetic and, and mathematical processing in front of them. And so those kids are exposed to more math before they ever even start formal schooling. Those kids seem to do better. And then we also know that the parents’ attitudes matter a lot too. So what we find is that when parents are high in math anxiety themselves, especially when they help their children a lot with their math homework in really early ages, we find that those kids end up being more anxious about math by the end of the school year, and they also end up doing worse in mathematics. So it really does seem to be, you know, kind of a complex set of factors that have something to do with both maybe genetic predisposition to success in math and genetic predisposition to anxiety, but then also the social attitudes and stereotypes about math to which you’re exposed at home that really seem to be coming together to create this anxiety in young children.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (14:24):

I feel like everything you’re saying is <laugh>…it makes so much sense and yet it’s so often not talked about, right? Because it’s just more like, it gets boiled down to, “Oh, they’re just not a math person,” instead of all these other factors that are at play. And I completely remember the anxiety I felt, whether it was a test or not, walking into my math classroom when I was in ninth grade. And there’s no way I was set up and ready to learn. Right? <Laugh>. And something with—we mentioned Dr. Ramirez, he was talking about validating that anxiety. If teachers validate that like, “Oh, you know what, sometimes you might feel stumped, or this might feel overwhelming.” Even the power in creating space for that in the classroom, right? And acknowledging that it doesn’t—math doesn’t have to “come easy” to you in order for you to have access or make sense, is such a powerful concept. And I love the way that you are looking at all these different factors and saying, “Hey, it’s both simple and also a lot more complicated than we’re we’re making it.” Right?

Dr. Erin Maloney (15:36):

No, and I agree with that sentiment so much. Like, I think, though—one thing I will sort of caution is that I think when teachers are validating the anxiety, or when parents are validating the anxiety, I think there’s a very fine line that needs to be walked where we need to be able to say, you know, “It’s OK to struggle with something. That’s, that is completely OK.” And as we’re, you know, as we’re working towards something that’s really valuable, right? We can, we can work hard at something and by working hard at it, we’re going to get better. And I think that type of validating is really, really important and valuable. I think what we wanna be careful of is not to say things like, “Oh, it’s OK. I also never loved math.” And, you know, “Oh, I was never a math person either.” And so even though we might be bringing comfort to the the child, I think that that’s sending the wrong message. And so sometimes it’s really well intentioned and really not great—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:37):

A hundred percent.

Dr. Erin Maloney (16:38):

—in terms of the messaging. So that’s the only…so just for people listening, the only sort of caution that I would give there is that I think there’s nuances to the validating of the feelings that are important.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:50):

I am so glad you said that because as a kindergarten teacher, I vividly remember—and this is as early as, you know, the kids are five years old, right?—and I remember in a parent-teacher conference, a parent saying, “Oh, I wasn’t a math person either,” or, “Oh, no, ugh.” And they were so quick, like you said, they wouldn’t say that about reading, but they were so quick to talk about their lack of natural math aptitude, right? And, and it was really interesting because you know that even if they’re not saying that specific thing at home, those attitudes are absolutely carrying over at home. And they’re absolutely carrying over to, to how they interact with their kiddo around math and around what’s happening in the conversations about math. And I felt like a lot of times my work as a teacher was also to help support parents through their own math anxiety, and help give them some new language for how they can talk about math. And that math is more than just getting to an answer quickly. Like, let’s talk about, let’s go on math walks, let’s go on number walks, what numbers are around the home? Or oh, is that bigger than this? Do you have more of this? And even those little things, I, my hope was that it was starting to shift the conversation around what math was possible in the home, particularly when you saw that it was the parents who had palpable math anxiety. Right? And how much you know that that’s gonna impact what’s happening when you sit down to do homework together.

Dr. Erin Maloney (18:22):

Yeah. And I love that you have worked to encourage parents to do that. So we do similarly. Like even from a research perspective, where I will often give talks to parents and teachers and we talk about the idea of trying to mathematize everything, right? So just the idea that math is absolutely everywhere, and you know, whether it’s a matter of playing games in the car with your kids where you’re thinking of a number and it’s “My number is higher than 42, but lower than 80, and what number do you think I might be thinking of?” And, and gradually trying to get the child to that number. Or, you know, asking questions like, “What’s your favorite even number and why?” And just little things like that that, that I think can make math fun for kids, that help—I don’t even know how to explain it, but just that idea of bringing joy into it, so it’s not always this heavy subject that kids have to come to. So we definitely try to talk to parents about the idea of, like I said, mathematizing everything. And usually it’s well-received, ’cause often parents find it empowering, right? They’re like, “Oh, well, I could do that! But like, that’s not math!” And you’re like, “No, but it is.”

Dan Meyer (19:33):

Yep.

Dr. Erin Maloney (19:34):

Like, it is! And sometimes parents will say like, “Well, I don’t know how to do fractions.” And you’re like, “OK, but how do you bake?” “Well, I don’t know! I just, like, I know how to do those fractions!” And you’re like, “OK, but that’s the starting point. Let’s work with that.” Like, let’s, you know. And I think a lot of times, it’s reminding the parents that they’re actually far more capable than what they think they are, despite the fact that maybe they struggled with math when they were younger.

Dan Meyer (19:58):

Yeah. This is so interesting. And I feel like part of the challenge around conversations about anxiety and math and how to, how to resolve it and where it comes from, is that it, like, it presupposes a single definition of math. And so, you know, we’re talking about like how to be more mindful about math. But you know, like if kids were walking every day through a treacherous street, you know, the solution might not be become more mindful about that street. It’s just like, we gotta fix the treacherous nature of the street, really. You know, I love that we’re talking also about redefining what math is, making it more playful. That feels like a super-important component here. I’d love to know more about what you know about the role of gender in all of this. Are there differences in the way boys and girls experience math anxiety and how it relates to achievement in math?

Dr. Erin Maloney (20:48):

Yeah, so, there’s really, really interesting research on gender in math anxiety. So in general, we find that girls tend to experience more anxiety about math than boys do. So one hypothesis is that it has to do with just social stereotypes that, you know, girls are, are good at reading; boys are good at math, kind of thing. So there’s some evidence to suggest that that might be playing a role. There’s other evidence to suggest as well that maybe boys actually do experience as much anxiety, they just don’t really own up to it.

Dan Meyer (21:20):

Ooh, yikes.

Dr. Erin Maloney (21:21):

So thoughts are, you know, there’s a bit of an apprehension for males to admit experiencing the anxiety. But I think one of the things that is extremely interesting about it—at least to me—is that we don’t tend to see gender differences in young children. So in early elementary school, even though we’ll see that kids as young as six years old will experience anxiety about math, and that that anxiety is related to how well they do in math and how much they enjoy math, it doesn’t seem to vary as a function of gender at that young age. It doesn’t seem to be related to gender until kids are at about sixth, seventh grade that we really start to see this gender difference coming online. And so that, to me, suggests that it’s probably something more social than biological at play. It probably has something more to do with these stereotypes and stuff. But another really interesting—or at least, I’m biased, but to me—another really interesting line of research that comes into play—and some of this is stuff out of my own lab—so we know that boys in general tend to do better at spatial processing than girls. And we know that spatial processing is really important for math, right? So math and space are pretty connected. And by spatial processing, I mean things like being able to picture something rotating in your mind or, you know, envisioning how these puzzle pieces might fit together. And so we know that boys tend to do better at that type of processing. And the gender difference there seems to be related to gender differences in math anxiety. So there’s some speculation, too, that it might be that as the math starts to become more reliant on spatial processing, that that’s when we see this separation between boys and girls with respect to how much anxiety they feel about math. So a lot of this is to say, I think the answer to the gender question right now is what I think what we would officially call a bit of a hot mess, <laugh> where I think there’s probably more questions than answers. But I think that there’s definitely something going on. And it really seems to be coming on later in elementary school.

Dan Meyer (23:32):

That’s a refreshingly honest admission from a social scientist, that it’s a hot mess and not perfectly clear, <laugh> so I appreciate that. It’s interesting what you said about the spatial reasoning. In our work creating curriculum at Amplify, I find we lean a lot on trying to tie abstract math towards spatial topics. Like, can you estimate a quantity before you calculate it? Can you identify a pattern and where it breaks before you prove it abstractly? And, I dunno, it’s just interesting to me. I’m just thinking out loud about how I feel like math becomes more abstract rather than more spatial. The farther you venture into secondary math…I’m wondering if I misunderstand what you’re meaning by spatial, and the progression of math from K–12.

Dr. Erin Maloney (24:20):

Yeah, so I think you can still have—you can have math be abstract, but still really relying on spatial processing. Right? And I think part of that is maybe a bit of us having different definitions of when we say “spatial.” So in cognitive science, when we talk about spatial representations or spatial reasoning, it’s really like anything you’re picturing in your mind, any time you’re really picturing these things in your mind and manipulating those images at all. So if you imagine, even like at a simple level, but it’s gonna hold when you’re going more complex as well. So doing like equivalence problems, for example, where you have to balance the equations.

Dan Meyer (24:58):

Yeah.

Dr. Erin Maloney (24:59):

Even just being able to envision things kind of moving around that equal sign and bringing one piece of the equation from this side to the other is actually an extremely spatial kind of reasoning. Right? Or when you’re expanding, that’s actually extremely extremely spatial, despite the fact that it might not feel like it initially. Obviously anything in geometry is going to be very spatial. So I think, in that sense, we would argue that the spatial processing is still playing a pretty important role. But it’s maybe a different type of spatial processing than what we’re seeing at a very early level in elementary school. That said, you can completely disagree with me too. ‘Cause I could also just be wrong, and that’s fair. My kids tell me I’m wrong all the time. So I’m used to <laugh> being told that I’m wrong.

Dan Meyer (25:47):

Well, we’re a bit more deferential on this here show, with our guests. So I would not do that. But it makes sense, what you’re saying about how these are things that you manipulate in your mind, whether they are Xs and Ys or numbers and fractions. These are all things that we manipulate. That ties into differences in this spacial reasoning category, it sounds like, which then contributes to math anxiety. And it does start to feel like there’s a lot going on here, is what it feels like.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:14):

You mean hot mess?

Dan Meyer (26:16):

I meant hot mess.

Dr. Erin Maloney (26:17):

Yeah. <laugh>, I think that’s the technical term, right? I’m pretty sure that’s the technical term for it.

Dan Meyer (26:21):

I didn’t know the citation for it. So I didn’t say it. But I knew who in literature named that. But yeah.

Dr. Erin Maloney (26:28):

I’ll write something at some point.

Dan Meyer (26:30):

We’ll cite Maloney, 2022. Yeah. Yes.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:34):

So I will say that one of my dreams in thinking about this season and last season, but particularly this season, since we’re really getting to talk to some researchers who get to think about this, and have really interesting conversations about it all the time…one of my dreams is that we’re bringing—’cause we do have some folks who are researchers that are listening, right? But then we also have teachers and folks who are in the classroom every day, and parents and caregivers listening. And so I think one of the beautiful things about the way that I hear you talking about it is you’re thinking about the research, but it’s so applicable. Right? And I wonder if there’s anything else you can say around it. I wanna reduce that divide, that gap, between the research that’s happening and then what’s happening with the kiddos and in the classroom and at home. And I don’t know if it’s like a magic wand thing where like <laugh> if there were changes you’d wanna see at a societal level, to try to combat math anxiety, but you see where I’m going. You know, it’s like <laugh>….

Dr. Erin Maloney (27:39):

  1. So I’m gonna answer maybe in two ways. So I think the first thing that I’m hearing from you is that idea of diminishing this divide, right? And so one thing I try to keep in mind, as someone who’s a researcher and working in the lab, I will often be called in to talk to teachers and give professional development sessions. And they often want the sage-on-the-stage academic, that stands up there and tells you the answers to things. And one of the first things that I’m gonna admit when I get up there is, “I am not on the front lines.” So what I do in the lab, for me to tell you that that’s gonna work in a classroom of 30 kids who may or may not have eaten dinner that day, and may or may not have snow pants, and may or not…like it’s–

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (28:23):

Mmm, yes.

Dr. Erin Maloney (28:24):

You know, I think we also need to be a little bit reasonable. So I try really hard in my own program of research to make sure that I’m always talking to teachers and to principals and to curriculum designers to make sure that the ideas that I have make sense. In fact, one of the most recent book chapters that I wrote, I wrote in collaboration with a really good friend of mine who’s a principal, an elementary school principal, and a former math consultant. And we wrote it together, to really say like, “Hey, here’s how we can help each other inform how research can inform practice and how practice can also inform research.” ‘Cause he can come to me and say, “I’m doing this. I can’t find anything in the literature to support this, but I’m sure it works!” And we can design something in the lab to test whether or not it seems like it’s gonna work.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:11):

That’s huge. Yeah.

Dr. Erin Maloney (29:12):

Empirically. And so I think that open communication is massive. One thing that we’re doing in my own lab to try to keep that open communication available. So to anyone listening who’s ever tried to get access to a journal article, they’re held behind paywalls, right? So one, the way it works, my understanding of this anyway, is that the journal owns the formatted version of the paper. So what we do is we put up audio recordings of all of the research papers that we ever publish. So I’m pretty sure I own the words as the author, and the journal owns the prettified version that you can buy. So we audio-record all of our papers, so that if teachers or parents ever want to hear the actual science that’s going into some of these decisions, they have access to at least the stuff that we do in our lab. And we also put up an infographic for every paper, just highlighting kind of the main questions and main findings. And we do that because I think that the only way for the information to actually be useful is if it gets into the hands of the stakeholders that actually need that information.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (30:21):

And is accessible. That’s huge. That’s huge!

Dr. Erin Maloney (30:24):

Yeah. Yeah. So that’s one way that we try to do it. And like I said, the other thing, we try to always be working with principals and with teachers. I joke that the way that I remedied this in my own life…so my husband’s a teacher; it’s like, I just married one! It’s fine! <laugh> I can grill him on a regular basis, and be like, “I wanna try this experiment. Do you think it’s gonna work?” And he can say, like, “It’s not going to. Here’s why.”

Dan Meyer (30:47):

That’s awesome. Marrying a participant—you know, a research participant—is unethical, of course. Would not clear IRB. But turning your partner into a participant? Like, what are you gonna do? That’s great.

Dr. Erin Maloney (30:57):

Yeah, no, that’s fair game.

Dan Meyer (30:58):

Yep.

Dr. Erin Maloney (30:59):

Yeah. So that’s—I think we we compensate each other <laugh>. So, no…so I do joke a little bit about that. He was a teacher simply ’cause he wanted to be one. Not ’cause I needed him to be one. But, I think that communication part is, is really key. That’s one thing. Then the other part of the question or the other sort of piece of the question that I was hearing is that idea of, how do we fix math anxiety. Right? Like, what’s the great, “I’m glad that there’s a whole bunch of time and effort and energy going into trying to understand this, but what, where are we at?” And I think with that, it’s really, really promising. So there’s been a lot of research coming out looking at how best to help children or even adults manage their own anxiety about math. And there’s a few really interesting strategies that seem to be quite effective. So one, and I don’t know if—um, it feels weird calling him Dr. Ramirez, just ’cause I know him well!—but I don’t know if Dr. Ramirez would’ve talked about this when he chatted with you, but he has some really interesting work on expressive writing. Did he chat about that at all?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (32:07):

He didn’t, but I’ve read some of his work about it and I think it’s so fascinating.

Dr. Erin Maloney (32:11):

Yeah! So, OK, well, I’ll tell you about his work on it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (32:13):

Yes, please. Please.

Dr. Erin Maloney (32:14):

Because it’s super-useful. So when we talked about that idea of how anxiety causes these thoughts and ruminations, and they tie up the memory resources that you need, what Gerardo has found is that when you get students to write about their anxiety for about 10 minutes before they do a test, what ends up happening is they end up doing better on the test, relative to if they would not have written about their anxiety at all. And this is particularly true for students who are really high in anxiety. OK? And the idea is that all of those thoughts that they were going to have about the test or the consequences of the test, et cetera, you just kind of get ’em…it’s like a mind dump where you get ’em all onto the page at first before you even go to do the test. And now when you go to do the test, you’re not having to do two things at once. You’re no longer dealing with these thoughts ’cause you got ’em all out on the paper beforehand. And so Gerardo has some really interesting work showing that that works for math anxiety. And then it also works for just testing anxiety in general. And so that’s a strategy that I love. I also—part of what I really love about it is it’s so low-cost, right? You need a paper and a pencil and it’s great. So those are always my favorite strategies, the ones that don’t really cost us anything. So that’s one way of dealing with like the cognitive part of the anxiety. The other thing you can do is try to deal with the anxiety part of the anxiety. So for that, what we find is that the typical strategies that you’re gonna see for anxiety tend to work for math anxiety. So things like focused breathing. Right? Making sure you’re doing deep inhales and exhales. That really diaphragmatic breathing seems to be quite helpful. We know that what we call progressive desensitization is really key. That’s the idea of doing things, you know, starting with the questions that you know how to handle. And then gradually working up to the more difficult questions. So you’re sort of gradually exposing yourself to the more complex stuff. And how that can play out on an actual test at school is, you sit down, and instead of just starting with question number one, you actually read the whole test, see which questions you feel like you know the best, start with those questions, and that helps build your confidence so that you’re better able to tackle the questions that are maybe a little bit outside of where you’re currently at. So that seems to be really helpful. The other part that I will say, too, that’s extremely helpful: So we know that anxiety really ties up those memory resources. And so the more you can make the math automatic, the more immune it’s going to be to anxiety in the moment. And so I know that this part can be a little bit controversial, because we don’t wanna necessarily demotivate children, and kill the enthusiasm for math that we’re trying to cultivate…but really, you know, really committing your arithmetic facts to memory can be extremely helpful. So really learning those times tables, really learning your addition and subtraction facts. ‘Cause what happens is, then when you’re in a situation where you need that information, even if you’re anxious and you’re working with fewer cognitive resources than what you would normally have, you actually don’t need that many cognitive resources to be able to pull something from memory that you’ve memorized. So it really helps to kind of protect you against some of the negative impacts of the anxiety while you’re doing that test.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:37):

And you’re not using all your cognitive resources to figure out seven times eight, because you can really focus on what you’re trying to do with that. Oh, that’s fascinating. Yeah. Yeah.

Dr. Erin Maloney (35:47):

Yes. No, a hundred percent right. And so I know that’s one that, like I said, I know it can be somewhat controversial because it’s…you know, we’ve talked about—or we haven’t talked about in this conversation, but we often talk about—the idea of drilling and killing. Right? So you drill the facts, you kill the, the enthusiasm. But I think that there are ways that we can drill arithmetic facts, or help make them automatic, but still fun, right? It doesn’t have to always be in a high-pressure kind of way.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:16):

Totally. And we’ve talked about fluency, and I’m sure we’ll talk about it more in the Lounge. And that is interesting, that link between anxiety when the fluency isn’t there, that—or, of course we hear about anxiety with timed tests, but the idea of that IS something you can do to reduce it, because you have those facts just at your ready. Right?

Dr. Erin Maloney (36:37):

Yeah. So I actually, again, I’m gonna be a little bit controversial. So I don’t hate timed tests in the way that a lot of people do. But I love time to practice. So I think once we’ve got to a point where children have a fairly decent understanding of skills, of a skill, once they’ve got a fairly decent grasp on it, then I love the idea of the timed practice. So it can be still in a low-pressure situation, where in many ways it doesn’t matter if you get the answer to the question correct. But we’re practicing doing it in a situation in which you might be feeling a little bit of pressure, but it’s not real pressure, if that makes sense. And I think that can be really, really useful for students. And again, it can be done in a fun way, right? It doesn’t have to be these super-intense ways. It can be fun. But I think that in life there are situations in which the time that it takes you to complete a problem matter. And I think that we have to make sure that we don’t get too far away from that.

Dan Meyer (37:40):

Yeah. It feels like we should do an entire other episode thinking about ways to develop that fluency and automaticity that don’t contribute to anxiety, or create further disparities between people who are high math anxiety and low math anxiety. Not a small question, I’m sure. And I appreciate you alluding to all of that. You know, this whole thing, as you said, is quite the hot mess. And I feel like you, Dr. Maloney, have helped us make this a little less messy, in our heads, and hopefully the listeners’ heads. I really appreciate that. I just love…you’ve mentioned lots of resources that you have. You’ve alluded to them: audiobook-style readings of your research, which I need ’cause I just finished, you know, Harry Potter, the seventh book, so I need a new thing to listen to like that. Also infographics. Can you tell our listeners where they can find this work of yours, and if there are any other kinds of resources that you wanna plug for our listeners here?

Dr. Erin Maloney (38:32):

Yeah, for sure. So all of our resources can be found on my lab website. So the address for that is www.ErinMaloney.ca. So there we have, like you said, the infographics and the audio articles and all that stuff. And then we also have a link to a new kids’ book out, actually, that a colleague of mine and I have published recently, that really walks through some of these strategies on combating math anxiety. The book is written as a children’s book, so it’s Peyton & Charlie Challenge Math. But it secretly is a book that would also work for adults. So if you are a parent that’s a little bit anxious about math, or a teacher that maybe is a little bit anxious, and you wanna see how some of these strategies can play out, in that book—we linked to it on the website, but it is available for purchase on Amazon. And the one thing I will say about the book, ’cause this is something that we were pretty proud of, so Sheri-Lynn Skwarchuk, who is a school psychologist, and I wrote the book. And it’s available for purchase at our cost price, so we don’t actually make any money on the book. It was literally just a way of getting some of the science out to people who might be able to benefit from it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:45):

Reducing that divide!

Dr. Erin Maloney (39:46):

Yeah, well that’s what we’re trying to do! Right? So I think in the U.S., I think it’s like $6 on Amazon. And then in terms of other resources, we’re in the process right now of creating some informational videos and and stuff like that that hopefully will be useful for parents and for teachers, just in terms of understanding a little bit more about the anxiety and understanding how to deal with the anxiety in the classroom more, at home or wherever it might be coming up.

Dan Meyer (40:15):

Well, thanks so much. I really appreciate—we appreciate!—you coming on, and hearing about how you’re trying to bridge so many different barriers from research to practice, and school to home. It’s just really inspiring. And we’d love to have you back on sometime. So thank you so much for joining us.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:29):

I feel like we’ve just hung out! Don’t you, Dan?

Dan Meyer (40:31):

Are we rolling here? Oh my gosh, we’re rolling. I just thought we’re just hanging. Yeah,

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:34):

I thought we were just hanging!

Dr. Erin Maloney (40:36):

I know, I do, I really appreciate that it has a very kind of chill vibe to it.

Dan Meyer (40:41):

Chill vibe. Like a lounge.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:42):

It’s the lounge!

Dan Meyer (40:43):

Thank you. You get us; you get us. <laugh>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:45):

Dan Meyer. I was shopping for children’s books, and there was this book, and it was talking about being at home with Mom. And it’s going through all the things that the child did that day with Mom. It’s like, “We played outside, we ran through the sprinklers, we even did some homework.” And it shows them sitting at the table with the homework, that’s clearly math homework, in front of them. And the mom is like, “Harrumph!” Like a very perplexed, anxious face. And there’s all these question marks above her. And it’s just like,

Dan Meyer (41:24):

“There should not be numbers on that paper!”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:25):

Exactly. And the child is like, “Ohhhh,” you know. And I mean, I have to give credit to the illustrator, because they really did capture the clear message of this interaction, which was sitting down to do math homework or think about math together is a source of angst. Right? According to this author and according to too many people. And so I think what’s really important is that we recognize those images when we see them out there and speak back to them, and say, “Hey, wait a second.” Yeah, it can feel like that, and it doesn’t have to. And what’s going on that that’s just the assumed way that it’s gonna feel, to sit down and math together. You know?

Dan Meyer (42:11):

Yeah. It feels like we all have a lot of work to do on the whole math-anxiety front. Dr. Maloney helped us see how parents play a part, educators play a part, society and how they create people plays its own part in how we all define math as a thing where we evaluate student thought or where students play it with their thoughts, has its own huge part as well. So yeah, it was a really fantastic conversation with Dr. Maloney. I hope you folks will check out the show notes, where you will find links to Dr. Maloney’s website. A lot of her work, which as you heard, is very geared towards practitioners and parents and even directly at kids, especially the new children’s book she co-authored, Peyton & Charlie Challenge Math.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:55):

Next time we’re gonna dive even more into the nitty gritty of combating math anxiety. To do that, we’re actually gonna be joined—I am so excited about this—by Dr. Rosemarie Truglio from Sesame Workshop.

Rosemarie Truglio (43:09):

Our core audience are two- to four-year-olds, and they love math. And what’s not to love? Children don’t come with this math anxiety. Math anxiety is learned.

Dan Meyer (43:23):

So excited.

Dr. Erin Maloney (43:24):

Sesame Street was a huge part of my childhood and my toddler doesn’t know it yet, but Sesame Street is coming. It’s coming. Like, we’re we’re gonna introduce Sesame Street to him. We just haven’t yet.

Dan Meyer (43:37):

Sesame Street straight raised me.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (43:38):

Right?

Dan Meyer (43:39):

Yeah. Don’t tell my parents. But that’s, yeah, that’s true. I’m excited, too. It’s gonna be a blast.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (43:45):

I’m really excited. I think that the more we dive into this topic—which, again, we’re gonna look at math anxiety from a lot of different angles—and I’m excited to talk to Dr. Truglio about how we can take this research and these conversations that are happening about math and how it can actually impact what’s happening in homes. ‘Cause we wanna help create positive relationships with mathematics, with kids in math. I’m so excited. And I hope you folks keep listening. We love having you here in the Lounge. And if you haven’t already, please subscribe to Math Teacher Lounge, wherever you get podcasts. And if you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a rating and a review. It helps more listeners to find the show, and let other folks know about this show. Recommendations are great. Thanks so much for listening.

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What Dr. Erin Maloney says about math

“If we can change their mindset, then we can set students on a path to more opportunities and success.”

–Dr. Erin Maloney

Associate Professor in the School of Psychology, Director of the Cognition and Emotion Laboratory, and the Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Academic Achievement and Well-Being, all at the University of Ottawa

Meet the guest

Erin Maloney is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Ottawa. Her research sits at the intersection of Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Education and focuses on cognitive and emotional factors that relate to academic achievement. She is a world-renowned expert on the study of math anxiety, conducting research in the lab, in homes, and in classrooms with children, parents, and their teachers. She is passionate about both knowledge mobilization and equity, diversity, and inclusion within education and science.

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About Math Teacher Lounge

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

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Illustrative Mathematics-NEW

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Grade 6

Unit 1: Area and Surface Area

Illustrative MathematicsAmplify Classroom
Topic A: Reasoning to Find Area 
Lesson 1: Tiling the PlaneUnit 1
Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane
Lesson 4: Parallelograms
Lesson 5: Bases and Heights of Parallelograms
Lesson 6: Area of Parallelograms
Unit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms
Topic 3: Triangles
Lesson 7: From Parallelograms to TrianglesUnit 1
Lesson 3: Exploring Parallelograms
Topic 5: Surface Area
Lesson 12: What is Surface Area?Unit 1
Lesson 10: Renata’s Stickers

Unit 2: Introducing Ratios

Topic 1: Introducing Ratios
Lesson 1: Introducing Ratios and Ratio LanguageUnit 2
Lesson 1: Pizza Maker
Lesson 2: Representing Ratios with DiagramsUnit 2
Lesson 1: Pizza Maker
Topic 2: Equivalent Ratios
Lesson 3: RecipesUnit 2
Lesson 4: Fruit Lab
Lesson 5: Defining Equivalent RatiosUnit 2
Lesson 1: Pizza Maker
Topic 4: Solving Ratio and Rate Problems
Lesson 11: Representing Ratios with TablesUnit 2
Lesson 10: Disaster Preparation

Unit 3: Rates and Percentages

Topic 2: Unit Conversion
Lesson 2: Anchoring Units of MeasurementUnit 3
Lesson 1: Many Measurements
Topic 3: Rates
Lesson 5: Comparing Speeds and PricesUnit 3
Lesson 6: Soft Serve
Lesson 6: Interpreting Rates
Lesson 7: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit Rates
Unit 3
Lesson 6: Soft Serve
Topic 4: Percentages
Lesson 10: What Are percentagesUnit 3
Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies
Lesson 13: Benchmark percentagesUnit 3
Lesson 9: Lucky Duckies
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 7: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit RatesUnit 3
Lesson 6: Soft Serve

Unit 4: Dividing Fractions

Topic 2: Meanings of Fraction Division
Lesson 4: How Many Groups (Part 1)Unit 4
Lesson 3: Flour Planner 
Lesson 6: Using Diagrams to Find the Number of GroupsUnit 4
Lesson 6: Fill the Gap

Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base Ten

Topic 1: Warming Up to Decimals 
Lesson 1: Using Decimals in a Shopping ContextUnit 5
Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 14: Using Operations on Decimals to Solve ProblemsUnit 5
Lesson 13: Movie Time

Unit 6: Expressions and Equations

Lesson 1: Tape Diagrams and Equations
Lesson 2: Truth and Equations
Unit 6
Lesson 1: Weight for It
Lesson 3: Staying in BalanceUnit 6
Lesson 1: Weight for It
Topic 2: Equal and Equivalent
Lesson 8: Equal and EquivalentUnit 6
Lesson 1: Weight for It
Topic 9: The Distributive Property, Part 1Unit 6
Lesson 8: Products and Sums
Take Away (coming soon!)
Lesson 10: The Distributive Property, Part 2
Lesson 11: The Distributive Property, Part 3
Unit 6
Lesson 8: Products and Sums
Take Away (coming soon!)
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 19: Tables, Equations, and Graphs, Oh My!Unit 6
Lesson 16: Subway Fares
Take Away (coming soon!)

Unit 7: Rational Numbers

Lesson 1: Positive and Negative NumbersUnit 7
Lesson 1: Can You Dig It?
Lesson 3: Comparing Positive and Negative Numbers
Lesson 4: Ordering Rational Numbers
Unit 7
Lesson 4: Order in the Class
Topic 2: Inequalities
Lesson 9: Solutions of Inequalities
Lesson 10: Interpreting Inequalities
Unit 7
Lesson 7: Tunnel Travels
Topic 3: The Coordinate Plane
Lesson 15: Shapes on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 1
Lesson 1: Shapes on a Plane

Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions

Topic 2: Dot Plots and Distributions
Lesson 3: Representing Data Graphically
Lesson 4: Dot Plots
Lesson 5: Using Dot Plots to Answer Statistical Questions
Unit 8
Lesson 3: Minimum Wage
Lesson 6: Interpreting Histograms
Lesson 7: Using Histograms to Answer Statistical Questions
Lesson 8: Describing Distributions on Histograms
Unit 8
Lesson 5: The Plot Thickens
Topic 4: Median and IQR
Lesson 13: MedianUnit 8
Lesson 11: Toy Cars

Grade 7

Unit 1: Scale Drawings

Illustrative MathematicsAmplify Classroom
Topic 1: Scaled Copies 
Lesson 1: What are Scaled Copies?Unit 1
Lesson 1: Scaling Machines
Topic 2: Scale Drawings 
Lesson 7: Scale DrawingsUnit 1
Lesson 7: Will It Fit?

Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships

Topic 1: Representing Proportional Relationships with Tables
Lesson 1: One of These Things Is Not Like the OthersUnit 2
Lesson 1: Paint 
Topic 2: Representing Proportional Relationships with Equations 
Lesson 4: Proportional Relationships with EquationsUnit 2
Lesson 6: Two and Two
Lesson 5: Two Equations for Each Relationship
Lesson 6: Using Equations to Solve Problems
Unit 2
Lesson 6: Two and Two
Topic 3: Comparing Proportional and Nonproportional Relationships 
Lesson 8: Comparing Relationships with EquationsUnit 2
Lesson 6: Two and Two
Topic 4: Representing Proportional Relationships with Graphs
Lesson 10: Introducing Graphs of Proportional Relationships
Lesson 11: Interpreting Graphs of Proportional Relationships
Lesson 12: Using Graphs to Compare Relationships
Lesson 13: Two Graphs for Each Relationship
Unit 2
Lesson 8: Dino Pops

Unit 3: Measuring Circles

Topic 1: Circumference of a Circle 
Lesson 1: How Well Can You Measure?Unit 3
Lesson 8: Toothpicks (coming soon!)
Lesson 2: Exploring Circles
Lesson 3: Exploring Circumference
Lesson 4: Applying Circumference
Unit 3
Lesson 3: Measuring Around
Take Away (coming soon!)
Topic 2: Area of a Circle
Lesson 7: Exploring the Area of a Circle
Lesson 8: Relating Area to Circumference
Unit 3
Lesson 9: Area Challenges
Take Away (coming soon!)

Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages

Topic 1: Proportional Relationships with Fractions 
Lesson 1: Lots of Flags
Lesson 2: Ratios and Rates with Fractions
Lesson 3: Revisiting Proportional Relationships
Lesson 4: Half as Much Again
Unit 4
Lesson 1: Mosaics
Topic 2: Percent Increase and Decrease 
Lesson 6: Increasing and DecreasingUnit 4
Lesson 5: Percent Machines
Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!)
Topic 3: Applying Percentages
Lesson 10: Tax and Tip
Lesson 11: Percentage Contexts
Unit 4
Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!)
Topic 4: Let’s Put It to Work 
Lesson 16: Posing Percent ProblemsUnit 4
Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems (coming soon!)

Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic

Topic 1: Interpreting Negative Numbers 
Lesson 1: Interpreting Negative NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors
Topic 2: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers
Lesson 2: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 3: Changing Elevation
Unit 5
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own
Lesson 6: Subtracting Rational Numbers
Lesson 7: Adding and Subtracting to Solve Problems
Unit 5
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles

Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Topic 1: Representing Situations of the Form px + q and p(+ q) = r 
Lesson 1: Relationships Between QuantitiesUnit 2
Lesson 1: Paint
Unit 4
Lesson 1: Mosaics
Topic 9 Dealing with Negative Numbers 
Lesson 10: Different Options for Solving One EquationUnit 6
Lesson 10: Collect the Squares
Topic 3: Inequalities 
Lesson 13: Reintroducing InequalitiesUnit 6
Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep
Lesson 14: Finding Solutions to Inequalities in Context
Lesson 15: Efficiency Solving Inequalities
Unit 6
Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep
Lesson 16: Interpreting Inequalities
Lesson 17: Modeling with Inequalities
Unit 6
Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep
Topic 4: Writing Equivalent Expressions 
Lesson 18: Subtraction in Equivalent ExpressionsUnit 6
Lesson 10: Collect the Squares
Lesson 20: Combining Like Terms (Part 1)
Lesson 21: Combining Like Terms (Part 2)
Lesson 22: Combining Like Terms (Part 3)
Unit 6
Lesson 10: Collect the Squares

Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms

Lesson 2: Adjacent Angles
Lesson 3: Nonadjacent Angles
Unit 7
Lesson 2: Friendly Angles
Lesson 4: Solving for Unknown AnglesUnit 7
Lesson 2: Friendly Angles
Lesson 5: Using Equations to Solve for Unknown AnglesUnit 7
Lesson 4: Missing Measures
Topic 2: Drawing Polygons with Given Conditions 
Lesson 9: Drawing Triangles (Part 1)
Lesson 10: Drawing Triangles (Part 2)
Unit 7
Lesson 5: Can You Build It?

Unit 8: Probability and Sampling

Topic 1: Probabilities of Single Step Events
Lesson 1: Mystery Bags
Lesson 2: Chance Experiments
Lesson 3: What Are Probabilities?
Unit 8
Lesson 1: How Likely?
Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities
Topic 3: Sampling
Lesson 11: Comparing Groups
Lesson 12: Larger Populations
Lesson 13: What Makes a Good Sample?
Lesson 14: Sampling in a Fair Way
Unit 8
Lesson 10: Crab Island
Topic 4: Using Samples
Lesson 15: Estimating Population Measures of Center
Lesson 16: Estimating Population Proportions
Unit 8 
Lesson 10: Crab Island
Lesson 17: More about Sampling Variability
Lesson 18: Comparing Populations Using Samples
Lesson 19: Comparing Populations with Friends
Unit 8
Lesson 10: Crab Island

Grade 8

Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence

Illustrative MathematicsAmplify Classroom
Topic 1: Rigid Transformations 
Lesson 1: Moving in the PlaneUnit 1
Lesson 1: Transformers
Lesson 2: Naming the MovesUnit 1
Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding
Lesson 3: Grid MovesUnit 1
Lesson 4: Moving Day
Lesson 4: Making the MovesUnit 1
Lesson 1: Transformers
Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding
Lesson 4: Moving Day
Lesson 5: Coordinate MovesUnit 1
Lesson 4: Moving Day
Lesson 6: Describing TransformationsUnit 1
Lesson 6: Connecting the Dots (coming soon!)
Topic 2: Properties of Rigid Transformations 
Lesson 8: Rotation PatternsUnit 1
Lesson 1: Transformers
Lesson 2: Spinning, Flipping, Sliding
Lesson 4: Moving Day
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 17: Rotate and TessellateLesson 13: Tessellate

Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope

Topic 1: Dilations
Lesson 1: Projecting and ScalingUnit 2
Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations
Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf
Lesson 2: Circular Grid
Lesson 3: Dilations with No Grid
Lesson 4: Dilations on a Square Grid
Lesson 5: More Dilations
Unit 2
Lesson 1: Sketchy Dilations
Lesson 2: Dilation Mini Golf
Topic 2: Similarity 
Lesson 6: SimilarityUnit 2
Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt
Topic 3: Slope
Lesson 10: Meet SlopeUnit 3
Lesson 4: Flags

Unit 3: Linear Relationships

Topic 1: Proportional Relationships 
Lesson 1: Understanding Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials
Lesson 2: Graphs of Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials
Lesson 3: Representing Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials 
Topic 2: Representing Linear Relationships
Lesson 5: Introduction to Linear RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials
Lesson 7: Representations of Linear RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 4: Flags
Topic 3: Finding Slopes 
Lesson 9: Slopes Don’t Have to be PositiveUnit 3
Lesson 4: Flags
Lesson 11: Equations of All Kinds of LinesUnit 3
Lesson 4: Flags
Topic 4: Linear Equations 
Lesson 13: More Solutions to Linear EquationsUnit 3 
Lesson 4: Flags

Unit 4: Linear Equations and Linear Systems

Topic 2: Linear Equation in One Variable 
Lesson 5: Solving Any Linear EquationUnit 4
Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable
Lesson 6: Strategic SolvingUnit 4
Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable
Topic 3: Systems of Linear Equations
Lesson 11: On Both of the Lines
Lesson 12: Systems of Equations
Lesson 13: Solving Systems of Equations
Unit 4
Lesson 11: Make Them Balance
Lesson 12: Line Zapper

Unit 5: Functions and Volume

Topic 1: Inputs and Outputs 
Lesson 1: Inputs and OutputsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing
Lesson 2: Guess My Rule
Lesson 2: Introduction to FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing
Lesson 2: Guess My Rule
Topic 2: Representing and Interpreting Functions 
Lesson 3: Equations of FunctionsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials
Lesson 4: Tables, Equations, and Graphs of Functions
Lesson 5: More Graphs of Functions
Unit 5
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare
Topic 3: Linear Functions and Rates of Change
Lesson 8: Linear FunctionsUnit 3
Lesson 4: Flags
Lesson 9: Linear ModelsUnit 5
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare
Topic 4: Cylinder and Cones 
Lesson 13: The Volume of a CylinderUnit 5
Lesson 11: Cylinders
Lesson 14: Finding Cylinder DimensionsUnit 5
Lesson 11: Cylinders
Lesson 15: The Volume of a ConeUnit 5
Lesson 13: Cones
Lesson 16: Finding Cone DimensionsUnit 5
Lesson 13: Cones

Unit 6: Associations in Data

Topic 2: Associations in Numerical Data 
Lesson 3: What a Point in a Scatter Plot MeansUnit 6 
Lesson 3: Robots
Lesson 4: Fitting a LineUnit 6 
Lesson 4: Dapper Cats
Lesson 6: Find the Fit
Lesson 5: Describing Trends in Scatter PlotsUnit 6 
Lesson 3: Robots
Lesson 7: Observing More patterns in Scatter PlotsUnit 6 
Lesson 3: Robots
Topic 3: Associations in Categorical data 
Lesson 9: Looking for AssociationsUnit 6
Lesson 11: Finding Associations
Lesson 10: Using Data Displays to Find associationsUnit 6
Lesson 11: Finding Associations

Unit 7: Exponents and Scientific Notation

Topic 1: Exponent Review 
Lesson 1: Exponent ReviewUnit 7 
Lesson 1: Circles
Lesson 2: Multiplying Powers of 10
Lesson 3: Powers of Powers of 10
Lesson 4: Dividing Powers of 10
Unit 7 
Lesson 3: Power Pairs
Topic 3: Scientific Notation 
Lesson 13: Defining Scientific Notation
Lesson 14: Multiplying, Dividing, and Estimating with Scientific Notation
Unit 7 
Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific
Lesson 11: Balance the Scale
Lesson 15: Adding and Subtracting with Scientific NotationUnit 7 
Lesson 9: Specific and Scientific
Lesson 11: Balance the Scale

Unit 8: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers

Topic 1: Side Lengths and Areas of Squares
Lesson 5: Reasoning about Square RootsUnit 8
Lesson 4: Root Down
Topic 2: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 6: Finding Side Lengths of TrianglesUnit 8
Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle
Lesson 10: Applications of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 10: Taco Truck
Topic 5: Let’s Put It to Work
Lesson 16: When Is the Same Size Not the Same Size?Unit 8
Lesson 10: Taco Truck

Disclaimer

This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

S5-01. Investigating math anxiety in the classroom

A blue graphic with text reading "Math Teacher Lounge" in multicolored letters and "Amplify." at the bottom, with abstract geometric shapes and lines as decoration.

Season 5 is here! This season, we’ll be talking all about math anxiety: what it is, what causes it, and what we can do to prevent or ease this anxiety in the math classroom. To launch this very important theme, we sat down with Dr. Gerardo Ramirez, associate professor of educational psychology at Ball State University.
 
As someone who’s been studying math anxiety for more than a decade, he had some interesting research and advice to share on why math anxiety affects so many students (and adults), and tips for how to start reducing it.
 
Listen now and don’t forget to grab your MTL study guide to track your learning and make the most of this episode!
 
Enjoy this episode and explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page.

Download Transcript

Dan Meyer (00:01):
Hey, folks. Welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. I’m one of your hosts, Dan Meyer.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:05):
And I am your other host. I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson. Season five! Hello!

Dan Meyer (00:11):
Bethany, how are you doing? How have you been spending the long break between our recording sessions?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:16):
As much as I loved sharing content from previous seasons, I am so thrilled that we’re back for season five. I have been, you know, chasing a toddler. I think he’s already tired of me saying, “Ooh, can we count that?” He’s like [sighs] “One two, one two.” Like, he’s done already.

Dan Meyer (00:36):
Too much counting. Yeah, I worry about that so much, that my love of mathematics might be perceived by my kids as smothering. Yeah, I worry about the same. We shared with you folks some bangers of reruns, in my humble opinion. Some great guests. But, we’ve been excited—me and Bethany—to hop back on the mics, on the ones and twos, and explore some new ideas together.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:01):
Well, I loved our season talking about joy in mathematics. And personally I could…like, we could turn this whole podcast into joy in mathematics. However, we’re kind of going a different route. Because if you ask folks why they don’t feel joy in mathematics, a lot of times at the root of that is some really intense math anxiety. So this whole season, we’re going to be delving into math anxiety. Exploring what it is, who has it, why do we think it happens, what do we think we can do about it, and how can we navigate through it, so that we can experience that joy in math? These are questions that we’re gonna explore over the course of the season. Dan Meyer, how do you feel about that?

Dan Meyer (01:49):
It feels big and it feels personal. I mean, as we shared in our math stories back from season…whatever it was, math anxiety was a huge part.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:59):
It was last season, Dan.

Dan Meyer (02:00):
Last…? I mean, who can remember? Big part of your journey. I’ve had some very punctuated but intense moments of anxiety in math class. And socially, we have built math up to be this incredibly powerful thing. You know, restricting movement on economic ladders, preventing people from getting into careers they want. Whether or not they have much to do with math class, math anxiety is a really large part of educational but also social life. And yeah, I’m really excited to explore it with you. We’re bringing on some really excellent guests. Some researchers, yes. But not just researchers! Also people who practice in the field and know firsthand what it looks like to resolve issues of anxiety with students.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:45):
Yeah, you’re right, Dan. My math story contained quite a bit of math anxiety, so I am particularly invested in this season. I mean, I still navigate math anxiety. And, you know, many of us do, and let’s talk about it. And let’s—I love that you reminded me. We’re gonna have a lot of great researchers all throughout the season, and a lot of times folks feel like the research happening, there’s sometimes a gap between researchers and what’s actually happening in the classroom. Not in all cases, but a lot of times. Right? And I remember a lot of conversation about the latest research when I was in grad school, but unless you’re actively studying something, sometimes we don’t know what’s happening. Right? We’re really focused on what’s happening right in front of us in our classroom. So let’s take some of that research; let’s break it down; let’s talk to some of the folks who are thinking about this for the bulk of their day, right?

Dan Meyer (03:41):
Yep. So we got our first guest coming up in a moment here.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:45):
So to kick off this season, we’re starting episode one by talking to Dr. Gerardo Ramirez, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at Ball State University. And he’s been researching math anxiety for more than a decade. He’s worked with so many amazing folks in the field. He’s worked with students, he’s worked with teachers, with educators…I’m just so excited to talk to him. If you look up math anxiety, you see his name as one of the folks who is really thinking about this at so many different angles, and we get to talk to him. So enjoy our conversation with Dr. Gerardo Ramirez.

Dan Meyer (04:29):
We are so excited to have Dr. Gerardo Ramirez on the show with us. Dr. Ramirez is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at Ball State University. Thanks so much for joining us.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (04:40):
Yeah, thank you for inviting me to talk about math anxiety.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:43):
So with your interview, Dr. Ramirez, we are actually launching the season. We’re gonna be talking about all different aspects of math anxiety, and it feels pretty perfect that you are first guest of the season, because of the sheer breadth of research and conversations you’ve had about math anxiety. Could you start us off kind of telling us a story of how did you get interested in studying math anxiety? Or why, you know, why did you dive into this topic that, you know, I think a lot of folks might…like, if you’re on a plane, and you say, “Oh, I study math anxiety,” what kind of reaction are you gonna get?

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (05:24):
Oh, sure. Yeah. I think most people are actually very interested because they all have their own story about feeling anxious about math, or just being anxious about evaluation situations that involve math. And, yeah, they wanna share those stories. People feel quite comfortable talking about their anxiety about math, for some reason. But for me, I started off, when I was in undergrad, I was studying to take the GRE quiz. I was hoping to go into a psych program. But I wasn’t exactly sure what direction yet. As I took some of the practice tests, there’s some situations in which I was very nervous about taking the practice test. And I just noticed that I did really poorly on some of these exams. And so I became very interested in issues like choking under pressure, which means when you underperform relative to what you expected to perform. And so, as I was researching these issues, I started to come across this whole field of math anxiety. And I saw that while there are some people who choke under pressure during tests, there are other people who just have a strong general fear of mathematics.

Dan Meyer (06:29):
That’s really helpful. I can imagine you’re doing a lot of free psychology sessions, free therapy for people on airplanes when they bring to you their own stories of math. So let’s thank you for your service in that sense. I’m super-curious. So Bethany and I have both taught math. We both have seen firsthand what it looks like when a student is anxious in math class, though maybe we don’t have kind of the clinical language to describe it. And I’m curious, from a clinical sense, how do we define math anxiety?

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (06:57):
Sure. So first off, math anxiety is not something that you would find in the DSM, for instance. But we generally define that as a fear or apprehension to situations that involve math. So it doesn’t have to necessarily be educational situations. It could be someone asks you a math-related question during a party, or you have to calculate the tip at a restaurant, for instance. It doesn’t have to be about schooling situations, although that’s obviously where it seems to matter a lot for many people. So it is basically a fear or apprehension to situations that involve math. And I think distinguishing the term “fear” from “anxiety” is really important here. A lot of times people use those terms interchangeably, and the term “fear” is obviously within our definition of math anxiety. But oftentimes what differentiates anxiety from fear is that, anxiety is—think of it like a recipe. Anxiety is fear plus a little bit of unknown. OK? So if, for instance, if you hated snakes, and they threw a snake at you, you’d be in intense fear. Whereas if you hated snakes and they said, “There is a snake in the room, but I’m not gonna tell you where,” that’s gonna cause anxiety. And so the reason why we call it math anxiety is because a lot of times people experience this fear for a possible unknown future that involves math or possible unknown evaluations that people might have about your competence, because of math. And so for a lot of kids, they feel anxious about how they’re gonna do on a test or whether they’re gonna be able to pass a class or whether they’ll be able to understand what you’re saying in your lessons, for instance. And so the anxiety component really gets at fear of something that’s unknown, but related to mathematics situations.

Dan Meyer (08:47):
Math is somewhere in the ceiling right now. Perhaps I might be surprised with a math situation!

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (08:52):
Yeah. yep.

Dan Meyer (08:52):
So I have this tendency to assume that every other subject that we teach has it better and easier than math does. It’s not true. I know this is not true. But I’m kind of curious here. Is math anxiety, like, part of a general just set of anxiety around schooling itself? Like, is there a reading anxiety, a writing anxiety, and does that all just flow from the same kind of fount of anxiety around schooling or situations about learning? And what makes math special in this regard? If it is its own special anxiety, for instance?

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (09:27):
There are different…so some people obviously suffer from generalized anxiety. Right? And so they would, you know, feel anxious both for evaluative and non-evaluative situations. But in the research that we’ve done and that other people have done, there are differences between things like reading anxiety, math anxiety; I’ve also studied spatial and creativity anxiety. A lot of times what we’re trying to do in these studies is we measure all of the above, and we try to show that, look, math anxiety predicts math situations above and beyond these other things. So yeah, we definitely distinguish those things. And so what’s special about math is that, well, I think the symbolic nature is a big part of it. The abstract symbolic nature is just not as tangible to students. They can’t touch it. And so it doesn’t allow ’em to use their full cognitive faculties to play with it, as you might see, for instance, in science. Or it doesn’t allow people to relate math to their own interests the way you might see, for instance, in English. So maybe I hate reading novels, but I’m interested in zombies and you give me a book on zombies, well, ok, great, you’ve connected my personal assets to the topic. Whereas with math, either that’s harder to do or instructors don’t do such a good job of setting that connection up.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:46):
Also, I think, you know, I’ve heard of students being really anxious, let’s say, during a reading session, when teachers used to do—hopefully they’re still not doing it—the popcorn reading, where you just randomly call on a student to read out a sentence. Right? But you don’t really hear students or adults talking about, “Oh, no, no, no, I don’t read; I don’t mess with reading.” You know? Whereas with math, you do hear, “Oh, I’m not a math person. Oh no, no, no, don’t ask me any math questions.” And that is such a distinction.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (11:18):
Yeah. And I think a lot of that’s because it’s just so common. As an adult, to be nervous about reading is kind of an uncommon thing. So people feel a stigma around admitting that. But math is something that everyone feels like they’re inadequate in. And so there’s a lot of comfort in telling you how they’re just one of the many people who don’t like math. And that, you know, can have a lot of different consequences and outcomes. I think on the one hand, I think for a lot of kids it becomes a normalized message that if you fear math, that’s OK, join the club. Right? But we have to be careful about that, ’cause a lot of math anxiety researchers will oftentimes say, part of what leads to math anxiety is adults normalizing that it’s OK to be scared of math. So I think a lot of times adults, teachers, for instance, math teachers, they’ll tell kids, “You know, if you’re scared, that’s OK.” And so a lot of the math anxiety community says, “No, no, no, you’re not supposed to do that.” But my recent view is different. I view that as a form of validation. Because math is hard. And so telling kids, “Hey, look, it’s actually easy if you just try,” I don’t think that’s true. It’s actually just hard. And I think even if it was easy, to the kid, it feels hard! And I think something that’s not really well-studied right now in our field is the value of validating people’s math negative math experiences. We don’t want to validate that, ’cause we think that we’re gonna reinforce that. But actually, I think the opposite. I think when you validate people’s negative math experiences, it helps ’em to feel that they can handle it. They can start to take control over their own emotions.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:52):
I love that. And I, I actually, I think that’s so powerful, what you’re talking about, that validation. I taught kindergarten, and I vividly remember being in a parent-teacher conference and that parent saying, “Oh, I wasn’t a math person either,” right? Or, you know, their language and their experience with their own math schooling, their anxiety about math was actually impacting their students’ experience of math. Or the conversation that, when I would go to talk about a math assessment, let’s say, you could see the parent actually tensing up. And there was this moment of validation, that I felt like we needed to make space for that in the conversation with the parents, right?

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (13:38):
Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:38):
Like, this is a real thing. And we are working on teaching students that math is something that gets to—your experience with math gets to look all sorts of different ways. And it’s OK if we, you know, make a mistake, or if we kind of only get this part, but we’ve really got that part. Or let’s talk about it; let’s write about it. So I really feel like that that validation is something that’s so missing. And instead of the validation, like you said, you see folks being like, “Oh yeah, me neither. I’m not a math person either.” Right?

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (14:10):
Yeah. I think…part of the reason why people are comfortable sharing this because they’re looking for validation also. When they say, “Oh, I’m not a math person,” you know, I think they’re hoping that, you’ll say like, “Yeah, me neither,” or “Of course not, ’cause math is terrible.” Right? They’re looking for validation, not to reinforce their perspective, but to feel that it’s OK not to be a math person. And I think that’s one of the techniques that I’m trying to work on in my research right now, is to provide evidence that actually people will work harder when you validate their math experience. You don’t have to tell them a positive story per se. If your current story is “Math is hard and I’m very, very anxious; I’m scared,” then we can just validate that and help you work through that. And it actually will strengthen our relationships. Because if you’re a student and you’re struggling with math and I tell you, “Yeah, it’s hard; it’s OK to struggle with math,” that makes you feel seen. And that’s gonna lead you to want to ask me more for help, because I’m someone who understands you. And that’s a great, you know, remediation opportunity.

Dan Meyer (15:14):
A common thread that I think I’m seeing here in several answers is that math sometimes asks students to disassociate part of themselves. Where success in math oftentimes means working from an a level of abstraction with symbols, like you said, that can feel alien. Like, who am I here? And in the same way, I love that you’re proposing we validate and reassociate people with a very deeply felt part of themselves that is anxious about mathematics.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (15:44):
Yeah. I mean, I think that’s what validation’s supposed to do, right? So a lot of us, when we feel these strong emotions, we wonder, “Is this even a real thing? Are other people feeling this? Is there something wrong with me?” So we feel the emotions, but we can’t actually deal with them, because we wonder if they’re legitimate. And so when someone says, like, “Yeah, this is hard,” it crystallizes that emotion. And once something is made real, you can actually choose how you want to deal with it. Some kids are gonna deal with it by staying anxious. But some people are gonna choose to deal with it by saying, “Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now; I have to take this math test, so I’m just gonna think positive.” And that’s great. If the kid can end up saying that to themselves, that’s much more effective than me telling the kid, “Hey, you just gotta think positive. You’re gonna start the test anyway.” And so we want the kid to make meaning of their experience, and the way we do that is by crystallizing their emotions through validation.

Dan Meyer (16:36):
Yeah. I love that. And so what you’re proposing there, I think, sounds like, a solution, like a post-talk solution after students are feeling anxiety.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (16:43):
Yes.

Dan Meyer (16:43):
To validate and empathize.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (16:45):
Yes.

Dan Meyer (16:45):
And over the course of our season, we hope to explore a lot about solutions to math anxiety that are preventative, that reduce the odds of anxiety arising, through instruction and curriculum, before it arises. And I’m just wondering if you’ve seen anything that would hint at either specific or general words of wisdom you wanna share with the educators, about not just addressing it after the fact, but preventing math anxiety before it arises?

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (17:14):
To be honest, at this point, I haven’t seen enough evidence for me to recommend anything concretely as an intervention for math anxiety, or an intervention to prevent its development. All I can really do here is rely a lot on the more broad cognitive-behavioral research on anxiety, which says that one of the ways we prevent people from developing anxiety is by helping them to make more positive appraisals of challenge situations. So a lot of times, when kids are challenged, they don’t know how to interpret that. “What does it mean that I’m struggling with this thing?” And so that’s where I think a lot of teachers can help students’ interpretations of that. ‘Cause if you leave kids to their own devices, they’re gonna think, “I’m struggling because I’m stupid. I’m struggling because I’m not good enough. I’m struggling because my dad is right; I’m gonna be a failure.” You know? They’re going to impose an interpretation to a challenge situation regardless. And so, as teachers, one thing we can do is we can help shape that interpretation and say, “What does it mean to struggle with math? People will say it means you’re stupid. That’s one interpretation. What’s another one? It means that your brain is working really hard to think through something. That’s another interpretation. What’s better? What do you think is more helpful?” And then, helping students to see how interpretations matter to how you ultimately feel about something. And that’s a very metacognitive way of thinking about things. So yeah, I would say that one way to prevent it is to help students to take more positive interpretations of their experience. But another way, and I think a more successful way, I think, is to give students early experiences where they feel efficacious dealing with math. One of the ways you do that, for instance, is by obviously making sure that the students understand the material—but that’s obvious; people are trying to do that. One of my favorite recommendations is to keep reassigning assignments, the same exact assignment, for, say, three weeks, back-to-back. So if in week one you do the homework assignment, you do OK, you don’t do so great, when week two you do it, you give the exact same assignment, and now the student can see like, “Wow, OK, this was much easier.” And then, week three, you give the exact same assignment; now the kid’s feeling really confident. And the reason why that’s great is because it helps kids to see that they’re growing in confidence. A lot of times kids don’t get to see that because we’re constantly throwing new assessments at them. And so they’re never seeing that growth. All they’re seeing is a new challenge, a new challenge, a new challenge. So I think we need to set up situations where they can feel that they’re growing, when we keep the assessment static. That can be a formative assessment, for instance—doesn’t have to be a summative assessment.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:55):
That feels so powerful and it feels like it really connects to that validation piece, right? We are actually helping to create a culture in our math classroom where we might struggle with something, but we keep revisiting it. And it’s not so much to reach mastery, but as Dr. Megan Franke — we talked to her about this partial understanding and about pulling on those threads of things that you do understand, so that you can build your confidence…build, not just confidence, but build your…I guess, kind of get your footing, right? You’re saying, “Well, I do understand this. I see how this works.” And if I’m revisiting an assignment, I feel like that would give me permission to like, “Hey, I don’t have to have this figured out on the first pass. You know?

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (20:44):
Yes, yes. Yeah. I mean, I’m gonna give you a silly analogy, but I think it works. You know, a lot of times people will have nightmares, right? And they’ll keep having the same nightmare over and over again, right? And so one reason that we suspect this happens is because they haven’t worked through whatever that nightmare’s supposed to be about. So if, say, I’m scared of driving, I may be having the same dream about driving and crashing over and over. And we keep having these nightmares. And I think math anxiety is kind of like a waking nightmare, where you keep rehashing something because you haven’t had the chance to finally address that dragon. You know? And so if someone was having a lot of fear over driving, then one behavioral approach would be, you know, to work with a therapist to actually get behind the wheel and maybe drive around the same track over and over until you feel comfortable at that, and then the nightmares stop. Well, the same thing is true, I think, about math, math and math anxiety, is that you wanna give people these opportunities to feel confident by going back to that original experience that caused them to feel anxious, and saying, “This one assignment that we did in week three that really freaked you out, let’s try it again now in week five. How was that?” “Yeah, it wasn’t so bad. It was still kind of annoying.” “OK, we’ll we’ll come back to it.” “Now it’s week seven. Now let’s go back to that assignment. How is it now?” “That’s actually…it wasn’t that terrible.” And that gives people the opportunity to reflect on how they’ve grown past that nightmare.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:05):
I have to say, Dan talked about you being like a therapist. I’m like, wait, “How did you know, Dr. Ramirez? I did have this recurring dream! I did! And I had to face it. No, but I had such intense math anxiety in high school and it was debilitating. And the biggest thing for me, I thought I was the only one. I thought there was something wrong with me. I thought, “Why can’t I figure this out?” There wasn’t a conversation about “Here are some tools,” or “Here are some, some, some…”. Like, “This is OK, for you to feel scared about this or overwhelmed!”

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (22:41):
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:42):
You know, I think often when we talk about how widespread math anxiety is, I think a lot of folks automatically jump to high schoolers or college students avoiding math courses. But we see this in really young kids.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (22:56):
Yeah. So people are…people are just constantly making meaning of themselves, regardless of the age range. And that’s true even with young kids; they are trying to figure out who they are. Right? And so one of the things you see oftentimes with young kids is you ask ’em, “What are you good at?” And they say, “Everything!” And that’s their attempt to, you know, make meaning of themselves. But sometimes they’re not good at everything. Sometimes they actually struggle in math. And I think even early on, they have to make meaning of that. They say, “Well, I’m good at everything except math.” And how do you make sense of that? Well, why not math? “Oh, because math is terrible. It’s not for everybody. You know, it’s not something that I like.” And so, yeah, in a lot of the studies that we did early on, we basically went into these first-grade classrooms with the purpose of trying to assess whether we can actually show variability in kids’ math anxiety, even early on. In other other words, do kids even report feeling anxious about math situations? Or do they tell us that they’re great at everything? And what we found was that in fact, a good chunk of kids are, again, perfectly willing to tell you that “No, certain situations involving math make me very anxious.” Counting or addition, or doing a problem on the board. And the way we do that is by—I think there are probably more sophisticated ways that can be done, but this is the best we have at this point—is we go in there and we ask them, we show them a bunch of smiley faces and anxious faces. And we say, “I want you to tell me how you feel about these different situations that involve math.” And so we say, “If you feel kind of nervous, I want you to point to this face. If you feel very nervous, point to this face.” And we basically will read to them situations. We’ll say, “How would you feel if your teacher asked you to open up your new math textbook and you saw all the numbers inside of it?” And they’ll point to the really nervous face. So right now, those are some of the more reliable assessments for math anxiety among young kids. And that work showed us that even young kids are self-reporting math anxiety.

Dan Meyer (24:51):

Obviously this is worth our study, because we would hope people would not feel anxious in general, and especially if we have a mandated…kids are mandated to be in math classes for their entire childhood. So I see the need for this study, these studies. I’m curious: What are the consequences, though? Like what, what correlates with math anxiety? What are other reasons why we should care about math anxiety and work to remediate it?

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (25:16):
Oh, sure. So it correlates with their actual math performance. It can correlate when they choose to do homework. Right? So a lot of times, the parents report having to fight with their kids over math homework a lot. And you also oftentimes see a lot of frustration over mathematics specifically. And so it can, you know, not only affect their academic ongoing outcomes, like math tests and math assignments, but it can also affect their relationship with their parents. So if every time you come home, your dad’s screaming at you because you haven’t done your math homework, and when he asks you to solve the problem in front of them, you don’t remember, ’cause you were checked out, ’cause you’re so stressed out, that’s gonna cause a really negative experience. You know, a lot of times people grow up and they still remember their dad screaming at them over the math homework. You know, it’ll affect your relationship with your teacher. So if you’re making me feel incompetent, if you’re stressing me out, you’re not the kind of person I wanna come to for help. So it can predict relational outcomes as well as academic outcomes. And down the line, of course, when it affects students’ opportunities to get into things like AP classes, it affects students standardized test performance and their choice of colleges, as well as scholarship opportunities.

Dan Meyer (26:29):
Once you show that it correlates to performance, then that opens up a whole range of other correlations that are pretty important, it sounds like. Whether that’s career options or, you know, post-secondary education and the like.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (26:40):
Yeah. And a lot of times, when people are choosing a career at college, a lot of times students will make a decision specifically based on what career has less math requirements or less math courses. So I think this finding needs to be verified further. But, there’s some studies showing that, for instance, elementary ed teachers, one factor that feeds into the decision to go into elementary ed is the math requirements are very low in elementary ed. So that can…obviously it’s not what we wanna hear, because these are our first formal math teachers, right? For our kids.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:16):
It feels so powerful, the impact that math anxiety can have, not only while you’re in, let’s say, elementary school, high middle school, high school, but then the impacts beyond that in terms of your career. And I shared this last season, when we talked about our personal math story, but I know when I was navigating the deepest part of my math anxiety, I really felt like, maybe this is a reason I can’t be an elementary school teacher. Because I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able…not that I wouldn’t understand the math for fourth grade, fifth grade, but that there was something about my ability to teach it or understand it or develop a love and passion for it that I wouldn’t be able to do. And I really had to reclaim it in my own way. But, you know, something that I think is so powerful about your research is just the applicability — not only to the field of mathematics, but folks’ everyday lives. And the way that you have talked in the past about math being a gatekeeper…I have a family member who, brilliant American Sign Language interpreter. I mean, amazing. Like a dance with her fingers. I could just watch it all day. And she actually didn’t complete the program because she couldn’t complete the math requirements. And I remember talking to her about like, “Well, have you gone to the free tutoring? Have you gone to, you know, this or that?” But it was a paralyzing fear, you know? So Dr. Ramirez, what do you wish educators understood about math anxiety? Or the research about math anxiety? Or maybe even the general public at large, what do you wish folks understood about math anxiety?

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (28:58):
Oh, I think that a lot of students, they struggle with math. And I think we wanna normalize that struggle as much as possible. We want to create a culture where it’s OK to do math slow; it’s ok to take your time. And I know that’s not possible with a lot of these requirements that a lot of math teachers have to do. But I think if we want to prevent math anxiety, we have to create opportunities to tell better stories. So that’s ultimately what I tell people is, why do people develop math anxiety? Because they had experiences that challenged their competency and they told a negative story. And so making space to reflect in math classrooms about what does it mean to go slow in math, or what does it mean to make mistakes, and then helping kids to tell better stories, I think it’s really the best thing we can do as math educators. ‘Cause you know, your job is not to be a therapist ultimately. You know, there’s only so much math teachers can do. But I think one of the most powerful things we can create is setting up students’ experiences where they feel confident, and they can tell better stories, so they can have better dreams about math.

Dan Meyer (30:06):
Really appreciate this introduction to math anxiety. It’s been a fantastic kickoff to our season. Dr. Ramirez, thank you so much for joining us.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez (30:14):
Sure. Thank you.

Dan Meyer (30:16):
Thank you folks so much for listening to that conversation with Dr. Gerardo Ramirez, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at Ball State University.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (30:25):
Dan, OK, if not for your frantic signaling, I would’ve probably asked another 20 questions. I need to know what you thought .

Dan Meyer (30:34):
I found it interesting at all points. And especially I think I started to understand a little bit better where the anxiety comes from for some students. I got a little bit here, which is that I think math, more than other disciplines, involves alienation. Check that word. You like that? Alienation? I’m into it. I’m feeling it. It’s like…to get good at math, to be successful in math, you gotta, as a kid, lose your attachment to the world you understand. And I mean, “got to” as in like, “you are asked to” — many times, unfortunately, by curriculum and instruction. Which is to say, you’re turning things you can hold onto into numerals. Right? You’re turning the world and its patterns that you can see and touch into Xs and Ys. And I just don’t know that other disciplines deal with that as much. Maybe I’m wrong and just guilty of, you know, “grass is always greener” syndrome here. But I think that’s an experience that kids have in math. And I thought that Dr. Ramirez got at that when he’s talking about the need to validate a student’s experience of anxiety. Like, in treating anxiety, sometimes we alienate people further by just like saying, “Oh, no, no, no, it’s just like, you need to, you know, drill yourself more, practice more,” and kind of invalidate that. So this feeling of alienation, I think permeates a lot of math instruction. I’m looking forward to learning more about that with our future episodes

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (32:00):
Alienation. That’s interesting. I definitely felt, I definitely felt isolated and alone many times in my math journey, when I was having my…you know, in high school, when I was feeling like, “Clearly everyone can look at tan, sign, cosign, and that means something to them.” Right? I think it’s really interesting, because I’m thinking about the other disciplines; I’m running through them, and I’m like, even in science, which can seem abstract, so oftentimes there’s these experiments that accompany these concepts, where you’re like, “Look at this concept made real in front of you.” Right? . And so yeah, that’s really interesting.

Dan Meyer (32:39):
You’re always one step away from blowing something up! Or, you know, dissecting something that’s tangible to you.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (32:46):
Yeah. That’s really interesting. I did really love how he brought up the abstract. And how, I think, even validating it…he talked so much about validation. Which to me was like, YES. If somebody just said, “Hey, it’s not only possible to have math anxiety, but it also doesn’t mean that you don’t belong here.” If somebody had said that, it would’ve literally changed the trajectory, you know? And I wonder what those conversations could look like in our classrooms, where teachers celebrate that. Like, WHOA, this is a new way to think of this. This is a new way. Asking how many, or what do you notice for this image, through a mathematical lens, or looking…we talked to Alison Hintz and Antony Smith, like mathematizing books, like looking through these lenses — it’s an invitation to step into this other world, right? But there’s not only one way to do it. And I think oftentimes it’s like that anxiety of “Am I gonna say the right thing?” or “Am I gonna notice the right thing?” Right? How do we create that space more, where there’s so many possibilities and we want kiddos to notice what they notice, right?

Dan Meyer (33:54):
You gotta become a certain kind of person to be successful in math class. I feel like is part of the implied deal. Where you’ve gotta—like how you said—say a certain thing or think about a certain thing a certain kind of way. You’re trying to become someone who is not necessarily you. Which I think is fundamentally an experience of alienation, separating you from important parts of yourself.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:19):
I will never, ever dive into mathematics on the scale and level that you have with your PhD. You understand math in a way that my brain just…I won’t get there, right? And yet I’m allowed to call myself a mathematician, with all of my deep dives in elementary math and my love of early numeracy and thinking about how we start thinking about counting and numbers. Right? It’s like, if we make more space for what mathematicians can look like, and what is your personal relationship with math…I mean, that to me feels really exciting. ‘Cause I think we both have something to offer each other.

Dan Meyer (35:03):
I think I have never found early math more interesting than when I talk to early math educators. And learn just like all the different ways that students come to understand a concept that I had thought was simple. Like addition of whole numbers. Whoa! There’s a lot of ways kids do that work, and their brains think those thoughts. And, yeah. That’s a good word there you’re offering us and our listeners.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:27):
Yeah. Yeah. I’m really excited about this season. I think there’s — again, there’s no way we’re gonna cover all facets of math anxiety. But I think having the chance to explore it over the course of a season is going to be really fascinating. And really, I hope, destigmatize it and open up the conversation for our listeners. And, you know, if you listeners…we wanna know what you thought of this episode. Do you have any particular questions? Do you have questions related to math anxiety? Questions related to this episode? We are in development for this season, so we’re gonna do our best to get those questions answered. You can keep in touch with us in our Facebook discussion group, Math Teacher Lounge Community, and on Twitter at MTLshow.

Dan Meyer (36:14):
Next time, we’re gonna go deeper into the causes and consequences of math anxiety.

Dr. Erin Maloney (36:20):
It’s not just the case that people who are bad at math are anxious about it. It’s actually that the anxiety itself can cause you to do worse in math. And that for me is really exciting, ’cause it means that if we can change your mindset, then we can really set you on a path with several more options available to you.

Dan Meyer (36:41):
Til next time folks,

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:41):
Bye.

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What Dr. Gerardo Ramirez says about math

“A lot of students struggle with math, and we want to normalize that struggle as much as possible. We have to find opportunities to tell better stories and reflect on our experiences.”

– Dr. Gerardo Ramirez

Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Ball State University

Meet the guest

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where he studied the  role of teachers and parents in shaping the math attitudes of their students, as well as reappraisal techniques to help students cope with anxiety during testing situations.

Dr. Ramirez is currently an associate professor at Ball State, where he examines the role of frustration, empathy, and cultural capital in shaping students’ success and persistence.

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About Math Teacher Lounge

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

Identifying math anxiety

Can you do long division in your head and calculate tips in your sleep? Or does the mere thought of arithmetic keep you up at night?

If you fall into the latter camp, you’re not alone.

Math anxiety is real—and an established body of research proves it. In fact, data shows that math anxiety affects at least 20% of students.

And its effects can be damaging in both the immediate and long term. It can bring down student performance both in and beyond math, and in and outside the classroom.

Fortunately, we’re also learning how teachers can help students manage math anxiety—and succeed wherever it’s holding them back.

We explored this topic on a recent episode of Math Teacher Lounge, our biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. This season is all about recognizing and reducing math anxiety in students, with each episode featuring experts and educators who share their insights and strategies around this critical subject.

Dr. Gerardo Ramirez, associate professor of educational psychology at Ball State University, has been studying math anxiety for more than a decade. He joined podcast hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer to share his insights.

So let’s take a look at what math anxiety is—and is not. We’ll also explore what impact it has on learning, and what we can do about it.

What is math anxiety?

Math anxiety is more than just finding math challenging, or feeling like you’re “not a math person.” Dr. Ramirez offers this definition: “[Math anxiety] is a fear or apprehension in situations that might involve math or situations that you perceive as involving math. Anything from tests to homework to paying a tip at a restaurant.”

Math anxiety may cause sweating, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, and other physical symptoms of anxiety.

But while math anxiety has some similarities with other forms of anxiety, it’s exclusive to math-related tasks, and comes with a unique set of characteristics and influences.

Math anxiety can lead sufferers to deliberately avoid math. And this avoidance can not only result in a student not learning math, but also limiting their academic success, career options, and even  social experiences and connections. This can look like anything from getting poor grades in math class, to tension with family members over doing math homework.

Parents and teachers can suffer from math anxiety, too. In fact, some research suggests that when teachers have math anxiety, it’s more likely that some of their students will, too.

What causes math anxiety?

It’s not correlated to high or low skill or performance in math. Students who generally don’t do well in math can experience math anxiety because they assume they’ll do poorly every time. Students who have been pressured to be high-achieving experience math anxiety because they’re worried they won’t meet expectations.

Other triggers may include:

  • Pressure. Pressure from parents or peers to do well in math can create anxiety, especially if the person feels that their worth or future success is tied to their math abilities.
  • Negative past experiences. Someone who has struggled with math or gotten negative feedback about their math skills might develop math anxiety. They may start to avoid or fear math, making it even harder to approach and improve.
  • Learning style. Different people have different learning styles. When someone’s learning style doesn’t match the way math is taught in their class or school, they may struggle and develop anxiety.
  • Cultural factors. When students hear things like, “Boys are better at math,” it can increase math anxiety in girls who may absorb the notion that they are already destined to underachieve.

Math anxiety and working memory

Dr. Ramirez has researched the important relationship between math anxiety and working memory.

Working memory refers to the ability to hold and manipulate information in short-term memory. People with math anxiety often have poorer working memory capacity when it comes to math-related tasks. This is thought to be due to the cognitive load created by anxiety, which can interfere with the ability to manage information in working memory.

The result? A negative feedback loop. Poor working memory can lead to further math anxiety, and increased anxiety can further impair working memory.

However, it’s important to note that not all individuals with math anxiety experience a decline in working memory capacity. Some may have average or above-average working memory capacity but still experience math anxiety. In such cases, the anxiety may be related to negative beliefs about one’s ability to perform math tasks, rather than an actual cognitive deficit.

What we can do about math anxiety

Even though math anxiety is a distinct type of anxiety, interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and mindfulness approaches have been shown to be effective in reducing it.

It starts, says Dr. Ramirez, with normalizing the anxiety.

“If you’re a student and you’re struggling with math and I tell you, ‘Yeah, it’s hard, it’s OK to struggle with math,’ that makes you feel seen. And that’s gonna lead you to want to ask me more for help, because I’m someone who understands you,” says Dr. Ramirez. “And that’s a great opportunity.”

Learn more

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S1-05: How does coding fit in the science classroom? A conversation with Aryanna Trejo of Code.org

Podcast cover titled "Science Connections" featuring Aryanna Trejo, Season 1, Episode 5. It includes abstract illustrations of a globe and telescope, discussing coding in the science classroom.

In this episode, Eric sits down with Aryanna Trejo, a professional learning specialist of Code.org. Aryanna shares her journey from working as an elementary teacher in New York City and Los Angeles to teaching other educators at Code.org. Eric and Aryanna chat about computer literacy within the science classroom, problem-solving skills, and ways to model productive struggle for students. Aryanna also shares ways to teach coding and computer literacy in schools, no matter the classroom’s technology level. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.

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Aryanna Trejo (00:00):

I would hear teachers saying things like, “Well, I just can’t do coding; this is too hard for me; the time has passed.” And I would ask them, “Would you say that to your student about math or English?” And they would always sheepishly go, “No.” And I’d say, “Well, be as kind to yourself as you would be to your student.”

Eric Cross (00:19):

Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Aryanna Trejo. Aryanna is a member of the professional learning team at Code.org. Before joining Code.org, Aryanna led computer science professional development for elementary school teachers, and served as an instructional coach for new educators. She also taught fourth and fifth grade in both New York City and in Los Angeles. In this episode, we discuss Aryanna’s journey to Code.org, where she helps educators connect coding to real life, how to use a rubber duck to solve problems, and how coding and computer science principles can be taught to students in areas without access to the internet…or even a computer. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Aryanna Trejo. So I was born and raised here, and I saw that you went to UC San Diego.

Aryanna Trejo (01:11):

I did, I did. I actually just put a deposit down on an apartment in University Heights, ’cause I’m moving back.

Eric Cross (01:16):

You’re coming back?

Aryanna Trejo (01:17):

I’m coming back. Yeah.

Eric Cross (01:19):

So if you need a classroom to visit….

Aryanna Trejo (01:21):

I would love to do more classroom observations!

Eric Cross (01:24):

Are we doing this? Let’s do—we’re making this happen.

Aryanna Trejo (01:26):

We are. Yeah. So I’ll be there. I’m moving there in April. I actually grew up in Orange County too, so I’m like a very diehard SoCal person.

Eric Cross (01:35):

So I feel like I know the answer to, hopefully—Tupac or Biggie? ‘Cause you’re on the East Coast, and you’re on the West Coast.

Aryanna Trejo (01:40):

Yeah. I like Tupac, but I have more Biggie songs committed to memory. Which is not a lot. I have “Juicy” and “Hypnotized” memorized.

Eric Cross (01:53):

All right. So you’re just memorizing, and you have the Biggie songs memorized, but not the Tupac ones.

Aryanna Trejo (01:58):

No, but I do love Tupac songs. You know, it’s like, Biggie has the flow, but Tupac has the lyrics. Nobody’s—they both have something really amazing about them.

Eric Cross (02:06):

You know, I can respect that you broke it down into both of their strengths.

Aryanna Trejo (02:11):

Thanks for buttering me up before this interview. And not….

Eric Cross (02:15):

<laugh> Oh, we already started.

Aryanna Trejo (02:16):

Huh? We already started?

Eric Cross (02:17):

We’re already started. Yeah. We’re already into this.

Aryanna Trejo (02:19):

We’re into it.

Eric Cross (02:21):

You were in the classroom, fourth and fifth grade, and you were doing TFA.

Aryanna Trejo (02:26):

I did. I did Teach For America. I was 2012, New York City Corps. Right after graduation. ‘Cause I graduated UC San Diego in 2012. So graduation was on June 17th, and I touched down at JFK on June 19th.

Eric Cross (02:40):

Even though I wasn’t in TFA, I know a lot of the fellows that are in it. And there’s just some phenomenal teachers in there. How long were you doing elementary school when you were teaching?

Aryanna Trejo (02:49):

Yeah, I taught for—well, I did, three years of teaching fourth grade. Then there happened to be an instructional coach opening in my fourth year. I took that, did some instructional coaching within the same network, and then I moved back to LA and I taught fifth grade for a year.

Eric Cross (03:11):

  1. And what was it like now? Did you go to Code.org right after the classroom?

Aryanna Trejo (03:17):

No, I didn’t. No. I transitioned after teaching fifth grade for a year in downtown Los Angeles, in the Pico-Union neighborhood. I ended up getting this email out of the blue from someone who had actually found me through the Teach for America job site. ‘Cause I was hitting the pavement; I was really looking to transition out of the classroom. And she invited me to interview with this company called 9 Dots. And they taught computer science to kids K–6 throughout Los Angeles and Compton. And I was like, “Sure, no problem. Let’s do it.” So I interviewed, I got the job, and yeah, that’s how I transitioned to 9 Dots. And then after almost four years there, I transitioned to Code.org, with the same person. Actually, she moved over to Code.org first, and then she helped me get this job.

Eric Cross (04:07):

Oh, that’s happened a lot—like, that relationship kinda carries over.

Aryanna Trejo (04:11):

Yeah. We’re meant to be coworkers.

Eric Cross (04:13):

Yeah. Are you still? Is she still there? Are you both still together?

Aryanna Trejo (04:17):

Yeah, we’re on the same team and it’s nice. I saw her last night for Happy Hour, with another coworker who’s in LA. So we’re tight. And she’s a wonderful, wonderful mentor to me.

Eric Cross (04:28):

That’s great. Did you have computer-science background, when you were doing elementary school teaching? Did you have—

Aryanna Trejo (04:34):

No. <laugh> Not at all. When I was teaching in New York City, I had like four desktop computers in my classroom, and we rarely used them. Which was such a shame. And then when I moved to Los Angeles and taught fifth grade there, we were a one-to-one school, and the joys of that are just amazing. It was just really wonderful to, you know, get the students used to typing on the computer, using different software to submit their assignments. Getting creative—as creative as you can get—with Google Slides. You know, to show off what they know. And stuff like that. That’s all I had, though. And you know, when I transitioned to 9 Dots I was like, “Sure, why not? Let’s give a shot.” And I learned a lot. It was really interesting, yeah.

Eric Cross (05:26):

And so now at Code.org you are…well, so my journey with Code.org, I’ve been in the classroom for eight years. Still in the classroom as of…an hour ago, I was there. <Laugh> And I use Code.org, and I feel like I’ve checked it periodically, and I feel like it’s evolved over the gaps. And I’ve seen it. It’s become more robust in the things that they offer, over the years I’ve been an educator. Just to kind of…could you give a thumbnail sketch? Like, what is Code.org? Who’s it for? Who’s the target audience? What resources are there?

Aryanna Trejo (06:00):

Yeah. So it’s for everyone. It is a nonprofit that provides curriculum and training and a platform for teachers and students. We provide curriculum for K through 12. It’s completely free. And it comes with lesson plans, slideshows, all that. We focus specifically on underrepresented groups. So we have targeted measures for Black students, for Native American students, for students who identify as female. That’s a huge part of our mission. But we’re really working to expand access to computer science to as many students as we can.

Eric Cross (06:41):

One of the things I’m hearing in your story is you were teaching in Compton; you were in Bronx, New York. One of the reasons why I got into the classroom is because of educators, and the impact they made on me in exposing me to science and technologies I’d never had access to. And that intentionality, that you’re going about it…are there…not just the code, but how you bring that across to different groups…are there strategies, or are there ways to connect this idea of coding to diverse groups and diverse audiences? Or is it kind of, the curriculum applies for everyone? ‘Cause in science, when I’m teaching, I’m always trying to make what I’m doing relevant to the backgrounds of my students.

Aryanna Trejo (07:28):

Sure.

Eric Cross (07:28):

So I’m teaching biology, and I’m trying to make this kind of connection. Sometimes it’s more organic; sometimes it feels kind of forced. Because it’s just not always a nice fit. But it sounds like Code.org is really about inclusion. And in the numbers that I’ve seen for representation, in especially computer science software engineers, the groups that you’re focusing on are not necessarily represented in the professional workforce. At least disproportionately.

Aryanna Trejo (07:54):

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that’s correct.

Eric Cross (07:57):

And so how do you go about being intentional about reaching groups that we don’t see in, you know, the Silicon Valley software engineers? How do you start that? Like, at a young age, do you look for specific schools in specific areas to say, “We are going to bring this to the school. We’re going out to these populations of the cities”? Because we’re just not seeing…you know, on the map, we’re not seeing anybody really doing anything with coding here. Or we’re not seeing the numbers come out of these areas, out of these cities, of students who are going into STEM or going into computer science fields.

Aryanna Trejo (08:41):

Yeah. I don’t necessarily work on the recruitment side of it, is the issue, in my position. But I do work on the professional learning, that is brought out to teachers. And we have a huge focus on equity throughout the workshops that we create from K–12. It’s something we’re really passionate about. We definitely aim to prepare teachers to teach computer science. That’s a huge part of it. Knowing the content, but also thinking through, “What does recruitment look like at your school to make sure that the demographics of your classroom match the demographics of your entire school?” Also, thinking through, “How can we make sure that female students feel included in your classroom? How can we make sure that we are, giving students creativity to think about, or we are setting students up to be creative and think about the problems that are in their community, and how they can use computer science to solve them, or at least work towards them?”

Eric Cross (09:39):

So solving real-world problems and that inclusion aspect…are there things like…you were saying “female or students who identify as female”…are there things that teachers can do to ensure that they’re being more inclusive? Or to recruit, or encourage more female students to take part? One of the things I was thinking of, that I’ve seen, is I’ve seen coding kind of camps.

Aryanna Trejo (10:06):

Sure.

Eric Cross (10:08):

That were specifically for a female audience. And that seemed to help with recruitment. Is that something that you see on your side?

Aryanna Trejo (10:16):

That’s not something that we set up, no. But the curriculum that I work with is CS Principles. And it’s offered as an Advanced Placement course, as well as an AP class. So that’s a curriculum that’s designed for students who are in grades 10 through 12. And so at that point, we can really talk to teachers and ask them what the recruitment strategy is. But in terms of strategies that teachers can use to recruit those students…I mean, I’ve heard over and over from lots of different teachers who identify as female that they didn’t think that computer science was for them, until they saw a role model in that position. And so just being a role model for those students is really wonderful.

Eric Cross (11:00):

And I see it too, with—like, we do “Draw a Scientist” activity, which is like a popular science thing—

Aryanna Trejo (11:05):

Sure, yeah, I’m familiar.

Eric Cross (11:05):

But it’s the same thing, right? Like, it fleshes out. My students don’t draw themselves as scientists. They draw what they perceive, based on what television says. I imagine with computer science, it’s probably really similar, when you think about “What’s a software engineer look like?” Do students tend to draw themselves? Or is it even a mystery? Because I don’t even know what a software engineer looks like.

Aryanna Trejo (11:28):

Yeah, absolutely. Well, one of the things we love to do with our professional learning workshops is talk about understanding yourself, your identities, how they show up in the classroom as biases. And, you know, things like stereotype threat. We see that as really important to understand, and think through, and consider, before you step into the classroom. So that you’re not, you know, coddling certain groups of students because you don’t believe that they are able to be successful in computer science. Holding all the students to the same expectations and believing that they can succeed. And computer science, I think a lot of the times people have this conception of it being this utopian, bias-less, technocratic field. When in reality, everything has bias. And people talk about algorithmic bias and facial recognition, but also the people who created computers and computer languages have their own bias that comes through. And I think it’s really important to show students that. So that they can, one, know what they’re working with, and two, make sure that they can create products that reduce that bias.

Eric Cross (12:50):

It’s like…it’s not objective, just because we’re creating software. Like, once it gets to a point of being so sophisticated…I think, like, AI software, right? With facial recognition? And we’re seeing more and more articles come out about, you know, predicting trends based on historical data.

Aryanna Trejo (13:12):

Sure.

Eric Cross (13:13):

But then, the trends and things that they’re seeing tend to target things that have happened in the past. But it also doesn’t take into consideration a lot of other factors that can lead to certain groups or populations being identified. And I’ve seen some articles lately about how your code is really just representation of what you put into it. And like you just said, your bias—if you have that, conscious or unconscious—you’re gonna put that into your code. And the input is gonna be an impact, is gonna impact the output.

Aryanna Trejo (13:44):

Yeah, absolutely. Or even just—and I’m ashamed to say this, ’cause this is an idea that came to me just recently, through an article that I read—but computers themselves have bias. The hardware assumes that you have vision, that you can see the screen, that you are able-bodied, that you can use your hands to work the keyboard, the mouse, et cetera, and that you don’t have to use assistive technology. You know, there are small things like that, where we think that technology, like I said, is this utopian, futuristic science…but there are biases throughout.

Eric Cross (14:19):

You’re absolutely right. I’ve never even—I’ve never even considered that. Even though I do use assistive tech, and figure it out, I’ve never thought from the ground up, the process is built for an able-bodied, sighted, hearing person.

Aryanna Trejo (14:31):

Exactly.

Eric Cross (14:32):

To be able to engage with the hardware. And then these other things, these tertiary things that we kind of add on, so that you can do this, but it’s not designed from the ground up for people who are, you know, different audiences, physically. So I’m glad you brought that up, though. Now I’ve seen—and I haven’t done this—but I know Hour of Code is a big thing. And this is something that’s ongoing. Can you talk a little bit about what Hour of Code is? I know it’s, it’s a big thing for the classroom teachers.

Aryanna Trejo (15:08):

Yeah. So Hour of Code is really exciting, and it’s just blossomed from something small to something tremendous. This year is gonna be the 10th Hour of Code. So what it is, is it happens during CS Education Week in December, during Grace Hopper’s—or to honor Grace Hopper’s birthday. She was a computer scientist and Navy Admiral. And basically the aim of it is to get as many students on the computer doing an hour of code, and demystify what coding is. You know, to do seed-planting. To show teachers that this is something that you can facilitate for your students. And also to show students like, “Hey, computer science is something you can absolutely do. Not just for an hour, but more if you want.” So, yeah. Now it’s worldwide, and it’s really exciting.

Eric Cross (15:58):

That’s awesome. And I think about teachers and I still hear the apologetic—when I’m helping teachers in the classroom with education technology—the self-deprecating “I’m a dinosaur; I’m not good with tech,” which is never true. Like, they’re better than they even realize. And I feel like sometimes there’s still a stigma, too. It’s like <laugh> The Simpsons’ Comic Book Store Guy. The condescending tech support person—

Aryanna Trejo (16:27):

Sure.

Eric Cross (16:28):

—who has that tone. And so I feel like some people have been so negatively impacted by that person. So I know when I’m helping people, I actually try to go full-spectrum the other side. But I’m thinking about teachers’ barrier to entry. Sometimes code is like, “Whoa.” And I don’t teach computer science. Do you see those barriers to entry, or at least the perception of them? And then, what’s the reality for like someone listening, and going, “I’m a fourth grade teacher,” or “I’m a humanities teacher in ninth grade.” What’s the perception that you see, versus reality, with the teachers that you train? Is it much more accessible than we think? Or is there a level of sophistication that you have to have coming into it?

Aryanna Trejo (17:10):

No, not at all. I know computer science, and that says a lot! <Laugh> You know, I know my own corner of computer science. And you know, that’s me being self-deprecating, too. But I think learning computer science has helped me in so many different ways that I wasn’t expecting. I recently took the GRE in hopes of, you know, getting back into grad school. And I think just the way that computer science teaches you to search for bugs in your code, or errors, and kind of tirelessly look at a problem from multiple different angles, I was able to carry that into the math that I was doing. And I noticed just a huge difference in the way that I approached it, and the way that I was open to it. But you asked a great question, in regards to the barriers to technology. In my position at 9 Dots, I was working directly with teachers to lead professional development with them. Sometimes it would be a full day; sometimes it would be an hour after school. And the one thing that I always had in my back pocket that was really useful is that I would hear teachers saying things like, “Well, I just can’t do coding; this is too hard for me; the time has passed.” And I would ask them, “Would you say that to your student about math or English?” And they would always sheepishly go, “No.” And I’d say, “Well, be as kind to yourself as you would be to your student.” You know, it takes some patience and nobody’s gonna get it perfect 100 percent of the time. Have I banged my head against the wall trying to solve one tiny little syntax error in my code? Absolutely! But it feels absolutely phenomenal to fix that. And I was an English major in undergrad, and I had never done computer science before. So it’s something that becomes really satisfying.

Eric Cross (19:07):

Yeah, I imagine. I had someone—a trainer or a presenter—one time bring up the fact that our students rarely get to see us learn in real time.

Aryanna Trejo (19:19):

Yeah.

Eric Cross (19:19):

So we don’t get to ever really model failure. I mean, unless we’re in a classroom situation <laughs> in our failures, with classroom management. Then they see it, they see it! But they don’t get to see us model learning failure. And I don’t mean like failure—and yes, I know, “first attempt is learning,” and “no such thing as failure”—that’s not what I’m talking about. But just when we’re not successful with our code, and then we experience real-time frustration.

Aryanna Trejo (19:42):

Yep.

Eric Cross (19:42):

And they said that is actually a great learning experience for your students to watch you go through productive struggle. And that was really liberating for me. Because now I’m in the classroom, and I’m trying to go through it with my students, and the beautiful thing was, they started helping me. We were all trying to solve the problem. And then we had this authentic problem-solving experience. I think it was like a Scratch program, where we were trying to solve, trying to embed it somewhere, or something. And then, in the background of the class: “Mr. Cross! I got it! I figured it out!” And it was this really neat bonding experience. And I felt that—your ears get red, and you get hot, ’cause you’re not—

Aryanna Trejo (20:19):

Oh yeah.

Eric Cross (20:20):

You don’t know it! And you’re in front of 36 kids! And I said, “OK, I need to tell them how I feel.”

Aryanna Trejo (20:25):

Yeah.

Eric Cross (20:26):

So I said, “Now I feel really frustrated.” Like, “I want to go through this, and here’s my thoughts.” ‘Cause I knew that it would be helpful if they saw and would hear my thoughts. So I just did a quick think-aloud and I said, “In my head, <laugh> I want to just quit,” I said, “But I realize that this is the part where my learning’s happening. So I just want you all to hear what’s going on in my brain.” And now I feel like when I’m doing coding with my students, and it’s just basic coding, I feel much more comfortable, like, not knowing. But I needed someone to release me from that “I have to be the expert in everything” to do it.

Aryanna Trejo (21:06):

And teachers are used to being the experts. Right? And they should be. And coding is just such a different landscape. But I think once you kind of give over to the power of tinkering, I think it’s really gratifying. I love being able to…you can revise a sentence, and then read your paragraph back to yourself in English, and say, “OK, I get it.” But there’s something so gratifying about changing a line of code or a block and then being able to hit play and watch your program come to life, and say, “Hmm, that’s not quite what I wanted. Let’s try something different.”

Eric Cross (21:39):

I love your connection to tinkering. ‘Cause—I had never thought about it—’cause I love tinkering with my hands. But I always think about physical things. But coding is exactly that. It’s tinkering.

Aryanna Trejo (21:47):

It’s exactly that.

Eric Cross (21:47):

That’s exactly what it is.

Aryanna Trejo (21:49):

And a lot of it is, for me, especially when I’m trying something new, it’s guess-and-check. It’s like, “OK, that didn’t work. What if I add a semicolon here? Will it finally work? Or what if I add a ‘for’ loop? Will this get me what I want?” And it’s wonderful because you have that with students as well. Like, you have that record of their thinking, and you can ask them to go step-by-step and tell you, you know, “First, I added this, because I wanted the program to do this,” and so on and so forth. And so you have that record, but you can always get rid of it. Students often wanna get completely get rid of it. That’s something that I’ve noticed a lot as I’ve taught computer science. But, once you can get them to target the specific parts of the program, tinker with that, and continue, that’s a really wonderful learning space. There was also something you said about modeling failure. I love the fact that in computer science you can model failure for your students. You said to your students, “I’m getting frustrated.” I love that, because I never got that in math. Nobody ever showed me what it was like to be frustrated with graphing a parabola. Right? Like, my math teachers were always like, “Doot, doot, doot, here you go, you’re done!” <Laugh> And I would get so frustrated, because it didn’t come that easily to me. And I think there’s two parts to that. So there’s modeling the learning and the thinking and the productive struggle, but also there’s the identity of being a computer scientist and modeling what that looks like. So for me, when I get really frustrated with a program, I walk away. I take five minutes. I take a deep breath. I say, “I’m not gonna think about it in these five minutes.” And I come back to it. And I think once you start teaching computer science, you can facilitate that for students. And there’s so many different strategies that they can pick up. They can pick up rubber ducking, which is where they pick up a rubber duck or a similar object, and they talk to it as if they were a partner and talk through their code. And oftentimes, as you’re rubber ducking, you’re gonna find that error, because you’re explaining it to someone who’s a stand-in for a novice. And rubber ducking is a well-known strategy for computer scientists who make it their career. You know, there’s pair programming. Some students love pair programming; some students hate it. But the students start to build this identity about how they problem-solve. And how they approach failure. And I just love that.

Eric Cross (24:31):

I’m writing this down. Because the rubber-ducking strategy, I love. I just imagine my seventh graders, a bunch of 13-year-olds with, like, rubber on the desk. And not necessarily in coding, but I was thinking in my science class. And they’re working through a challenge, and they’re all looking at this duck, and they’re talking to it. But I just love the the idea of externalizing your thought process and talking through it yourself so that you can hopefully arrive at a conclusion. But it’s such a great practice, and this is something that’s been around for a long time, apparently. So.

Aryanna Trejo (24:59):

Yeah. Yeah. It’s a real thing. And you know, you can go low-fi. It doesn’t have to be a rubber duck. You can have students talk to their pencils or their imaginary friends. That’s not the issue; the issue is, you know, talking to somebody.

Eric Cross (25:10):

I know you support teachers. But I just wanted to…I was just curious about your typical day, what that’s like. And then what you do, how you support ’em.

Aryanna Trejo (25:15):

So, at my previous job at 9 Dots, I was in there with the teachers in the classrooms. I was coaching our internal staff who went out to co-teach with teachers. And I loved that. And I had such a great impact on a local scale. But now at Code.org, I have a much broader impact. But I don’t get to interface with—that’s such a tech-y word!—I don’t get to interact with—

Eric Cross (25:42):

You work at Code.org! You get to—

Aryanna Trejo (25:42):

I know! But I’m a teacher at heart, forever, right? That’s my identity that I forged when I was 22 years old. And a typical day looks like opening up my computer, taking a look at my calendar. I often have meetings to talk about, different things that we’re doing to support our facilitators who go out to our teachers and lead their workshops for them. I recently worked on a product that was designed for CS principles, teachers, to onboard to the course if they weren’t able to get into an in-person workshop. And it’s completely self-paced, so it gives teachers an on-ramp into the course. And now I’m working on some in-person workshop agendas. So I feel really wonderful that my work is going out to thousands of teachers. But at the same time, I really, really miss talking to teachers. Because that’s something that energizes me so much.

Eric Cross (26:46):

When should students start learning computer science? I feel like we see it in this kind of narrow lane. Like, this is computer science if you make an app. Can it be more than that? As far as like the benefit of computer science? And—I guess two-part question—when should students, one, start being exposed to it? And then two, what are some of the benefits beyond just, “I wanna just make an app”?

Aryanna Trejo (27:08):

I taught coding to kindergartners. It can start as early as you as you want it to. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be on the computer. A lot of students that I worked with didn’t have computers at home, were interacting with computers for the first time. And that’s a huge barrier, of course, to a lot of teachers. But there are so many unplugged lessons that you can do to start to start to have students think about algorithms, which is just a series of steps to complete to solve a problem. As long as a student can use a computer, I think they can do computer science. There are products out there like codeSpark, where students—and Code.org has these products too—where students are moving an avatar around a board, kind of like a quadrant to…you know, they feed the directions to a computer and then the computer enacts it for them. And with that, they can learn algorithms. You know, that is computer science. And a lot of people don’t see it that way, but it really is. And it starts to set students up for more complex thinking as they move on.

Eric Cross (28:13):

One of the biggest underserved communities, geographically, are students in rural areas.

Aryanna Trejo (28:20):

Yep.

Eric Cross (28:21):

They can be reservations; they can be places just not an urban area. Is there a way to serve our communities of students and bring these skills in an unplugged way?

Aryanna Trejo (28:32):

Yeah. Yeah. If you typed in “unplugged computer science lessons” to Google, you’ll have a ton of hits. And there are so many students out there—not just in rural areas. But there’s incarcerated students. It hurts my heart to even say those words, but in urban areas too. Like in my classroom, where I only had four desktop computers. Access is a real struggle. And there’s things, like I said, instead of moving an avatar around a grid on the computer, I used to have an actual mat that I would take out to my kindergarten classrooms, lay it out, and it would have a grid on it. And we’d have one of the students act as the avatar and the rest of the students would give them directions to get to a different point on the grid. And there, you’re building an algorithm or just a series of steps. Like I said, it’s not some fancy term to solve a problem. And there’s multiple ways to solve that problem, too. And I think investigating that can be a really good way to stretch those lessons.

Eric Cross (29:32):

It almost sounds like an oxymoron, but this low-tech computer science strategy. Develop these skills and then transfer that once you have access to the tools.

Aryanna Trejo (29:39):

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think it’s a good way for students who need kinesthetic means to start to understand something, or just different learning styles, to start transferring that over.

Eric Cross (29:53):

I probably have students in the classroom where those kinesthetic moving things would help be a great way—or WILL be a great way—for them to learn the principles and the fundamentals of coding. Instead of only giving the option to just do the computer, actually giving them some choice. Or giving them a way to be able to manipulate things. We’re still in the system of education that’s still very siloed. It’s been the same way for a hundred years. We got math and then we got science and we got English. I’m wondering, how can a teacher fit this into their daily lessons? And then, do you have any experiences or stories or things that you’ve seen, just really creative ways that you’ve seen teachers incorporate this? Outside the norm of, “This is a computer science class; we’re just gonna code.” But have you seen it branch out? In the trainings that you’ve done?

Aryanna Trejo (30:40):

I’ve seen examples of that. I’ve seen a teacher use Scratch to demonstrate different climates of California, and show the different climates. This past year for Hour of Code, my friend Amy—the one who helped me move to 9 Dots and at Code.org—she created this incredible tutorial called Poetry Bot. And it was a way to get students to match the mood of the poem to some of the elements that were happening in the stage. So they would have different backgrounds show up at different parts of the poem. When the words would show up, they would have different sprites show up. They would have, sometimes, sounds. Or the text would show up with different animations. So there are cross-curricular opportunities everywhere, if you can be creative enough to find them, or if you beg, borrow, steal from other educators who are doing this incredible work out there.

Eric Cross (31:36):

Yeah. I say this all the time, but I’m an educational DJ, not an MC.

Aryanna Trejo (31:44):

Oh yeah.

Eric Cross (31:45):

So MCs write their lyrics and DJs remix with things that other people have done.

Aryanna Trejo (31:48):

Absolutely.

Eric Cross (31:48):

I was like, I’m a DJ. I was like, all day. Sometimes I’ll write a lyric, once or twice, but most of the time I’m remixing things. So teachers, if you’ve been out there and you got an awesome interdisciplinary thing, or you’ve incorporated coding and it’s something that’s traditionally not seen, please send it to us. Share it with us.

Aryanna Trejo (32:03):

Yeah. And there are so many different places where you can find that. We have a forum for Code.org, but there’s also CSTA, the Computer Science Teachers Association. You can join your local chapter and get to know other computer science teachers out there.

Eric Cross (32:19):

I guess…to wrap up, I’ve been using Scratch programming, the MIT website. My students do the basic animated name, CS First, stuff. But over the years, I’ve noticed that my students are coming in with a higher level of sophistication in Scratch to where now the differentiation…some of my students are just doing very basic…and then I have other students who’ve created full-on video games with complex…like, you look at their Scratch page and it’s just an amazing amount of blocks and integrations and things that they have. Is there anything on Code.org that could be a next step? That takes them beyond, maybe like the visuals? And if so, what would be a good next step, to take students to advance them to another platform? There’s so many coding languages out there, I feel like. Or I might not even be thinking about that the right way.

Aryanna Trejo (33:20):

No, I think you are. You know, we have three different curricula out on our website right now. We have CS Fundamentals, which is probably more in line with what you’re talking about. We have a free CS Discoveries curriculum, and that is designed for, grades, I believe, 6 through 10. And that would be a really good entry point, for both teachers and for students.

Eric Cross (33:44):

There’s a lot of new stuff that I hadn’t seen yet, a few years ago.

Aryanna Trejo (33:49):

Yeah.

Eric Cross (33:49):

So I was really excited.

Aryanna Trejo (33:50):

One thing that I do know is that CS Discovery has just added an artificial intelligence slash machine-learning unit, that you can just pick up and give to your students. You don’t have to go in order with CS Discoveries, like you do with CS Principles. And I’ve gone through some of those lessons. They are really rad. And I would’ve loved to have learned that when I was in middle school or high school. So yeah, we’re constantly thinking of how we can make things one, relevant to our students, and two relevant to what’s going on in the world.

Eric Cross (34:20):

So would I be overselling it if I said, “If you go through this, you’ll be able to create an AI or a neural net to do all your homework”?

Aryanna Trejo (34:26):

You would be overselling it.

Eric Cross (34:27):

I would be? OK. So what I’ll do is, I’ll wait until the end of the school year, and then introduce it, and then by the time they’ve realized it’s not true, they’ll be eighth graders.

Aryanna Trejo (34:35):

There you go. Good old bait-and-switch.

Eric Cross (34:37):

You’re amazing. Thank you for serving teachers, and for being part of such a great organization that puts out great stuff. So much free curricula for teachers to be able to use. Especially nowadays we hunt and scour the internet for those types of things. And to be able to bring computer literacy into the classroom, and with your focus of serving communities of underrepresented groups, it feels good to know that not only is it high-quality material, but it’s also trying to raise everyone up. Because ultimately when we have more people trying to solve a common problem, we come up with better solutions. And I was talking to somebody who was a materials engineer somewhere in Europe, and he said one of the things about the U.S., As he was critiquing me on this flight, critiquing the U.S., He said, “One of the things about your country is that you have a heterogeneous group of people who, in a group, when you have multiple perspectives attacking a problem, you come up with more novel solutions.” He says, “That’s one of the great things, is that there’s not necessarily just a hive mind.” And I think that that’s one of the great things. We uplift different communities, and we uplift women, people of color, people who, have backgrounds that parents didn’t go to college but have these amazing qualities and strengths. And we put everybody focusing on the same issue. We come up with novel solutions that we wouldn’t have come up with if only select groups were trying to look at it and solve it. And so—.

Aryanna Trejo (36:22):

Yeah.

Eric Cross (36:23):

And we couldn’t do that without organizations like yours, that help empower teachers. So.

Aryanna Trejo (36:27):

Yeah! You really said it.

Eric Cross (36:29):

You’re coming to my classroom when you’re back in San Diego?

Aryanna Trejo (36:31):

Yeah! I totally will. Yeah. Let’s make it happen.

Eric Cross (36:34):

Last question. If you think back in your schooling, your own schooling, K through college, is there a person or a teacher that had a big impact on you? Or a learning experience that had an impact on you? And it could be, you know, positive or negative. But something that impacted you, even to this day, that stands out to you, that you remember?

Aryanna Trejo (36:56):

This is a big diversion from the topics that we’re talking about. But in grades 10 through 12, my drama teacher, Mr. Byler, who I still talk with, was such a huge impression on me. Really wonderful. And I couldn’t tell you the teaching moves that he did that were wonderful. I don’t know much about his management. But I can tell you that he gave me space to be confident, and grow into myself, through drama productions. They were high school productions, so they weren’t amazing. But I just really came into myself in high school, because I had the confidence to get on stage. And he was just such a wonderful mentor to all of us. So, props to Mr. Byler.

Eric Cross (37:39):

Shout out to Mr. Byler for creating space for Aryanna to fly! Thanks for making time, after your workday, to talk with us and to share Code.org with teachers.

Aryanna Trejo (37:54):

Of course. Happy to.

Eric Cross (37:59):

Thanks so much for joining me and Aryanna today. We want to hear more about you. If you have any great lessons or ways to keep student engagement high, please email us at stem@amplify.com. Make sure to click subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And join our brand new Facebook group, Science Connections: The Community for some extra content.

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What Aryanna Trejo says about science

“I would hear teachers saying things like, ‘Well I just can’t do coding, it’s just too hard for me.’ And I would ask them…Would you say that to your student about math or English? Be as kind to yourself as you would be to your student.”

– Aryanna Trejo

Professional Learning Specialist, Code.org

Meet the guest

Aryanna is a member of the Code.org Professional Learning Team. Before joining Code.org, Aryanna led computer science professional development for K-6 teachers and served as an instructional coach for new educators. She also taught fourth and fifth grade in New York City and Los Angeles. In her spare time, Aryanna loves taking advantage of the California sunshine, creating wheel-thrown pottery, and hanging out with her dog Lola.

Person with curly hair smiling, standing in front of a brick wall. Circular frame with decorative star in the corner.

About Science Connections

Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!

S4 – 02. Bethany and Dan share their math biographies

Promotional graphic for "math teacher lounge," season 4 episode 2, featuring photos and names of math teaching guests Bethany Lockhart and Dan Meyer.

In this episode, co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer get personal and share their “math bios”—their early experiences with math and how those experiences turned them into the educators they are today.

Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page

Download Transcript

Dan Meyer (00:00):

We’re recording. What’s up, everybody. This is Dan Meyer with Math Teacher Lounge.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:08):

And I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson. We are so excited to be back. Season Four, Episode Two. Hi, Dan.

Dan Meyer (00:16):

Hey, Bethany, how are you doing today?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:18):

I’m so excited to be talking with you! You know, as we record this, our reunion at NCTM is getting closer and closer.

Dan Meyer (00:28):

The NCTM live show is gonna be bonkers. I don’t think people are ready for it. You think you know what we’re about on MTL from listening to us, but the live show is gonna be outta control. You cannot imagine how many clowns and elephants Bethany wants to have at the live show. We’re still—we’re trying to talk her down from like three to one, but we’ll see.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:44):

All I want is the t-shirt cannon. Because I used to go to these baseball games and they would have a t-shirt cannon. And I thought, I wanna operate a t-shirt cannon! So like, if I could be standing on stage aiming t-shirts at people who are jumping up and down requesting a t-shirt? I don’t know. Doesn’t that sound fun?

Dan Meyer (01:01):

Sounds awesome. High point of my college education was catching a t-shirt. No, it was—it was a burrito. It was a burrito cannon. But I think it was just a t-shirt cannon, but it was a burrito cannon. And I caught a burrito at a game and it was probably the most memorable moment of all of college education for me.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:16):

Was the burrito still warm?

Dan Meyer (01:18):

Oh yeah. I think it got—like, I think it might’ve been warm at one point and then it got warmed back up through the muzzle velocity of the cannon. So it was a pretty great system they had going on there. <Laugh> Yeah. <Laugh> Anyway, I’m off topic, but, we’re thrilled to—I’m thrilled to chat with you and we’re thrilled to be listened to by you folks out there in MTL land. In the lounge itself. We got a fun show today.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:40):

So if you listen to Episode One—which if you haven’t, hope you go back and listen to it—if you listen to Season Four, Episode One, you’re gonna hear—we asked Huon, KT, who is this delight of a joyful teacher. We asked her to talk to us about what’s her math bio. And we want to ask all of our guests—like, I wanna go back and ask every single guest we’ve ever had to tell us their math bio.

Dan Meyer (02:06):

Yep.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:06):

Because, while seemingly simple in nature, our students enter our math classroom already having had this relationship with math and these notions about their role in math or what they think about math. And it impacts our school year with them if we’re a teacher. And it impacts our relationship with math as we move through our education and beyond. Right? And I I’m so excited about this question, ’cause I think it also ties into this theme for Season Four, which is joyful math, and diving into “When has math felt joyful? When has it not? Does it feel like—how do we think about how our math bio, our relationship with math, has evolved into a joyful or less joyful place?”

Dan Meyer (02:54):

I get it. And what’s really key here, I think, is that teaching more than other professions is a generational profession. You know what I’m saying? Like, no one is like, “Well, you know, I sold insurance to you and now you’re selling insurance to, you know, my grandkids; that’s amazing!” But people are always posting photos when, like, you teach someone who then becomes a teacher later. Teaching is a generational sort of thing. So the kinds of joyful experiences that we offer or don’t offer students now affect the experiences that students who haven’t even been born yet will have, you know, some 20, 30 years later. That, to me, is a trip. And well-worth exploring, you know, how we got here, mathematically speaking.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:39):

I remember a friend had sent me this image of an assignment that her son got that was asking for their Mathography. They wanted to know about their history of mathematics. And this was their first assignment. And this teacher, I would like to imagine, read them all and used it to inform conversations about students’ relationship with math. And, you know, some of the questions they asked were thinking about whether you consider yourself, quote, unquote, “good at math.” Like “what kind of experiences have you had? What do you like or dislike about math? What is, you know—what do you expect to learn in math this year?” Just asking students to actually pause and examine and reflect on their relationship and then also looking forward to, like, what kind of a classroom community do we wanna create? And I loved that assignment. And yeah, so today’s episode Dan, guess what?

Dan Meyer (04:32):

What’s going on? What’s happening?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:33):

I figured we should ask each other about our math bio.

Dan Meyer (04:39):

I think the people out there would love to know this about us. ‘Cause you know, we’re both awesome. But also what’s really cool here is that like, I don’t know this about you. Like not, not a lot. You know, the folks at Amplify, they kind of assembled me and Bethany together in the same way that record labels assembled pop boy bands, girl bands, that kind of thing, back in the day. You know, grabbing some stars from screen or film and just like throwing ’em together and saying, “All right, now you’re here to perform together.” And so it’s just a really good moment for us to, like, settle back and just know who we’ve been working with for the last three seasons and change here. I love it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:15):

Well, I don’t know. I don’t actually agree with that, Dan. Because don’t you remember? We knew each other beforehand. And while I would like to think of us as…oh, I’ll say One Direction—well, no, One Direction is now defunct. Who’s another band that got formed by one of those shows and is still together and still—

Dan Meyer (05:33):

BTS! K-Pop, you know! Let’s go!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:35):

K-pop. BTS.

Dan Meyer (05:38):

Let’s go, Bethany <laugh>.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:39):

So can we incorporate some K-pop into the NCTM Math Teacher Lounge live episode? Don’t answer now. Don’t answer now. OK. So not only are we gonna share our math bios, but we want to encourage you listeners to share your math bio with somebody in your life. It could be a child in your life, maybe talking to your kiddo about what was it like. What was math like for you? It could be a student that you have. It could be a partner, a friend, a parent. I mean, the sky’s the limit. Share your math bio. And most of all, share with us. We wanna hear about your math bio and you can share it with us at Twitter, at MTLShow, or in our Facebook group, Math Teacher Lounge.

Dan Meyer (06:26):

Stop on by, please. All right. I’m gonna just share like, just a couple of quick, signposts. Not the full bio. Gotta leave them wondering about something here. But here’s a few quick highlights and lowlights of my math bio and how, maybe, it made me the teacher that I was and the educator I am. Is that cool?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:44):

Wait, I didn’t even, I didn’t ask you yet.

Dan Meyer (06:46):

Ask me what?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:47):

Hey, Dan!

Dan Meyer (06:49):

Is there like a magical word? Like, what’s your math bio? <Laugh> Oh, go for it. No, no, that’s right. They won’t know what I’m talking about. Why is he talking about his math bio? Bethany—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:57):

That whole lead-in that we just gave? They might not know.

Dan Meyer (07:00):

Yeah. We just talked about math bios for the last 20 minutes. But yeah, they might not know what we’re—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:04):

<laugh> So Dan, why don’t you go first? ‘Cause I know you were gonna ask me to go first, but why don’t you go first? Dan? What’s your math bio?

Dan Meyer (07:12):

Oh, wow. Well, thank you for the formal invitation to share my math bio, Bethany Lockhart Johnson. So, I’ll just share—I just wanna share a couple items here, not the full history. Gotta leave ’em—leave a little mystery in there, you know what I’m saying? But here’s a few highlights and lowlights, and I think what it means for me as an educator. So, I was homeschooled for eight years. That was big—did a lot of math learning on my own. Couple of lowlights from that, a lot of highlights, in terms of just like being able to, like, learn at my own rate and just jump on ahead and pursue different wacky things. But I tried to switch into public school in fourth grade and I lasted, um, four hours. I didn’t even go to class. I enrolled and then it was like, boom, I was out of there. Because we went to the school; we met the teacher, saw the room, very nice person and place. But I got the homework assignment and the homework assignment was gibberish. I had no idea what to do and such was this feeling of just, like, despair and hopelessness, I was like, I cannot be a part of this. I remember the assignment. It was about identifying scalene, isosceles, and equilateral triangles. I’ll tell you this: I am quite good at that now. But at the time, like, I didn’t know what those words meant. And you know, at that moment we had Encyclopedia Britannica, could not Google this or even Ask Jeeves or AltaVista this so well back then. It just—it was an entry moment of failure and realizing that so much of math is like a, kind of a social kind of construct. And if you’re not part of that social circle, what can you do? So that was a bummer. Another bummer was eighth-grade math, learned it all by way of videotape. You know, put in the tape and watch—not gonna say the person’s name and not this person’s fault—but it was just like watching someone work on a whiteboard. Kind of a precursor to Khan Academy, kind of a drag. Went to high school—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:02):

Wait, wait, wait, wait. We were—I’m not ready to jump to high school. Wait. Can you pause for just a second?

Dan Meyer (09:06):

Yeah. Rock on.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:07):

I just need you to go back to the triangle thing. So in that moment, what did that mean for you that you had had all these experiences with math and then you encounter math in a completely different sphere, a public school, and it did not have a connection or meaning to you because prior to that, it sounds like it was pretty positive. Right? Explore these things you’re curious about; there’s not, like, a level you need to stick with…

Dan Meyer (09:33):

Yep, yep. Yeah. I think that’s right. Maybe it was a little bit of a classic, like, “Oh, I didn’t have a growth mindset; my mindset was like, ‘Oh, I’m good at math because I am, you know, born that way,’” and all of a sudden, that identity was, you know, thrown into question. And, you know, my foundation was all of a sudden quite shaky. And yeah, that’s—you know, I think I taught a lesson recently where I was like, “Hey, this whole thing with a less-than or equal-to sign and a greater-than or equal-to sign, like what those signs are: it’s just, it’s language. And if it’s confusing to you, it’s not because you’re bad at math; it’s ’cause language is oftentimes confusing ’cause people have to agree on it.” So I dunno, that sort of thing is kind of filtered in, filtered back in periodically, some sympathy for like how a lot of math is like just socially agreed upon ways of working with, you know, numbers, shapes, patterns, that kind of thing.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:20):

OK.

Dan Meyer (10:21):

Anyway.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:21):

  1. And in this home school—I have a lot of questions about that, but I’ll stick to one—were you in a community of people that you talked about these math ideas with? Were you homeschooled solo? You have a sibling, so I think you were together, right?

Dan Meyer (10:39):

Yeah. Yeah. I’ve got a twin sister. So we were, you know, like, right on with each other the whole way through there. And yeah, so we had—but it wasn’t, it wasn’t like a—it was a lot of individual work, with my flavor of homeschooling.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:54):

  1. Got it. And the tapes—wait, before you go to high school, the tapes, the VHS tapes, which I’m just loving this image—

Dan Meyer (11:02):

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:02):

Was that a positive experience? Was that because that was an area of math that whoever was homeschooling you wasn’t that comfortable with? Why was it that route for the tapes, and what was that? Was that joyful for you?

Dan Meyer (11:15):

Yeah, definitely not joyful. Yeah, it was like, if you had questions, you couldn’t really ask them of the VHS tape. It didn’t work out so well in that way. And it was a lot of operational-type math. It was, you know—there was no give and take; it was all kind of take. From the video teacher. And yeah, I was doing that because my homeschool teacher, my mom, who is very smart in lots of areas, did not have the math knowledge or confidence, especially to help with math at eighth grade. And that was a big reason why, flash-forward to the next year, went to high school.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:48):

Nice segue. OK.

Dan Meyer (11:50):

<laugh> You caught up to high school…I encountered just like four years of just crazy-good, just bonkers-good math teachers who just really changed a lot for me. Especially, Mr. Bishop and Mr. Cavender, very cool folks who did a lot. And especially, I think Mr. Bishop and Cavender both modeled for me what curiosity from a knowledgeable adult looks like. Like someone who, you know, now I can say to myself, “Oh, they were kind of like putting on an act of being very curious about answers they were hearing for the 2000th time from a student,” let’s say, but what a powerful experience that was for me to feel like, “Oh, wow, my thoughts are interesting to someone besides myself.” I got like, maybe it’s two real highlights that I’ll just point to, from my math bio that made me the math teacher and person that I am. Let’s see here. Maybe three, if you you’ll indulge me. One is just like the idea that you could do math wherever you have your brain, a pencil and a paper. And so I remember like in high school, I was in church with my family and kind of a little bit bored of whatever’s going on. And I just had the Bolton and I like drew a pentagon, a regular one, then a hexagon, a regular one, and kept on drawing, like adding sides to the shape. And it was like, it was becoming a circle. And, you know, I was able to take the area of each of those shapes and say, you know, “What happens as you send the number of sides to infinity?” And watch as the formula for area of a circle, Pi R squared, popped out. And it was kind of a literal religious experience, in that moment, just like, “Wow, like my brain’s so cool and math is so cool and paper and pencil’s so cool.” And so there’s that. Just that kind of experience was pretty awesome. And then I would just say like, I’ve had some really fantastic experiences with math in the world itself. Stuff like—let’s see, this is gonna invite more questions from Bethany, probably, maybe I should avoid—I got, I have a Guinness—I have a Guinness world record that’s almost 20 years old. This Guinness world record is—it’s old enough to drive basically at this point. And almost old enough to drink. But like it was—it was a record for chaining the longest paper clip chain together in 24 hours. And the only way I was able to break that record was through mathematics. Where, like, I would be finishing a box of clips. And I would say to my buddy who was there, “I just finished a box of clips.” And that person would type in the number of clips that I had just done. And then a mathematical formula that I had created would tell me how many—how long the chain was at that point. It was being rolled around a spool. And like, it’s just like, wow. So math just made this possible. You know, math revealed that the record I was trying to beat was beatable, because I did the math on it. It was, like, thousands of feet long in 24 hours. And other folks might be like, “Oh, like, that’s that’s huge!” But me, I was like, “All right, let’s divide this out. You know, divide by 24 hours in a day, divide by 60 minutes an hour, 60 seconds in a minute. Oh, that’s like one clip every four seconds. That’s really slow.” You know, think about that <counts aloud>, “Clip, two, three, four. Clip two, three…” It was just slow. So math helped me, you know, wreck that record. Which to my knowledge still still stands. Don’t get any ideas, Math Teacher Lounge Folks! Is this news to you, Bethany? You haven’t blinked in the last, like, five minutes. I’m curious if this is new.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:20):

It is news to me. And I have so many questions. Because OK, if four seconds was slow, so then what was your like—so then I’m assuming a hundred clips per box? Like, what was the rate, you know, per box? How long did it take you to complete a box? What did this friend like? Did this friend stick with you for the whole 24 hours? Did you really do it for 24 hours? Or once you beat the record, did you rest? How did you account for biological function? Like, needs? Like a restroom?

Dan Meyer (15:51):

<Interrupting> Like what?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:51):

Eating.

Dan Meyer (15:51):

Like what, Bethany? OK.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:52):

Um, Sleep.

Dan Meyer (15:55):

So yeah, maybe we dive into some of the specifics in a different time.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (15:59):

Just tell me one of ’em. Tell me one.

Dan Meyer (15:59):

I’ll just say. So as to discourage other Math Teacher Lounge listeners from taking this on—back off of the record, folks!—this was back in college, so I was a little more limber back then. But I did one—I think it was 1.8 seconds per clip. For an entire 24 hours. Just like, so just like think about it, would you? If you’re gonna step to me on this one, just think about that, OK? And then, and then, you know, make an informed decision.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:28):

Wait. Wait, wait, I just wanna tell you one thing. I’m picturing somebody with a straw, and like, giving you water as you keep clipping. I’m picturing, like, music, I…

Dan Meyer (16:37):

That’s not far. That’s not far. That’s not far from—yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:40):

So many questions! OK. Go on. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Go on. This is your bio.

Dan Meyer (16:44):

We gotta, I gotta wrap this up. I wanna hear your bio. But, like, I would just say like this move to this sense that math is actually a thing that’s useful for more than just a grade; it’s useful for more than just, you know, the societal, you know, adulation that comes from being a math nerd. That kind of thing. And so that, I think that affected a lot of math teaching for me. And, if I gotta, like, summarize math teaching itself in a journey, it went from like, “Hey kids, aren’t I awesome?” to, “Hey kids, isn’t math awesome?” to “Hey kids, aren’t you awesome?” And like that journey was facilitated by lots and lots of people, you know, a lot of personal growth, but at this point, at one point I was like, “Hey, math can help you get records and whatnot. It’s really useful.” And now I’m like, “Wow, your brain’s just doing just really interesting things. I can help you understand how interesting those things are, and maybe make them more interesting, or interesting in a different way, with some help here.” Let’s put a pin in that. That’s the math bio.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (17:50):

  1. So I have no doubt that if you ask someone in your life, listeners, for their math bio, that you will discover things about them that you never knew. Literally the questions that I have…I have so many question. And Dan is very good at, you know, bringing me back. Bring me back, like, come on, come on. But I just wanna say, overall, your journey seems pretty joyful. It seems pretty joyful. It seems pretty full of confidence. I don’t wanna say “ego” in a negative way, but I wanna say you were buoyed by these experiences that allowed you to feel like math was a place for you to thrive.

Dan Meyer (18:36):

Right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (18:36):

Where you could try out things. You could try it out and just, “I could do that!” Right? Like…your relationship just felt very, like…you felt like you had autonomy, agency, perhaps much like you, you operate in this world. Dan, is that, is that right <laugh>?

Dan Meyer (18:54):

Yeah, I think it’s fair to say. And without telling too much of her story, my twin sister with whom I share most things, including genetics, you know—she had a very different experience in math early on. She’s brilliant. She’s a doctor. And not, you know, the book kind of doctor that I am, but like a real, you know, medical doctor. She’s brilliant. But we were—we encountered different messages about who math was made for, early on in, you know, in our entire math learning. And she—we both digested the messages that we were sent, and took, you know, different, different paths because of them, for sure.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:31):

Funny how that works. I thank you, Dan. I do. For in all sincerity, I appreciate you sharing that. And I think that it’s exciting to hear how it influenced your teaching. It feels like you want to cultivate those experiences for your students. And I’ve been in the room when you’ve presented; I was in a room where you taught a class live. It felt like you were making space for the students to have these aha moments. And it feels like in your work at Desmos, and now Amplify, you’re trying to create these products that allow folks to recreate these amazing math moments. Right? And that it’s for everyone and that it’s accessible and it can be very positive. I feel like I have this new perspective on kind of the energy you bring to your teaching. So thank you for sharing that.

Dan Meyer (20:24):

Yeah. Been a pleasure. Thanks for your questions here, Bethany. And it’s been—it’s been fun to reflect on it. And I do—I do feel very lucky in lots of ways. Privileged. Lucky. I know, like—I think the world has been set up for my success in lots of ways, as who I am. But I do just…yeah, I feel—I want more people to experience what it’s like when you walk into a math classroom and it’s like, “Hey, this place is for you. You have interesting thoughts about this. Let’s get ’em out.” So that’s awesome. I would love to hear about you and how you…I mean, we have taught different kinds of kids. You know, I taught kids who I think were somewhat set in, they’re a little bit more solid at secondary in who they are as a math learner. Like “I know who math is and who I am with math.” And I’m really excited to hear what your math bio allowed you to do with students who were perhaps open to the idea that they are very mathematical or at least not yet closed off to those possibilities. So, yeah. What are some of the high, the, you know, the high and low water marks of the making of Bethany Lockhart Johnson, math teacher? <Laugh>

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:24):

Thanks for asking, Dan. <Laugh> I’ve shared aspects of my math bio because I think it really informs the way that I talk to people about math and think about math. And I like to share it because I want folks to consider their own journey with math, as we like engage with problem-solving and sense-making and thinking about the students in our classroom. My dad is a math and computer science major. So he had a computer very early on. I wish he had invested in Apple early on when he had like one of the first Apple computers ever. And, sorry, dad, but it’s true. I do wish you had done that.

Dan Meyer (22:10):

I’m sure he does too.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:11):

Oh, he does. So math and computers and conversations about counting, you know, it felt like it was kind of just normal. Like it was around me. And I went to Montessori, which is a private school that—oh, they have some public Montessori—but it’s very self-directed. And so we would have these kind of charts, these goals for the day that you explored. And so we would explore math in very, I don’t know, very organic ways, with these natural materials. And I feel like I excelled at math, but it wasn’t something that I was conscious of. It was just like, “Oh, well, yeah. Math, it’s, you know, something we do.” And then when I went to—when I left Montessori in fourth grade, I remember that year being a lot of like repetition. I was like, well, we did this. We covered this. And except for the mission project that we hadn’t done, that was all new. And that’s it. For another time I’ll share about that. But <laugh> then, they actually, I was moved with a group of students to the fifth grade math class, ’cause we had already done the work that we were doing. And so, it wasn’t that it felt like it came easily, but it did make sense. What we were doing made sense. And then it all kind of changed. There was a lot of change in my family. There was, like, missed school time. And we moved and I went to a new middle school and I was in this environment with students who—it was like an accelerated program. And so I was in this environment with students who were pretty competitive with each other. And I remember going—and I was not from of a competitive environment; like Montessori is not competitive. It’s not about that.

Dan Meyer (24:02):

Right. Right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:02):

It’s—it was very strange to me that I would be competing against anyone, even competing against myself. And I, you know, knew how to set goals. But it was a different level of energy. And I felt like, because I wasn’t competitive in that nature, I felt like that kind—I felt on the outside of a lot of the energy. Besides the regular, like, middle-school feeling outside of things. And I remember the first friend that I made. Hi, Susan! She had said to me, this was like maybe our second week of school, she’s like, “Oh, at lunchtime, come with me to math club.” And I was like, “OK.” And I remember walking into that room and I had no idea what was going on. And so that was one of the first times where I was just like, “Whoa, I have absolutely no concept of what they’re talking about or what.” These are my peers. I felt very—it was very—it was strange. It was strange. I was like, “This doesn’t feel like a space for me at all.” When I think ordinarily I was kind of excited about the idea of going to math club at lunch, you know? And over middle school, I kind of just got progressively more and more behind. It started with missing some work and then missing more and then checking out. And, you know, the problem was that I really made it about myself. That, like, it wasn’t something that I was then good at or could do. When really it was that well, pre-algebra, I was having a really hard time in like the rest of my life. And so I wasn’t real present in that class. And so when I got to algebra, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. And then if I missed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, well, Thursday is gonna be hard, you know? And, it just got progressively harder and harder. So I had this great idea that between eighth grade and ninth grade, I was going to take this accelerated geometry class. ‘Cause that was the ninth grade class, it was geometry. And I would take it. It was like geometry in three weeks or something. So then when I entered high school, I would’ve gotten this like jumpstart. But I wish I had said, “Oh, I’ll take this, and then in ninth grade I’ll take geometry.” So like I’ve already kind of gotten a preview of the material. But instead I went to the 10th grade math, which was like intermediate algebra, trigonometry. I had absolutely no clue what was going on. And I had a very, very difficult time and I wasn’t ready for that class. But it was exacerbated by the fact that this teacher felt very free to let the freshmen in that class know that they shouldn’t be in that class. That this class was for 10th graders.

Dan Meyer (26:49):

Oh wow. Oh, wow.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:51):

And we had a rather contentious relationship. And I will never forget that we were in the hallway, and he says to me, “You don’t belong here.” And I’ve talked to—I’ve talked to a girlfriend of mine about her experiences with this teacher and she has the fondest memories.

Dan Meyer (27:13):

Wow.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:14):

She—in fact, almost everyone I’ve spoken with, you know, if we are talking about past teachers or, “Oh, what was that class like?” I mean, they just have these wonderful memories! And for me, my sense of like belonging was already so on a tight rope anyway, that to have this adult, this teacher, tell me, “You do not belong here,” just crushed me. And in hindsight, I think he was saying like, “This class is too hard for you.” I mean, maybe. <Laugh> But all I heard was “You don’t belong here.” And I extrapolated it to connect to math and to anything having to do with math in general. And it just got worse and worse through high school in the world of math. My next math class was even—I had to repeat that class, and still didn’t understand what was going on, and felt more out of place, and, you know, it’s one of those things that I just kind of had started to accept that, I guess, math isn’t for me. I guess I’m just not a math person. Or whatever these stories are that I started to create and build and find evidence for around me that was informing that this wasn’t for me. And I had always done well in school. I was in, you know, accelerated classes. I felt like I was capable of problem solving. And yet in math, I just felt like I had all of this evidence saying that I didn’t belong there. And so when I went to college, I took whatever two math classes were—you know, I was in performing arts and then I did ethnic studies as well. And I remember you had to take two math classes that were GEs. There were these classes that if you don’t wanna deal with math, you go take those classes. And I was like, “Oh yeah, I’ll take that. I’ll take that.” The gulf widened, you know? <Laugh> And I didn’t feel like anxiety when I had to do things like balance my checkbook or navigate math in everyday spaces. It was just, it would never occur to me that I would like seek out opportunities to engage with math or think about it or talk about it.

Dan Meyer (29:35):

That is—yeah, that’s just so wild, how, I don’t know, like it’s often, from the student’s perspective, it is them in a vacuum with math, and the two of them interact and decide if, you know, if they’re right for each other. But from the grown-up perspective, it’s just, you know, it’s a little bit clearer that your story with math was not just you in math, but you with, you know, various external things happening. With family, various teachers playing their different roles—sometimes, you know, really tragic and horrible roles—and then like the compounding mathematical debt that it feels like you were kind of building up, as challenges in one year didn’t get resolved and moved into the next year and so on. And all that makes me wonder—it makes me, like really, really scared, first of all, because I would bet that your teacher might not even remember that moment, that for you is part of just a pivotal moment in your math story, and how many kids have I played—have I been a part of their story in that way and wouldn’t even recall? You know what I’m saying? So that’s a scary part. And then also I’m just wondering, like, how can we, how can we help kids who are in those moments recognize that, “Oh, this kid is like absent a bunch,” and give them more resources to be successful rather than say, “Well, you just gotta try harder now.” Those are things I’m wondering, hearing your story. Thank you for sharing that. I’d love to know more about how you then became a teacher and what all that did for you as you helped students.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:06):

Well, but to answer what you were saying, it wasn’t that I wasn’t—I was always absent physically, but at least like mentally at that point, because it had become so difficult. It didn’t make sense to me. So I was just really checked out in math class, you know? So in hindsight, you know, as a teacher, for sure I can look back, and especially hearing these stories and these experiences my friend had with this teacher and just like chalks up as one of like her most favorite teachers ever! And you know, he clearly did a great job for so many students. But for me, and I think for some people, they would’ve taken those challenges and, you know, it would have fortified them in a different way or something. But for me, I took it upon myself to mean certain things about myself and about my ability and what I was capable of. And so I think, I think in some ways, you know, yeah, it’s all, it’s all interconnected. You know, when your students walk in the door, they’re not this—the things that are impacting them in their life are coming into the room with them. And I don’t think we can take that for granted and think, “Well, if they just focus hard enough…”

Dan Meyer (32:21):

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (32:23):

So let’s go back to my love of Oprah. You know, Oprah talks about living your best life. And something I really appreciate about Oprah is that she encourages you to examine, like, sticking points, right? Like she doesn’t just say, “Well, this…just pretend nothing ever happened, and everything’s fine!” You know, she really talks about making time for reflection. And I kind of got mad that anytime I thought about math, or math schooling came up. Or, you know, whatever, any time that came up that I just felt UGH about it. And I felt like a failure. And I’m like, “You know what, what if I took a math class? And I’m an adult at this point. I’ve graduated. I have—I’ve left college. I have my degrees. But I said, “What if I took a math class?” So I went down to, the city college and I found out that you have to take this exam, like a placement exam. And I went and took the placement exam. And I remember it’s one of the responsive tests where if you get it right, the next question’s a little harder. And so I’m taking it, panicking, because it’s getting more like…I just, you know. And I remember it placed me in like, whatever, Algebra Something, this class that was far more advanced than I thought I should be in. And I was like, there’s been a mistake! You know, and I went to the counselor and said, you know, “I got these results, but I couldn’t answer a lot of the questions on the test.” She’s like, “No, no, no, that’s how it works.” So I go take this class and the class was hard. And I decided that I was just gonna keep showing up. And every day before class, I kid you not, they had a little math…it was like a math center where you could go in and they had a bunch of tables and you’d sit at the table and you could sit and do your work or whatever. If you had a question, you walked up and put your name on a clipboard and then somebody would come and help you. So I did that, every single—like before every single class I would go in. I’d sit there. I’d do the work. I’d go. And I’d get help. Like somebody would walk over and you know, some kid for whom they’re like this…you know, they’re math—it might be you, Dan! It could be you! It could have been you! You know, would walk over and be like—

Dan Meyer (34:38):

Yeah, I was in Help like that. Naw, it’s awesome. Love, love those people. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:42):

And you know, I did it. And I did so well in the class. I did exceedingly well in the class. And I said—

Dan Meyer (34:50):

Take that! Take that, everything! Every other math experience!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:53):

I said, what?

Dan Meyer (34:55):

Yeah!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:55):

Wait a second.

Dan Meyer (34:56):

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:57):

And it was that I was present. I was not afraid to look at what didn’t make sense. And if something didn’t make sense, it didn’t mean there was something wrong with me. Whaaaaat?

Dan Meyer (35:10):

Yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:10):

So I was just in such a different space. And then I took another math class and that class was even harder. And I did the same thing where I went to the little lab and, you know, and it just buoyed me. And it made me realize that, like, this story, that my experience with it was very powerful and that was a real lived experience, but that it didn’t have to define my relationship with math. But then! I decided I wanted to go back to school to become a classroom teacher. And I totally—this was a couple years after that math class experience. So now, you know, I’m healing my relationship with math through basic positive experiences, da, da, da, you know, doing other work. But fast-forward, for a whole number of reasons, decided to become a classroom teacher. And I freaked out. All of my—like, I’m studying for the GRE and the CSET and all the things you have to the hoops you have to jump through to apply to the masters program and the credential program. And I freaked out. I was so close to quitting, Dan. Because I was convinced that the reason I couldn’t be a classroom teacher is because I wasn’t capable in math. Like I was—it was all that resurfaced. And even though I now had evidence to say something different, to the contrary, it was still so visceral. And I was so scared. But I passed that Math CSET.

Dan Meyer (36:47):

Get it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:47):

I did well enough on the GRE—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:50):

Yes!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:50):

You know, I finished my credential. I worked really, really hard. I had to work so hard in my student placement, when I was student teaching for a fifth-grade class, ’cause I felt like, “Oh my God!” I mean, now I could do the mathematics, but I couldn’t TEACH it to someone, you know? But I had amazing professors at UCI, and my math professors really like just—and my mentor teacher! shout out to Jennifer! shout out to Phil!—these amazing mentor teachers who just loved teaching and who loved—like you said, you have these teachers in your life who you got to see the way that they listened to students. They taught me about that love of listening to students. And then I fell in love with, you know, CGI, cognitively guided instruction, and started learning all about all of these educators who just wanna learn from students’ thinking. And it was just so powerful. And I realize as a kindergarten teacher that I have this really special role in helping to create space for a positive school experience. Like we get to talk about—I talk about my students as mathematicians; they’re writers; they’re thinkers; they’re problem-solvers. And I also want to make space for parents. Some of them, this is their first kid in kindergarten, and they brought all of their experiences, a lot of it negative, that they had had with mathematics. So I felt like it was such an exciting opportunity to help show parents how they could have conversations about math with their students. That also, I hope helped heal their own anxiety with mathematics.

Dan Meyer (38:41):

Right, right.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (38:42):

Like, I’ve not even scratched the surface of math learning. But I just have such a changed perspective and relationship with math. And I just fell in love with the sense-making. And I fell in love with the journey of it. I still experience math anxiety about a wide variety of things, but I do love it. And I feel like there’s a space for me in relationship with math. And that really excites me.

Dan Meyer (39:09):

Yeah. Wow. Listen to that folks. We, we don’t deserve her! Bethany Lockhart Johnson! She got some math game and could have gone off there and, you know, become an accountant or something. And she chose to hang with kids and their parents. That’s so wild that you’re like rehabbing parents and their self-conception about mathematics at the same time. I think that is so cool.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:32):

Well, thanks Dan Meyer. I gotta tell you, I don’t know when or if I’ve ever shared that much of my math story. So there is a certain amount of vulnerability there. But thanks for listening. And I’m glad that, you know—I think there’s space for us to talk about these things that we care deeply about, but that can be really complicated.

Dan Meyer (39:56):

Yes. Yes. And I love how you you’ve really sharpened the point on what I feel like I know in my brain, but not my body all the time: That individual teachers are huge. Like, individual teachers, and individual moments of teaching, are just not something to play with. You know, like that kid that’s in fifth grade having a tough time, like there could be a month or a day-long period where all of a sudden, like, you’re just like, “Oh yeah, I’m back in the mix; like, me and math are still buddies.” And there’s also like moments that you had, where like one casual word from a teacher can just really put a huge wedge between you and a discipline that needs and wants you and your intellect in it.That’s a really powerful testimonial. Not just for math, but for teaching, your teaching bio.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:43):

I agree with you. And I also, I also…you know, I think we can’t put this—we are human. Teachers are human. And so I’m sure there’s things I’ve said to students. Twenty-second story: a student stapled his finger in my class. <Laugh> And I remember holding his hand and saying, “Why did you do that?” And I wasn’t yelling at him, but it was like, I am sure the panic in my face…like, that’s what he’s gonna remember about kindergarten. Right? <Laugh>.

Dan Meyer (41:19):

Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:20):

That. He will remember that. He won’t remember the really cool city project we did. He’s gonna remember his teacher holding his hand, in his face: “Why did you do that?”

Dan Meyer (41:30):

Yeah. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:30):

You know, so we’re human. And yes, it was awful that that teacher said that to me. There were a thousand other ways that he could have said whatever it was he was thinking. And that did deeply wound me. But despite his influence—because teachers do have a lot of power and I think they need to examine that power, ongoing—it still doesn’t have to define us. So I don’t wanna put this pressure, like—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:55):

Sure.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:56):

“So never ever say anything negative!” You know, we’re human.

Dan Meyer (42:00):

I feel like that kid is currently on some office-supply podcast talking about “your office-supply bio” and saying, “Let me tell you how I first got really freaked out by staples. Here’s the deal: I only use paper clips. And here’s why.”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:15):

“Here’s why.” But then—callback!—he’s going to stumble upon THIS podcast and think, “And because I’m so adept with paper clips, I can beat that record!”

Dan Meyer (42:30):

Though—aaay! whoa! Settle down!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:31):

BOOM.

Dan Meyer (42:31):

Don’t get any ideas, kid. No way. Uh-uh. I don’t like that at all. That’s not what—that’s not what I want to have happen here. No, thank you.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:41):

Well, I’m spent, Dan. I need a nap.

Dan Meyer (42:45):

Yeah. I need a box of Kleenex. I need a nap. I need a—yeah, for sure, a baba. Uh-huh. Definitely. Hey, so look, I’m not expecting you folks out there in the lounge to kind of give us the same depth or breadth. You know, we are here, of course, for your entertainment. Feast on our stories and dramas. But I would love to know at some point, like, what are a few, a few moments that really came to define you mathematically? Came to influence you as a teacher? I think we would do really well for each other to understand that about all of our processes. So yeah, I would just toss in a plug in for Twitter, @MTLShow, or Facebook, Math Teacher Lounge; it would be fantastic to hear from you.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (43:24):

Thanks so much for listening.

Dan Meyer (43:25):

Thanks, folks. Bye now.

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What Dan Meyer says about math teaching

“Teaching, more than other professions, is a generational profession. The kinds of joyful experiences we offer, or don’t offer, now affect the experiences students that haven’t even been born yet will have years later.”

– Dan Meyer

Meet the guests

Dan Meyer

Dan Meyer taught high school math to students who didn’t like high school math. He has advocated for better math instruction on CNN, Good Morning America, Everyday With Rachel Ray, and TED.com. He earned his doctorate from Stanford University in math education and is currently the Dean of Research at Desmos, where he explores the future of math, technology, and learning. Dan has worked with teachers internationally and in all 50 United States and was named one of Tech & Learning’s 30 Leaders of the Future.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson

Bethany Lockhart Johnson is an elementary school educator and author. Prior to serving as a multiple-subject teacher, she taught theater and dance and now loves incorporating movement and creative play into her classroom. Bethany is committed to helping students find joy in discovering their identities as mathematicians. In addition to her role as a full-time classroom teacher, Bethany is a Student Achievement Partners California Core Advocate and is active in national and local mathematics organizations. Bethany is a member of the Illustrative Mathematics Elementary Curriculum Steering Committee and serves as a consultant, creating materials to support families during distance learning.

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About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

S5-05. Math technology & hacks for math anxiety: research-based tips for caregivers

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We’ve been very lucky to have so many prolific and brilliant researchers on this season of Math Teacher Lounge, and our next guest is no exception.

Listen as we sit down with Dr. Marjorie Schaeffer to discuss what causes math anxiety, math hacks, and how the right math technology can make an incredible impact in children and caregivers coping with math anxiety.

Listen today and don’t forget to grab your MTL study guide to track your learning and make the most of this episode!

Download Transcript

Marjorie Schaeffer (00:00):

I think the most important thing we know from literature right now is that high math-anxious parents, when they interact with their children, their children learn less math over the course of the school year.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:12):

Welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson.

Dan Meyer (00:15):

And I’m Dan Meyer.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:16):

We’re onto Episode 5, Dan, of our series on math anxiety. And I wanna say it feels so lovely to imagine all of these people out there doing work to help combat math anxiety. I dunno, it just makes me feel excited about the possibilities. This work is out there; it’s happening! Kids and teachers and caregivers are being impacted by these conversations. Not just — I mean, I don’t just mean the conversations we’re having on Math Teacher Lounge, but I mean, that these researchers are doing. Like, yes, we can change this!

Dan Meyer (00:53):

This is great. Yeah. We have people who are extremely smart, who have dedicated their professional lives to studying math anxiety and resolving it. And each of them that we’ve chatted with — they share lots of ideas in common, but I’ve loved how they each have their own different flavor or take or area of emphasis on a problem that hits everybody everywhere. It’s in your home, with kids and caregivers. It’s in schools. It’s in our places of teacher preparation and professional learning. Every place is a place where we can focus on resolving issues of math anxiety. It’s exciting.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:26):

Yeah, I feel like … if there could be a course in — we all know that our teacher prep programs, in MOST teacher prep programs, there’s not nearly enough math methods or time to cover <laugh> — it’s like ready, set, go! And depending on who your mentor teacher is or what your math methods course … I mean, it can totally shape the way that you are prepared or really not prepared for going out there to teach math! And so I love that we’re having these conversations.

Dan Meyer (01:55):

What I love about today’s conversation is, one, it’s got a little bit of a technology flavor, so there’s that. But I also love, it’s got one of my favorite features about change, which is that it focuses on change to action, change to routine, rather than change to belief. Rather than saying like, “OK, everybody! Everybody stop thinking bad beliefs about math and transmitting them to your kids!” Instead, it says, “What we’ll do is just, hey, we’ll set that aside for a second and we’re gonna do a certain thing every day and watch as those actions make your beliefs change.” That to me is extremely cool. And I think it has a higher likelihood of success than just, like, me telling parents, “Hey, stop thinking these thoughts!”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:37):

“Ready, set, stop being anxious!”

Dan Meyer (02:39):

Exactly. Exactly. So it’s an exciting conversation we’re gonna have here.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:43):

Right. So it’s not a, you know, “wave the wand and all of a sudden, you’re not anxious about math anymore.” But these incremental changes, these incremental conversations, this validation, can really, really impact change. I’m with you on it, Dan. I hear what you’re saying.

Dan Meyer (03:01):

To help us talk through all of these ideas and more, we’re joined by Dr. Marjorie Schaeffer, Assistant Professor of Psychology at St. Mary’s College in Indiana.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:10):

Enjoy. <Jaunty music> So, yes, Dan, we are so excited to welcome Marjorie Schaeffer. She’s Assistant Professor of Psychology at St. Mary’s College. Dr. Schaeffer, we’re so excited you’re here. Hello!

Marjorie Schaeffer (03:28):

Thank you so much for inviting me.

Dan Meyer (03:29):

Yeah. We are super-lucky to have had so many prolific and brilliant researchers about math anxiety on our show. You’ll be no exception. And every time, we love to find out about how you came to study math anxiety, which winds up being a really interesting glimpse into your backstory bio. So tell us, what is the route by which you came toward studying math anxiety?

Marjorie Schaeffer (03:51):

Oh, I love that question. I’m really interested in how the attitudes and beliefs of parents and teachers influence children, especially around math. And I actually became interested in this idea in college, when no Child Left Behind was actually first starting to be implemented in schools with high-stakes standardized testing. So much so that I actually did my thesis on this thinking about, “Do children understand the importance of high-stakes testing? Do they have anxiety around that idea?” And so that was really my first foray into the anxiety literature. And that was kind of the entry point into math anxiety for me.

Dan Meyer (04:28):

So you started by studying a very high-stakes assessment, like our students connecting with this. And the assessment is once per year. And classroom instruction is every day. So how did you move from the assessments to the everyday instruction?

Marjorie Schaeffer (04:44):

That’s a great question. So, after college, I actually taught kindergarten. And so from that, I saw the day-to-day impact of instruction and the day-to-day impact of children’s individual attitudes and beliefs. And so I really became interested in thinking about, “How do we understand why some children are really successful from the instruction happening in classrooms and why other children need a little bit more support?” And so math anxiety was one way for me to really think about the individual differences I saw in my kindergarten classroom.

Dan Meyer (05:18):

It feels like you headed … you went farther upstream, is what it feels like. Where assessment … there’s like some kind of anxiety around assessment, let’s say. And then you ventured farther up the stream to classroom instruction and then still farther into kids’ homes. It seems like your research invokes a lot of curiosity about the sources of a kind of amorphous, flowing phenomenon called math anxiety. And I’d love to hear a bit about what you know about how caregivers transfer, transmit — whatever the word is — math anxiety to their kids.

Marjorie Schaeffer (05:55):

For parents … we think that the attitudes and beliefs of parents matter. And we see that for lots of areas, not just math anxiety. But I think math anxiety, we see that really clearly. And so, we can think about it both in terms of what kind of input parents provide. So, how do families talk about math with their children? What kind of support do they provide around homework? And those are ones that I think are a little obvious. But we can also think about the offhanded comments that parents say to children when they’re talking about math generally. Right? So, we see lots of memes going around, talking about how hard math homework is. And so, I think when parents say offhanded comments like, “I’m not a math person,” or “We’re just bad at math,” that communicates values to children. I think the most important thing we know from literature right now is that high math-anxious parents, when they interact with their children, their children learn less math over the course of the school year. And this specific mechanism by which that happens is still an area for a lot of research. And so some people think it’s about input. So maybe if I’m math anxious, I’m avoiding math. And so, when I have an option to read a picture book that has math content, I focus on the colors instead. And so, my child is actually getting less math than other children. We can also think it’s about these messages that are provided. So, when I talk about math, I send the message to my child, it’s not for them, and therefore the child wants to engage in it less. And some of my work looks at things like expectations and values. So, thinking about, “Do math-anxious families actually value math less than other families unintentionally?” And so, we have some support for this idea that they expect less of their children. And so maybe when they struggle, they respond in different ways than a family who’s lower in math anxiety.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:53):

This is so fascinating to me. I also was a kindergarten teacher. And I remember a mom who just … she had such like palpable math anxiety. And during one of our conversations, she was talking about these homework sessions with her daughter. And I may have mentioned this on the podcast before. But she was talking about how every night they would sit together and they would do all this math. They’d do, like, extra math together. And it always ended in tears. And despite her math anxiety, she didn’t want her daughter to experience the math anxiety that she did. So she was trying to pile it on, so her daughter was more proficient and comfortable. And instead, it was perpetuating this anxiety about it. And so, it’s a phenomenon then, right? Even if a parent is saying, like you said, maybe completely unwilling, this mother was actually trying to do the opposite. She was trying to help, you know, imbue the love and comfort with math. Right?

Marjorie Schaeffer (09:01):

Absolutely. This is why I think in my research, it’s really important that we find low-stakes, low-stress ways for high math-anxious families to do math. They absolutely can support their children in doing math. But they need a little support. We want it to be a fun, low-stakes environment, right? So maybe that’s the connection back to high-stakes testing, that I want children to have fun math experiences.

Dan Meyer (09:28):

Yeah. This is challenging, because it feels like the more caregivers know about math anxiety, and its pernicious effects on students, and how easily transmitted it is, one could become quite anxious about math anxiety. And, you know, no one makes great decisions when they’re anxious. So if I’m recalling our various episodes we’ve done, we’ve heard from people say, “Well, you need to validate students’ math anxiety. This is not something to just ignore or brush past. But also, not validate it in a way that says, you know, ‘This is OK and generational and inevitable.’” Which presents parents with a very thin path to follow, it seems like. So I love what you’re saying about how we gotta just de-stress the whole process.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:11):

You’re avoiding the whole, “I wasn’t a math person either” kind of thing. <laugh>

Dan Meyer (10:15):

Right, right, right. Yeah. So I’d love to know more. We’re excited about the technology that you have studied and helped develop, presumably, called Bedtime Math, anapp for caregivers. And I’d love to know more about what that is and what it offers parents who know enough about math to know that they don’t want to transmit math anxiety to their children, but also want to support. So what does that offer them?

Marjorie Schaeffer (10:39):

So Bedtime Math is an app. It’s freely available on iTunes or the Apple Store or Google Play. And what it’s designed to do is to provide a nightly topical passage. So one of my favorites is the one about Groundhogs Day. And so it talks a little bit about the history of Groundhogs Day, and then it asks math-related follow-up questions. So starting at a preschool level, going through late fifth grade. And it’s really meant for parents to pick the one that meets their children where they are. And so the preschool-level question asks children to pretend to be a groundhog and walk to the left and walk to the right. So a skill that families might not think about as being math, but we actually think that IS part of understanding math. Understanding left and right directionality. And then the next question can ask questions like, “If it took the groundhog three seconds to climb out of the hole, and then two more seconds to see its shadow, how much time did it take all together?” So a simple addition problem, but it’s phrased in a fun way. And so the hope is that for high math-anxious families, these interactions are fun and playful. They don’t look like fights over homework. They’re just conversations that families can have around topics that are naturally interesting to children. And our hope is that when families have lots of these positive low-stakes interactions, they actually can see that we can talk about math in unstressful ways. In lots of ways, right? We can also do this at the grocery store. We can also do this while we’re cooking in the kitchen. It doesn’t just have to be fights over homework.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:14):

And I actually have the Bedtime Math — one of the Bedtime Math books. And I was so excited to find out that there’s an app. And I think one of the things that I loved about the book is that these are invitations, right? They’re exactly that. Low pressure <laugh>, and they’re invitations to have a conversation. And if we were just to tell parents, “Oh, just count!” or, “Hey, just count wherever you go!” You know? No. It’s, in a way, I think, like you said, it’s retraining the parents on what math could look like. Like, “Oh, I didn’t even think we could just kind of have this conversation and we’re actually doing math together.”

Marjorie Schaeffer (12:55):

Yes, absolutely. I absolutely agree. We want it to be fun and playful and not stressful. And we want it to also be things that are meaningful to children’s lives. So these are topics children are interested in. It’s not that we are using flashcards or making children practice math facts over and over again. These are things children should wanna do that can naturally fit into a child’s routine. So almost all families read books before bed, and what we hope is that math can also be a part of the nighttime routine.

Dan Meyer (13:27):

There’s something really subtle here going on that I just wanna name and ask a question about. First of all, it’s cool that you started with studying high-stakes stuff and now you are developing low-stakes stuff. And I’m really curious what makes a thing low-stakes? Like, a few things I’m hearing from you is that there’s, like … I have a small child that I read literature to on a nightly basis. And I feel very anxiety-free doing that. And it’s almost as though, because each of the — tasks is the wrong word for this, but experiences — involve some reading, it puts me, the parent, in a mode that is comfortable and familiar to me. I’m curious: Are there other, as you design, what, one per day for a year? All these different experiences. What are some of the principles that you lean on that help make a thing low-stakes for kids and for parents?

Marjorie Schaeffer (14:17):

Yeah, that’s a great question. So one thing we wanted to be really intentional about is that our app doesn’t look like a lot of traditional apps. There isn’t noises that go off. You don’t enter an answer. And so one of the things that we thought made it low-stakes is that while there is a right or wrong answer — there is a correct answer — we aren’t giving children upsetting feedback. Instead, what we wanna encourage families to do is, if you struggle to remember how many seconds it took the groundhog to come out of the hole, you can work through that with a parent. So it doesn’t feel like you’re getting negative feedback; you’re being told you’re bad at math; you did it wrong. Instead, you’re just getting natural support moving forward. And so that’s one thing we wanted to be really intentional about, was that it wasn’t going to be a negative experience for children. And we are trying to build on all of the positive interactions families are having around nightly book reading. So many ways this can look very similar. You get to read another story that’s topical and hopefully interesting. And then do these little questions together. And so for a lot of families, their children don’t actually really look at the question. It almost feels like the parent is just asking them on their own. Like, they just came up with it. They just wanted to know what would happen to the groundhog. If there were three more groundhogs? How many groundhogs would we have all together? Not like it’s gonna be like homework or other parts.

Dan Meyer (15:38):

So my understanding is that there isn’t a blank into which people type a number in, press “submit” for evaluation, receive the red X, the green check. That’s a key part of the design here.

Marjorie Schaeffer (15:50):

Yes, absolutely. And for research purposes, we would’ve loved to know what families were saying. But we think it’s really important that it’s fun, interactive, that families are working together to get to the right answer, that it’s not a test for children.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:03):

In your research, when you were — maybe you could walk us through the study a little bit. But I’m also curious if you heard from parents that it was carrying over beyond the bedtime routine. Because I would imagine, if I am building these skills and reading these questions and learning that I could talk to my kid like this about math in a fun way, that’s gonna happen then, like you said, when I’m in the grocery store. Or when I’m waiting in line for at the bank. Or whatever, you know? People go into banks now still, right?

Marjorie Schaeffer (16:35):

Yeah, absolutely. So in our study, we recruited almost 600 families and we randomly assigned them. So they had an equal chance of getting both our math app and what we call our control app. And that’s really just a math app without the math. We think of it as a reading control app. And that’s because we wanna make sure that families are having a similar experience, that it’s not just that having high-quality, fun interactions with your child is actually impacting children’s math achievement. And so what we then did is followed those children over the course of early elementary school. And so we worked with them in schools in the fall and spring of first, second, and third grade, really to look at their math learning. And so what we find is that children of high math-anxious adults, when they have the reading app, so what we think of as what’s happening in the real world, we see that really classic gap between children of high math-anxious adults and children of low math-anxious adults. So if you have a high math-anxious parent, you’re learning about three months less math over the course of first grade. But for children who receive this math app, we see this gap as closed. Those children look no different than a low math-anxious parent. And so that’s leading us to think that we’ve helped families talk about math in fundamentally different ways. We did a little bit of just talking to families to see a little bit about what might be going on. And a lot of families do report exactly what you’re describing, where they say this did help them talk about math in different ways they were doing it other times.

Dan Meyer (18:10):

That’s a really extraordinary study design. I don’t know … I love that you folks gave the control group not nothing. Like it’s possible that just parents and kids bonding over a thing regularly would be enough to provoke some kind of academic gain. But you gave the control group a thing that had them interacting socially, bonding, and still this large common gap between high-anxious and low-anxious parents, their kids shrunk together. Is that what I’m gathering here?

Marjorie Schaeffer (18:41):

Yeah, absolutely. So we’re basically seeing we can no longer, when we look at children’s data, say that parents’ math anxiety explains individual differences. So these children look really similar. They’re learning more than children who has a high math-anxious parent and just got our reading control app.

Dan Meyer (19:01):

just diving into the study a little bit more here, what is the time commitment? Or, did you guide parents to say, “All right, we’re gonna do this do this delightful story about a badger for an hour”? Or did people do it for five minutes? And what was the time commitment, roughly, for people?

Marjorie Schaeffer (19:17):

So we tell families to do it however they see fit. Because it is an app, we are able to get some sense of how long, and we are talking about three to six minutes for many families. For a lot of families, they’re reading a paragraph, the paragraph and a half, and then answering one or two questions. They’re not going through every possible question. They’re just doing a little bit, really meeting their kids where they are.

Dan Meyer (19:39):

Roughly how many times per week was that?

Marjorie Schaeffer (19:41):

So we asked families to do it as much as it fit. But we’re seeing about two and a half on average in the first year. And so families are fitting it in a couple of nights a week. It’s not every night.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:52):

So what it sounds like you’re saying is what really was powerful about this app is that it was the space and time and prompts between the caregiver and the child, that chance to really sit down and have some of these meaningful and positive math interactions. How did it shift those relationships?

Marjorie Schaeffer (20:12):

So one of the things I think that makes the app effective is the changing of expectations. After a year, families are really using the app a lot less. And I think that’s OK, that they have found other ways to incorporate math into their lives. And we find that we don’t see an impact on their math anxiety, that they aren’t becoming less math anxious from this experience. Which I think makes sense, because they have had a lifetime of math anxiety. But we do see a change in parents’ expectations and value of math. So they expect their children will be better at math, and they also report that math is more important in their children’s lives. And so I think that’s an important part of it, which is, we can change these values for families, even if we aren’t able to change the math anxiety of the adults in children’s lives.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:01):

I want to for a second before — because I’m loving this idea of the app, and I’m excited to find out more ways to cultivate these conversations in my home and also share this with other folks. Because even folks who don’t even maybe realize they have math anxiety … like you said, so often it’s unconscious. So often we’re putting these little snippets into our everyday conversation, like, “Oh yeah, I’m not a math person.” And we don’t even realize how much is impacting our kiddos and ourselves, right? So I am really curious: What do you think … in your research, what were some other takeaways that you feel like are really strategies that we can think about for combating math anxiety in general?

Marjorie Schaeffer (21:47):

So I’m particularly interested in thinking about how math-anxious adults can help tone down their anxiety so that they can have high-quality interactions with their children, that they interact with. And so one of the big takeaways for my research, I think, is that math-anxious families can help their children with math. They just need support. And so I think there are lots of ways for that support to look like. One, I think it can be an app, but I also think reading a little bit about math can be really helpful. So it’s not new. So the first time you aren’t thinking about some of these ideas is as your child has their homework open in front of you. And so you can process your own feelings separately before you have to do it with a child. I also think reminding parents that math is everywhere and that math is actually lots of things that we all love to do. Math isn’t just calculus. Not that calculus isn’t wonderful. But that math is measuring, math is counting ducks at the park. Math is talking about how many times did I go down this slide. And talking about math in this way, I think reminds families that they are great at that. That even if maybe they’ve had bad math experiences before, they can do math. Especially the way their preschool or early childhood, early elementary school student needs them to. And I think that can then set the foundation for being really successful later.

Dan Meyer (23:13):

So is your research then, your subsequent studies, your line of inquiry, is moving more towards how to support parents, then? Is that what I’m hearing?

Marjorie Schaeffer (23:22):

Yeah. So I’m really interested in both understanding how the math anxiety of parents and teachers influences children. And so math anxiety is really common and we know that it’s particularly common in early elementary school teachers. And so it’s very likely that children are interacting with a highly math-anxious adult. And so I’m really interested in thinking about how we can support those individuals in doing it. And so both, I think, things like Bedtime Math, which provide fun, unscripted ways to do that, but I’m also interested in the teacher equivalent. So, thinking about whether having things like a math coach can help teachers have more positive experiences with math. So if you see someone else play math games with your students, can that help you do it as well?

Dan Meyer (24:09):

It makes me wonder a lot about an app for teachers or an app for parents, one that’s not designed to be co-consumed with kids and their parents. But what that would look like … yeah, that’s really interesting.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:21):

If we have a parent who, let’s say they have a third grader, fourth grader, fifth grader, or a middle schooler, right? Outside of early education. And they say, “OK, but what do I do? I’m with my kiddo; I don’t remember this math.” And they’re realizing that their anxiety may be influencing their kiddos’ disposition of mathematics, Or maybe they’re just in the midst of the battle <laugh>. What would you say to those folks, especially if it’s math that maybe they’re not comfortable with?

Marjorie Schaeffer (24:56):

One, I think we should like tone down the stress, right? Remind ourselves that it’s homework and homework feels really high-stakes, but these other outcomes are really high-stakes too, right? And so I’m really interested in the idea that can we help parents feel more comfortable about math by watching their own children teach it to them. So what’s a concept that the fourth grader actually feels really good about? And can they remind their parent how to do it? Can, together, they problem-solve the math homework? And so it’s not just on the parent to give the child the right answer. We know that’s a recipe for communicating some negative things about math. But instead, help the parent-child pair figure it out together. So what are some resources we can do? Can we look it up on the internet together? Can we write an email to the teacher together? Can we think about what are other problems that maybe we know how to do, and therefore we can use that same model here? So I want parents to feel like they are not solely responsible for it. That they can help figure it out with their child together. And so it’s a fun interaction.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:02):

I love that. I love that.

Dan Meyer (26:03):

Yeah. Yeah. That’s wonderful. Yeah. A conviction that I have, and I think it’s true, is that any math that we’re learning at middle school, the attraction can be dialed down to a degree that a very small child, or a parent who has a very small child’s understanding of math, can appreciate. So instead of calculation, estimation. Instead of proof, just make a claim about something. And it makes me wonder about a companion to the work that’s happening in schools that parents feel inadequate to support, that students might not want to teach their parents. But which they could both, on a daily basis, say, “Here’s a way we can engage in this at a level that is comfortable to both of us.” Just dreaming out loud here. No question asked. No response needed. I just love your work. And made me wonder about that. Can you let me know your thoughts about technology? It is very rare that we have someone on the call who is an academic and very well-versed in research, but who also is published not just in in papers and textbooks, but also in digital media. It’s consumed by lots of people. So I am trusting that you have opinions about how math looks in technology. And I wonder if you’d offer some thoughts about how it goes, right? How it goes wrong from your own eyes.

Marjorie Schaeffer (27:14):

OK. That’s a great question. I think that we need more research. I first wanna say that I think that technology has really exploded in the last few years. How children have access to technology and screen times has really changed. And what we need is high-quality research happening. That said, I think that all of the things we know from child-development research still apply to technology. And so we know that children learn best when they are engaging in interactions with their parents. And so when families can use technology together, or at least can talk about what’s happening, it can be really effective. I also think technology, especially math apps, are best at teaching concrete skills with very clear answers. So I think practicing math facts is a great use of technology. So I love that Sushi math app where you solve multiplication problems and then get to quickly pull the sushi off the cart, right? But for higher-level questions, where we’re thinking about word problems or where what we’re helping to teach students is complex thinking, apps have a harder time doing that. Because students can often figure out the answer without engaging in the thinking that we are hoping that they’ll learn. And so I think technology absolutely has a piece. I think technology is helpful for parents. I think the logistics of helping parents live their lives is a good reason to use technology. But I think we need to be conscious of what it’s replacing. And so I think a world in which we think fourth graders can learn math only from apps is not realistic. But absolutely apps can be a great supplement to what’s already happening in the classroom.

Dan Meyer (28:56):

Yeah, that’s super-helpful. We have done a lot of work in digital curriculum here at Amplify, and often face the question on a daily basis, “Should this math be digital or on paper? Should we have the students stand up and talk or type something?” And those decisions are way too crucial and way more sensitive than a lot of the app-based education gives credit to. So appreciate your perspective there.

Marjorie Schaeffer (29:22):

OK. And I don’t think there’s one answer, or one answer for all classrooms. I think it’s like always a balancing act. I do think that one of the reasons our work is successful is because the parent-child interaction. And we want parents to learn from these experiences. And I think the same thing is true for for teachers.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:41):

Dr. Schaeffer, thank you so much for being with us today and for sharing about your research, and again, for inviting us to reconsider ways that we can develop a more positive relationship with math. And that parent or caregiver or teacher relationship with a child, we’re seeing just how incredibly impactful that is. And I really appreciate your work and your voice on this. Thank you so much for your time.

Dan Meyer (30:07):

Thank you.

Marjorie Schaeffer (30:08):

Thank you for having me.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (30:12):

Thank you again, Dr. Schaeffer, and thank you all for listening to our conversation. You can check out the show notes for more on Dr. Schaeffer’s work and to see a link to the app that we shared about Bedtime Math.

Dan Meyer (30:25):

Please keep in touch with us on Facebook at Math Teacher Lounge Community, and on Twitter at MTLShow.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (30:32):

We would love to hear … you’ve been listening to this series; we’re dipping our toe into all these aspects of math anxiety. Is there something that you’re still wondering about? Something you wanna share about your own story with math anxiety?

Dan Meyer (30:43):

And if you haven’t already, if this is your first exposure to the Math Teacher Lounge podcast, please subscribe to Math Teacher Lounge, wherever you get your fine podcast products. And if you like what you’re hearing, please rate us! Leave us a review. You’ll help more listeners find the show.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:01):

And let a friend know. But you know, it’s, it’s nice and cozy here in the Lounge, right? There’s no pressure. We’re hanging out. It’s all about learning. We’re learning together. We’re glad you’re here and we want others in your community to join us in the Lounge as well. You can find more information on all of Amplify’s shows at our podcast hub. Go to amplifycom.wpengine.com/hub. Next time on Math Teacher Lounge, we’re gonna be chatting about where we are today that we weren’t a few months ago in this topic.

Dan Meyer (31:31):

We’ll be chatting about this last series about math anxiety, and trading our favorite insights and observations from the run of the season.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (31:41):

I just love this series, Dan. And thanks, all, for listening. We really appreciate having you in the Lounge.

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What Marjorie Schaeffer says about math

“We want it to be a fun, low-stakes environment, especially in high-stakes scenarios like testing. We want children to have fun math experiences.”

– Marjorie Schaeffer

Assistant Professor of Psychology at Saint Mary’s College

Meet the guest

Marjorie Schaeffer is an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Saint Mary’s College. She received her Ph.D in developmental psychology from the University of Chicago. Marjorie is interested in the role parents and teachers play in the development of children’s math attitudes and performance. She is specifically interested in the impact of expectations and anxiety and on children’s academic performance. Her work has been published in outlets including ScienceJournal of Experimental Psychology: General, and Developmental Science.

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About Math Teacher Lounge

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

Grade 6

Unit 1: Area and Surface Area

Lesson 2: Finding Area by Decomposing and RearrangingShapes on a Plane
Lesson 3: Reasoning to Find AreaLetters
Lesson 4: ParallelogramsExploring Parallelograms, Part 2
Lesson 5: Bases and Heights of ParallelogramsExploring Parallelograms, Part 1
Lesson 6: Areas of ParallelogramsOff the Grid, Part 1
Lesson 7: From Parallelograms to TrianglesTriangles and Parallelograms
Lesson 8: Areas of TrianlgeExploring Triangles
Lesson 10: Bases and Heights of TrianglesOff the Grid, Part 2
Lesson 11: PolygonsPile of Polygons
Lesson 15: More Nets, More Surface AreaRenata’s Stickers

Unit 2: Introducing Rations

Lesson 3: RecipesPizza Maker
Lesson 5: Defining Equivalent RatiosFruit Lab
Lesson 12: Navagating a Table of Equivalent RationsDisaster Preparation

Unit 3: Unit Rates and Percentages

Lesson 1: Anchoring Units of MeasureMany Measurements
Lesson 4: Comparing Speeds and PriceWorld Records
Lesson 5: Interpreting RatesSoft Serve
Lesson 6: Equivalent Ratios Have the Same Unit RatesWelcome to the Robot Factory
Lesson 8: Solving Rate ProblemsMore Soft Serve
Lesson 9: More about Constant SpeedModel Trains
Lesson 11: Representing Percentages with Double Number Line DiagramsLucky Duckies

Unit 4: Dividing Fractions

Lesson 4: How Many Groups? (Part 1)Flour Planner
Lesson 6: Using Diagrams to Find the Number of GroupsFill the Gap
Lesson 13: Rectangles with Fractional Side LengthsPuzzling Areas

Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base 10

Lesson 1: Using Decimals in Shopping ContextDishing Out Decimals

Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base 11

Lesson 2: Using Diagrams to Represent Addition and SubtractionDecimal Diagrams and Algorithms

Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base 12

Lesson 15: Making and Measuring BoxesMovie Time

Unit 6: Expressions and Equations

Lesson 1: Tape Diagrams and EquationsFive Equations
Weight for It
Lesson 3: Staying in BalanceHanging Around
Lesson 4: Practice Solving EquationsHanging It Up
Lesson 5: Represent Situations with EquationsSwap and Solve
Lesson 9: The Distributive Property: Part 1Products and Sums
Lesson 17: Two Related Quantaties, Part 2Subway Fares

Unit 7: Rational Numbers

Lesson 3: Comparing Positive and Negative NumbersOrder in the Class
Lesson 5: Using Negative Numbers to Make Sense in ContextMinimum Wage
Lesson 8: Writing and Graphing InequalitiesTunnel Travels

Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions

Lesson 5: Using Dot Plots to Answer Statistical QuestionsMinimum Wage
Lesson 6: Interpreting HistogramsThe Plot Thickens
Lesson 11: Variability and MADHoops
Lesson 13: MedianToy Cars

Grade 7

Unit 1: Scale Drawing

Lesson 1: What are scaled copies?Scaling Machines
Lesson 2: Correspond Parts and Scale FactorsMake it Scale
Lesson 3: Making Scaled CopiesScaling Robots
Lesson 5: The Size of the Scale FactorScale Factor Challenges
Lesson 6: Scaling AreaTiles
Lesson 6: Scaling AreaWill It Fit

Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships

Lesson 1: One of These Things is Not Like the OtherPaint
Lesson 5: Two Equations for Each RelationshipTwo and Two
Lesson 10: Introducing Graphs of Proportional RelationshipsDinoPops

Unit 3: Measuring Circles

Lesson 2: Exploring CirclesMeasuring Around
Lesson 7: Exploring the Area of a CircleWhy Pi?
Lesson 9: Applying Area of a CircleArea Challenges

Unit 4: Proportional Relationships and Percentages

Lesson 6: Increasing and DecreasingMosaics
100%
Lesson 7: One Hundred PercentMore and Less
Back in My Day
Lesson 8: Percent Increase and Decrease with EquationsAll the Equations
Lesson 11: Percentage ContextsPercent Machines

Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic

Lesson 3: Changing ElevationFloats and Anchors
Lesson 5: Representing SubtractionMore Floats and Anchors
Lesson 6: Finding DifferencesDraw Your Own
Lesson 13: Expressions with Rational NumbersInteger Puzzles

Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Lesson 9: Dealing with Negative NumbersKeeping it True
Lesson 13: Reintroducing InequalitiesI Saw the Signs
Lesson 14: Finding Solutions to Inequalities in ContextUnbalanced Hangers
Lesson 15: Efficiently Solving InequalitiesShira the Sheep
Lesson 16: Interpreting InequalitiesBudgeting
Lesson 17: Modeling with InequalitiesWrite Them and Solve Them
Lesson 20: Combining Like Terms (Part 1)Collect the Squares

Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms

Lesson 2: Adjacent AnglesFriendly Angles
Lesson 5: Using Equations to Solve For Unknown AnglesMissing Measures
Lesson 7: Building Polygons (Part 2)Can You Build It

Unit 8: Probability and Sampling

Lesson 1: Mystery BagsHow Likely
Lesson 3: What are Probabilities?Prob-bear-bilities
Lesson 4: Estimating Probabilities through Repeated ExperimentsIs It Fair?
Lesson 13: What Make a Good Sample?Crab Island

Grade 8

Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence

Lesson 1: Moving the PlaneTransformers
Lesson 2: Naming the MovesSpinning, Flipping, Sliding
Lesson 3: Grid MovesMoving Day
Lesson 4: Making MovesTransformation Golf
Lesson 5: Coordinate MovesGetting Coordinated, Part 1
Lesson 6: Describing TransformationsGetting Coordinated, Part 2
Lesson 16: Parallel Lines and Angles in a TrianglePuzzling It Out
Lesson 17: Rotate and TesselateTessellate

Unit 2: Dilations, Similarity, and Introducing Slope

Lesson 1: Projecting and ScalingSketchy Dilations
Lesson 3: Dilations with No GridDilation Mini Golf
Lesson 7: Similar PolygonsSocial Scavenger Hunt

Unit 3: Linear Relationships

Lesson 1: Understanding Proportional RelationshipsTurtle Time Trials
Lesson 5: Introductions to Linear RelationshipsFlags
Lesson 6: More Linear RelationshipsStacking Cups (Optional)
Lesson 8: Translating y=mx+bTranslations
Lesson 9: Slopes Don’t Have to Be PositiveWater Cooler
Lesson 10: Calculating SlopeUps and Downs

Unit 4: Linear Equations and Systems

Lesson 5: Solve Any Linear EquationEquation Roundtable
Lesson 12: Systems of EquationsMake Them Balance
Lesson 13: Solving Systems of EquationsLine Zapper

Unit 5: Functions and Volume

Lesson 1: Inputs and OutputsGuess My Rule
Lesson 5: More graphs of FunctionsTurtle Crossing
Lesson 6: Even More Graphs of FunctionsThe Tortoise and the Hare
Lesson 13: The Volume of a CylinderCylinders
Lesson 15: The Volume of a ConeCones

Unit 6: Associations and Data

Lesson 3: What a Point on a Scatter Plot MeansRobots
Lesson 4: Fitting a Line to DataDapper Cats
Lesson 5: Describing Trends in Scatter PlotsInterpreting Scatter Plots
Lesson 6: Slope of a Fitted LineFind the FIt (called Fit Fights in Desmos Math)
Lesson 7: Observing More Patterns in Scatter PlotsScatter Plot City
Lesson 8: Analyzing Bivariate DataInterpreting Slopes
Lesson 9: Looking for AssociationAnimal Brains
Lesson 10: Using Data Displays to Find AssociationFinding Associations

Unit 7: Exponents and Scientific Notation

Lesson 1: Exponent ReviewCircles
Lesson 6: What about Other Bases?Power Pairs
Lesson 12: Applicatios of Arithmetic with Powers of 10Balance the Scale
Lesson 13: Definition of Scientific NotationSpecific and Scientific (formerly Solar System)

Unit 8: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers

Lesson 5: Square Roots on the Number LineRoot Down
Lesson 7: Finding Side Lengths of TrianglesTriangle Tracing Turtle
Lesson 11: Applications of the Pythagorean TheoremTaco Truck

Algebra 1

Intro/Launch

Unit 1: One Variable Statistics

Lesson 12: Standard DeviationFinding Desmo

Unit 2: Linear Equations and Systems

Lesson 4: Equations and Their SolutionsWorking Backwards
Solving Strategies
Same Position
Lesson 5: Equations and Their GraphsShelley the Snail
Five Representations
Lesson 6: Equivalent EquationsSubway Seats
Lesson 7: Explaining Steps for Rewriting EquationsVarious Variables
Lesson 12: Writing and Graphing Systems of Linear EquationsLizard Lines
Lesson 13: Solving Systems by SubstitutionShape It Up

Unit 3: Two Variable Statistics

Lesson 5: Fitting LinesCity Slopes
Penguin Populations
Lesson 6: ResidualsResidual Fruit
Lesson 7: Correlation CoefficientCorrelation Coefficient
City Data
Lesson 8: Using the Correlation CoefficientHow Hot Is It?
Lesson 9: Causal RelationshipsBehind the Headlines

Unit 4: Linear Inequalities and Systems

Lessons 4-6: Graphing Linear Inequalities in Two VariablesPizza Delivery
Lesson 7: Solutions to Systems of Linear Inequalities in Two VariablesQuilts
Seeking Solutions
Lesson 8: Solving Problems with Systems of Linear Inequalities in Two VariablesCarlos’s Fish

Unit 5: Functions

Lesson 1: Describing and Graphing SituationsCraft-a-Graph
Lesson 7: Using Graphs to Find Average Rate of ChangePlane, Train, and Automobile
Lesson 12: Piecewise FunctionsPumpkin Prices
Lesson 15: Inverse FunctionsChip the Robot

Unit 6: Introduction to Exponential Functions

Unit 7: Introduction to Quadratic Functions

Lesson 1: A Different Kind of ChangeRevisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1
Quadratic Visual Patterns
Lesson 10: Graphs of Quadratic Functions in Standard and Factored FormsOn the Fence
Stomp Rockets
Plenty of Parabolas
Two for One
Lesson 11: Graphing Quadratics from the Factored FormParabola Zapper
Shooting Stars
Lesson 14: Quadratic Graphs that Represent SituationsRobot Launch

Unit 8: Quadratic Equations

Lesson 2: When and Why Do We Write Quadratic Equations?Sorting Relationships
Lesson 12-14: Completing the SquareSquare Tactic
Lesson 24: Using Quadratic Equations to Model Situation and Solve ProblemsStomp Rockets in Space

Disclaimer

This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Grade 6

Module 1: Ratios and Rates

Module 2: Fractions, Decimals, and Percents

Lesson 1: Understand PercentsUnit 3Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals
Lesson 2: Percents Greater Than 100% and Less Than 1% 
Lesson 3: Relate Fractions, Decimals, and PercentsUnit 5Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams [Free lesson]Lesson 13: Grocery Prices (Print available)
Lesson 4: Find the Percent of a NumberUnit 3Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available)Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown
Lesson 5: Estimate the Percent of a Number 
Lesson 6: Find the WholeUnit 3Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available)

Module 3: Compute with Multi-Digit Numbers and Fractions

Module 4: Integers, Rational Numbers, and the Coordinate Plane

Lesson 1: Represent IntegersUnit 7Lesson 1: Can You Dig It [Free lesson]Lesson 4: Sub-Zero
Lesson 2: Opposites and Absolute ValueUnit 7Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line
Lesson 3: Compare and Order IntegersUnit 7Lesson 2: Digging DeeperLesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Rational NumbersUnit 7Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Lesson 5: The Coordinate PlaneUnit 7Lesson 9: Sand Dollar SearchLesson 10: The A-maze-ing Coordinate Plane
Lesson 6: Graph Reflections of Points
Lesson 7: Absolute Value and DistanceUnit 7Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line

Module 5: Numerical and Algebraic Expressions

Module 6: Relationships in Geometry

Module 7: Relationships Between Two Variables

Module 8: Area

Module 9: Volume and Surface Area

Module 10: Statistical Measures and Displays

Grade 7

Module 1: Proportional Relationships

Module 2: Solve Percent Problems

Module 3: Operations with Integers

Module 4: Operations with Rational Numbers

Module 5: Simplify Algebraic Expressions

Module 6: Write and Solve Equations

Lesson 1: Write and Solve One-Step EquationsUnit 6Lesson 3: EquationsLesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)Lesson 14: Unbalanced HangersLesson 15: BudgetingLesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson]Lesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available)
Lesson 2: Solve Two-Step Equations: px + q = r
Lesson 3: Write and Solve Two-Step Equations: px + q = r
Lesson 4: Solve Two-Step Equations: p(x + q) = r
Lesson 5: Write and Solve Two-Step Equations: p(x + q) = r
Unit 6Lesson 4: Seeing Structure (Print available)Lesson 6: Balancing EquationsLesson 7: Keeping It True (Print available)Lesson 12: Community Day (Print available)Practice Day 1 (Print available)

Module 7: Write and Solve Inequalities

Lesson 1: Solve One-Step Addition and Subtraction Inequalities
Lesson 2: Write and Solve One-Step Addition and Subtraction Inequalities
Lesson 3: Solve One-Step Multiplication and Division Inequalities
Lesson 4: Solve One-Step Multiplication and Division Inequalities with Negative Coefficients
Unit 6Lesson 14: Unbalanced HangersLesson 15: Budgeting (Print available)Lesson 16: Shira the SheepLesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available)
Lesson 5: Write and Solve One-Step Multiplication and Division InequalitiesUnit 6Lesson 15: Budgeting (Print available)
Lesson 6: Write and Solve Two-Step InequalitiesUnit 6Lesson 15: Budgeting (Print available)Lesson 16: Shira the Sheep [Free lesson]Lesson 17: Write Them and Solve Them (Print available)Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Module 8: Geometric Figures

Module 9: Measure Figures

Module 10: Probability

Lesson 1: Find Likelihoods
Lesson 2: Relative Frequency of Simple Events
Lesson 3: Theoretical Probability of Events
Unit 8Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson]Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson]Lesson 3: Mystery Bag
Lesson 4: Compare Probabilities of Simple EventsUnit 8Lesson 4: Spin ClassLesson 5: Is It Fair?
Lesson 5: Probability of Compound EventsUnit 8Lesson 6: Fair GamesLesson 7: Weather or NotLesson 8: Simulate It
Lesson 6: Simulate Chance EventsUnit 8Lesson 8: Simulate ItPractice Day 1 (Print available)

Module 11: Sampling and Statistics

Grade 8

Module 1: Exponents and Scientific Notation

Module 2: Real Numbers

Lesson 1: Terminating and Repeating DecimalsUnit 8
Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals
Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions
Lesson 2: RootsUnit 8
Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 3: Real NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 14: Hit the Target
Lesson 4: Estimate Irrational NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 5: Compare and Order Real NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 14: Hit the Target

Module 3: Solve Equations with Variables on Each Side

Module 4: Linear Relationships and Slope

Module 5: Functions

Module 6: Systems of Linear Equations

Lesson 1: Solve Systems of Equations by GraphingUnit 4 
Lesson 9: On or Off the Line?
Lesson 10: On Both Lines
Lesson 11: Make Them Balance [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Line Zapper
Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2
(Print available)Practice Day 2 
Lesson 2: Determine Number of SolutionsUnit 4 
Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2
Lesson 3: Solve Systems of Equations by Substitution
Lesson 4: Solve Systems of Equations by Elimination
Lesson 5: Write and Solve Systems of EquationsUnit 4 
Lesson 14: Strategic Solving, Part 2 (Print available)

Module 7: Triangles and the Pythagorean Theorem

Lesson 1: Angle Relationships and Parallel LinesUnit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles
Lesson 2: Angle Relationships and TrianglesUnit 1 Lesson 10: Transforming Angles Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available)Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: The Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8Lesson 6: The Pythagorean TheoremLesson 7: Pictures to Prove It
Lesson 4: Converse of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8Lesson 9: Make It Right
Lesson 5: Distance on the Coordinate PlaneUnit 8Lesson 11: Pond HopperPractice day 2 (Print available)

Module 8: Transformations

Module 9: Congruence and Similarity

Lesson 1: Congruence and Transformations
Lesson 2: Congruence and Corresponding Parts
Unit 1 Lesson 7: Are They the Same?Lesson 9: Are They Congruent?
Lesson 3: Similarity and TransformationsUnit 2Lesson 5: Transformations Golf with DilationsLesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Similarity and Corresponding PartsUnit 2Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough?Lesson 8: Shadows
Lesson 5: Indirect MeasurementUnit 2Lesson 8: Shadows

Module 10: Volume

Lesson 1: Volume of CylindersUnit 5Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson]Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders
Lesson 2: Volume of ConesUnit 5Lesson 10: Volume LabLesson 13: Cones [Free lesson]Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 3: Volume of SpheresUnit 5Lesson 15: Spheres
Lesson 4: Finding Missing DimensionsUnit 5Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 5: Volume of Composite SolidsUnit 5Lesson 15: Spheres

Module 11: Scatter Plots and Two-Way Tables

This is one of the best things I have ever worked on.

A man in a white shirt is smiling in a circular frame, with illustrations of a person swimming and a submarine on a light blue background, capturing the lively spirit of Amplify Desmos Math and engaging classroom discussions.

Every discussion teaches kids about math—and about themselves.

Among many other reasons, discussions are important because they’re moments when the teacher assigns value to students. In a discussion, the teacher says, “Hey—I have precious little time to teach what I know. Still, I’m going to dedicate some of that time for you to share and talk about what you know.” That’s a moment when students learn about math, but also that their own ideas have value.

Discussions are difficult, and “more wait time” is rarely the reason.

There are a few reasons why discussions frequently fail, and it’s rarely because the teacher didn’t give students enough “wait time” to respond, as is commonly believed.

1. The question was hard to understand or find your way into. For a long time, I’d ask my kids at dinner, “How was your day? What happened?” And my kids wouldn’t have much to say. Lately, I ask them to tell me two things about their day that happened and one thing that didn’t, and we all guess which was which. It’s an easier prompt, one that kids can find their way into with ease and then use as a launching pad into a larger conversation.

2. There isn’t enough to talk about. If your math class consists of a lot of binary, right/wrong questions, what is there for anyone to talk about? “A lot of us got this one wrong. Here’s a pie chart that shows how wrong we were. How about I show you how to do it?” That’s fine, but it isn’t a discussion, and it’s quite often a very dreary classroom environment for children.

A digital dashboard displays multiple financial charts, graphs, and filters—including pie charts and bar graphs—similar to those used in Amplify Desmos Math for middle school math classroom discussions on project profitability and billing.

In Amplify Desmos Math, a curriculum I work on, kids generally have plenty to talk about. Our interactives stir a kid’s imagination for even the most abstract areas of math. For example, this submarine interactive stirs up a kid’s ideas about adding positive and negative integers.

A yellow submarine with five round windows, each filled with a blue dot—perfect for sparking classroom discussions in middle school math. Red and blue dots sit above and below the windows, plus an anchor and lightbulb icon on the left.

And then we ask kids, “Hey, what do you think about the star at +5? Can you come up with something that none of your classmates do?”

A digital lesson in Amplify Desmos Math shows a submarine at position 0 and a star labeled 5; instructions prompt students to collect the star using unique actions, sparking engaging middle school math classroom discussions.

Let me tell you: Kids accept that challenge.

3. There is too much to talk about.

This is a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem. In the class screenshotted below, 25 students have put 300 thoughtful words in front of the teacher, every response different from every other!

A highlighted text box shows Sofia Kovalevskaya saying, "I want to add 1000 floats and then 995 anchors!!!" against a background of faded text—perfect for sparking middle school math classroom discussions with Amplify Desmos Math.

Teachers now have a problem of abundance, not scarcity. They have to decide which responses to select, and why, in an environment of cognitive overload.

This is very hard work for teachers, especially novices, especially teachers who lack mathematical content knowledge, especially teachers who are hanging onto the school year by their fingernails.

We offer teachers lots of different support for discussions throughout our curriculum—both in print and digital activities—but our new discussion support for digital activities is first-of-its-kind and best-in-class.

Discussion Moments.

  1. Student responses stream into the teacher’s dashboard.
  2. A message appears: “Analyzing Student Responses.”
  3. Shortly after, the message changes: “Open Discussion Moment.
A green banner with the text "Analyzing student responses" and two sparkles, next to a gray computer monitor icon—perfect for facilitating Classroom discussions in middle school math with Amplify Desmos Math.

You click the message and see a classroom-ready discussion screen.

A submarine aims for a star 5 units up; students suggest combinations of floats and anchors to reach it. Amplify Desmos Math sparks engaging classroom discussions as a sidebar asks, "Are they all correct?.

First, you see four student responses, each one authored by a student in the class, each one interesting on its own. This was not luck. Those responses were curated by a large language model at the direction of our curriculum experts. “Find three responses that capture the star in different ways,” our experts prompted the AI. “Responses that add anchors. That remove anchors. Find one response that might not capture the star.”

Next to those responses you see a question: ”Which one is not like the others?” That question feels surprisingly well-matched for this math and for those student responses. This, also, isn’t an accident. Curriculum experts made that decision.

You click the right arrow and see a suggested narration for the Discussion Moment, narration which was authored, again, by our human authors for this particular problem, to help novices learn to facilitate productive discussions in math.

That’s a “Discussion Moment.”

In the past, coaches, experts, and publishers have all asked teachers to . . .

  • Select and sequence student responses.
  • Construct a student-facing discussion resource.
  • Lead the conversation.

Now we are asking teachers to . . .

  • Lead the conversation.

In our experience, computers do quite well with the first two jobs while teachers obliterate computers at the work of leading a conversation, at connecting student ideas, at asking one kid what they think of another kid’s idea, at pulling ideas out of a kid who maybe doesn’t think they have ideas to offer. Discussion Moments delegate to humans and computers the best work for each of them.

Discussion Moments are different.

Lots of edtech companies are putting AI to work in lots of different ways. Discussion Moments are unique.

First, they’re designed to work through rather than around the teacher, during class rather than outside of class. They’re designed to support social interactions between students and teachers in the moment of instruction. This is the action.

Second, this is a classroom-ready resource. So many AI applications just output a ChatGPT-style resource. Lots of text. Several main bullets. Lots of sub-bullets. An emoji or two. And I am very sorry, but they are not useful in class. The teacher has to read all of that text, copy and paste and edit it, and then construct the student-facing resource all in the middle of class. That’s fantasyland, folks. At Amplify, we have, instead, created a one-click, classroom-ready resource.

Third, we’ve fortified these digital Discussion Moments with gallons of human expertise. Since December, I’ve worked with several of our curriculum experts—Casey Nelson, Brian Kam, and Tom Snarsky—and for every problem across several units of middle school math, they:

  • Reviewed thousands of student responses to each problem.
  • Identified thematic trends in the student responses.
  • Decided whether or not those themes demand a discussion.
  • Decided which of several discussion frames would be most appropriate, given those themes.
  • Wrote an AI prompt specific to each problem to increase the odds that the large language model will curate useful student responses.
Screenshot of code-like text outlining three criteria for student responses, with bolded and underlined terms, labeled "human authored" at the top—ideal for guiding classroom discussions in middle school math or Amplify Desmos Math activities.

Most edtech companies would prefer to let AI lead this process from end to end, using the same prompt for every problem, even at the cost of the teacher and student experience. Meanwhile, we only ask AI to execute instructions and construct a resource. The nature of those instructions, the type of resource, and how it’s used—that is all determined by different humans and their expertise.

What do teachers and administrators think?

I ran a small-scale pilot of this feature last spring and kicked off a larger-scale pilot last week. A couple hundred teachers overall. I have never had an easier time recruiting teachers for a project than with this one. Every district math curriculum lead knows how challenging it is for teachers to lead discussions, and every one I asked was eager to support.

Two other examples of Discussion Moments.

Compare and Connect. We asked a large language model to locate responses that have one of a couple of important features but ideally not both. Then we constructed a Discussion Moment asking students to write a response that combines the best of both answers.

A scatter plot titled “Radius vs. Area” from Amplify Desmos Math prompts classroom discussions about proportional relationships, as middle school math students compare line types and notice the points do not form a straight line.

Critique, Correct, Clarify. Our curriculum authors noticed a frequent incorrect answer to a question. We told the LLM to watch out for it and frame it in a Discussion Moment where the class is asked to find value in the wrong answer before correcting it. Try to imagine what it does to a kid to hear their incorrect answer described as valuable.

A graph displays a purple straight line with negative slope crossing the y-axis at 4 and the x-axis at 8; text explains the equation y = -1/2x + 4, perfect for middle school math or engaging Amplify Desmos Math classroom discussions.

Wait—don’t you hate AI?

I get why you might ask me that, but no. I think generative AI is perhaps the most overrated education technology of my lifetime; I don’t think the chatbot tutors or lessonslop generators are going to transform K–12 education. But I do think generative AI is neat. And look, I have tried to support discussion work with K–12 teachers for the last ten years in other ways, too. I have run in-person and remote PD. I have written math lessons and teacher supports for those lessons. I have sent nifty little customized email sequences tailored to teacher usage. None of those supports have been as promising as AI is here. None of them has moved the needle like Discussion Moments because none of them has been able to meet teachers in their moment of need, at the point of use.

That’s it. You can find Discussion Moments in Amplify Desmos Math next school year.

S5-04. Coaching tips for managing math anxiety in teachers

A blue graphic with text reading "Math Teacher Lounge" in multicolored letters and "Amplify." at the bottom, with abstract geometric shapes and lines as decoration.

So far this season, we’ve investigated math anxiety in students and its causes with passionate researchers and curriculum experts, including one from Sesame Workshop! Now we hear from Dr. Heidi Sabnani, consultant, coach, and co-host of Math 4 All, as she gives us research-based tips for teachers who are facing math anxiety themselves! Listen as we discuss Heidi’s own math anxiety and journey through math, the effects teacher math anxiety can have on instruction, and practices educators can implement right away for overcoming math anxiety.

Listen today and don’t forget to grab your MTL study guide to track your learning and make the most of this episode!

Download Transcript

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (00:00):

Coaching is the opportunity to provide that just-in-time kind of professional development for teachers, if we go at it in a slightly different way.

Dan Meyer (00:10):

Hey folks, welcome back to Math Teacher Lounge. I’m your host, Dan Meyer.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:14):

And I’m Bethany Lockhart Johnson.

Dan Meyer (00:16):

Bethany, how are you doing, and how are you feeling about our current trajectory through this exploration of math anxiety?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:24):

Dan, I gotta tell you — let me make it about me for a second. <laugh>.

Dan Meyer (00:29):

Go. Do it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:30):

If only I had known that so many other people experienced math anxiety, and I wasn’t the only one. I mean, I’ve said it before, but you know, I hope that this series so far is helping to reframe math anxiety for folks who maybe have a narrow definition of it … and I guess expand, reframe. And also, for those folks who are working with students who have math anxiety, or who they themselves have experienced math anxiety, I hope they’ve found some tools, some resources. Right? Like, “Yes!”

Dan Meyer (01:04):

Yes! Same.

New Speaker (01:06):

And what about you? How are you feeling?

Dan Meyer (01:08):

Yeah, I hope this has been cathartic for all of our listeners who have experienced math anxiety, and not re-traumatizing, that there are lots of people who feel this way about math in particular. And that it’s so well-experienced, so broadly experienced, that people have decided to study it a whole bunch. Which is great. And now we’re moving into our kind of solutioning. You know, in my relationships, I’m sometimes told that I rush too quickly to solutions before trying to understand what’s going on. So I’ve loved our episodes that have been about what is going on. And now, with Dr. Truglio last episode and our guest today, we’re moving more into some solutions, which I’m excited about.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:49):

I don’t know, Dan, I think next time I see you I’m gonna bring a list of some concerns or worries I have, and I would love if you just get right to the solution. I’m actually OK with that.

Dan Meyer (02:01):

All right. Good to know. Good to know. I’ll say I am coming off of a day where I was feeling some teacher anxiety today, because I taught really real students. So just to let you know where I’m coming from here. I taught some seventh grade students at Montera Middle, here in Oakland Unified School District. Taught ’em a lesson outta the Desmos curriculum. And it was one of those lessons where some thorny stuff comes up. I’m talking students who are wrong for smart reasons, who are right for the wrong reasons, and their minds are working so hard trying to figure out inequalities. And I’m like trying to just step into that process as an educator with some curriculum and help shape those ideas. But it’s just … I don’t know, you want it to be as easy as like, “let me just show you how it’s done a few times, and now you got it.” But whew, some of these ideas, they take a long time to form up and they’re really easily reshaped by lots of stuff going on. So that’s where I’m at, anxiety-wise, right now. The teacher anxiety stuff.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:04):

I think there’s probably plenty of teachers who do kind of just say, this is how you do it. And so, from what I have seen of your teaching and what I know of the Desmos curriculum, it is such an opportunity to think hard about the things that we are assuming about our students, assuming about what we know about the math itself. And yeah, that requires some thought.

Dan Meyer (03:30):

Yeah, for sure. I came in ready, like, “When you multiply both sides of an inequality by a negative, this sign flips around.” And I could just say that to kids and say, “Hey, remember that! Write that down!” And a lot of them would do it really well, you know, provided the assessment problems looked like ones we’ve gone over in class. And they’re also learning — in addition to that math, they’re learning that math is a giant sack of tricks they gotta memorize, right? So there’s just these pros and cons. And at the end of the one period I’m gonna teach this week, I was like, “Well, your teacher’s gonna go over that tomorrow, when they’re with you instead of me.” So it felt a bit like I copped out on that one. And I’m just in in my feelings about that right now. And I’m gonna try to come on down here and be present in the math-anxiety world.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:25):

I appreciate you sharing that, Dan. And I think … I have a feeling that you could write a pretty catchy rhyme to allow the students to flip and <starting to rap> “multiply by negative. and dit-dit-dit-dit.” Can you feel it? You picking up that beat?

Dan Meyer (04:40):

Ooh, yeah. A nice little beat. Uh-huh. Yup.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (04:41):

Yeah. You know, you could come up with something pretty clever, and yet you did not lean on your wordsmithing skills. You said, “No, let us dive in.” So what are you gonna do with this lesson, by the way? What happens now? You popped in for one period, and then what happens?

Dan Meyer (05:03):

Yeah. So this is gonna be a blast. I hope you folks tune in. We’re gonna actually release the footage of me teaching this lesson live. You know, it’ll be replayed live. And on top of that, a couple of my favorite teacher coaches and just smart people about teaching are going to be giving commentary. They are gonna be giving the director’s commentary, the sports announcers’ commentary on what they’re seeing. I beg for their generosity in their commentary. But I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I’ve never seen anything like this before, a commentary track on top of a teaching lesson, in this way. So I’m just gonna gonna be excited to see what they noticed that I didn’t, what they might have done, the thoughts they might have. Maybe I’ll do a post-game interview, you know.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:50):

Ooh, yes!

Dan Meyer (05:50):

With my towel around my neck, <laugh> looking all sweaty.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (05:54):

Ready, set, grow!

Dan Meyer (05:55):

Like, “Yup, we gave it all out there, you know, just a real team effort.” You know, that kind of thing. We’ll see how that goes.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:02):

I actually love that idea. I love that it’s not just this one random lesson that just kind of floats out there, and it’s about, you walk away with whatever feelings you have, and the students obviously walk away, but that this is gonna help other educators.

Dan Meyer (06:17):

Yeah. Yeah. We’ll multiply my anxiety and make it more people’s anxiety. We’ll see how that goes. So stay tuned on the Math Teacher Lounge feed for that. All right?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (06:25):

All right! And speaking of anxiety, Dan Meyer, we gotta get to today’s show. You know, last time we had some amazing strategies for helping students from Dr. Truglio from Sesame Workshop. I gotta tell you, I sent that episode to so many of my friends, like, “Listen to these ideas!” and have had some interesting follow-up conversations. And we would love to hear what you think about this season so far, at MTLShow on Twitter or in our Facebook group, Math Teacher Lounge. So today, we’re gonna focus on strategies for supporting teachers.

Dan Meyer (07:00):

Yes. Which is why we’re so excited to bring to you folks Heidi Sabnani, who — we’ve had researchers. We’ve had Sesame Workshoppers. And Heidi Sabnani has been a classroom teacher; she’s teacher-consultant; newly minted doctoral degree holder. We’re so pumped to bring to you folks: Heidi Sabnani.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:25):

Dr. Sabnani, thank you for being here. Can we call you Dr. Heidi? What would you. …

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (07:31):

You can just call me Heidi. Yeah. Heidi is good.

Dan Meyer (07:36):

Right on.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:36):

  1. Heidi, thank you for joining us in the Lounge. We’re so excited to talk with you.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (07:41):

I am super-honored to be here. It’s really exciting and I just really appreciate the opportunity.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:47):

I will say I don’t have a PhD, although the two people I’m talking with right now, both do, and you’re both like holding up your degrees as we speak and saying, “Wah-wah.” But I imagine that if I did, I’d wanna throw that doctor in more frequently, so.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (08:02):

Well—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:03):

If I sneak in a “Doctor,” Heidi, it’s only out of respect.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (08:05):

  1. I appreciate it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:07):

Dan makes me call him Dr. Meyer all the time.

Dan Meyer (08:10):

You don’t call me Dr. Dan or Dr. Meyer, ever. So—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:13):

I will now!

Dan Meyer (08:14):

—this respect only goes towards Dr. Heidi, it seems. But yeah, we’ll take that off the air.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:19):

Well, we are going to delve into your research on math anxiety soon, because I actually — speaking of becoming a doctor, a new doctor, I have some questions. We have questions about your research, but on a personal level, I really appreciated the way that you share that you yourself experienced math anxiety as a student. So I’m wondering if you could tell us a bit about your own math anxiety, your <laugh> journey through math.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (08:50):

Yeah, so much like the people in the research that I did, and with the research that I read by others, many of us can tie the beginnings — or like the evil villain origin story of math anxiety — to a particular event, or series of events. And my series of events started, the big blow-up, I guess, in fourth grade. And I had had some struggles in school — I have mild dyslexia and dyscalculia. And so I had always been in the special group of kids who got some extra attention <laugh> from the teacher, or from an aide, or whoever happened to be in the room. But in fourth grade — at that time, they taught multiplication and division facts in fourth grade. Many, many moons ago. And I struggled greatly with just understanding what was happening and why we were moving so quickly. And, my teacher was probably not the best person to be entrusted with my learning at the time. Like, her style may have been OK for others, but it was obvious that she felt like kind of wasting her time with some people in the classroom. And I happened to be one of those people.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:26):

Mmm. You said that really diplomatically, though. <Laugh>

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (10:30):

Well, you know, you look back at things from the perspective of many years. And having made lots of mistakes myself in the classroom as a teacher, I try to give some grace to things that happened, and how you remember them. Yeah, that’s my story, but maybe she had a different one, right?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:55):

Yeah. But fourth grade Heidi was still, you know, still experiencing that. Yeah.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (11:01):

Yeah. Fourth-grade Heidi didn’t like being in the “dumb group” and didn’t like being told that she would probably not graduate from high school. So that was kind of the general environment. And I got further and further behind in math. The dyslexia was less and less of an issue the older I got, because I had great comprehension. And so I could figure out the fluency thing just by the pattern of language, because mine is mild in comparison to so many who struggle with that. But math was not working in that same way. And I got more and more behind and to the point where I was having to stay in every day at recess. And I had had it after like a month. Like, I’m not staying in at recess anymore to do this math that I don’t understand, by myself. Like, not doing it. So I—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:53):

Which, by the way, if there’s one way to make you hate it, <laugh> like, to engender, to endear you to a subject, could it be, “Let’s have you stay in at recess”?

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (12:07):

Right. And so one day I just stormed out of the classroom, I was like, “I’m not coming. I’m not staying, I’m not doing this anymore. I’m done.” And I can remember her standing up at the top of the hill screaming at me to come back, and I was like, “No way. Not doing it. Done with this.” I went to a parochial school, though, and my dad is a pastor. So that whole little incident blew up in the greater community in a way that I didn’t really anticipate as a fourth grader. And my parents had no idea that this was going on. And so they were shocked and dismayed that their — up until that point — oldest child, rule-follower, had done this. But then even more upset when they found out what was happening with my math understanding, or lack thereof. And they did what they knew best at the time. So my mom was a great memorizer. She has a brain like an elephant. And my dad grew up in the British system in India and Singapore, and it was at that time very much based on memorization. And so they were like, “We are gonna just work really hard. We’re gonna buckle down and do this thing <laugh>.” And so that’s what we did, and that’s where all of it began. It was not — it was just about “We’re gonna learn the facts. We’re not gonna ask questions; we’re not gonna think about it, because it’s just the rules. And if you can figure out the rules or the system or what the teacher wants, and mimic what the teacher is doing, then you’ll be successful.” And it was really successful for me, once I figured that out all the way through. My whole goal in high school when I took high school math was to take enough math courses with a high-enough GPA that when I got my BA in college, that I would never have to take math again. And I succeeded in that and got an English degree and a Master’s in world lit. And I was in no way doing math ever again.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (14:31):

But little did you know that Future You was going to be researching math anxiety. How did you wind up researching it then? How did you wind up researching math anxiety?

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (14:43):

So I took a job in school improvement when I was working in Ohio, after a number of years teaching high school English in Southern California and Guatemala and Michigan, all over the place. And I took a job in school improvement with a co-consultant who was gonna be doing the math end, and I was gonna be doing the literacy end, and we were just gonna go in, and I was gonna make kids love reading, and she was gonna make kids love math, and it was gonna be so fun. And then she decided she didn’t like working with adults and they couldn’t find anyone else. And my boss said, “So you’re just gonna do both for the rest of the year.” After that year, I got requested to go back and, and do this again. I said, “Well, if I’m gonna do this, I’m going to go back and reteach myself the math in ways that I wish that fourth-grade Heidi had learned it, and fourth-grade-and-up Heidi had learned it.” And so that was like the, the beginning of the switch. And so now equal amounts of time in my career have been spent in both. But when I started, when I continued working, when I left the classroom to continue working with teachers, and when I transitioned more into an elementary setting, I began to notice the same behaviors that I had in high school of avoiding math, and avoiding teaching math, were happening in the classrooms that I was supporting. And so I would have teachers come and say, “Oh, can we talk about this literacy thing?” And even if it was like a math meeting, or we were supposed to split the time evenly, and ohhh, for some reason the literacy time talk would just like move over <laugh>. And then there was no time to talk about math at the end. And “Oh, that’s just too bad.” Like, we’re just gonna move on to this next thing. Funny how that happens, right?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (16:32):

Yeah. <laugh>.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (16:34):

And noticing teachers’ behaviors around going to and or avoiding math professional development that I was giving. Or getting sick. Or like having to leave the room for a long period of time. And so I began to notice these behaviors. And initially I thought I wanted to look at math anxiety in children, which is one branch of the research that I started with. But as I got into things more, the people that I have the most influence in are adults right now.

Dan Meyer (17:09):

Right.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (17:09):

And so as I started looking at the research that had already been done, I feel like we do a really nice job of admiring the problem of math anxiety, and we do less in the “what to do about” phase. And so I was like, “Well, if I’m going to continue to be in this career and in this profession, then I need to be doing something in the space of ‘what are we gonna do about it?’” And so that’s how I switched to looking at “what do we do to help teachers?” Particularly elementary school teachers, because that’s the area of greatest need, based on previous research that we could at least do something to help.

Dan Meyer (17:51):

Yeah. A previous guest mentioned that a lot of research is better understood as me-search, especially in this kind of arena, where we’re going back in to try to understand what it was that happened for us and how to prevent it for future generations. And I have nothing but respect for that motivation right there. And your point is well-put, that it is very possible to spend a ton of time examining math anxiety from every angle, every facet, you know, put it up there on a mounted board and admire it … and there’s a lot of value there, but I appreciate that you’re moving into, “So, now what?”

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (18:27):

Yep.

Dan Meyer (18:28):

And so I’d love if you’d share with us and our listeners the broad details of your study, and what you ultimately found. Like, if there are any large takeaways here, what were they?

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (18:40):

Yeah. So a couple of things to kind of just lay a little bit of the groundwork. One out of four teachers say that they have math anxiety. Those numbers increase rapidly, the younger of the grades that the teachers teach. So if we think about preK to two, it’s about 88%, based on other people’s research. So I was like, “Well that’s a lot of people <laugh>!” And so, that’s the scope of the problem. And so I was thinking, “OK, what do we do in these moments?” Because other researchers had said they’re spending — when they don’t like it, they’re spending less time teaching math and avoiding it, or relying on methods that were done to us. Just out of fear of trying something different, at many times. And so one thing that has become more prominent in math education since I transitioned 16 years ago into this has been the role of coaches in school systems. And so one of the questions I wanted to think about was, “What can coaches or math specialists who work with adults as well do to help the teachers that they work with?” So that was kind of the lens that I was looking at. Like, let’s think about the systems that we currently have in place. Is there something that we could be doing that would help teachers, that wouldn’t be so huge or so monumental that with little shifts in our own behavior as coaches or professional development providers that we could make that would make a difference? So that being said, this was a qualitative study, so a small group of people in very intense settings. So I kind of always wanna preface that, because in academic world, you know, there’s <laugh> all sorts of thoughts about that. So I had asked teachers from districts that I work with who self-identified as having math anxiety if they would be interested in the study. So, this is what we’re thinking of, this is what it would look like, and the scope of the support they would have.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (20:50):

So basically you’re tracking these four teachers who self-identified as math anxious. And were you serving as their coach and kind of seeing what was working?

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (21:00):

I was serving as their coach. Yeah. I was serving as their coach during that time period. And some fairly recent research that had been done was in the idea of “Can we do some reflective conversations or reflective writing around where your math anxiety started, and how that makes you feel both as a teacher of mathematics now, because you are teaching math, and how that affects your identity as a mathematician?” And so that was the first starting point. And that was a really critical moment that I’m glad that I had stumbled across the research on, because it turned out that having someone hear and acknowledge that what happened to them was both wrong and inappropriate, in many cases, and in a couple instances, was traumatic and also abusive — that that mattered. That it was OK to feel anger and hurt and frustration based on what happened to you in the past. And then have that moment to reflect on, “OK, so what do you want the classroom environment that you’re building as a teacher to feel like for your students?” So it was turning that moment of how they felt to thinking about, then, what kind of environment do we wanna make within the math classroom? And what steps can we take to ensure that happens? So that was like, Step One is just thinking about what that looks like. What kind of math identities then do you want to create for your students? Because all of the teachers were very concerned with not continuing the cyclical nature that often happens with math anxiety, from teacher to student and back again.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (22:54):

Well, and even that validation, right? Like, how many of them hadn’t even had, like you said, had that? We had another, when in our first episode, Dr. Gerardo Ramirez talked about that validation and how key.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (23:09):

Yeah. That was the first thing. The next step of it, which very different from what I often do — I don’t generally go in and model for teachers — just me, taking over your classroom. I really like to co-plan with teachers and co-teach with teachers and have it not feel like they’re losing control over what’s happening in that moment. And that’s generally the way that I go in when I’m doing professional development in a classroom, right? Like, I’m working with the teacher and we’re a team; we’re doing this together. But in these four cases, these teachers were very, very resistant <laughs> to co-teaching. And so I said, “OK, well, let’s throw everything out. Let’s try whatever it happens to be.” So the modeling aspect turned out to be really important, in part when three out of the four cases, because they were like, “Oh, I can do that.” <laugh> like, Well, yeah, I know you can! Like, it was that having a moment to sit back and see someone else doing it — which is harder to do when you’re co-teaching, right? It’s harder to be reflective in the moment when you’re still thinking about the teaching choices you’re making, because you’re both co-teaching.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:24):

Right. Or sometimes you see, like in co-teaching, it falls into “one teach, one manage,” you know, or something like that.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (24:31):

Yes.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:31):

I have definitely fallen into that. But you, by modeling … it was almost, I don’t know, it feels like you’re kind of holding their hand. Like, “I’ll show you!” And not that it has to exactly look like that, right? But you found if a coach is coming in and the teacher gets to sit back and basically watch their students learn, they’re probably gettinga ton of information about their students, and they’re really learning some teaching strategies for mathematics that they can then like dip their toe in. I think? <Laugh> Am I kind of thinking of this? I’m trying to picture this and it feels rich and rife with possibilities <laugh>.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (25:16):

Well, and it, it turned it from … I think sometimes, when I go into a classroom, I learn so much from watching teachers and being able to sit and listen to students, that you don’t always have the luxury of when you’re the teacher. <Laugh> Right? It’s so much harder to be like, “OK, I’m gonna be watching what a kid does, because I’m hoping someone uses this strategy, so I can connect it to this other person’s strategy, so that we can take that apart and look at it and really have immediate discussion around it.” Those are all so many things that are happening in the moment as a teacher. You don’t get to sit back and look at it from a researcher kind of lens. Or look, you know, from the up-above lens. And when I had these conversations with teachers, I was like, “That’s what I want you to do. I want you to be able to sit back and look at all the things that are happening.” Because then you begin to notice not only the moves that the teacher — in this case, me — who was modeling for them was doing, but also the student conversations. And it was almost like having a case study within that moment, where they got to sit back and just experience, versus thinking about all the decisions that they would make at the moment. So that was something that was really surprising to me.

Dan Meyer (26:33):

Yeah. And I love the idea that they’re seeing the pedagogical moves, but they’re also experiencing perhaps a sense of math that’s de-stressed. You know, they are allowing themselves to sit next to students and feel as though they are a student, in ways that if you’re co-teaching, you are still like enmeshed in the gears of the whole lesson. I wonder if that’s a part of this too. So I’m hearing from you that we’re taking these teachers who have all admitted to some math anxiety, and that one of the interventions, or one of the findings, was that modeling worked really well for, again, this set of teachers. But you modeling lessons that highlighted mathematics, that was less anxious, that helped the teachers see that students were engaging in really productive un-anxious ways, brave ways. Were there other kinds of takeaways that you experienced there?

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (27:24):

Yeah. So in addition to that, we had to think about and start at Step One. One of the teachers that I worked with had done her student teaching with a teacher who had math anxiety, and who never taught math. And so she entered her teaching career, never having taught math before or seen it taught. And so in her situation, she had had one course in her teacher preparation program, that was on fractions.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:54):

That’s often the case, right? One math methods course! Help, we have to get it all in in this semester! <Laugh>

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (28:01):

<Laugh> Yes. And so she came in and said, “I feel like I have to start at the beginning.” And so there was no question that was inappropriate, or that we weren’t going to explore or think about. And so that was, I think, the starting place with that particular teacher. And then one other, who was kind of in her same age range, where we had to start thinking about, “OK, how did you learn as a learner? What ways are you seeing your students learn as learners? And then let’s focus on those first as the areas that you wanna explore in your teaching.” And so a lot of that ended up being much more visual and hands-on ways of exploring. And so those were some of the changes in, I think, pedagogy that were the most significant. In a couple of cases, these are early elementary teachers who had had one experience with manipulatives in their whole teaching career up until that point. And so one teacher brought me a bucket of Cuisenaire rods and said, “These are in my room. I don’t know what they are. <Laugh> Are we building things with them? Are they blocks that are just small? <Laugh> Like what are they for?”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:20):

Yes!

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (29:21):

And so, <laugh> it was that idea of, “OK, let’s, let’s explore all the different ways that we can use these, and that we can think about how your students might learn best with this particular tool that you have in your room.”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:34):

So hearing you talk about this research — which by the way, I know, you’re like, for our listeners, it’s all, “Quick, boil down your years and hours of research and synthesize it for us.”

Dan Meyer (29:50):

Your life’s work.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:50):

In a little tiny neat package. But really though, even though I know there’s so many layers to your research, and your work with these teachers, I wanna flag for our listeners that even the things that you’ve identified for us, you were giving teachers space — as coach, giving teachers space, and validating their experience as a mathematician, as you know, as a young student, right? Making space for that experience and validating “Yeah, that was really lousy and your math anxiety is real.” Like, Step One is already powerful. And then you’re creating space where they get to be in their classroom as a learner, right? And have a lesson modeled. And then you’re creating more <laugh> space for them to learn and ask questions. And I have absolutely seen teachers like, “I don’t know what to do with these,” and kind of shove aside the district-provided tools or the curriculum-provided tools. And so even those things, Heidi — Dr. Heidi <laugh> — you know, even if … I don’t know, for me, I am listening to you and just holding those points in mind and feeling like that, alone, if a coach did even just that … I know there’s so much more to it, but what a powerful opportunity for reclaiming math as an educator, right? That’s what I’m feeling.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (31:25):

Well, and I was hoping that there wouldn’t be … I mean, OK, it’s a double-sided hope. If there was something like so novel and so fantastic that was so different from the things that we have already at our disposal, that would’ve made a much better book or dissertation. <Laugh> But the reality is, there are things that we already know work. And we don’t often take the time or, or are given the time to be able to explore those things. Right? So even as coaches, you have district initiatives or things like, “this is what we’re working on this year,” and that’s fantastic, right? We keep those things moving forward. But if we’re thinking about coaching teachers with math anxiety, no teacher with math anxiety is going to be coming to NCTM.

Dan Meyer (32:16):

Right. Right. Or the training.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (32:19):

Or the training. They’re like, “Oh, PD day? Literacy! Yes, please! Bye!” You know, it’s that piece of it. So when we have these moments, the coaching is the opportunity to provide that just-in-time kind of professional development for teachers, if we go at it in a slightly different way. It does not have to be huge. It can be things like, they feel that they’re stronger in literacy. Well, then, let’s explore some of the ideas around math, anxiety and math identity and examples of people who’ve overcome either those things or other barriers in their life. And how can those things help form not only your students’ math identity, but your math identity. And it gives entry points in ways that you have access to if you’re a person’s coach.

Dan Meyer (33:18):

So in that sense, I’d love to know from you, if someone came to you at a coach’s meeting at NCSM and asked you, “What is something I can do right now to support the teachers at my site and my district, who are commonly experiencing math anxiety?” What is something that you would offer them in that brief moment you had with that coach?

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (33:40):

So it is hearing their story first. That’s the big one. And then, can you, in your coaching, provide opportunities to slow down? We all have these pacing guides in some form or another, that drive the things that are coming. Is there a way that you can set up meetings a month or more in advance of the content that those teachers are going to teach? Can we explore a month in advance, that content? And ways to teach it and understand it? There’s the ways to teach it, but there’s also like, “What is this math and how do kids experience this math?” What kind of experiences do we want to have ourselves as learners and then have as kids? If we can create cycles like that, that then don’t feel so rushed. It’s so hard when we’re like, “Oh, we have a planning meeting and we’re meeting with our coach!” And you’re teaching this lesson tomorrow. “Learn all this stuff about adding and subtracting on a number line. Go!” It’s so fast. And so if we had those opportunities to build in cycles, where we could slow down that process, it would make a huge difference in the lives of so many teachers. And it’s finding that time and the willingness. If you listen to teachers, they will work with you. If you validate what happens to them, and acknowledge that sometimes that still happens to us. I mean, I still have experiences like that. Sometimes I’ll walk into a classroom and I’m like, “Oh, I forgot how to do that!” You know, like, “I’ve not reached that far in my remaking of my own education!”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (35:24):

Yehhhh, heh heh heh.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (35:25):

<laugh>. And you think, “I don’t wanna look like an idiot. I’m the math consultant who’s here to duh duh duh.” All of those things still come up. Yeah. And stopping and saying like, “OK, everybody, this is what’s happening to me right now.” <laugh> The vulnerability you have, you have to think about that. Even if you don’t have experiences of math anxiety in your own life. Let’s say you always rocked out in math, and you’re now a math specialist and you love it. You think it’s the most spectacular thing. There’s some other element in your life where you face some anxiety. All of us do. So it’s about thinking about, “OK, this is where I experience anxiety. Can I find that in the teachers that I work with? And then, can my teachers find that in the students they work with?” You know, the teachers, as they begin to reflect on their own experiences, began noticing which students always went to the nurse during math time, always asked to go to the bathroom during math time, always couldn’t find a pencil, or whatever it happened to be. And they began to be more aware of their students’ behaviors as well, and could then say, “Hey, let’s sit and talk about how you feel in math class. Like, I’ve been noticing that when it’s time for math, like your stomach hurts. Can we talk about like why that might be?” Because those teachers with math are more attuned, often, to those students. And so it just … the time factor, I guess is, is the bottom line.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (36:59):

I just wanna say, it’s so great to have you in the Lounge. Because I think you’re really bringing this perspective that we haven’t talked about, which … we are not expecting coaches to walk in and know it all. That’s actually the exact opposite. You are allowed to be vulnerable. We are not saying, “Come,” quote-unquote, “Fix this.” It’s like, “Hey, how can you facilitate and make space?” And I feel like you have given us just a taste of like how that might be possible. And you know, I think even if it’s just a chance for teachers to reflect on their own experience in math, even that would probably be kind of revolutionary for — and I don’t say that word lightly — for some PD spaces, especially if they have another peer in their team that is like quote-unquote, “a whiz,” or like, “Oh, I don’t feel like I can be vulnerable in my math anxiety because this teacher seems to know it all.” But you’re creating space where it’s like, “Hey, we all have strengths. We all have areas where we could support each other.” And I love that invitation for coaches. I love that invitation for teachers. And … yeah. I’m just, I’m so glad we get a snapshot of your research. Again, I know, I respect that this is not the whole thing!

Dan Meyer (38:22):

Can we find … is there a link to your dissertation in the show notes, for those of us who peruse dissertations? Can we add something here? Think about —

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (38:29):

Oh, I have no idea!

Dan Meyer (38:30):

Just think about it. Just think about it. But —

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (38:34):

It’s somewhere on ProQuest. It did get some. …

Dan Meyer (38:36):

Right on.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (38:36):

Is that a thing, Dan? Could I go, like, Google your dissertation?

Dan Meyer (38:39):

You definitely could. Yeah, for sure. It’s around. Yeah, same way. Well, that’s awesome. And I think it’s so helpful for those who write those enormous unwieldy essays to, you know, distill it in different ways. I hope it’s been … we’ve enjoyed so much, hearing you carve up a huge project into pieces that were really helpful for us to think about here in the Lounge. Thank you so much for coming on and hanging out with us. Dr. Sabnani, it’s been a pleasure.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (39:06):

Hey, I’m happy to do it any time. Always the biggest joy in the work that I do is little changes in a positive direction.

Dan Meyer (39:18):

Right on.

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (39:19):

That’s all that this is about. Right? Whether it’s kids, whether it’s teachers, whether it’s administration. The work that we all do is so valuable, and it is more and more difficult over time. And just giving ourselves a little bit of space to think about and acknowledge that, I think, is really important. So I appreciate you all making space as well. And thinking about this idea. Because <laugh> we’re math people! And we don’t have math anxiety! Right?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:51):

<laugh>

Dan Meyer (39:51):

So people would assume

Dr. Heidi Sabnani (39:54):

<laugh>. Yeah.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:54):

Thank you so much. You’re welcome back in the Lounge anytime. <laugh> Thanks so much for listening to our conversation with Dr. Heidi Sabnani, consultant and co-host of the show “Math for All.” I can’t get enough about talking about math anxiety!

Dan Meyer (40:13):

Especially from people who are working with teachers so closely.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (40:18):

Yes, totally. I loved that lens of, “Hey, look at what happens if we actually focus on the teacher’s experience and help them kind of reclaim this comfort, this sense of identity, relationship with math that’s positive. How does that impact their teaching?” I loved talking about it, and I’m really interested in how that work continues to evolve. So thank you so much Dr. Sabnani, for your time. And you know, listeners, please keep in touch with us on our Facebook, in our discussion group, Math Teacher Lounge Community, or you can find us on Twitter at MTL show.

Dan Meyer (40:58):

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to Math Teacher Lounge, wherever you get podcasts. Also, if you like what you’re hearing, please rate us and leave us a review. It will help more listeners find the show. And it just makes me and Bethany feel good about ourselves, too. You can find more information on all of Amplify’s shows at our new podcast hub. Go to Amplify.com/hub.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (41:20):

You know, Dan, I also always like to say, I find most of my podcasts through recommendations from other listeners, friends, folks. So if you like what you’re hearing, share it in your teacher lounge. Just, like, on break, turn it up and start vibing and having the conversation right there.

Dan Meyer (41:40):

Yep. Yep. I got a better idea. Take the link to this podcast and then copy it and find the longest — the thread in your inbox with the most people on it. One of those ones that’s like, someone accidentally cc’d like 500 people, everyone at your school. Press “reply.” This is crucial. Not “reply,” but “reply all.” Paste that link in. Press “send.” Watch what happens.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:04):

Nothing but good —

Dan Meyer (42:04):

Good fortune will be yours.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:06):

Nothing but good things can happen when you send this to 500 people in the next 10 minutes. Next time on Math Teacher Lounge, we’re gonna be joined by Dr. Marjorie Schaeffer of St. Mary’s College for a conversation about math anxiety, and specifically Dan, how parents and caregivers, how their disposition influences the way their kiddos feel about math.

Dr. Marjorie Schaeffer (42:29):

I think the most important thing we know from literature right now is that high-math-anxious parents, when they interact with their children, their children learn less math over the course of the school year.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:40):

And get this, she’s gonna talk to us about an app that just might be something worth, you know, heading over to the app store for.

Dan Meyer (42:49):

I’ve used some apps, I have opinions, and I can’t wait. We just share recommendations on apps with Dr. Schaeffer.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (42:56):

That’s next time on Math Teacher Lounge. Thanks so much for listening.

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What Dr. Heidi Sabnani says about math

“Much like the people in my research, many of us can tie the beginnings or the ‘evil villain origin story’ of our own math anxiety to an event or series of events.”

– Dr. Heidi Sabnani

Consultant and Co-host of Math 4 All

Meet the guest

Heidi Sabnani is always surprised that she works in math education. She developed math anxiety as a young student and spent much of her school life and early career avoiding math. After teaching English in the United States and Guatemala, and earning her MA in World Literature, she found herself in the uncomfortable position of working in math classrooms as a school improvement consultant. Once she realized that her life was going to involve math, Heidi decided to relearn math in the ways she wished she had learned the first time around. 18 years later she is still learning with and from the students and teachers she has the privilege to serve.

Heidi’s doctoral research at Northeastern University focused on interventions for math anxiety in elementary teachers. She currently works as a consultant, speaker, and author.

Portrait of a woman with long dark hair, wearing a light gray sweater, smiling in front of a blurred outdoor background, with graphic elements framing the photo—perfect for math teacher resources or a welcoming math teacher lounge.
A laptop displaying a Facebook group page for "Math Teacher Lounge Community," featuring profile photos, a group banner, and geometric shapes in the image background.

About Math Teacher Lounge

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

Grade 6

Unit 1: Numbers

GO Math!Desmos Math 6–A1
Module 4: Operations with Fractions
Lesson 4.1: Applying GCF and LCM to Fraction OperationsUnit 4
Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Break It Down
Lesson 4.2: Dividing FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 9: Division Challenges
Lesson 10: Swap Meet (Print available)
Practice Day
Lesson 4.3: Dividing Mixed NumbersUnit 4
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 10: Swap Meet
Practice Day
Lesson 4.4: Solving Multistep Problems with Fractions and Mixed NumbersUnit 4
Lesson 11: Classroom Comparisons
Lesson 12: Puzzling Areas [Free lesson]
Lesson 13: Volume Challenges
Lesson 14: Planter Planner
Module 5: Operations with Decimals
Lesson 5.1: Dividing Whole NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 9: Long Division Launch
Lesson 10: Return of Long Division
Lesson 5.2: Adding and Subtracting DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Fruit by the Pound
Lesson 4: Missing Digits
Lesson 5.3: Multiplying DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 6: Multiplying With Areas
Lesson 7: Multiplication Methods
Lesson 5.4: Dividing DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 8: Division Diagrams
Lesson 10: Return of Long Division
Lesson 11: Movie Time [Free lesson]
Lesson 5.5: Applying Operations with Rational NumbersUnit 5
Practice Day 1
Lesson 12: Budget Vehicles
Lesson 13: Grocery Prices

Unit 2: Number Operations

Module 4: Operations with Fractions
Lesson 4.1: Applying GCF and LCM to Fraction OperationsUnit 4
Lesson 6: Fill the Gap [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Break It Down
Lesson 4.2: Dividing FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 9: Division Challenges
Lesson 10: Swap Meet (Print available)
Practice Day (Print available)
Lesson 4.3: Dividing Mixed NumbersUnit 4
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 10: Swap Meet (Print available)
Practice Day
Lesson 4.4: Solving Multistep Problems with Fractions and Mixed NumbersUnit 4
Lesson 11: Classroom Comparisons
Lesson 12: Puzzling Areas (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 13: Volume Challenges
Lesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available)
Module 5: Operations with Decimals
Lesson 5.1: Dividing Whole NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)
Lesson 10: Return of Long Division
Lesson 5.2: Adding and Subtracting DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Fruit by the Pound
Lesson 4: Missing Digits
Lesson 5.3: Multiplying DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 6: Multiplying With Areas
Lesson 7: Multiplication Methods (Print available)
Lesson 5.4: Dividing DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 8: Division Diagrams
Lesson 10: Return of Long Division (Print available)
Lesson 11: Movie Time [Free lesson]
Lesson 5.5: Applying Operations with Rational NumbersUnit 5
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 12: Budget Vehicles (Print available)
Lesson 13: Grocery Prices (Print available)

Unit 3: Proportionality, Ratios, and Rates

Module 6: Representing Ratios and Rates
Lesson 6.1: RatiosUnit 2
Lesson 1: Pizza Maker [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Ratio Rounds (Print available)
Lesson 3: Rice Ratios (Print available)
Lesson 7:  Mixing Paint, Part 1
Lesson 12: Mixing Paint, Part 2
Lesson 6.2: Rates Unit 2
Lesson 8: World Records (Print available)
Unit 3
Lesson 4: Model Trains
Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory (Print available)
Lesson 7: More Soft Serve
Lesson 13: A County as a Village
Lesson 6.3: Using Ratios and Rates to Solve ProblemsUnit 2
Lesson 4: Fruit Lab [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Balancing Act
Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available)
Lesson 9: Disaster Preparation [Free lesson]
Lesson 10: Balloons
Lesson 11: Community Life (Print available)
Lesson 13:City Planning
Lesson 14: Lunch Waste (Print available)
Module 7: Applying Ratios and Rates
Lesson 7.1: Ratios, Rates, Tables, and GraphsUnit 2
Lesson 4: Fruit Lab [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Product Prices (Print available)
Lesson 9: Disaster Preparation [Free lesson]
Unit 3
Lesson 5: Soft Serve [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Welcome to the Robot Factory
Lesson 7.2: Solving Problems with Proportions
Lesson 7.3: Converting Within Measurement SystemsUnit 3
Lesson 2: Counting Classrooms
Lesson 7.4: Converting Between Measurement SystemsUnit 3
Lesson 3: Pen Pals
Module 8:  Percents
Lesson 8.1 Understanding Percent.Unit 3
Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals
Lesson 8.2: Percents, Fractions, and Decimals.Unit 3
Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown
Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals
Lesson 13: A Country as a Village
Lesson 8.3: Solving Percent ProblemsUnit 3
Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals
Lesson 10: What’s Missing? (Print available)
Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown
Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals
Lesson 13: A Country as a Village

Unit 4: Equivalent Expressions

Module 9: Generating Equivalent Numerical Expressions
Lesson 9.1: ExponentsUnit 6
Lesson 10: Powers
Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 12: Squares and Cubes
Lesson 9.2: Prime Factorization
Lesson 9.3: Order of Operations
Module 10: Generating Equivalent Algebraic Expressions
Lesson 10.1: Modeling and Writing Expressions
Lesson 10.2: Evaluating Expressions
Unit 6
Lesson 6: Vari-apples
Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available)
Lesson 10.3: Generating Equivalent ExpressionsUnit 6
Lesson 7: Border Tiles
Lesson 8: Products and Sums [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Products, Sums, and Differences (Print available)

Unit 5: Equations and Inequalities

Unit 6: Relationships in Geometry

Unit 7: Measurement and Data

Grade 7

Unit 1: The Number System

GO Math!Desmos Math 6–A1
Module 1:  Adding and Subtracting Integers
Lesson 1.1: Adding Integers With the Same Sign
Lesson 1.2: Adding Integers With Different Signs
Lesson 1.3: Subtracting Integers
Unit 5
Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors
Lesson 3: Bumpers
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 9: Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 1.4:  Applying Addition and Subtraction of IntegersUnit 5
Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available)
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Module 2: Multiplying and Dividing Integers
Lesson 2.1: Multiplying Integers Unit 5
Lesson 6: Floating in Groups
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 2.2: Dividing IntegersUnit 5
Lesson 6: Floating in Groups
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 2.3: Applying Integer OperationsUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available)
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Module 3:  Rational Numbers
Lesson 3.1: Rational Numbers and Decimals
Lesson 3.2: Adding Rational Numbers
Lesson 3.3: Subtracting Rational Numbers
Unit 5
Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors
Lesson 3: Bumpers
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 3.4: Multiplying Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 6: Floating in Groups
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 3.5: Dividing Rational Numbers Unit 5
Lesson 6: Floating in Groups
Lesson 3.6: Applying Rational Number OperationsUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available)
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)

Unit 2: Ratios and Proportional Relationships

Module 4:  Rates and Proportionality
Lesson 4.1: Unit RatesUnit 2
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)
Lesson 5: Snapshots
Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Unit 4
Lesson 2: Peach Cobbler (Print available)
Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Lesson 4.2: Constant Rates of ChangeUnit 2
Lesson 1: Paint [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Balloon Float
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)
Lesson 4:  Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Snapshots
Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 4.3:  Proportional Relationships and GraphsUnit 2
Lesson 1: Paint [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Balloon Float
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)
Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Snapshots
Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 8: DinoPops [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available)
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency
Unit 4
Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Module 5:  Proportions and Percent
Lesson 5.1: Percent Increase and DecreaseUnit 4
Lesson 1: Mosaics [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: More and Less
Lesson 5: All the Equations
Lesson 7: Percent Machines [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)
Lesson 13: Decimal Deep Dive (Print available)
Lesson 5.2: Rewriting Percent ExpressionsUnit 4
Lesson 9: Minimum Wage
Lesson 5.3: Applications of PercentUnit 4
Lesson 6: 100% (Print available)
Lesson 8: Tax and Tip
Lesson 9: Minimum Wage (Print available)
Lesson 10: Cost of College (Print available)
Lesson 11: Bookcase Builder
Lesson 12: Posing Percent Problems [Free lesson]

Unit 3: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Unit 4: Geometry

Module 8: Modeling Geometric Figures
Lesson 8.1: Similar Shapes and Scale DrawingsUnit 1
Lesson 1: Scaling Machines [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Scaling Robots
Lesson 3: Make It Scale
Lesson 4: Scale Factor Challenges
Lesson 5: Tiles
Lesson 6: Introducing Scale
Lesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Scaling States (Print available)
Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings
Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)
Unit 7
Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Is It Enough?
Lesson 7: More Than One?
Lesson 8.2: Geometric DrawingsUnit 1
Lesson 6: Introducing Scale
Lesson 7: Will It Fit? (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Scaling States (Print available)
Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings
Lesson 10: Room Redesign (Print available)
Unit 7
Lesson 8:  Can You Draw It? (Print available)
Lesson 8.3: Cross SectionsUnit 7
Lesson 9: Slicing Solids
Lesson 8.4Angle RelationshipsUnit 7
Lesson 1: Pinwheels
Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams
Lesson 4: Missing Measures (Print available) [Free lesson]
Module 9:  Circumference, Area, and Volume
Lesson 9.1: CircumferenceUnit 3
Lesson 3: Measuring Around [Free lesson]
Lesson 9.2: Area of CirclesUnit 3
Lesson 5: Area Strategies
Lesson 6: Radius Squares (Print available)
Lesson 7: Why Pi?
Lesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Circle vs. Square
Lesson 9.3: Area of Composite FiguresUnit 3
Lesson 5: Area Strategies
Lesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson]
Lesson 9.4: Solving Surface Area ProblemsUnit 7
Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available)
Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Lesson 9.5: Solving Volume ProblemsUnit 7
Lesson 10: Simple Prisms
Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities

Unit 5: Statistics

Module 10: Random Samples and
Populations
Lesson 10.1: Populations and SamplesUnit 8
Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Headlines
Lesson 12: Flower Power
Lesson 13: Plots and Samples
Lesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available)
Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available)
Lesson 10.2: Making Inferences from a Random Sample
Lesson 10.3: Generating Random Samples
Unit 8
Lesson 13: Plots and Samples
Lesson 15: Asthma Rate (Print available)
Module 11: Analyzing and Comparing Data
Lesson 11.1: Comparing Data Displayed in Dot PlotsUnit 8
Lesson 14: School Newspaper (Print available)
Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available)
Lesson 11.2: Comparing Data Displayed in Box PlotsUnit 8
Lesson 13: Plots and Samples
Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available)
Lesson 11.3: Using Statistical Measures to Compare PopulationsUnit 8
Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 10: Crab Island [Free lesson]
Lesson 15: Asthma Rates (Print available)

Unit 6: Probability

Module 12: Experimental Probability
Lesson 12.1: ProbabilityUnit 8
Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson]
Lesson 12.2: Experimental Probability of Simple EventsUnit 8
Lesson 3: Mystery Bag
Lesson 4: Spin Class
Lesson 5: Is It Fair?
Lesson 12.3: Experimental Probability of Compound EventsUnit 8
Lesson 7: Weather or Not
Lesson 12.4: Making Predictions with Experimental ProbabilityUnit 8
Lesson 3: Mystery Bag
Lesson 5: Is It Fair?
Module 13: Theoretical Probability and
Simulations
Lesson 13.1: Theoretical Probability of Simple EventsUnit 8
Lesson 1: How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson]
Lesson 13.2: Theoretical Probability of Compound EventsUnit 8
Lesson 6: Fair Games
Lesson 13.3: Making Predictions with Theoretical ProbabilityUnit 8
Lesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)
Lesson 13.4: Using Technology to Conduct a SimulationUnit 8
Lesson 7: Weather or Not
Lesson 8: Simulate It! (Print available)

Grade 8

Unit 1: Real Numbers, Exponents, and Scientific Notation

GO Math!Desmos Math 6–A1
Module 1: Real Numbers
Lesson 1.1: Rational and Irrational Numbers
Lesson 1.2: Sets of Real Numbers
Unit 8
Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals
Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions
Lesson 14: Hit the Target
Lesson 1.3: Ordering Real NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]
Module 2: Exponents and Scientific
Notation
Lesson 2.1: Integer ExponentsUnit 7
Lesson 1: Circles [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Combining Exponents
Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers
Lesson 5: Zero and Negative Exponents
Lesson 6: Write a Rule (Print available)
Lesson 2.2: Scientific Notation with Positive Powers of 10Unit 7
Lesson 7: Scales and Weights
Lesson 8: Point Zapper
Lesson 9: Use Your Powers
Lesson 2.3: Scientific Notation with Negative Powers of 10Unit 7
Lesson 8: Point Zapper
Lesson 9: Use Your Powers
Lesson 2.4: Operations with Scientific NotationUnit 7
Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Balance the Scale [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: City Lights
Lesson 13: Star Power 

Unit 2: Proportional and Nonproportional Relationships and Functions

Module 3: Proportional Relationships
Lesson 3.1: Representing Proportional Relationships.Unit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Water Tank
Lesson 3: Posters
Lesson 3.2: Rate of Change and SlopeUnit 2
Lesson 9: Water Slide
Lesson 10: Points on a Line
Unit 3
Lesson 4: Stacking Cups
Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Water Cooler
Lesson 8: Landing Planes
Lesson 9: Coin Capture
Unit 5
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]
Lesson 3.3: Interpreting the Unit Rate as SlopeUnit 3
Lesson 2: Water Tank
Lesson 3: Posters
Module 4: Nonproportional Relationships
Lesson 4.1: Representing Linear Nonproportional RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 4: Stacking Cups
Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]
Lesson 4.2: Determining Slope and y-interceptUnit 3
Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]
Lesson 4.3: Graphing Linear Nonproportional Relationships using Slope and y-intercept.Unit 3
Lesson 4: Stacking Cups
Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 9: Coin Capture
Lesson 4.4: Proportional and Nonproportional SituationsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]
Module 5: Writing Linear Equations
Lesson 5.1: Writing Linear Equations from Situations and GraphsUnit 3
Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]Lesson 9: Coin Capture
Lesson 5.2: Writing Linear Equations from a Table
Lesson 5.3: Linear Relationships and Bivariate DataUnit 6
Lesson 1: Click Bait
Lesson 2: Wing Span
Lesson 3: Robots [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Fit Fights [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes
Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City
Lesson 8: Animal Brains
Module 6: Functions
Lesson 6.1: Identifying and Representing FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Function or Not?
Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]
Lesson 6.2: Describing FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 3: Function or Not?
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 6.3: Comparing FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 6.4: Analyzing GraphsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Function or Not?
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 9: Piecing It Together

Unit 3: Solving Equations and Systems of Equations

Module 7:  Solving Linear Equations
Lesson 7.1: Equations with the Variable on Both SidesUnit 4
Lesson 2: Keep It Balanced
Lesson 3: Balanced Moves
Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 7: All, Some, or None?
Lesson 8: When Are They the Same?
Lesson 7.2: Equations with Rational NumbersUnit 4
Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 7.3: Equations with the Distributive PropertyUnit 4
Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 7: All, Some, or None?
Lesson 7.4: Equations with Many Solutions or No SolutionUnit 4
Lesson 7:  All, Some, or None?
Module 8:  Solving Systems of Linear Equations
Lesson 8.1: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Graphing.Unit 4
Lesson 9: On or Off the Line?
Lesson 10: On Both Lines
Lesson 11: Make Them Balance [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Line Zapper [Free lesson]
Lesson 8.2: Solving Systems by SubstitutionUnit 4
Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2
Lesson 14: Strategic Solving, Part 2 (Print available)
Lesson 8.3: Solving Systems by Elimination
Lesson 8.4: Solving Systems by Elimination with Multiplication
Lesson 8.5: Solving Special SystemsUnit 4
Lesson 13: All, Some, or None? Part 2

Unit 4: Transformational Geometry

Unit 5: Measurement Geometry

Module 11: Angle Relationships in Parallel Lines and Triangles
Lesson 11.1: Parallel Lines Cut by a Transversal.Unit 1
Lesson 10: Transforming Angles
Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out [Free lesson]
Lesson 11.2: Angle Theorems for TrianglesUnit 1
Lesson 11: Tearing It Up (Print available)
Lesson 12: Puzzling It Out [Free lesson]
Lesson 11.3: Angle-Angle SimilarityUnit 2
Lesson 3: Match My Dilation
Lesson 6: Social Scavenger Hunt (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Are Angles Enough?
Module 12: Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 12.1: The Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It
Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle [Free lesson]
Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson]
Lesson 12.2: Converse of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 9: Make It Right
Lesson 12.3: Distance Between Two PointsUnit 8
Lesson 11: Pond Hopper
Module 13: Volume
Lesson 13.1: Volume of CylindersUnit 5
Lesson 10: Volume Lab
Lesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Scaling Cylinders
Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 13.2: Volume of ConesUnit 5
Lesson 10: Volume Lab
Lesson 13: Cones [Free lesson]
Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 13.3: Volume of SpheresUnit 5
Lesson 10: Volume Lab
Lesson 15: Spheres

Unit 6: Statistics

Module 14: Scatter Plots
Lesson 14.1: Scatter Plots and AssociationUnit 6
Lesson 1: Click Battle
Lesson 2: Wing Span
Lesson 3: Robots [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes
Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City
Lesson 8: Animal Brains
Lesson 14.2: Trend Lines and PredictionsUnit 6
Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Fit Fights [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Animal Brains
Module 15: Two-Way Tables
Lesson 15.1: Two-Way Frequency TablesUnit 6
Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit
Lesson 15.2: Two-Way Relative Frequency TablesUnit 6
Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Federal Budgets

Amplify Science – West Virginia – state review

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S3 – 04. Ideas to build math fluency with Valerie Henry, Graham Fletcher, and Tracy Zager

Promotional image for "Math Teacher Lounge" Season 3, Episode 4 titled "Ideas to Build Math Fluency," featuring Valerie Henry, Tracy J. Zager, and Graham Fletcher.

Fluency in math can oftentimes be associated with negative experiences with its development— timed worksheets, for example. Bethany and Dan are joined by three guests to better understand fluency and how to make its approach fun. Dr. Val Henry shares her three-part definition of fluency and her five principles for developing it. Additionally, Tracy Zager and Graham Fletcher join Bethany and Dan to better understand fluency through a lens of equity and using multimedia as a tool.

Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page

Download Transcript

Dan Meyer (00:03)

Hey folks. Welcome back. This is Math Teacher Lounge, and I am one of your hosts, Dan Meyer.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:07):

And I’m your other host, Bethany Lockhart Johnson. Hi, Dan.

Dan Meyer (00:11):

Hey, great to see you. We have a big one this week to chat about and some fantastic guests. We are chatting about fluency, which is the sort of word and concept that I feel like people have very, very non-neutral associations with it. A lot of them are very negative, for a lot of people.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:26):

I saw you frown a little. What’s up with that, Dan? You kind of, like, shrank.

Dan Meyer (00:30):

I have strong feelings about it. You know, there’s lots of ways that people go about helping people become fluent in mathematics. And a lot of them are harmful for students, and ineffective. And it got me thinking about fluency as it exists outside of the world of mathematics, where we have a lot of very clear images of it. We’re getting fluent in things all the time. Like, as humans. Human development is the story of fluency. And I just was wondering….Bethany, would you describe yourself as fluent at something outside of the world of mathematics? What is that? How’d you get fluent at it? What was the process?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:05):

Hmm, I think I’m a pretty fluent reader. I read all the time. I’m a happier person if I’ve read that day. I once saw this poster in a classroom; it said “10 Ways to Become a Better Reader: Read, Read, Read, Read, Read…you know, 10 times. Get it? Reading? You get better at reading by reading! So I would say reading. And it’s been kind of cool—I have a one-year-old who, it’s been really exciting slash overwhelmingly anxiety-producing to see him get very fluent with walking slash running, ’cause he’s getting faster every day. And it’s kind of fun. When I think of what’s something somebody’s trying to get fluent with…walking! He’s trying to be more fluid. He’s practicing transitions. He doesn’t wanna hold my hand while he traverses rocky terrain. He’s getting better at it. He’s practicing. What about you? What’s something…?

Dan Meyer (02:08):

I think about driving a lot. I’m a very fluent driver and I think a lot about when I was first a driver, you know? And how l have my hands on 10 and 2, vice grip, and do not talk to me; do not ask me anything; don’t ask me my NAME. I need to focus so hard. And then a year later, you know, I’m driving with one hand, smash the turn signal, take a sip off of whatever, change the CD. And then it’s no big deal.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:38):

Wait, did you pass the first time? Your test?

Dan Meyer (02:40):

Yeah, I don’t like to brag about it. <laugh> But I do all the time. <laugh> But I got a hundred on my driving test. I don’t care who knows it. And I hope it’s everybody. But I guess all of this is just to say there are areas of life where fluency feels natural, with the case of walking. There’s areas of life where fluency feels motivating, with like driving—I wanna be able to switch the CD out or whatever. And there’s areas where fluency feels terrifying and hard to come by, like mathematics, sometimes. So we have a set of guests here. Our first guest will help us figure out what do we mean by fluency? And what’s the research say about what fluency is and how students develop it in mathematics? And then our other guests will help us think about what it looks like in practice in the classroom. What are some novel, new ways to work on fluency? So first up we have Val Henry, Dr. Val Henry.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:32):

So we knew we needed help with the fluency definition, because when we think about it, it’s kind of big, right? And we wanted to look at what research about fluency really says. So we called on Valerie Henry. Val is a nationally board-certified teacher, taught middle school for 17 years, and since 2002 has worked with undergraduates graduates, credential candidates as a lecturer at the University of California, Irvine, one of my alma maters. So after doing her dissertation on addition and subtraction fluency in first grade, Val created a project to study ways to build addition and subtraction and multiplication and division fluency while also developing number sense in algebraic thinking. And the pilot grew and grew over the last 18 years into a powerful daily mini-lesson approach to facts fluency called FactsWise. And when we thought of fluency, the first person I thought of was Val. Welcome, Val Henry, to the Lounge! I’m so excited to have you here. Welcome.

Valerie Henry (04:36):

Thanks, Bethany. And thanks to you, Dan. It’s great to be here today.

Dan Meyer (04:41):

Great to have you; help yourself to whatever you find in the fridge. The names that people write down on those things in the bags are just recommendations. It’s potluck-style here. I’m curious, Val, if you’re, like, on an airplane, someone asks you what you do, and you say you study fluency…what is the layperson’s definition of what does it mean to be fluent in mathematics? And if you can give a brief tour through what the research says about what works and what doesn’t that would really help us orient our conversation here.

Valerie Henry (05:12):

The first thing I have to do when I talk to somebody on a plane is define the idea of fluency. And I often use an example of tying your shoelaces. Because that works with first graders as well as adults. This idea that when we first start trying to put our shoes on and get those shoelaces tied, somebody tries to, first of all, just do it for us. But then of course maybe tries to teach us the bunny-ears approach. And we struggle and struggle as little kids and eventually either the bunny-ears approach or something else starts to work for us. But we still have to pay attention to it. We have to think hard and it’s not easy. And then over time we get to the point where we basically don’t even think about it. When I tie my shoes in the morning. I’m not thinking about right-over-left and left-over-right and all of those things. I just do it. And so that’s a good, easy example of becoming fluent with something. I think what we’re talking about today though, is the basics, the adding and subtracting that we hope kids are going to have mastered maybe by second grade, and the multiplication and division facts that we wanna maybe have mastered by third, maybe fourth grade. So now what does that mean to become fluent with those basics? I have a three-part definition that seems to match up really nicely with the common core approach to fluency. Which is, first of all, we want the answers to be correct. And then second, we want the answers to be easy to know. And so what does that mean? Well, to me, it means without needing to count,

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:12):

You mean without having to kind of muscle through it? Or say more about you mean.

Valerie Henry (07:16):

Well, I guess what I mean is that when you watch a young child try and solve something even as simple as two plus three, they might put up two fingers and then go 3, 4, 5 with three more fingers winding up on their hand, one or the other of their hands. While they’re doing that, they don’t really have a sense of whether even their answer is right or not, quite often. Especially when you get to the larger adding and subtracting problems, you can see a lot of errors happening as they’re trying to count. And it’s taking up cognitive energy to do that counting process, especially as you get to the larger quantities. So my definition of fluency now is “getting it right without needing to do that hard work like counting.” Now, some people might say, well, we just want them to have ’em memorized. But in my research, I’ve learned that a lot of very fluid adults don’t always have every fact memorized. In fact, if you ask a room full of adults, what’s seven plus nine, you might learn that they can all get it correct quickly, quickly…but they don’t all have it memorized. And so when you ask them, “How did you get that?” Many of them will say, “Well, I just gave one from the 7 to the 9 and I know that 10 plus 6 is 16.”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:53):

That’s such an important distinction. My brain literally just did that actually!

Valerie Henry (08:58):

<laugh> Right? <laugh> But you’re fluid with it, because it doesn’t take you much cognitive energy at all.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:05):

Right.

Valerie Henry (09:07):

So now we have “correct without needing to put that cognitive energy,” which usually means that you’re counting. And then the third thing is “relatively quickly,” so that you’re not spending 15 seconds trying to figure it out. Even that part-whole strategy approach can be done really quickly, almost instantaneously. Or it can take a long time. So if a student can get the answer correct within, you know, three or four seconds— is I’m pretty generous—I figure that they’re pretty darn fluent with that fact. So that’s my three-part definition of these basics, fluency.

Dan Meyer (09:55):

I love the distinction between getting it correct and getting it quick. It’s possible to be quick with wrong answers. It’s possible to be like, “Those are separate components there.” And I echo Bethany’s appreciation for this third option in between knowing it instantaneously through memorization and muscling through it. But there’s like a continuum there of how much energy it took you to come up with it that all feels extremely helpful.

Valerie Henry (10:21):

And you know, one of the things that I’ve noticed is that when kids are pressured to come up with those instantaneous answers, they often default to guessing and get it wrong.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:30):

Mm, yeah.

Valerie Henry (10:30):

So that’s one of the things that I’ve learned is that as we’re trying to help students develop fluency, it’s important to start with building their conceptual understanding of what it means to do, you know, 3 times 9 and what the correct answer is, maybe using manipulatives or representations of some sort. Not skip-counting! I really have found that skip-counting just perpetuates itself in many students’ minds and that they never stop skip-counting, which means they’re putting in not very much mental energy if it’s 2 times 3 but a ton of mental energy if it’s 7 times 8. Because frankly, it’s really hard to skip count by sevens. And by eights.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:18):

I can get to 14 and then I’m like, wait, wait, what was next? Right? No, no, no…21! What do you feel are some misconceptions that maybe teachers, maybe parents have about fluency in math?

Valerie Henry (11:30):

I think maybe one of the first ones is that if students count or skip-count, their answers repetitively over and over and over and over, that they’re bound to memorize them. And the study that I did back in 2004, I actually had a school that had decided that they were going to do time tests with their students every day, all year. And that undoubtedly by the end of the year, those students would be fluent.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:06):

And to clarify by time test, you mean like, sit down, pencil, paper, ready, go, worksheet kind of thing.

Valerie Henry (12:15):

Yes.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:16):

Some of us might remember quite vividly.

Valerie Henry (12:18):

<laugh> Very vividly. And you know, you have to get it done within a certain amount of time. So they made it fun for the students. Apparently the students enjoyed it. I was a little leery about that, but in the end, when I went and checked on the students and I did one-on-one assessments with half of the students in every class that were randomly selected so that I could get a sense of where they were with their fluency—and these were first graders—they basically had nothing memorized. They were simply counting as fast as they possibly could. And, you know, mostly getting the right answers. But they had not memorized. So that’s one of the myths, I think, is that repetitive practice of counting gets you to memorization.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:10):

If I put it in front of you enough times, you’ll become fluent.

Valerie Henry (13:14):

Right, right. Now these students didn’t really get any instruction, any help learning these. They just simply tested over and over and over. So that’s another thing that I think is a misconception. It’s that if we test students, but don’t really teach them fluency, then they’re going to become fluent. If we just test them every Friday or that kind of thing. And that they’ll learn them at home. But really what that means is a few lucky kids who have parents who have the time and the energy and the background to know how to help will take that job on at home. Not that many students are really that fortunate.

Dan Meyer (14:01):

It’s almost like the traditional approach, or the approach you’re describing, confuses process and product. It says, “Well, the product is that eventually fluent students will be able to do something like this, see these problems and answer them, answer them quickly,” and says, “Well, that must be the process then as well; let’s give them that products a whole lot.” But as I hear you describe fluency with bunny ears on shoelaces, there’s these images and approaches and techniques that require a very active teacher presence to support the development of it. That’s just kind of interesting to me.

Valerie Henry (14:35):

My initial project, the pilot project that I tried, was to simply ask teachers to follow five key principles. And the first one was to do something in the classroom every day for—I told them, even if you’ve only got five or 10 minutes, work on fluency for five or 10 minutes a day, and let’s see what happens. So that was one key element was just to teach it and to give students opportunities to get what the research calls for when you’re trying to memorize, which is actually immediate feedback. When I talk about immediate feedback with my student teachers, I say, “I’m talking about within one or two seconds of trying a problem, and then sort of immediately knowing, getting feedback of whether you got the answer right or not so that your brain can kind of gain that confidence. ‘Oh, not only did I come up with an answer, but somebody’s telling me it’s the correct answer.’”

Dan Meyer (15:38):

There’s a lot of apps now in the digital world that offer students questions about arithmetic or other kinds of mathematical concepts and give immediate feedback of a sort: the feedback of “You’re right; you’re wrong” sort. Is that effective fluency development, in your view?

Valerie Henry (15:57):

I haven’t heard and I haven’t seen them being super-effective. The ways I think about this are “Immediate feedback isn’t the only thing we need.” Probably one of the biggest things that we need is for students to develop strategies. And this is one of the other things I’ve learned from international research, from countries that do have students who become very fluent very early, is that they don’t shoot straight for memorization, but they go through this process of taking students from doing some counting and then quickly moving them to trying to use logic. So, “Hey, you really are confident that 2 + 2 is 4; so now let’s use that to think about 2 + 3.” Actually, as an algebra teacher, I would much rather have students that have a combination of memorization and these strategies, than students who’ve only memorized. Isn’t that interesting that my most successful algebra students were good strategy thinkers. Not just good memorizers.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (17:09):

So you mentioned there were five that kind of helped root this idea in like, “What can teachers do? What is the best thing that teachers can do to support with fact fluency?” So, everyday was key.

Valerie Henry (17:22):

Then the next principle that I really focus on is switching immediately to the connected subtractions so that students—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (17:33):

Not waiting until you’ve gotten all the way through addition. But making “Ooh!”

Valerie Henry (17:38):

Totally. And I didn’t do that the first year. And when we looked at the results of the assessments at the end of the year, we realized that our students were so much weaker in subtraction than addition. So the following pilot year, we tried this other approach of doing subtraction right after the students had developed some fluency with that small chunk of addition. And we got such better subtraction results.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (18:11):

What are the other principles?

Valerie Henry (18:13):

The biggest one is to use these strategies. So the strategies makes the third. And then the fourth I would say is to go from concrete to representational to abstract.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (18:27):

Don’t put away those manipulatives. Don’t put away those tools.

Valerie Henry (18:31):

Oh, so important to come back to them for multiplication and division. And my fifth principle is to wait on assessment. To use it as true assessment, but not race to start testing before students have had a chance to go through this three-phase process. Which is conceptual understanding with manipulatives; building strategies, usually with representations; and then working on building some speed until it’s just that natural fluency.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:07):

I wanna say thank you so much for offering your really learned perspective, because you have not only done the research, but seen it in action and seen how shifting our notions of fluency and what fluency can be and what a powerful foundation it can be for all mathematicians. Really, that shift is so powerful. And I appreciate you sharing it with our listeners and with us. So we’re so excited that we got to talk with you today, Val—

Dan Meyer (19:35):

Thank you, Dr. Henry.

Valerie Henry (19:37):

You’re welcome!

Dan Meyer (19:41):

With us now we have Graham Fletcher and Tracy Zager, a couple of people who understand fluency at a very deep and classroom level. I wanna introduce them and get their perspective on what we’re trying to solve here with fluency. So Graham Fletcher has served in education in a lot of different roles: as a classroom teacher, math coach, math specialist, and he’s continually seeking new and innovative ways to support students and teachers in their development of conceptual understanding in elementary math. He’s the author, along with Tracy, of Building Fact Fluency, a fluency kit we’ll talk about, and openly shares so much of his wisdom and resources at gfletchy.com. Tracy Johnson Zager is a district math coach who loves to get teachers hooked on listening to kids’ mathematical ideas. She is a co-author of this toolkit, Building Fact Fluency, and the author of Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had: Ideas and Strategies from Vibrant Classrooms. Tracy also edits professional books for teachers at Stenhouse Publishers, including, yours truly. Thank you for all that insight, Tracy, and support on the book.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (20:49):

Dan and I were talking at the beginning of the episode about things we feel like, “Hey, I’m fluent in that. I’m fluent in that.”

Dan Meyer (20:55):

Just very curious: What’s something you would like to get fluent in outside of the world of mathematics, let’s say?

Tracy Zager (21:00):

I’ll say understanding the teenage brain, as the parent of a 13-year-old and 15-year-old. That’s the main thing I’m working on becoming fluent in!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:10):

Ooh!

Dan Meyer (21:13):

A language fluency, perhaps. All right, Graham. How about you?

Graham Fletcher (21:16):

For me typing, it’s always been an Achilles heel of mine. So voice-to-text has been my friend. But it’s also been my nemesis in much of my texting here and working virtually over the last couple years. So yeah, typing.

Dan Meyer (21:33):

Do you folks have some way of helping us understand the difference in how fluency is handled by instructors and by learners?

Tracy Zager (21:40):

I would say that the lay meaning of fluency is definitely a little different than what we mean in the math education realm. When we’re talking about math fact fluency, which is just one type of fluency. So you gotta think about procedural fluency and computational fluency; there are lots of types of fluency in math. And Graham and I had the luxury of really focusing in specifically on math fact fluency. We’re looking at kind of a subset of the procedural fluency. So the words you hear in all the citations are accurate, efficient, and flexible. There’s this combination of kids get the right answer in a reasonable amount of time and with a reasonable amount of work and they can match their strategy or their approach to the situation. That’s where that flexibility comes in. And there’s like lots more I wanna say about that about sort of…I think one issue that comes up around fluency is that people are in a little bit of a rush. So they tend to think of the fluency as this automaticity or recall of known facts without having to think about it. And that is part of the end goal, but that’s not the journey to fluency. So this is one of the things that Graham and I thought about a lot was the path to fluency. The goal here it’s that student in middle school who’s learning something new doesn’t have to expend any effort to gather that fact. And they might do it because they’ve done it so many different ways that they’ve got it, and now they just know it, or they might be like my friend who’s a mathematician who still, if you say, “Six times 8,” she thinks in her head, “Twelve, 24, 48…” and she does this double-double-double associative property strategy. And it’s so efficient, you would never know. And that’s totally great. That’s fine. That’s not slowing her down. That’s not providing a drag in the middle of a more complex problem or new learning. So we’re really focused on having elementary school students be able to enter the middle and high school standards without having that pull out of the new thinking.

Graham Fletcher (23:53):

And as I think about that, I think about how so many students will memorize their facts, but then they haven’t memorized them with understanding. So that when they move into middle school and they move into high school, it’s almost like new knowledge and new understanding that’s applied from a stand-alone skill.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:10):

So something that felt really unique to me, Graham, as I was diving into the toolkit, is your use of images, Tracy, Graham, is the way that you use images to help students notice and wonder to start making sense of these quantities and the decomposition of numbers using images. Can you talk a little bit about how images played a part in the way that you think about this building a fact fluency?

Graham Fletcher (24:41):

What I realized is so many times when we approach math with just naked numbers with so many of our elementary students, the numbers aren’t visible. The quantities. They can’t see them; they can’t move them. They’re just those squiggly figures that we were talking about earlier on. So how is it that we make the quantities visible, to where students feel as if they can grab an apple and move it around? Because a lot of times we start with the naked numbers and then if kids don’t get the naked numbers, then we kind of backfill it. But what would happen if we start with the images? And then from there, these rich, flourishing mathematical conversations develop from the images. And I think that was the premise and the goal of the toolkit.

Tracy Zager (25:22):

When you look at how fact fluency has traditionally been taught, it’s all naked numbers. And sometimes we wrote ’em sideways. Like, that’s it. That was our variety of task type. Right? Sometimes it’s vertical; sometimes it’s horizontal. And that was it. And I’ve just known way too many kids who couldn’t find a hook to hang their hat on with that. It didn’t connect to anything. And so part of why I knew Graham was the perfect person for this project was his strength in multimedia photography, art, video. And so we started from this idea of contexts that for each lesson string in the toolkit, there’s some kind of context. An everyday object, arranged in some kind of a way that reveals mathematical structure and invites students to notice the properties. So we start with images of everyday objects: tennis balls, paint pots…um, help me out; here are a million of them. Crayons—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:18):

Crayons, markers.

Tracy Zager (26:18):

Shoes, right? Sushi, origami paper, all kinds of things in the different toolkits. So there’s a series of images or a three-act task or both around those everyday objects, and then story problems grounded in that context. And then there are images with mathematical tools that bring out different ideas, but relate in some way to the image talks. And we do all of that before we get to the naked number talk. Which we do, and by the time you get to the number talk, it’s pretty quick, ’cause they’ve been reasoning about cups of lemonade. And now when you give them the actual numerals, they’re all over it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:03):

I have to say too, as somebody who—particularly in middle school—navigated math anxiety, we recently talked with Allison Hintz and Anthony Smith about their amazing book Mathematizing Children’s Literature.

Tracy Zager (27:14):

Yay!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:14):

And I was explaining, like, if I sat down at the beginning of a math class and my teacher opened a picture book and said, “We’re gonna start here,” I felt my whole body relax. And if we start with this image, if we start with just looking at an image and making sense of an image, I feel like that could be such a powerful touchstone for all the work you do from there.

Tracy Zager (27:41):

That’s core. That’s a core design principle, is that invitational access. There are no barriers to entry. There’s nothing to decode. There’s nothing formal. We’ve been learning from Dan for years about this, right? Of starting with the informal and then eventually layering in the formal. I was in a class in Maine where they were doing an image talk and it’s these boxes of pencils. It’s a stack of boxes of pencils and they’re open and you can see there are 10 pencils in each box. And so there are five boxes of pencils each with 10 pencils in it. And then the next image is 10 boxes of pencils and each box is half full. So now it’s 10 boxes each with five. And the kids are talking and talking and then the third image, I think there are seven boxes each with 10 pencils in it. And she said, “What do you think the next picture’s gonna be?” And this girl said, “You just never know with these people!” <laugh> I dunno!”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (28:37):

That’s kinda true. Knowing you both, it’s kinda true.

Tracy Zager (28:42):

Like if it’s seven boxes with 10 in it, one kid said, I think it’s gonna be 14 boxes of five. And other kids are like, I think it’s gonna be 10 boxes with seven. And they start talking about which of those there are and the relationships between—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (28:58):

But they’re making sense of numbers!

Tracy Zager (28:59):

Totally. So all the kids felt invited. They can offer something up. They’re noticing and wondering about that image. They’re talking about it in whatever informal language or home language that they speak. And that was core to us. That was a huge priority, because honestly, one of the motivations to talk about fluency is that it’s always been this gatekeeper. It has served to keep kids out of meaningful math. Particularly kids from marginalized or historically excluded communities. So they’re back at the round table, doing Mad Minutes, while the more advantaged kids are getting to do rich problem solving. And so, we thought, what if we could teach fact fluency through rich problem solving that everybody could access? That was like square one for us.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:45):

That’s huge.

Dan Meyer (29:46):

That’s great to hear. What’s been helpful for me is to understand that students who are automatic, that’s just kind of what’s on the surface of things. And that below that might be some really robust kind of foundation or scaffolding that bleeds to a larger building being built, or it might be just really rickety and not offer a sturdy place to build farther up. It’s been really exciting to hear that. I wonder if you’d comment for a moment about, in the digital age and—I’m at Desmos and our sponsors are Amplify and we all work in the digital world quite a bit. There are a lot of what report to be solutions to the fluency issue, to developing fluency in the digital world. Just lots and lots of them. Some that are quite well used, others that are just like X, Y, or Z app on the market. You can find something. Do you have perspectives on these kinds of digital fluency building apps? Like, what about them works or doesn’t work? Let us know. Graham, how about you? And then Tracy, I’d love to hear your thoughts too.

Graham Fletcher (30:47):

Yeah, I think that’s a great question, ’cause there’s a lot of shiny bells and whistles out there right now that can really excite a lot of teachers. But I always come back to what works for me as a classroom teacher is probably gonna work in a digital world as well. So what are the things that I love and honor most about being in front of students, and how can I capture that in that virtual world? I think one of the things that really helps students make connections is coherence. I think coherence, especially when you leave students for—you don’t get to talk with them after the lesson is done—so I think about how we can purposefully sequence things through a day-to-day basis. I think coherence is something that gets really lost when we talk about fluency, especially with whether it be digital or whether it be print, because what ends up happening is we say, “OK, we have all these strategies we need to teach,” and it becomes a checklist. So how is it that we can just provide students the opportunity to play around in a space, whether it be digital or in person, but in a meaningful way that allows them the time and the space and that area to breathe and think, but be coherent. And connecting those lessons along the way. And I think coherence is one thing that a lot of the times it’s harder to—when we’re in the weeds, it’s so hard and difficult to zoom back out and say, “Do all these lessons connect? How do they intentionally connect? And how do they purposefully connect?” And without coherence, everything’s kind of broken down into that granular level. So when looking at—I think about Desmos and I think about the Toolkit and I think about how Tracy and I talked a lot about, “Well, this, does it connect with the context problem, does it connect with the image talk, or the lessons? Like, how does it all connect and how are we providing students an opportunity to make connections between the day-to-day instruction and lessons that we tackle?”

Tracy Zager (32:44):

I’m reminded of a conversation that Dan, you and I had a long time ago, in Portland, Maine, in a bar. I’ll just be honest. <laugh> And we were talking about how, in the earlier days of Desmos, you were stressed out by what you saw, which was kids one-on-one, on a device, in a silent room. And you were like, no, this is not it. This is not what technology is here to serve. We can do so many things better using technology appropriately, but we can’t lose talk and we can’t lose relationships and we can’t lose formative assessment and teachers listening to kids and kids listening to each other and helping each other understand their thinking. Right? So when I think about the tech that’s out there for fact fluency, most of it is gonna violate all rules I have around time testing. So that a whole bunch of it, I would just toss on that premise. They’re really no different than flashcards. It’s just flashcards set in junkyard heaps. Or, you know, underground caverns. Or with a volcano or whatever. It’s the same thing. There are some lovely visuals—I’m thinking of Berkeley Everett’s Math Flips. Those are really pretty. Mathigon has some really nice stuff that’s digital. And I think that those resources invite you to kind of ponder and notice things and talk about them. All the tools that we design in the toolkit are designed to get people talking to each other, and give teachers opportunities to pull alongside kids and listen in and understand where they are. For example, our games, we didn’t design the games to be played digitally, even though you could, and people did during COVID, because we want kids on the rug, next to each other, on their knees; I’ve seen kids like across tables. I was in a school recently where a kid was like, “I hope you believe in God, ’cause you’re going…!” You know what I mean? <laugh>. Like they’re all pumped up.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:41):

They’re invested!

Tracy Zager (34:45):

They’re psyching each other up and down and they’re interacting and it’s social and the teacher’s walking around and she’s listening to the games. And they don’t actually need any bells and whistles. They need dice and they need counters and they need this game that is actually a game. In all of our conversations, games have to actually be games. Games cannot be “roll and record.” Games have to involve strategy. They have to be fun. So in designing those games, we didn’t feel like it brought any advantage to make that a digital platform. But things that did bring advantages digitally, like the ability to project these beautiful images or to use short video in the classroom, that really was a value-add that enabled us to do something different in math class than we had done before, and to get kids talking in a different way than they ever had before. When I think about fluency, historically, if you say like, “OK, it’s time to practice our math facts,” you hear a lot of groans. And when I see a Building Fact Fluency classroom and I say, “OK, it’s BFF time!” There’s like a “YEAAAAHHH!” You know? And so that’s what we’re after.

Graham Fletcher (35:47):

It’s all about kids, really, for us. And I think at the heart of it, we made all the decisions with teachers and kids at the forefront of it.

Tracy Zager (35:55):

I know of high schoolers who are newcomers, who have experienced very little formal education, and speak in other languages, are using it as high schoolers, because it involves language and math and all the deep work in the properties and it’s accessible, but it’s also not at all condescending or patronizing. Like we designed it to be appropriate for older kids. So that’s just something that I think we’re both really proud of. One thing we thought a lot about, especially in the multiplication-division kit is how a classroom teacher could use it and a coordinating educator in EL, Title, special education, intervention could also use it because there’s so much in it, that students could get to be experts, if they got extra time in it, using something that’s related and would give them additional practice. So they could play a game a little bit earlier than the rest of the classes. And they could come in already knowing about that game, or they could do a related task. We have all these optional tasks that no classroom teacher would ever have time to teach it all. So the special educator could use it and have kids doing a Same and Different or a True/False, or some of the optional games. And then the work in both special education and general education could connect.

Dan Meyer (37:20):

I just wanna say that this is an area that for so many students, as you’ve said, Tracy, it presents a barrier for their inclusion in mathematics. It’s a very emotionally fraught area of mathematics. And we really appreciate the wisdom you brought here. And just the care you’ve brought to the product itself. Your knowledge of teaching, knowledge of math, and yeah, especially a love for students feels like it’s really infused throughout Building Fact Fluency. If our listeners want to know more outside of this podcast, outside of the product itself, where can they find your words, your voice? Where you folks at these days? Tell ’em, Graham would you?

Graham Fletcher (37:57):

You can find us at Stenhouse, Building Fact Fluency. And then Tracy and I, currently playing around, sharing ideas a lot on Twitter, under the hashtag #BuildingFactFluency. That’s kind of where we can all come together and share ideas. And then also on the Facebook community, where there’s lots of teachers sharing ideas.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (38:19):

If you were to ask our listeners like, “Hey, if you wanna keep thinking about this, here’s something you could try or here’s something you could go do,” what could be a challenge that we could share that could help us continue this conversation?

Graham Fletcher (38:35):

Online you can actually download a full lesson string. And a lesson string is a series of activities and resources that are purposefully connected. You can pick one or two of those from the Stenhouse web site, Building Fact Fluency. You can try the game. You can try one of those strategy-based games. You can try an image talk and just see how it goes. And just share and reflect back, whether on Twitter or on Facebook. But it’s kind of there, if you wanna give it a whirl. And as Tracy was sharing, even if you’re a middle-school teacher or a high-school teacher, we really tried to think about those middle-school and high-school students keeping it grade level-agnostic. Just so every student has those opportunities for those mathematical conversations. So download a lesson string and give it a whirl, and we’d love to hear how it goes.

Dan Meyer (39:25):

Bethany and I will be working the same challenge with people in our life.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:29):

Yes.

Dan Meyer (39:29):

Enjoying some fact fluency with people in our homes, perhaps. We’ll see. And we’ll be sharing the results in the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group. Graham and Tracy, thanks so much for being here. It was such a treat to chat with you both.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:42):

I love learning with you and just helping to shift this idea of fluency into something that can be accessible and powerful and positive.

Stay connected!

Join our community and get new episodes every other Tuesday!

We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.

What Valerie Henry says about math

“A lot of very fluent adults don’t always have every fact memorized. ”

– Val Henry

Meet the guests

Valerie Henry has been a math educator since 1986. She taught middle school math for 17 years and has worked as a lecturer at University of California Irvine since 2002. After doing her 2004 dissertation research on addition/subtraction fluency in first grade, Valerie created FactsWise, a daily mini-lesson approach that simultaneously develops  fluency,  number sense, and algebraic thinking. Additionally, she has provided curriculum and math professional development for K-12 teachers throughout her career, working with individual schools, districts, county offices of education, Illustrative Mathematics, the SBAC Digital Library, and the UCI Math Project.

Graham Fletcher has served in education as a classroom teacher, a math coach, and currently as a math specialist. He is continually seeking new and innovative ways to support students and teachers in their development of conceptual understanding in elementary mathematics. He is the author of Building Fact Fluency and openly shares many of his resources at gfletchy.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Tracy Johnston Zager is a district math coach who loves to get teachers hooked on listening to kids’ mathematical ideas. She is a co-author of the Building Fact Fluency toolkits and the author of Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had: Ideas and Strategies from Vibrant Classrooms. Tracy also edits professional books by teachers, for teachers at Stenhouse Publishers. Follow her on Facebook.

A collage of three headshots: an older woman with glasses, a man with a beard in a blue shirt, and a woman with dark hair smiling in front of greenery.
A graphic with the text "Math Teacher Lounge with Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer" on colored overlapping circles.

About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

Amplify Desmos Math
for New York

Welcome to Amplify Desmos Math, a powerful new core program from Amplify and Desmos Classroom built for NYC teachers and students.

Amplify Desmos Math is built on four core tenets:

  • Math can motivate students.
  • A structured approach to problem-based learning can best tend to all aspects of rigor.
  • Student thinking is valuable and visible.
  • Students can catch up while keeping up with grade-level math.
A teacher stands in front of a classroom, pointing toward a screen, while students with raised hands sit at desks with laptops, engaging with the core curriculum through Amplify Desmos Math.

What if your students asked to do more math?

Amplify Desmos Math lessons are powerful in their ability to elicit student thinking and spark interesting, productive discussions.

The lessons pose problems that invite a variety of approaches with their dynamic and interactive learning experiences on devices, as well as experiences on paper that are flexible, creative, and engaging.

As students work online, they interact with visuals and simulations that show their thinking and decisions. When appropriate, students see other students’ responses and engage in collaborative math discussions.

A Responsive Feedback feature responds to student thinking by showing the mathematical meaning behind it. This is more powerful than simply evaluating thinking as right or wrong, because it motivates and engages students in the learning process.

A grid-based puzzle showing a green ball at (-8, -8) and a yellow star at (5, 6); user is prompted to enter coordinates to reach the star.

In this Grade 6 activity, students internalize the coordinate plane by plotting points to navigate the marble through the maze to collect the star.

A blank coordinate grid is shown next to a list of coordinate pairs to plot, ranging from (–2, –9) to (3, –3). Instructions are to plot and connect each pair in order.

This prepares students to accurately and efficiently plot points with positive and negative coordinates on grids with different scales and explain the relationship between ordered pairs that differ only by the signs of the coordinates.

A yellow submarine with floats and anchors must be adjusted to reach and collect a star positioned at -3 units in the water. A table and "Check My Work" button appear to the right.

In this Grade 7 activity, students explore positive and negative integer operations using the up and down movement of a submarine.

Screenshot of a math problem asking for the new temperature in Beijing after it drops 5°C from –2°C, with a text box and a "Submit" button for the answer.

Students are then prepared apply this understanding in a variety of word problem contexts.

A math activity interface showing four lanes with turtles, labeled 1 to 4, on a track. A prompt asks to write an equation for the turtle in lane 4 to control its movement.

In this Grade 8 activity, students create rate, distance, and time equations based on turtle races.

A blank graph with cost in dollars on the y-axis and blueberries in pounds on the x-axis, labeled for a problem about blueberry pricing.

This prepares students to understand that a graph representing a proportional relationship is a line through (0, 0) and (1, k). They also begin to see connections between a context and features of a corresponding graph, equation, and table.

Data at your fingertips on the road to mastery

Digital assessment report with tabs for Reports, WAT, and Admin Reports. Displays classes, units, assessments, and scoring details for high and low-performing items, including raw scores.

1

Pre-Unit Checks show the range of student mastery for the entire class and identify strengths and needs by standard.

Two overlapping cards detail a math unit overview and learning goals, focusing on equivalent ratios and proportional relationships in tables, equations, and graphs.

2

In each unit, lessons are designed and sequenced to help students fully master critical standards and build computational fluency. Each lesson is part of a carefully constructed instructional sequence that scaffolds students’ cognitive mathematical development.

A math problem prompt is displayed above, with a table comparing orange and pineapple juice recipes below. Another box describes "7.2 Practice Day 1" learning goals.

3

Daily practice problems and frequent practice days reinforce concepts and build fluency.

Screenshot of an assessment report and instructions for Assessment Form A, highlighting score distribution, student performance, and requirements like blank paper and a calculator.

4

End-of-Unit Assessments and reporting analysis pinpoint students requiring remediation with specific standards and concepts.

Facilitate a collaborative, connected classroom community.

The powerful teacher facilitation tools in Amplify Desmos Math give teachers insight into student thinking in real time. Teachers can select student work to display and discuss quickly and easily, leading to better questions that guide more productive discussions.

Amplify Desmos Math helps guide the learning process by connecting students to each other and to an understanding that they can use math to make sense of the world. Students learn and collaborate in every lesson. Whether using print, digital, or a mix of both, students stay connected to each other’s ideas and thinking, fueling classroom conversations and a shared understanding of math.

Three students sit at a table in a classroom, smiling and looking at a laptop together, with notebooks and papers in front of them.
An illustrated Amplify Desmos Math textbook and a computer screen showing a digital math activity about making pizza ingredients.

Standards alignment

Amplify Desmos Math is customized specifically to meet the New York State Next Generation Math Learning Standards. Within each document below, you’ll find direct links to lessons and activities where each individual standard is addressed.

Grade 6 correlation
Grade 7 correlation
Grade 8 correlation

The program is also aligned with the expectations outlined in the New York City Department of Education Definition of Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education and the New York State Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework. Download the CR-SE alignment.

Digital review

Ready to explore the program? To log in, click the orange “Review now” button below, select “Log in with Amplify” and use the following login credentials:

Username: t.nycadmsample-01@tryamplify.net

Password: AmplifyNumber1

To review Algebra 1 content from Desmos Math 6–A1, which serves as the foundation for Amplify Desmos Math, click this link after logging in using the credentials above.

Two illustrated math textbooks labeled Amplify Desmos Math for grades 7 and 8, shown above a laptop displaying a digital balance scale activity.
Two women in an office setting look at a computer monitor together, both appearing focused and engaged. One is seated while the other stands beside her.

Support

Throughout your review, you can reach our support team by email or phone. We are available any time over:

Live chat: Click the orange icon while logged in to get immediate help.

Phone: Call our toll-free number: (888)-960-0380.

Email: Send an email to help@amplify.com. In the message body, please include your name and question. Provide as much detail as possible, so we can help you find a solution.

Amplify Desmos Math Summer bridge program

This upcoming back-to-school season is sure to be anything but normal. It will be critical to use the summer months to tend to unfinished learning and prepare students for the math to come. 

Illustration of a virtual classroom screen with nine diverse children displayed in a grid format, each in separate colored squares.
Text message conversation between two children discussing an enjoyable online math lesson, with one child admitting to cheating.

Thinking ahead

Amplify is offering free complete middle school and Algebra 1 units that support a number of typical summer school or bridge programs. The lessons are based on the highly rated Illustrative Mathematics program and designed to make problem-based instruction easier for teachers and more exciting for students.

Units available (June 2020)

COURSE UNITS  
6
Expressions and Equations (19 lessons)
Key for algebra readiness (variables)
Rational Numbers (19 lessons)
Key for algebra readiness (negatives)
7
Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities (23 lessons)
Key for algebra readiness
Angles, Triangles, and Prisms (18 lessons)
8
Associations in Data (9 lessons)
Data and modeling skills are critical
Exponents and Scientific Notation (15 lessons)
Understanding exponential behavior in today’s world is critical
Algebra 1
 Introduction to Exponentials (22 lessons)
Understanding exponential behavior in today’s world is critical
 Introduction to Quadratic Functions (23 lessons)
A key connection to physics

Find a complete list of lessons available here.

Materials available June 2020

  • Complete unit Teacher’s Guide available online or for printing
    • Delivery format: Google Docs
  • Complete unit Student Edition pages available online or for printing
    • Delivery format: Google Docs
  • Digital lessons
    • Delivery format: Desmos
  • Pre- and post-assessments
    • Delivery format: Desmos and Google Docs
A text message exchange between two individuals discussing a math work arrangement, with a friendly and supportive tone.

Making the materials work for you

We’re offering free, asynchronous professional learning resources to help your teachers quickly get up to speed with the Amplify Desmos Math lessons. These resources include:

  • Quick-start videos for each unit, including a unit overview and a walkthrough of the print and digital lessons.
  • Pacing suggestions for a variety of summer school scenarios.
  • Regularly scheduled office hours in July and August with an Amplify Desmos Math product expert.

Proposed learning models

Icons representing three educational models: in-school lessons, mix of at-home and in-school lessons, and digital lessons, each with brief descriptions.
A laptop screen displaying a presentation slide titled "detecting counterfeit coins," with graphs, text, and images of coins.

Samples

Printable Google Docs

Including Teacher Edition pages, Student Edition pages, and practice

Digital lessons powered by Desmos

Welcome Reviewers, to Amplify Desmos Math!

Amplify Desmos Math thoughtfully combines conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application. Each lesson is designed to tell a story by posing problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals.

Scroll to learn more about the program and explore sample materials.

About the program

We believe in math that motivates. Our structured approach to problem-based learning builds on students’ curiosity to develop lasting grade-level understandings for all students. 

The program thoughtfully combines conceptual understanding, fluency, and application, motivating students with interesting problems they are eager to solve. Teachers can spend more time where it’s most impactful: creating a collaborative classroom of learners.

A powerful suite of math resources

Amplify Desmos Math combines the best of problem-based lessons, intervention, personalized practice, and assessments into a coherent and engaging experience for both students and teachers.

A digital interface displays a math screener report on the left and a math problem involving division, alongside a visual representation of students lined up on the right, integrating rich math resources from Amplify Desmos Math.

Screening and progress monitoring

mCLASS® Assessments, along with daily formative checks, measure not only what students know, but also how they think. The asset-based assessment system provides teachers with targeted, actionable insights, linked to core instruction and intervention resources.

Two side-by-side math activities for children: on the left, a caterpillar-themed block challenge, and on the right, a worksheet for finding pairs that sum to 10. These exercises are fantastic ways to amplify children's engagement with math concepts.

Core instruction

Amplify Desmos Math lessons provide a structured approach to problem-based learning, helping teachers create a collaborative math community with students at its center. Each lesson systematically builds on students’ curiosity to develop lasting grade-level understandings for all students.

Two pages from a New York math textbook on determining coordinates after a rotation. Includes sections on modeled review, guided practice, and teacher's notes, with diagrams and examples that amplify the learning experience.

Differentiation and intervention

Integrated resources like Mini-Lessons, Fluency Practice, and Math Adventures provide targeted intervention on a specific concept or skill connected to daily instruction. Extensions are also available to stretch students’ understanding.
Boost™ Personalized Learning activities help students access grade-level math through engaging, independent digital practice. Responsive Feedback™ adjusts to students’ work, providing item-level adaptivity to further support their learning.

Two pages from a New York math textbook on determining coordinates after a rotation. Includes sections on modeled review, guided practice, and teacher's notes, with diagrams and examples that amplify the learning experience.

An approach that supports teachers

Clear, step-by-step instructional moves help teachers plan and teach student-centered lessons that use student thinking to differentiate instruction and guide to grade-level understanding. They include:

  • Guidance on what to listen for and how to respond.
  • Clear learning objectives to keep learning on track for each activity and lesson.
  • Daily reinforcement activities to provide direct instruction when needed.

A structured approach to problem-based learning

Problem-based learning asks students to make sense of and think strategically about mathematically interesting problems. This approach allows students’ ideas to take
center stage, so they are active and engaged in their learning process. Teachers are able to hear and respond to student thinking in real time, guiding and differentiating instruction right in the moment.

Moving from “I do, We do, You do” to “You do, We do, I do”
Lessons begin by activating student’s prior knowledge and curiosity, inviting them to explore the math, collaborate, and refine their thinking. By focusing on developing student thinking first, teachers can better connect ideas, guide learning, and synthesize learning objectives.

Lessons that are rigorous and delightful

Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math is designed to put students at the center of their learning. Utilizing research-based best practices, students engage in meaningful work based on rich problems and real-world experiences.

Two young girls build with colorful blocks at a table while an adult woman observes and assists them in a classroom setting.

Warm-Up

Lessons begin by inviting every student to contribute to the mathematical discussion. Instructional routines are often used to build fluency, set the context, activate prior knowledge, or highlight a strategy that may be helpful in the lesson. 

Rich learning activities

Math knowledge is built through experiences and meaningful interactions. Students notice, wonder, explore, calculate, predict, measure, explain their thinking, use math to settle disputes, create challenges for their classmates, and more. Teachers serve as a guide, using a Launch, Monitor, Connect framework:

  • Launch: Teachers offer a short introduction to the problem or challenge
  • Monitor: As students work individually, in pairs, or in groups, teachers ask questions and provide support to move student thinking closer to the intended math goal.
  • Connect: Teachers connect student ideas to the Key Takeaway of the activity to help students synthesize and solidify the big ideas.

Synthesis

Teachers ensure that students end the lesson with accurate and enduring understandings of the math goal through synthesis of student ideas, explicit instruction, and reflection.

A short Show What You Know assessment allows students to show what they know about the learning goals of the lesson and reveal what they are still learning.

Differentiation and practice

Lasting understanding requires reinforcement. Every lesson offers Lesson Practice instructional recommendations to Support, Strengthen, and Stretch learning.

Two side-by-side math activities for children: on the left, a caterpillar-themed block challenge, and on the right, a worksheet for finding pairs that sum to 10. These exercises are fantastic ways to amplify children's engagement with math concepts.

Print for every lesson with engaging digital experiences

Whether in print or digital form, engaging interactions enable students and teachers to openly exchange ideas. Each lesson includes student print materials, interactive teacher Presentation Screens, and digital resources for practice and differentiation. Some lessons also use manipulatives or provide options for students to use devices individually or in pairs. Device recommendations for student use are age-appropriate, with more frequent usage in middle and high school.

Demo access

Please login to the digital platform to experience our full program as part of your review. In order to access the digital platform, you’ll need to log into using your unique login credentials below.

  • Click the orange button below to access the platform.
  • Click “Log in with Amplify.”
  • Enter the username and password:
    • Username:
    • Password:
  • View the video for helpful platform navigation tips.

Assessments

By starting with what students already know, Amplify Desmos Math helps build a strong foundation for success to guide and support future learning. Teachers are empowered to transform every classroom into an engaged math community that invites, values, and develops student thinking. With explicit guidance on what to look for and how to respond, teachers can effectively support students as they develop their understanding.

Open math workbook showing an End-of-Unit Assessment with multiple-choice and written response questions on fractions and equivalent values.

Program assessments

A variety of performance data in Amplify Desmos Math provides evidence of student learning while helping students bolster their skills and understanding.

Unit-Level Assessments

Our embedded unit assessments offer key insights into students’ conceptual understanding of math. These assessments provide regular, actionable information about how students are thinking about and processing math, with both auto-scoring and in-depth rubrics that help teachers anticipate and respond to students’ learning needs.

Lesson-Level Assessments

Amplify Desmos Math lessons are centered around sense-making and in-the-moment feedback. Daily moments of assessment provide valuable evidence of learning for both the teacher and student.

Data and reporting

Amplify Desmos Math provides teachers and administrators with unified reporting and insights so that educators have visibility into what students know about grade-level math—and can plan instruction accordingly for the whole class, small groups, and individual students.

A table displays students' performance levels across various items, with a detailed score distribution for a specific assessment shown in a separate overlay. Geometric design elements accented the background, providing an engaging visual touch ideal for any math classroom using Amplify Desmos Math.

Assessment reports

Reporting functionality integrates unit assessments, lesson assessments, personalized learning, Benchmark assessments, and Progress Monitoring for a comprehensive look at student learning.

Our reports show proficiency and growth by domain, cluster, standard, and priority concept using performance data from unit assessments. Then our reports highlight areas of potential student need to allow teachers to modify their instruction and target differentiated support.

At-a-glance views of unit-level assessment results inform your instructional planning, and you can also drill down to item-level analysis.

Standards reports

Our standards report allows you to monitor proficiency at the class and individual student levels. Proficiency and growth are shown by domain, cluster, standard, and priority concepts. Areas of potential student need are highlighted to allow teachers to modify their instruction and target differentiated support.

Administrator reports

Amplify Desmos Math provides a complete picture of student, class, and district performance, allowing administrators to implement instructional and intervention plans.

  • Track student, class, and district performance with usage, completion, and assessment data.
  • Accurately group students and classes with the Benchmark and Progress Monitoring data of mCLASS Assessments and allow teachers to reliably implement and track the progress of Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention.
  • Provide one data-driven solution that educators can rely on for high-quality math instruction.

Differentiation and intervention

Amplify Desmos Math views differentiation as an ongoing process where teachers are both reactive and proactive to student needs, ensuring that all students have clear pathways to proficiency. Through rich data and teacher support, Amplify Desmos Math uses flexible categories of intervention and enrichment that adjust daily according to student thinking.

In-the-moment differentiation supports are available for every lesson, both digitally and in the print Teacher Edition.

A teacher sits at a table with two students, using small objects and a workbook to provide individualized instruction during a Boost Math lesson in a classroom with large windows.
A table showing differentiation teacher moves with examples of representing groups in different ways, support prompts, and a stretch question about patterns with more teams.

In-lesson differentiation

Within every lesson activity, teachers can use the suggestions in the Differentiation Teacher Moves table to provide in-the-moment instructional support while students are engaged in the work of the lesson. This table can help teachers anticipate the ways students may approach the activity, and provides prompts that they can use during the lesson to Support, Strengthen, and Stretch individual students in their thinking. Teachers are provided with clear student actions and understanding to look for, each matched with immediately usable suggestions for how to respond to the student thinking illustrated in each row of the table. In addition to using these suggestions in the moment as teachers monitor student work, teachers can review the Differentiation table in advance to help them anticipate how students are likely to approach the activity.

Differentiation: Beyond the Lesson

Teachers are provided with recommendations for resources to use with each group of students needing support, strengthening, and stretching after each lesson. Support, Strengthen, and Stretch resources include:

  • Mini-Lessons: 15-minute, small-group direct instruction lessons targeted to a specific concept or skill
  • Item Banks: Space for teachers to create practice and assessments by using filters and searching for standards, summative-style items, and more
  • Fluency Practice: Adaptive, personalized practice built out for basic operations and more
  • Centers (K–5): Lesson-embedded routines and practice for students that are vertically aligned across grade levels
  • Extensions: Lesson-embedded Teacher Moves including possible stretch questions and activities for students
  • Lesson Practice: Additional practice problems support every lesson
  • Math Adventures: Strategy-based math games where students engage with math concepts and practice skills in a fun digital environment
Two pages from a math workbook on determining coordinates after a rotation, with diagrams, problem sets, and instructional text, displayed on a yellow and gray background.
A classroom teaching guide displays strategies for discussing pre-image and image in math, goals for a parallelogram lesson, and tips for supporting multilingual learners.

Multilingual/English Learner supports

Supports for multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) are called out at intentiSupports for multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) are called out at intentional points within each lesson. These suggested supports are specific, targeted actions that are beneficial for ML/ELs. They often describe a modification to increase access to the task or provide support with contextual or mathematical language development that can often be helpful to all learners. ML/EL supports may also be attached to Math Language Routines.onal points within each lesson. These suggested supports are specific, targeted actions that are beneficial for ML/ELs. They often describe a modification to increase access to the task or provide support with contextual or mathematical language development that can often be helpful to all learners. ML/EL supports may also be attached to Math Language Routines.

Math Language Development

Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math includes opportunities for all students to develop mathematical language as they experience the content. Amplify Desmos Math purposefully progresses language development from lesson to lesson and across units by supporting students in making their arguments and explanations stronger, clearer, and more precise. This systematic approach to the development of math language can be broken down into the following four categories of support:

  • Vocabulary: Units and lessons start by surfacing students’ language for new concepts, then building connections between their language and the new vocabulary for that unit.
  • Language goals: Language goals attend to the mathematics students are learning, and are written through the lens of one or more of four language modalities: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
  • Math Language Routines: Math Language Routines are used within lessons to highlight student-developed language and ideas, cultivate conversation, support mathematical sense-making, and promote meta-cognition.
  • Multilingual/English learner supports: Supports for multilingual/English learners (ML/ELs) are called out at intentional points within each lesson.
Two girls sit at a table with open books, one making hand gestures while smiling, the other looking at her and giving a thumbs up. Behind them are shelves filled with books, capturing the lively atmosphere of a math classroom.
Digital educational material showing an activity named "Hamster Homes" involving tube length and platform heights for a hamster cage. Includes a diagram with platforms measuring 9 inches.

K-5 sample materials

Click the links in the drop-down sections below to explore sample materials from each grade. For a full program review, please login to the digital platform or request physical samples.

For helpful navigation tips and more program information, download the Amplify Desmos Math Program Guide.

You can also watch a product expert walk through a lesson and the available program components.

Cover of Amplify Desmos Math Grade K Teacher Edition featuring three children playing with math-related objects and a group of rabbits sitting nearby, aligning with the engaging curriculum seen in New York math classrooms.

Teacher Edition

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 2: Counting and Comparing Images.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math: Student Edition Kindergarten," featuring an illustration of three children playing with math-related toys. A group of small white animals, possibly hamsters, play nearby. The scene brilliantly captures the joy of New York math exploration for young learners.

Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 2: Counting and Comparing Images.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Grade K Centers Resources" featuring a large, stylized red and pink "C" on a light pink background with simple geometric designs. This distinctive cover complements New York math curriculums with its engaging visual elements.

Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Centers Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

A digital activity screen, crafted in the style of Amplify Desmos Math, shows two paths with different quantities of mushrooms. The user is prompted to choose the path with more mushrooms. A bear is on the left side of the screen.

In this lesson, students apply their understanding of how to compare groups of images as they determine which group has more or fewer and then compare their strategies by guiding a bear through a path that has more mushrooms than the other.

Children interact with math activities on a large tablet while observing fish illustrations. The text reads "Amplify Desmos Math Grade 1 Teacher Edition, aligned with New York Math standards.

Skills Unit 2 Teacher Guide

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting Within 10.

Illustration of three children engaged in math activities from the "Amplify Desmos Math: Student Edition 1" textbook. One child holds a number card, while the others manipulate counters and images, experiencing an exciting approach inspired by New York math techniques.

Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting Within 10.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Centers Resources" for Grade 1, featuring a yellow and white 3D letter "C" on a light background.

Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Centers Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

An educational game screen, inspired by New York math standards, shows a subtraction problem, "4 - 1," with a frog moving along numbered lily pads to reveal the answer "3.

In this lesson, students find differences when subtracting 1 and 2 from the same number by helping a frog reach a lily pad where it can eat a bug.

Cover of the "Amplify Desmos Math" Grade 2 Teacher Edition, showcasing children measuring with rulers and a poster displaying a mathematical equation, set against whimsical scenery with a colorful dragon. Perfect for New York math classrooms.

Teacher Edition

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Student Edition 2" showing three children performing a New York math activity with blocks and measurements.

Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting.

Cover of an educational book titled "Amplify Desmos Math Grade 2 Centers Resources" featuring a green "C" on a light green background, perfect for enhancing New York math education.

Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Centers Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

An educational activity where users must select the block with the correct number to make a total of 10 using the given block numbers. The UI, inspired by New York math standards, features a caterpillar and two tree stumps to amplify engagement with Desmos Math tools.

Students continue to develop fluency by finding the number that makes 10 by helping a millipede reach its favorite food – a clump of leaves!

Cover of a "Grade 3 Amplify Desmos Math Teacher Edition" book, featuring a cutaway building with diverse students and a teacher working on New York math problems and organizing materials.

Teacher Edition

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 3: Data on Scaled Graphs.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Student Edition 3" showcasing illustrated children engaged in various mathematical activities inside a glass house structure, reflecting the dynamic energy of New York math.

Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 3: Data on Scaled Graphs.

Cover of the Amplify Desmos Math Grade 3 Centers Resources book, featuring a 3D letter "C" in blue and white on a minimalistic background, perfect for aligning with New York math standards.

Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Centers Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

A page titled "Activity 2" features a table showing counts of rabbits, raccoons, and foxes, an image of animal stickers, and a bar graph representing the number of each animal, designed to amplify your New York math lesson with engaging visual data.

Students compare data represented on bar graphs with different scales by using animal stickers to create scaled bar graphs.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math: Teacher Edition Grade 4" showing children learning New York Math outdoors, using large mathematical tools and numbers, with one child in a wheelchair.

Teacher Edition

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 2: Using Factors and Multiples.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math: Teacher Edition Grade 4" showing children learning New York Math outdoors, using large mathematical tools and numbers, with one child in a wheelchair.

Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 2: Using Factors and Multiples.

Cover of the "Amplify Desmos Math" Grade 4 Centers Resources book, featuring a large, stylized blue letter "C" on a light blue background. This essential resource for New York math educators ensures engaging and effective instruction.

Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Centers Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

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Students choose tube lengths to connect to platform heights for hamster homes, identifying possible heights using what they know about multiples.

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Teacher Edition

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 3: Volume of Solid Figures.

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Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 3: Volume of Solid Figures.

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Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Centers Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

An interactive screen showing an activity about decomposing a figure into prisms, with a touch of Desmos Math integration. The user is asked to drag points to demonstrate the decomposition. Two prism illustrations are displayed, offering a glimpse of New York Math's approach.

Students decompose a figure into rectangular prisms and determine the volume of the figure by adding the volumes of the individual prisms.

6-A1 sample materials

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Teacher Edition

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 6, Sub-Unit 1: Solving Equations.

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Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 6, Sub-Unit 1: Solving Equations.

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Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

A digital math activity shows foxes on a seesaw balanced with 18-pound weights. A multiple-choice question and text box ask for the weight of a fox in pounds.

Students use equations and tape diagrams to represent seesaw situations and to determine unknown animal weights, helping them make connections between diagrams that represent equations of the form `x+p=q` or `px=q`.

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Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 6, Sub-Unit 3: Inequalities.

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Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 6, Sub-Unit 3: Inequalities.

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Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

A digital math activity screen shows a character above a number line and a box with the inequality "x > -10" entered. A cursor points to the "Edit my response" button.

Students solve inequalities with positive and negative coefficients to solve a variety of challenges featuring a fictional sheep who eats grass according to an inequality.

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Teacher Edition

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 6, Sub-Unit 2: Analyzing Numerical Data.

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Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 6, Sub-Unit 2: Analyzing Numerical Data.

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Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

A graph plots four robot colors by height and eye distance; on the right, matching colored robots stand side by side, labeled Red, Purple, Blue, and Green.

Students connect points on a scatter plot with individuals in a population and rows of data in a table. The analysis of scatter plots continues with data about the eye distances and heights of robots.

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Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from two complete sub-units on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Units 1–2: One-Variable Equations and Multi-Variable Equations.

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Student Edition

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful. To help you preview the program, we have included samples from two complete sub-units on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Units 1–2: One-Variable Equations and Multi-Variable Equations.

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Ancillary sampler

Included in the ancillary sampler are examples from the program Assessment Resources, Intervention and Extension Resources, Additional Practice, and Math Language Development Resources.

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Students represent the solutions of a situation using a table, a graph, and multiple forms of an equation to identify multiple combinations of blocks that can help Shelley the Snail cross a gap.

How problem-based learning can transform the math classroom

With test scores and student engagement on the decline, it’s clear that traditional teaching methods aren’t meeting the needs of all of today’s math learners.

One solution that’s gaining momentum is problem-based learning. By focusing on real-world problems and structured approaches, this approach develops critical thinking, reasoning, and application—skills that are essential for math success.

But making this shift isn’t easy. For math teachers and educators, it requires careful planning, a clear strategy, and community commitment.

That’s why we’re here to help.

The decline in test scores and engagement

The latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results show a sharp decline in math proficiency across grade levels. Only 26% of eighth graders performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level in 2022. These results represent the largest score declines in NAEP mathematics at grades 4 and 8 since initial assessments in 1990. The pandemic didn’t help, but it’s not the only factor.

This downward trend is compounded by a sense of disengagement. According to YouthTruth’s report Making Sense of Learning Math: Insights from the Student Experience, only half of students feel that what they’re learning in math connects to the real world. Recent survey data also shows that less than half of U.S. students feel that they “often” or “always” work on interesting problems in math class.

When math feels irrelevant or intimidating, students disengage—and the learning gaps that follow can be difficult to close.

An opportunity to grow

But the data also includes opportunities. According to NAEP research, more than 70% of students report that they enjoy activities that challenge their thinking and thinking about problems in new ways.

Problem-based learning helps give those students what they want.

And in a world that relies increasingly on data, analysis, and innovation, students need to learn not just how to follow steps and apply formulas, but how to think mathematically. In other words, problem-solving skills need to be part of student learning. This is particularly important in elementary and middle school math, where foundational concepts are built—and where students have the chance to forget their identities as “math people.”

That’s why working to infuse problem-based math learning into your district’s instruction can help reverse negative math and engagement trends.

What does problem-based learning in math look like?

Let’s go back and define this approach more fully. Research shows that math instruction is most effective when it encourages students—individually or grouped with peers—to grapple actively with math problems. When instruction gives students the opportunity and freedom to solve problems, rather than dictating solutions and then having them practice, students are more motivated.

For example, instead of memorizing the formula for calculating area and then practicing it in a series of disconnected problems, students might tackle a problem-solving challenge like:

How much paint is needed to cover our classroom walls?” Or they might work on a broader question such as: “How can we design a park, taking into account constraints like space, cost, and accessibility?

At its core, problem-based learning values mathematical thinking and reasoning. Rather than focusing on procedures and memorization, problem-based learning encourages students to:

  • Explore open-ended problems.
  • Ask questions and make connections.
  • Develop strategies to solve problems collaboratively.
  • Build curiosity and perseverance.
  • Reflect on their reasoning and process.

In the problem-based learning classroom, students are positioned as active participants in their math experiences, building a deeper understanding of concepts as they work through challenges. This is particularly critical for ensuring students don’t just learn math, but understand why it works and how to apply it. These approaches can transform math classrooms into spaces where students build both foundational and real-world math skills—and a healthy dose of math confidence, too.

Critical factors in making the shift

Integrating problem-based learning into traditional math teaching can feel like (and is!) a big change—in lesson-planning, mindset, and more.

To make it work for administrators, teachers, and students alike, schools do best when they focus on a few critical factors. These include:

  • Clear vision: Understand (and communicate) why the shift matters and what it looks like in action.
  • Leadership buy-in: Gain commitment from school leaders and administrators.
  • Teacher support: Offer professional development, resources, and ongoing guidance specific to math instruction.
  • Structured approaches: Establish a well-defined plan for implementing problem-based learning in math classrooms effectively.

What problem-based learning can look like in the classroom

While problem-based learning offers proven benefits, it can be difficult to integrate into the classroom without a clear structure. Teachers need tools and strategies to guide students through the process and ensure that learning goals are met.

A structured approach to problem-based learning in math should include:

  1. Defining the problem: Present a clear, engaging math challenge connected to real-world scenarios.
  2. Student inquiry: Encourage exploration, discussion, and different solution paths.
  3. Collaboration: Support teamwork to share ideas and reasoning.
  4. Reflection: Allow students to evaluate their process, solutions, and learning.

This structured approach not only improves students’ conceptual understanding, but also aligns with Amplify’s research findings, which show that students who engage in active learning outperform their peers in more traditional settings.

By embracing problem-based learning in math classrooms, educators can:

  • Boost student engagement and confidence.
  • Improve student problem-solving and mathematical reasoning skills.
  • Help reverse declines in math achievement over time.
  • Empower students to see the value and relevance of math in academics and in their lives.

Ready to learn more?

If you’re ready to explore how your school can make the shift to problem-based learning in math, our new change management ebook is the perfect place to start. It offers practical guidance, real-world examples, and a deeper look at the strategies highlighted above.

Download the ebook now to discover actionable insights and strategies to help make problem-based learning come alive in your math classrooms.

Winter Wrap-Up 03: Ideas to build math fluency

Promotional graphic for "Math Teacher Lounge" episode featuring Valerie Henry, Ed.D., on ideas to build math fluency, with a photo of Valerie Henry in the bottom right corner.

Join us for the third episode in our Winter Wrap-Up! In this episode from season 3 of Math Teacher Lounge: The Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Valerie Henry to talk about math fluency and what that means for students. Listen as we dig into the research, hear Val’s three-part definition of fluency, and explore her five principles for developing it.

Explore more from Math Teacher Lounge by visiting our main page

Download Transcript

Dan Meyer (00:03)

Hey folks. Welcome back. This is Math Teacher Lounge, and I am one of your hosts, Dan Meyer.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:07):

And I’m your other host, Bethany Lockhart Johnson. Hi, Dan.

Dan Meyer (00:11):

Hey, great to see you. We have a big one this week to chat about and some fantastic guests. We are chatting about fluency, which is the sort of word and concept that I feel like people have very, very non-neutral associations with it. A lot of them are very negative, for a lot of people.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (00:26):

I saw you frown a little. What’s up with that, Dan? You kind of, like, shrank.

Dan Meyer (00:30):

I have strong feelings about it. You know, there’s lots of ways that people go about helping people become fluent in mathematics. And a lot of them are harmful for students, and ineffective. And it got me thinking about fluency as it exists outside of the world of mathematics, where we have a lot of very clear images of it. We’re getting fluent in things all the time. Like, as humans. Human development is the story of fluency. And I just was wondering….Bethany, would you describe yourself as fluent at something outside of the world of mathematics? What is that? How’d you get fluent at it? What was the process?

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (01:05):

Hmm, I think I’m a pretty fluent reader. I read all the time. I’m a happier person if I’ve read that day. I once saw this poster in a classroom; it said “10 Ways to Become a Better Reader: Read, Read, Read, Read, Read…you know, 10 times. Get it? Reading? You get better at reading by reading! So I would say reading. And it’s been kind of cool—I have a one-year-old who, it’s been really exciting slash overwhelmingly anxiety-producing to see him get very fluent with walking slash running, ’cause he’s getting faster every day. And it’s kind of fun. When I think of what’s something somebody’s trying to get fluent with…walking! He’s trying to be more fluid. He’s practicing transitions. He doesn’t wanna hold my hand while he traverses rocky terrain. He’s getting better at it. He’s practicing. What about you? What’s something…?

Dan Meyer (02:08):

I think about driving a lot. I’m a very fluent driver and I think a lot about when I was first a driver, you know? And how l have my hands on 10 and 2, vice grip, and do not talk to me; do not ask me anything; don’t ask me my NAME. I need to focus so hard. And then a year later, you know, I’m driving with one hand, smash the turn signal, take a sip off of whatever, change the CD. And then it’s no big deal.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (02:38):

Wait, did you pass the first time? Your test?

Dan Meyer (02:40):

Yeah, I don’t like to brag about it. <laugh> But I do all the time. <laugh> But I got a hundred on my driving test. I don’t care who knows it. And I hope it’s everybody. But I guess all of this is just to say there are areas of life where fluency feels natural, with the case of walking. There’s areas of life where fluency feels motivating, with like driving—I wanna be able to switch the CD out or whatever. And there’s areas where fluency feels terrifying and hard to come by, like mathematics, sometimes. So we have a set of guests here. Our first guest will help us figure out what do we mean by fluency? And what’s the research say about what fluency is and how students develop it in mathematics? And then our other guests will help us think about what it looks like in practice in the classroom. What are some novel, new ways to work on fluency? So first up we have Val Henry, Dr. Val Henry.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (03:32):

So we knew we needed help with the fluency definition, because when we think about it, it’s kind of big, right? And we wanted to look at what research about fluency really says. So we called on Valerie Henry. Val is a nationally board-certified teacher, taught middle school for 17 years, and since 2002 has worked with undergraduates graduates, credential candidates as a lecturer at the University of California, Irvine, one of my alma maters. So after doing her dissertation on addition and subtraction fluency in first grade, Val created a project to study ways to build addition and subtraction and multiplication and division fluency while also developing number sense in algebraic thinking. And the pilot grew and grew over the last 18 years into a powerful daily mini-lesson approach to facts fluency called FactsWise. And when we thought of fluency, the first person I thought of was Val. Welcome, Val Henry, to the Lounge! I’m so excited to have you here. Welcome.

Valerie Henry (04:36):

Thanks, Bethany. And thanks to you, Dan. It’s great to be here today.

Dan Meyer (04:41):

Great to have you; help yourself to whatever you find in the fridge. The names that people write down on those things in the bags are just recommendations. It’s potluck-style here. I’m curious, Val, if you’re, like, on an airplane, someone asks you what you do, and you say you study fluency…what is the layperson’s definition of what does it mean to be fluent in mathematics? And if you can give a brief tour through what the research says about what works and what doesn’t that would really help us orient our conversation here.

Valerie Henry (05:12):

The first thing I have to do when I talk to somebody on a plane is define the idea of fluency. And I often use an example of tying your shoelaces. Because that works with first graders as well as adults. This idea that when we first start trying to put our shoes on and get those shoelaces tied, somebody tries to, first of all, just do it for us. But then of course maybe tries to teach us the bunny-ears approach. And we struggle and struggle as little kids and eventually either the bunny-ears approach or something else starts to work for us. But we still have to pay attention to it. We have to think hard and it’s not easy. And then over time we get to the point where we basically don’t even think about it. When I tie my shoes in the morning. I’m not thinking about right-over-left and left-over-right and all of those things. I just do it. And so that’s a good, easy example of becoming fluent with something. I think what we’re talking about today though, is the basics, the adding and subtracting that we hope kids are going to have mastered maybe by second grade, and the multiplication and division facts that we wanna maybe have mastered by third, maybe fourth grade. So now what does that mean to become fluent with those basics? I have a three-part definition that seems to match up really nicely with the common core approach to fluency. Which is, first of all, we want the answers to be correct. And then second, we want the answers to be easy to know. And so what does that mean? Well, to me, it means without needing to count,

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (07:12):

You mean without having to kind of muscle through it? Or say more about you mean.

Valerie Henry (07:16):

Well, I guess what I mean is that when you watch a young child try and solve something even as simple as two plus three, they might put up two fingers and then go 3, 4, 5 with three more fingers winding up on their hand, one or the other of their hands. While they’re doing that, they don’t really have a sense of whether even their answer is right or not, quite often. Especially when you get to the larger adding and subtracting problems, you can see a lot of errors happening as they’re trying to count. And it’s taking up cognitive energy to do that counting process, especially as you get to the larger quantities. So my definition of fluency now is “getting it right without needing to do that hard work like counting.” Now, some people might say, well, we just want them to have ’em memorized. But in my research, I’ve learned that a lot of very fluid adults don’t always have every fact memorized. In fact, if you ask a room full of adults, what’s seven plus nine, you might learn that they can all get it correct quickly, quickly…but they don’t all have it memorized. And so when you ask them, “How did you get that?” Many of them will say, “Well, I just gave one from the 7 to the 9 and I know that 10 plus 6 is 16.”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (08:53):

That’s such an important distinction. My brain literally just did that actually!

Valerie Henry (08:58):

<laugh> Right? <laugh> But you’re fluid with it, because it doesn’t take you much cognitive energy at all.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (09:05):

Right.

Valerie Henry (09:07):

So now we have “correct without needing to put that cognitive energy,” which usually means that you’re counting. And then the third thing is “relatively quickly,” so that you’re not spending 15 seconds trying to figure it out. Even that part-whole strategy approach can be done really quickly, almost instantaneously. Or it can take a long time. So if a student can get the answer correct within, you know, three or four seconds— is I’m pretty generous—I figure that they’re pretty darn fluent with that fact. So that’s my three-part definition of these basics, fluency.

Dan Meyer (09:55):

I love the distinction between getting it correct and getting it quick. It’s possible to be quick with wrong answers. It’s possible to be like, “Those are separate components there.” And I echo Bethany’s appreciation for this third option in between knowing it instantaneously through memorization and muscling through it. But there’s like a continuum there of how much energy it took you to come up with it that all feels extremely helpful.

Valerie Henry (10:21):

And you know, one of the things that I’ve noticed is that when kids are pressured to come up with those instantaneous answers, they often default to guessing and get it wrong.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (10:30):

Mm, yeah.

Valerie Henry (10:30):

So that’s one of the things that I’ve learned is that as we’re trying to help students develop fluency, it’s important to start with building their conceptual understanding of what it means to do, you know, 3 times 9 and what the correct answer is, maybe using manipulatives or representations of some sort. Not skip-counting! I really have found that skip-counting just perpetuates itself in many students’ minds and that they never stop skip-counting, which means they’re putting in not very much mental energy if it’s 2 times 3 but a ton of mental energy if it’s 7 times 8. Because frankly, it’s really hard to skip count by sevens. And by eights.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (11:18):

I can get to 14 and then I’m like, wait, wait, what was next? Right? No, no, no…21! What do you feel are some misconceptions that maybe teachers, maybe parents have about fluency in math?

Valerie Henry (11:30):

I think maybe one of the first ones is that if students count or skip-count, their answers repetitively over and over and over and over, that they’re bound to memorize them. And the study that I did back in 2004, I actually had a school that had decided that they were going to do time tests with their students every day, all year. And that undoubtedly by the end of the year, those students would be fluent.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:06):

And to clarify by time test, you mean like, sit down, pencil, paper, ready, go, worksheet kind of thing.

Valerie Henry (12:15):

Yes.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (12:16):

Some of us might remember quite vividly.

Valerie Henry (12:18):

<laugh> Very vividly. And you know, you have to get it done within a certain amount of time. So they made it fun for the students. Apparently the students enjoyed it. I was a little leery about that, but in the end, when I went and checked on the students and I did one-on-one assessments with half of the students in every class that were randomly selected so that I could get a sense of where they were with their fluency—and these were first graders—they basically had nothing memorized. They were simply counting as fast as they possibly could. And, you know, mostly getting the right answers. But they had not memorized. So that’s one of the myths, I think, is that repetitive practice of counting gets you to memorization.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (13:10):

If I put it in front of you enough times, you’ll become fluent.

Valerie Henry (13:14):

Right, right. Now these students didn’t really get any instruction, any help learning these. They just simply tested over and over and over. So that’s another thing that I think is a misconception. It’s that if we test students, but don’t really teach them fluency, then they’re going to become fluent. If we just test them every Friday or that kind of thing. And that they’ll learn them at home. But really what that means is a few lucky kids who have parents who have the time and the energy and the background to know how to help will take that job on at home. Not that many students are really that fortunate.

Dan Meyer (14:01):

It’s almost like the traditional approach, or the approach you’re describing, confuses process and product. It says, “Well, the product is that eventually fluent students will be able to do something like this, see these problems and answer them, answer them quickly,” and says, “Well, that must be the process then as well; let’s give them that products a whole lot.” But as I hear you describe fluency with bunny ears on shoelaces, there’s these images and approaches and techniques that require a very active teacher presence to support the development of it. That’s just kind of interesting to me.

Valerie Henry (14:35):

My initial project, the pilot project that I tried, was to simply ask teachers to follow five key principles. And the first one was to do something in the classroom every day for—I told them, even if you’ve only got five or 10 minutes, work on fluency for five or 10 minutes a day, and let’s see what happens. So that was one key element was just to teach it and to give students opportunities to get what the research calls for when you’re trying to memorize, which is actually immediate feedback. When I talk about immediate feedback with my student teachers, I say, “I’m talking about within one or two seconds of trying a problem, and then sort of immediately knowing, getting feedback of whether you got the answer right or not so that your brain can kind of gain that confidence. ‘Oh, not only did I come up with an answer, but somebody’s telling me it’s the correct answer.’”

Dan Meyer (15:38):

There’s a lot of apps now in the digital world that offer students questions about arithmetic or other kinds of mathematical concepts and give immediate feedback of a sort: the feedback of “You’re right; you’re wrong” sort. Is that effective fluency development, in your view?

Valerie Henry (15:57):

I haven’t heard and I haven’t seen them being super-effective. The ways I think about this are “Immediate feedback isn’t the only thing we need.” Probably one of the biggest things that we need is for students to develop strategies. And this is one of the other things I’ve learned from international research, from countries that do have students who become very fluent very early, is that they don’t shoot straight for memorization, but they go through this process of taking students from doing some counting and then quickly moving them to trying to use logic. So, “Hey, you really are confident that 2 + 2 is 4; so now let’s use that to think about 2 + 3.” Actually, as an algebra teacher, I would much rather have students that have a combination of memorization and these strategies, than students who’ve only memorized. Isn’t that interesting that my most successful algebra students were good strategy thinkers. Not just good memorizers.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (17:09):

So you mentioned there were five that kind of helped root this idea in like, “What can teachers do? What is the best thing that teachers can do to support with fact fluency?” So, everyday was key.

Valerie Henry (17:22):

Then the next principle that I really focus on is switching immediately to the connected subtractions so that students—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (17:33):

Not waiting until you’ve gotten all the way through addition. But making “Ooh!”

Valerie Henry (17:38):

Totally. And I didn’t do that the first year. And when we looked at the results of the assessments at the end of the year, we realized that our students were so much weaker in subtraction than addition. So the following pilot year, we tried this other approach of doing subtraction right after the students had developed some fluency with that small chunk of addition. And we got such better subtraction results.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (18:11):

What are the other principles?

Valerie Henry (18:13):

The biggest one is to use these strategies. So the strategies makes the third. And then the fourth I would say is to go from concrete to representational to abstract.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (18:27):

Don’t put away those manipulatives. Don’t put away those tools.

Valerie Henry (18:31):

Oh, so important to come back to them for multiplication and division. And my fifth principle is to wait on assessment. To use it as true assessment, but not race to start testing before students have had a chance to go through this three-phase process. Which is conceptual understanding with manipulatives; building strategies, usually with representations; and then working on building some speed until it’s just that natural fluency.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (19:07):

I wanna say thank you so much for offering your really learned perspective, because you have not only done the research, but seen it in action and seen how shifting our notions of fluency and what fluency can be and what a powerful foundation it can be for all mathematicians. Really, that shift is so powerful. And I appreciate you sharing it with our listeners and with us. So we’re so excited that we got to talk with you today, Val—

Dan Meyer (19:35):

Thank you, Dr. Henry.

Valerie Henry (19:37):

You’re welcome!

Dan Meyer (19:41):

With us now we have Graham Fletcher and Tracy Zager, a couple of people who understand fluency at a very deep and classroom level. I wanna introduce them and get their perspective on what we’re trying to solve here with fluency. So Graham Fletcher has served in education in a lot of different roles: as a classroom teacher, math coach, math specialist, and he’s continually seeking new and innovative ways to support students and teachers in their development of conceptual understanding in elementary math. He’s the author, along with Tracy, of Building Fact Fluency, a fluency kit we’ll talk about, and openly shares so much of his wisdom and resources at gfletchy.com. Tracy Johnson Zager is a district math coach who loves to get teachers hooked on listening to kids’ mathematical ideas. She is a co-author of this toolkit, Building Fact Fluency, and the author of Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You’d Had: Ideas and Strategies from Vibrant Classrooms. Tracy also edits professional books for teachers at Stenhouse Publishers, including, yours truly. Thank you for all that insight, Tracy, and support on the book.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (20:49):

Dan and I were talking at the beginning of the episode about things we feel like, “Hey, I’m fluent in that. I’m fluent in that.”

Dan Meyer (20:55):

Just very curious: What’s something you would like to get fluent in outside of the world of mathematics, let’s say?

Tracy Zager (21:00):

I’ll say understanding the teenage brain, as the parent of a 13-year-old and 15-year-old. That’s the main thing I’m working on becoming fluent in!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (21:10):

Ooh!

Dan Meyer (21:13):

A language fluency, perhaps. All right, Graham. How about you?

Graham Fletcher (21:16):

For me typing, it’s always been an Achilles heel of mine. So voice-to-text has been my friend. But it’s also been my nemesis in much of my texting here and working virtually over the last couple years. So yeah, typing.

Dan Meyer (21:33):

Do you folks have some way of helping us understand the difference in how fluency is handled by instructors and by learners?

Tracy Zager (21:40):

I would say that the lay meaning of fluency is definitely a little different than what we mean in the math education realm. When we’re talking about math fact fluency, which is just one type of fluency. So you gotta think about procedural fluency and computational fluency; there are lots of types of fluency in math. And Graham and I had the luxury of really focusing in specifically on math fact fluency. We’re looking at kind of a subset of the procedural fluency. So the words you hear in all the citations are accurate, efficient, and flexible. There’s this combination of kids get the right answer in a reasonable amount of time and with a reasonable amount of work and they can match their strategy or their approach to the situation. That’s where that flexibility comes in. And there’s like lots more I wanna say about that about sort of…I think one issue that comes up around fluency is that people are in a little bit of a rush. So they tend to think of the fluency as this automaticity or recall of known facts without having to think about it. And that is part of the end goal, but that’s not the journey to fluency. So this is one of the things that Graham and I thought about a lot was the path to fluency. The goal here it’s that student in middle school who’s learning something new doesn’t have to expend any effort to gather that fact. And they might do it because they’ve done it so many different ways that they’ve got it, and now they just know it, or they might be like my friend who’s a mathematician who still, if you say, “Six times 8,” she thinks in her head, “Twelve, 24, 48…” and she does this double-double-double associative property strategy. And it’s so efficient, you would never know. And that’s totally great. That’s fine. That’s not slowing her down. That’s not providing a drag in the middle of a more complex problem or new learning. So we’re really focused on having elementary school students be able to enter the middle and high school standards without having that pull out of the new thinking.

Graham Fletcher (23:53):

And as I think about that, I think about how so many students will memorize their facts, but then they haven’t memorized them with understanding. So that when they move into middle school and they move into high school, it’s almost like new knowledge and new understanding that’s applied from a stand-alone skill.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (24:10):

So something that felt really unique to me, Graham, as I was diving into the toolkit, is your use of images, Tracy, Graham, is the way that you use images to help students notice and wonder to start making sense of these quantities and the decomposition of numbers using images. Can you talk a little bit about how images played a part in the way that you think about this building a fact fluency?

Graham Fletcher (24:41):

What I realized is so many times when we approach math with just naked numbers with so many of our elementary students, the numbers aren’t visible. The quantities. They can’t see them; they can’t move them. They’re just those squiggly figures that we were talking about earlier on. So how is it that we make the quantities visible, to where students feel as if they can grab an apple and move it around? Because a lot of times we start with the naked numbers and then if kids don’t get the naked numbers, then we kind of backfill it. But what would happen if we start with the images? And then from there, these rich, flourishing mathematical conversations develop from the images. And I think that was the premise and the goal of the toolkit.

Tracy Zager (25:22):

When you look at how fact fluency has traditionally been taught, it’s all naked numbers. And sometimes we wrote ’em sideways. Like, that’s it. That was our variety of task type. Right? Sometimes it’s vertical; sometimes it’s horizontal. And that was it. And I’ve just known way too many kids who couldn’t find a hook to hang their hat on with that. It didn’t connect to anything. And so part of why I knew Graham was the perfect person for this project was his strength in multimedia photography, art, video. And so we started from this idea of contexts that for each lesson string in the toolkit, there’s some kind of context. An everyday object, arranged in some kind of a way that reveals mathematical structure and invites students to notice the properties. So we start with images of everyday objects: tennis balls, paint pots…um, help me out; here are a million of them. Crayons—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (26:18):

Crayons, markers.

Tracy Zager (26:18):

Shoes, right? Sushi, origami paper, all kinds of things in the different toolkits. So there’s a series of images or a three-act task or both around those everyday objects, and then story problems grounded in that context. And then there are images with mathematical tools that bring out different ideas, but relate in some way to the image talks. And we do all of that before we get to the naked number talk. Which we do, and by the time you get to the number talk, it’s pretty quick, ’cause they’ve been reasoning about cups of lemonade. And now when you give them the actual numerals, they’re all over it.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:03):

I have to say too, as somebody who—particularly in middle school—navigated math anxiety, we recently talked with Allison Hintz and Anthony Smith about their amazing book Mathematizing Children’s Literature.

Tracy Zager (27:14):

Yay!

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (27:14):

And I was explaining, like, if I sat down at the beginning of a math class and my teacher opened a picture book and said, “We’re gonna start here,” I felt my whole body relax. And if we start with this image, if we start with just looking at an image and making sense of an image, I feel like that could be such a powerful touchstone for all the work you do from there.

Tracy Zager (27:41):

That’s core. That’s a core design principle, is that invitational access. There are no barriers to entry. There’s nothing to decode. There’s nothing formal. We’ve been learning from Dan for years about this, right? Of starting with the informal and then eventually layering in the formal. I was in a class in Maine where they were doing an image talk and it’s these boxes of pencils. It’s a stack of boxes of pencils and they’re open and you can see there are 10 pencils in each box. And so there are five boxes of pencils each with 10 pencils in it. And then the next image is 10 boxes of pencils and each box is half full. So now it’s 10 boxes each with five. And the kids are talking and talking and then the third image, I think there are seven boxes each with 10 pencils in it. And she said, “What do you think the next picture’s gonna be?” And this girl said, “You just never know with these people!” <laugh> I dunno!”

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (28:37):

That’s kinda true. Knowing you both, it’s kinda true.

Tracy Zager (28:42):

Like if it’s seven boxes with 10 in it, one kid said, I think it’s gonna be 14 boxes of five. And other kids are like, I think it’s gonna be 10 boxes with seven. And they start talking about which of those there are and the relationships between—

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (28:58):

But they’re making sense of numbers!

Tracy Zager (28:59):

Totally. So all the kids felt invited. They can offer something up. They’re noticing and wondering about that image. They’re talking about it in whatever informal language or home language that they speak. And that was core to us. That was a huge priority, because honestly, one of the motivations to talk about fluency is that it’s always been this gatekeeper. It has served to keep kids out of meaningful math. Particularly kids from marginalized or historically excluded communities. So they’re back at the round table, doing Mad Minutes, while the more advantaged kids are getting to do rich problem solving. And so, we thought, what if we could teach fact fluency through rich problem solving that everybody could access? That was like square one for us.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (29:45):

That’s huge.

Dan Meyer (29:46):

That’s great to hear. What’s been helpful for me is to understand that students who are automatic, that’s just kind of what’s on the surface of things. And that below that might be some really robust kind of foundation or scaffolding that bleeds to a larger building being built, or it might be just really rickety and not offer a sturdy place to build farther up. It’s been really exciting to hear that. I wonder if you’d comment for a moment about, in the digital age and—I’m at Desmos and our sponsors are Amplify and we all work in the digital world quite a bit. There are a lot of what report to be solutions to the fluency issue, to developing fluency in the digital world. Just lots and lots of them. Some that are quite well used, others that are just like X, Y, or Z app on the market. You can find something. Do you have perspectives on these kinds of digital fluency building apps? Like, what about them works or doesn’t work? Let us know. Graham, how about you? And then Tracy, I’d love to hear your thoughts too.

Graham Fletcher (30:47):

Yeah, I think that’s a great question, ’cause there’s a lot of shiny bells and whistles out there right now that can really excite a lot of teachers. But I always come back to what works for me as a classroom teacher is probably gonna work in a digital world as well. So what are the things that I love and honor most about being in front of students, and how can I capture that in that virtual world? I think one of the things that really helps students make connections is coherence. I think coherence, especially when you leave students for—you don’t get to talk with them after the lesson is done—so I think about how we can purposefully sequence things through a day-to-day basis. I think coherence is something that gets really lost when we talk about fluency, especially with whether it be digital or whether it be print, because what ends up happening is we say, “OK, we have all these strategies we need to teach,” and it becomes a checklist. So how is it that we can just provide students the opportunity to play around in a space, whether it be digital or in person, but in a meaningful way that allows them the time and the space and that area to breathe and think, but be coherent. And connecting those lessons along the way. And I think coherence is one thing that a lot of the times it’s harder to—when we’re in the weeds, it’s so hard and difficult to zoom back out and say, “Do all these lessons connect? How do they intentionally connect? And how do they purposefully connect?” And without coherence, everything’s kind of broken down into that granular level. So when looking at—I think about Desmos and I think about the Toolkit and I think about how Tracy and I talked a lot about, “Well, this, does it connect with the context problem, does it connect with the image talk, or the lessons? Like, how does it all connect and how are we providing students an opportunity to make connections between the day-to-day instruction and lessons that we tackle?”

Tracy Zager (32:44):

I’m reminded of a conversation that Dan, you and I had a long time ago, in Portland, Maine, in a bar. I’ll just be honest. <laugh> And we were talking about how, in the earlier days of Desmos, you were stressed out by what you saw, which was kids one-on-one, on a device, in a silent room. And you were like, no, this is not it. This is not what technology is here to serve. We can do so many things better using technology appropriately, but we can’t lose talk and we can’t lose relationships and we can’t lose formative assessment and teachers listening to kids and kids listening to each other and helping each other understand their thinking. Right? So when I think about the tech that’s out there for fact fluency, most of it is gonna violate all rules I have around time testing. So that a whole bunch of it, I would just toss on that premise. They’re really no different than flashcards. It’s just flashcards set in junkyard heaps. Or, you know, underground caverns. Or with a volcano or whatever. It’s the same thing. There are some lovely visuals—I’m thinking of Berkeley Everett’s Math Flips. Those are really pretty. Mathigon has some really nice stuff that’s digital. And I think that those resources invite you to kind of ponder and notice things and talk about them. All the tools that we design in the toolkit are designed to get people talking to each other, and give teachers opportunities to pull alongside kids and listen in and understand where they are. For example, our games, we didn’t design the games to be played digitally, even though you could, and people did during COVID, because we want kids on the rug, next to each other, on their knees; I’ve seen kids like across tables. I was in a school recently where a kid was like, “I hope you believe in God, ’cause you’re going…!” You know what I mean? <laugh>. Like they’re all pumped up.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (34:41):

They’re invested!

Tracy Zager (34:45):

They’re psyching each other up and down and they’re interacting and it’s social and the teacher’s walking around and she’s listening to the games. And they don’t actually need any bells and whistles. They need dice and they need counters and they need this game that is actually a game. In all of our conversations, games have to actually be games. Games cannot be “roll and record.” Games have to involve strategy. They have to be fun. So in designing those games, we didn’t feel like it brought any advantage to make that a digital platform. But things that did bring advantages digitally, like the ability to project these beautiful images or to use short video in the classroom, that really was a value-add that enabled us to do something different in math class than we had done before, and to get kids talking in a different way than they ever had before. When I think about fluency, historically, if you say like, “OK, it’s time to practice our math facts,” you hear a lot of groans. And when I see a Building Fact Fluency classroom and I say, “OK, it’s BFF time!” There’s like a “YEAAAAHHH!” You know? And so that’s what we’re after.

Graham Fletcher (35:47):

It’s all about kids, really, for us. And I think at the heart of it, we made all the decisions with teachers and kids at the forefront of it.

Tracy Zager (35:55):

I know of high schoolers who are newcomers, who have experienced very little formal education, and speak in other languages, are using it as high schoolers, because it involves language and math and all the deep work in the properties and it’s accessible, but it’s also not at all condescending or patronizing. Like we designed it to be appropriate for older kids. So that’s just something that I think we’re both really proud of. One thing we thought a lot about, especially in the multiplication-division kit is how a classroom teacher could use it and a coordinating educator in EL, Title, special education, intervention could also use it because there’s so much in it, that students could get to be experts, if they got extra time in it, using something that’s related and would give them additional practice. So they could play a game a little bit earlier than the rest of the classes. And they could come in already knowing about that game, or they could do a related task. We have all these optional tasks that no classroom teacher would ever have time to teach it all. So the special educator could use it and have kids doing a Same and Different or a True/False, or some of the optional games. And then the work in both special education and general education could connect.

Dan Meyer (37:20):

I just wanna say that this is an area that for so many students, as you’ve said, Tracy, it presents a barrier. It’s a very emotionally fraught area of mathematics. And we really appreciate the wisdom you brought here. And just the care you’ve brought to the product itself. Your knowledge of teaching, knowledge of math, and yeah, especially a love for students feels like it’s really infused throughout Building Fact Fluency. If our listeners want to know more outside of this podcast, outside of the product itself, where can they find your words, your voice? Where you folks at these days? Tell ’em, Graham would you?

Graham Fletcher (37:57):

You can find us at Stenhouse, Building Fact Fluency. And then Tracy and I, currently playing around, sharing ideas a lot on Twitter, under the hashtag #BuildingFactFluency. That’s kind of where we can all come together and share ideas. And then also on the Facebook community, where there’s lots of teachers sharing ideas.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (38:19):

If you were to ask our listeners like, “Hey, if you wanna keep thinking about this, here’s something you could try or here’s something you could go do,” what could be a challenge that we could share that could help us continue this conversation?

Graham Fletcher (38:35):

Online you can actually download a full lesson string. And a lesson string is a series of activities and resources that are purposefully connected. You can pick one or two of those from the Stenhouse web site, Building Fact Fluency. You can try the game. You can try one of those strategy-based games. You can try an image talk and just see how it goes. And just share and reflect back, whether on Twitter or on Facebook. But it’s kind of there, if you wanna give it a whirl. And as Tracy was sharing, even if you’re a middle-school teacher or a high-school teacher, we really tried to think about those middle-school and high-school students keeping it grade level-agnostic. Just so every student has those opportunities for those mathematical conversations. So download a lesson string and give it a whirl, and we’d love to hear how it goes.

Dan Meyer (39:25):

Bethany and I will be working the same challenge with people in our life.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:29):

Yes.

Dan Meyer (39:29):

Enjoying some fact fluency with people in our homes, perhaps. We’ll see. And we’ll be sharing the results in the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group. Graham and Tracy, thanks so much for being here. It was such a treat to chat with you both.

Bethany Lockhart Johnson (39:42):

I love learning with you and just helping to shift this idea of fluency into something that can be accessible and powerful and positive.

Stay connected!

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We’ll also share new and exciting free resources for your classroom every month.

What Valerie Henry says about math

“A lot of very fluent adults don’t always have every fact memorized. ”

– Val Henry

Meet the guest

Valerie Henry has been a math educator since 1986. She taught middle school math for 17 years and has worked as a lecturer at University of California Irvine since 2002. After doing her 2004 dissertation research on addition/subtraction fluency in first grade, Valerie created FactsWise, a daily mini-lesson approach that simultaneously develops  fluency,  number sense, and algebraic thinking. Additionally, she has provided curriculum and math professional development for K-12 teachers throughout her career, working with individual schools, districts, county offices of education, Illustrative Mathematics, the SBAC Digital Library, and the UCI Math Project.

An older person with short gray hair and glasses, wearing a blue sweater, is outdoors with greenery and a fence in the background.
Podcast cover for "Math Teacher Lounge" with Bethany Lockhart Johnson and Dan Meyer; bold text on orange and teal semicircle background.

About Math Teacher Lounge: The podcast

Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math educators. In each episode co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics you care about.

Join the Math Teacher Lounge Facebook group to continue the conversation, view exclusive content, interact with fellow educators, participate in giveaways, and more!

Inspiring the next generation of South Carolina scientists, engineers, and curious citizens

Amplify Science is an engaging new core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.

Amplify Science was developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify.

Collage showing students engaged in classroom science activities and two scientific illustrations: a cheetah in foliage and a diagram of clouds and raindrops above a hill.

Our Instructional model

The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.

TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.

READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.

WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.

VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.

Explore the Digital Teacher’s Guide

When you’re ready to review, click the orange button below and use your provided login credentials to access the Amplify Science Digital Teacher’s Guide. If you need login credentials, contact Jeff Rutter, jrutter@amplify.com.

Resources to support your review

Scope and sequence

GRADE
UNIT
Kindergarten
  • Needs of Plants and Animals
  • Pushes and Pulls
  • Sunlight and Water
Grade 1 
  • Animal and Plant Defenses
  • Light and Sound
  • Spinning Earth
Grade 2 
  • Plant and Animal Relationships
  • Properties of Materials
  • Changing Landforms
Grade 3 
  • Balancing Forces
  • Inheritance and Traits
  • Environments and Survival
  • Weather and Climate
Grade 4 
  • Energy Conversions
  • Vision and Light
  • Earth’s Features
  • Waves, Energy, and Information
Grade 5 
  • Patterns of Earth and Sky
  • Modeling Matter
  • The Earth System
  • Ecosystem Restoration
Grade
Units

Grade 6

  • Launch: Microbiome
  • Metabolism
  • Metabolism Engineering Internship
  • Thermal Energy
  • Plate Motion
  • Plate Motion Engineering Internship
  • Rock Transformations
  • Weather Patterns
  • Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Grade 7

  • Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
  • Phase Change
  • Phase Change Engineering Internship
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Earth’s Changing Climate
  • Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Populations and Resources
  • Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Grade 8

  • Launch: Geology on Mars
  • Earth, Moon, and Sun
  • Light Waves
  • Force and Motion
  • Force and Motion Engineering Internship
  • Traits and Reproduction
  • Natural Selection
  • Natural Selection Engineering Internship
  • Evolutionary History

South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021

Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support full coverage of the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021.

Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:

  • Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the  South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021; 
  • The standard being addressed with the activities; 
  • The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and 
  • PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.

Standard: MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
Recommended placementThermal Energy unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials“Liquid Oxygen”
By reading the article “Liquid Oxygen,” which describes how the relationship between attraction and kinetic energy determines when a substance changes phase, students extend their understanding of the possible effects of adding or removing thermal energy to include changes in state (phase). Oxygen is one of the most common elements in the world, but most people are only familiar with oxygen in the gas phase. Because oxygen molecules are only weakly attracted to one another, condensing oxygen is difficult. This article introduces students to molecular attraction and discusses its role in phase change, including how it can be used to turn oxygen from a gas to a liquid.
Instructions:
Download PDFs of the “Liquid Oxygen” and distribute it to students. Before they begin reading, remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines. 

Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placementWeather Patterns unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials“Harvesting Sunlight”, “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice”
After investigating weather patterns, which includes a focus of the effects of energy from sunlight, students extend their learning about light by reading three articles about light and other waves.
“Harvesting Sunlight:” Students read this article to learn about the types of light from the sun that plants use for photosynthesis. The article describes how the sun emits all types of light, but plants can only use certain types of visible light for photosynthesis, mostly red and blue light. Plants also absorb other types of light, and these types of light affect plants in different ways. Students use this information to gather evidence that there are different types of light that can affect a material in different ways.
“Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream:” Students read this article to learn about how waves are transmitted. Explosions that would be deafening on Earth are silent in space. This is because sound is produced by sound waves and, unlike light waves, sound waves need matter to travel through. Reading about this phenomenon helps students understand the similarities and differences between mechanical and electromagnetic waves.
“Making Waves at Swim Practice:” A practice for the school swim team provides an everyday context for discussing light waves and sound waves in this engaging article. First, the article explores sound waves traveling through different materials–the air, the water of the pool, and even a metal poolside bench. Students discover that sound waves travel at different speeds in different materials. The later part of the article discusses light waves, which also travel at different speeds in different materials. As light waves move from one material to another, they change speed and bend. This bending of light waves is called refraction, and it explains why objects that are partly in the water and partly out of the water (such as the legs of a person sitting on the side of a pool) appear ripply and bent.
Instructions:
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the  “Harvesting Sunlight,” “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream,” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines. 

Standard: MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placementHarnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 3.4, after Activity 1
Materials“Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Static Electricity”
After concluding their investigations of energy transfers and conversions, students read two articles that introduce the topic of forces that act at a distance.
“Earth’s Geomagnetism:” What makes a compass needle point north, no matter what? This article introduces students to Earth’s geomagnetic field and the field lines scientists use to show its direction.
“Painting with Static Electricity:” This article gives students the opportunity to learn about electrostatic fields and forces in the context of spray painting without making a mess. Electrostatic painting systems use electrostatics to draw spray paint toward the object being painted, and nowhere else. Painters charge the object they are painting with a negative charge and the paint with a positive charge. The opposite charges are attracted to one another, causing the paint to move toward the object. This surprising use of electrostatics saves time and paint and keeps things tidy!
Instructions
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Electricity” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines. 

What’s included

Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Illustration of the indirect effects of overfishing on northern benguela jelly populations displayed on a laptop screen.

Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:

  • Record data
  • Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
  • Construct explanations and arguments

Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.

Collection of educational books from 'amplify science' on topics including ocean atmosphere, matter and energy ecosystems, and insect interactions, displayed in various angles.

Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:

  • Conduct hands-on investigations
  • Engage in active reading and writing activities
  • Participate in discussions
  • Record observations
  • Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
A digital illustration showcasing a laptop and a tablet displaying complex data analysis software interfaces with graphs and heatmaps.

Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:

  • Classroom Slides
  • Detailed lesson plans
  • Unit and chapter overview documentation
  • Differentiation strategies
  • Standards alignments
  • In-context professional development
A laptop displaying a website about Mars exploration with a brochure next to it. Both screens show Mars-related images.

Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:

  • Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
  • Print classroom display materials
  • Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
A perforated rectangular board, three small containers with different powders, a black battery holder with red wires, and three colored alligator clips are arranged on a white background.

Remote and hybrid learning supports

A person sitting at a desk using a laptop, with a bookshelf containing books, a fish tank, and a soccer ball nearby.

Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units. 

Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.   

Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:

  • Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
  • Overviews to send home to families.

Student materials are available in two formats:

  • @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
  • Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.

Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.

Looking for help?

Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support

Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:

  • Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
  • Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
  • Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
  • Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more

To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com

Timely technical and program support

Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.

For your most urgent questions:

  • Use our live chat within your program
  • Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969

For less urgent questions:

Contact us

Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440

Cathy McMillan
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904

San Diego Caregivers — Welcome to Amplify Desmos Math!

Welcome to the Amplify Desmos Math Caregiver Hub for San Diego USD. We’re excited to partner with San Diego USD teachers, principals, and district leaders to provide your student with exceptional opportunities to learn math. We designed this hub to help you in supporting your student along their math journey this year.

Introducing Amplify Desmos Math

Amplify Desmos Math is a new core math curriculum built for grades 6, 7, 8. Designed to help students learn math in a way, Amplify Desmos Math uses a student-centered approach to instruction, which has been proven to significantly increase math learning.

In every lesson, Amplify Desmos Math poses engaging and relevant problems to solve, giving students daily opportunities to think critically, work collaboratively, and actively participate in their own learning.

Amplify Desmos Math was built upon the highly rated Illustrative Mathematics curricula: IM K-12 Math™️, which earned an all-green score on EdReports.

About student-centered math instruction

Student-centered instruction may look different from the way students have learned math for decades, and maybe even the way you learned math. Instead of memorizing formulas and tricks, student-centered learning focuses on giving student opportunities to figure out how math works. Plus, research shows that students and teachers alike prefer this method, and teachers report that student-centered instruction has helped their students learn more math.

This way of learning helps students:

  • Understand how math concepts work.
  • Remember what they learn in class and apply their knowledge to new situations.
  • Perform better on standardized tests and have more growth in their grades than their peers who learn through other methods.
  • Learn to communicate in writing and verbally, understand and challenge the opinions of others, and build confidence in solving new problems.
  • Develop key skills for success in college and the workplace, like using technology, completing projects independently and with others, and persevering through difficult problems.

What materials do students use?

Amplify Desmos Math supports blended learning with supportive print materials and a unique digital experience. In addition to a consumable Student Edition, students are invited to use our interactive online platform to solve open-ended tasks and challenging problems.

Here are some key highlights of the digital platform:

  • Digital activities that allow students to explore and make sense of math
  • Digital calculator and virtual manipulatives that support students of all levels
  • Immediate feedback that guides students in understanding challenging concepts
  • Ability to access instructional materials in English or Spanish

With access to their own special online dashboard, teachers can monitor students’ work in real time, making sure they get the exact support that they need at every part of the lesson.

What does a lesson look like?

Students in an Amplify Desmos Math classroom can be seen (and heard!) — asking questions, debating answers, justifying their thinking, grappling with problems, and working together and independently.

In class, your student will spend their time working on challenging problems while the teacher acts as a guide, highlighting different strategies for solving problems and helping students to understand the reasoning behind the math they do in class. Your student will be pushed to think more deeply about the math in their class as the teacher and other students question them on why their ideas make sense. Research has proven that this method helps students become better problem solvers, critical thinkers, and have a stronger conceptual understanding of what they are learning.

Here’s what a typical Amplify Desmos Math lesson includes:

  • Warm-up: A short, attention-getting problem to get students interested in the lesson
  • Activities: 1-3 mini-activities that challenge students’ problem-solving skills
  • Synthesis: Discussion to review and bring together the important concepts from the lesson
  • Exit Ticket and Reflection: Questions for students to show what they know from the lesson
  • Practice: Additional problems your student’s teacher may assign for classwork or homework

How can families support math learning at home?

Find the math in everyday life

Relate math to daily activities at home, whether it be baking, grocery shopping, or planning for a road trip. Your student can help you figure out the price of an item after a coupon, cut a recipe in half, or figure out how much gas you’ll need to make it to your destination. Encourage your student to point out ways that your family uses math in your daily tasks.

Review practice problems together

Your student’s teacher may assign practice problems at the end of each lesson for classwork or homework. Ask your student to walk you through how they solved each problem, or talk about any parts that were challenging for them.

Remember getting stuck is okay

Emphasize that getting stuck is part of the process and a necessary part of learning. Many students (and adults!) fear making mistakes, however, research shows that making mistakes helps your brain grow more. When your student gets stuck on a problem, encourage them to try different strategies, even if they are not sure if they are right.

Use our Unit Summaries for Families

We’ve created a Family Resource for every unit of the program that provides a summary of key concepts plus examples for how to work through problems.

Within each of the grade-level links below, you’ll find a Family Resource document for each unit, in both English and Spanish.

Unit 1: Area and Surface Area

Unit 2: Introducing Ratios

Unit 3: Rates and Percentages

Unit 4: Dividing Fractions

Unit 5: Arithmetic in Base Ten

Unit 6: Expressions and Equations

Unit 7: Rational Numbers

Unit 8: Data Sets and Distributions

Unit 1: Scale Drawings

Unit 2: Introducing Proportional Relationships

Unit 3: Measuring Circles

Unit 4: Percentages

Unit 5: Rational Number Arithmetic

Unit 6: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Unit 7: Angles, Triangles, and Prisms

Unit 8: Probability and Sampling

Unit 1: Rigid Transformations and Congruence

Unit 2: Dilations and Similarity

Unit 3: Linear Relationships

Unit 4: Linear Equations and Systems of Linear Equations

Unit 5: Functions and Volume

Unit 6: Exponents and Scientific Notation

Unit 7: Irrationals and the Pythagorean Theorem

Unit 8: Associations in Data

Note: The below links are for our Volume 2 units, which most students are working in currently. Additional units will be coming soon!

Unit 1: Coming Soon!

Unit 2: Coming Soon!

Unit 3: Fractions and Decimals

Unit 4: Expressions and Equations

Unit 5: Proportional Relationships

Unit 6: Percentages

Unit 7: Positive and Negative Numbers

Unit 8: Describe Data

Note: The below links are for our Volume 2 units, which most students are working in currently. Additional units will be coming soon!

Unit 1: Coming Soon!

Unit 2: Coming Soon!

Unit 3: Coming Soon!

Unit 4: Linear Relationships and Systems of Linear Equations

Unit 5: Functions

Unit 6: Associations in Data

Unit 7: Volume and Surface Area

Unit 8: Exponent and Scientific Notation

Unit 9: Pythagorean Theorem and Irrational Numbers 

Listen to our podcast

Our Math Teacher Lounge is a biweekly podcast created specifically for K–12 math teachers. In each episode, co-hosts Bethany Lockhart Johnson (@lockhartedu) and Dan Meyer (@ddmeyer) chat with expert guests, taking a deep dive into the math and educational topics.

From time-to-time, the topic of an episode is perfect for families. For example, the episode below features Dr. Marjorie Schaeffer. She discusses what causes math anxiety, math hacks, and how the right math technology can make an incredible impact in children and family members who struggle with math anxiety.

Listen today and don’t forget to grab your MTL study guide to track your learning and make the most of this episode!

Download Transcript

How do families access the program at home?

Your student will have access to all learning, practice, and assessment materials through the Amplify platform. Students can access the digital curriculum in school and at home by following these simple instructions.

  • Click the Amplify Desmos Math button.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter this username and password provided by your student’s teacher.
  • Select the desired grade level.

Welcome to Amplify Science 6–8!

Amplify Science is an engaging core curriculum designed for three-dimensional, phenomena-based learning.

With Amplify Science, Oregon students don’t just passively learn about science concepts. Instead, they take on the role of scientists and engineers to actively investigate and figure out real-world phenomena. They do this through a blend of cohesive and compelling storylines, hands-on investigations, collaborative discussions, literacy-rich activities, and interactive digital tools.

Two students, one black and one asian, smiling and studying together at a laptop in a classroom with other students in background.

Publisher presentation

The Lawrence Hall of Science

Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:

  • phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
  • A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
  • Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
  • An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Aerial view of the lawrence hall of science at the university of california, berkeley, showcasing the building and surrounding trees with a foggy city backdrop.

Proven to work

A pdf cover from wested titled "learning and literacy development together: initial results from a curriculum study," featuring an adult helping children with schoolwork in a classroom.

WestEd Randomized
Control Trial for Grade 1

Read More

Pdf cover titled "curriculum materials designed for the next generation science standards: initial results from gold standard research trials", published by wested.

WestEd Randomized
Control Trial for Grade 7

Read More

A teacher and students engage in a science activity around a table. The text promotes the Amplify Science K–8 curriculum, highlighting its focus on hands-on learning and real-world problem-solving.

Amplify Science NE
Grades K–5

Read More

Instructional model

The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

Do

First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.

Talk

Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.

Read

Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.

Write

Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.

Visualize

By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers
do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.

Flowchart depicting a critical thinking process with four circular nodes connected by arrows, each node representing a step: posing a real-world problem, exploring evidence, elaborating concepts, and evaluating claims.

Unit types

While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.

In grades 6–8:

  • One unit is a launch unit.
  • Three units are core units.
  • Two units are engineering internships.

Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.

Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.

Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.

Unit sequence

Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.

In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.

Three columns listing education curriculum topics for grades 6, 7, and 8, focusing on science themes such as microbiomes, mars geology, and harnessing human energy.

Program components

Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.

Amplify Science TG

Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.

A young person wearing gloves looks through a microscope at a table with laboratory supplies, including bottles, slides, and a tray, against a plain blue background.

More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.

Assorted office and household items displayed on a white background, including rubber bands, binder clips, cardboard, and sports balls.

Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.

Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.

Two booklets titled "El clima cambiante de la Tierra: la desaparición del hielo" and "Earth’s Changing Climate: Vanishing Ice" with landscape illustrations on the covers.

These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.

Amplify Science Classroom Slides

Full coverage of the Oregon Science Standards

Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the Oregon Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.

The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of Oregon’s standards. Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:

  • Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oregon Science Standards.
  • The standard being addressed with the activities.
  • The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit.
  • PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studied the nervous system.

Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.2

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies ocean currents.

Recommended placement: Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate unit, Lesson 2.1

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits

About this activity: In this activity, students read two short articles, one about current research on genes and proteins, and one about a scientist who is studying how the environment can affect our traits.

Recommended placement: Traits and Reproduction unit, Lesson 2.4

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Who Becomes a Space Scientist?

About this activity: In this activity, Students read a short article about a scientist who studies space.

Recommended placement: Geology on Mars unit, Lesson 3.1

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Who Becomes a Space Scientist?” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies how plants’ roots get water.

Recommended placement: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, Lesson 1.6

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Bringing Back the Buffalo

About this activity: In this activity, students change one competing population to try to decrease the other in the Sim, and read a short article about a scientist who studies buffalo.

Recommended placement: Populations and Resources unit, Lesson 3.2

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Bringing Back the Buffalo” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Rereading “A Continental Puzzle”

About this activity: In this activity, students reread “A Continental Puzzle” and think about how patterns were helpful to Wegener’s work.

Recommended placement: Plate Motion unit, Lesson 3.2

Materials:

Instructions: Direct students back to “A Continental Puzzle” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students re-read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies variation of traits in monkey populations.

Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 1.6

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Extinctions and Human Impacts

About this activity: The purpose of this lesson is for students to see how increases in human population and consumption of natural resources can negatively impact Earth’s systems.

Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 4.5

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Extinctions and Human Impacts” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Steno and the Shark

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about Nicolas Steno, a scientist from the 1600s whose studies of fossilized sharks’ teeth embedded in rock layers laid the foundation for the modern understanding of stratigraphy.

Recommended placement: Evolutionary History unit, Lesson 2.4

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Steno and the Shark” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Scale in the Solar System

About this activity: In this activity, students read and annotate the articles “Scale in the Solar System” and “The Solar System Is Huge.”

Recommended placement: Earth, Moon, and Sun unit, Lesson 1.2

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Scale in the Solar System” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Explore your print samples

With your Amplify Science print samples, you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.

A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:

It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.

Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!

Three laptop screens displaying educational content on earth's energy system, including diagrams and text annotations.
  • Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
  • Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson. What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.

A note about the Materials Kits:

Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.

Our unit-specific kits:

  • Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
  • Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
  • Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.

At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.

Access your digital samples

Explore as a teacher

Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.

  • Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the username: t.or68sci@tryamplify.net
  • Enter the password: Science5OR
  • Click the Science icon.
  • Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
  • Select any unit.

To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.

Explore as a student

Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.

  • Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below and bookmark it.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the username: s.or68sci@tryamplify.net
  • Enter the password: Science5OR
  • Click the Science icon.
  • Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
  • Select any unit.

Resources to support your review

Publisher presentation

The Lawrence Hall of Science

Developed by the science education experts at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science and the digital learning team at Amplify, our program features:

  • phenomena-based approach where students construct a complex understanding of each unit’s anchor phenomenon.
  • A blend of cohesive storylines, hands-on investigations, rich discussions, literacy-rich activities, and digital tools.
  • Carefully crafted units, chapters, lessons, and activities designed to deliver true 3-dimensional learning.
  • An instructional design that supports all learners in accessing all standards.
Amplify Science and Lawrence Hall of Science

Instructional model

The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

DO

First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit—from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.

TALK

Student-to-student discourse and full-class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.

READ

Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation and, importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.

WRITE

Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.

VISUALIZE

By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.

Program structure

Our cyclical lesson design ensures students receive multiple exposures to concepts through a variety of modalities. As they progress through the lessons within a unit, students build and deepen their understanding, increasing their ability to develop and refine complex explanations of the unit’s phenomenon.

It’s this proven program structure and lesson design that enables Amplify Science to address 100% of the NGSS, and support students in mastering the Oregon Science Standards.

Graphic showing a research process with four steps: spark intrigue with a real-world problem, explore evidence, explain and elaborate, and evaluate claims, connected in a cycle with arrows.

Unit types

While every unit delivers three-dimensional learning experiences and engages students in gathering evidence from a rich collection of sources, each unit also serves a unique instructional purpose.

In grades 6–8:

  • One unit is a launch unit.
  • Three units are core units.
  • Two units are engineering internships.

Launch units are the first units taught in each year of Amplify Science. The goal of the Launch unit is to introduce students to norms, routines, and practices that will be built on throughout the year, including argumentation, active reading, and using the program’s technology. For example, rather than taking the time to explain the process of active reading in every unit in a given year, it is explained thoroughly in the Launch unit, thereby preparing students to read actively in all subsequent units.

Core units establish the context of the unit by introducing students to a real-world problem. As students move through lessons in a Core unit, they figure out the unit’s anchoring phenomenon, gain an understanding of the unit’s disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices, and make linkages across topics through the crosscutting concepts. Each Core unit culminates with a Science Seminar and final writing activity.

Engineering Internship units invite students to design solutions for real-world problems as interns for a fictional company called Futura. Students figure out how to help those in need, from tsunami victims in Sri Lanka to premature babies, through the application of engineering practices. In the process, they apply and deepen their learning from Core units.

Unit sequence

Our lessons follow a structure that is grounded in regular routines while still being flexible enough to allow for a variety of learning experiences.

In fact, our multi-modal instruction offers more opportunities for students to construct meaning, and practice and apply concepts than any other program. What’s more, our modular design means our units can be flexibly arranged to support your instructional goals.

Three columns listing education curriculum topics for grades 6, 7, and 8, focusing on science themes such as microbiomes, mars geology, and harnessing human energy.

Program components

Available digitally and in print, our unit-specific reference guides are chock full of helpful resources, including scientific background knowledge, planning information and resources, color-coded 3-D Statements, detailed lesson plans, tips for delivering instruction, and differentiation strategies.

Amplify Science TG

Hands-on learning is an essential part of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. Students actively participate in science, playing the roles of scientists and engineers as they gather evidence, think critically, solve problems, and develop and defend claims about the world around them. Every unit includes hands-on investigations that are critical to achieving the unit’s learning goals.

A young person wearing gloves looks through a microscope at a table with laboratory supplies, including bottles, slides, and a tray, against a plain blue background.

More hands-on with Flextensions:
Hands-on Flextensions are additional, optional investigations that are included at logical points in the learning progression and give students an opportunity to dig deeper if time permits. These activities offer teachers flexibility to choose to dedicate more time to hands-on learning. Materials referenced in Hands-on Flextension activities will either be included in the unit kit or are easily sourced. Supporting resources such as student worksheets will be included as downloadable PDF files.

Our kits include enough materials to support 200 student uses. In other words, teachers can easily support all five periods and small groups of 4-5 students each. Plus, our unit-specific kits mean teachers just grab the tub they need and then put it all back with ease.

Amplify Science California supports 3-D learning with more materials than any other program.

Our digital Simulations and Practice Tools are powerful resources for exploration, data collection, and student collaboration. They allow students the ability to explore scientific concepts that might otherwise be invisible or impossible to see with the naked eye.

Available for every unit, our Student Investigation Notebooks contain instructions for activities and space for students to record data and observations, reflect on ideas from texts and investigations, and construct explanations and arguments.

In grades 6–8, one copy of the Student Investigation Notebook is included in each unit’s materials kit for use as a blackline master. Each notebook is also available as a downloadable PDF on the Unit Guide page of the digital Teacher’s Guide.

Two booklets titled "El clima cambiante de la Tierra: la desaparición del hielo" and "Earth’s Changing Climate: Vanishing Ice" with landscape illustrations on the covers.

These customizable PowerPoints are available for every lesson of the program and make delivering instruction a snap with visual prompts, colorful activity instructions, investigation set-up videos and animations, and suggested teacher talk in the notes section of each slide.

A laptop displays a PowerPoint presentation in presenter view, with slides about observing objects in plastic containers and related sensory instructions.

Full coverage of the Oregon Science Standards

Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As such, it aligns to the Oregon Science Standards, which were also borne out of the NGSS.

The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional activities that support full coverage of Oregon’s standards. Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:

  • Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the Oregon Science Standards.
  • The standard being addressed with the activities.
  • The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit.
  • PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studied the nervous system.

Recommended placement: Metabolism unit, Lesson 3.2

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Changed How We Think About Brain Cells” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies ocean currents.

Recommended placement: Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate unit, Lesson 2.1

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Underwater Currents” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits

About this activity: In this activity, students read two short articles, one about current research on genes and proteins, and one about a scientist who is studying how the environment can affect our traits.

Recommended placement: Traits and Reproduction unit, Lesson 2.4

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How the Environment Affects Our Traits” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Who Becomes a Space Scientist?

About this activity: In this activity, Students read a short article about a scientist who studies space.

Recommended placement: Geology on Mars unit, Lesson 3.1

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Who Becomes a Space Scientist?” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies how plants’ roots get water.

Recommended placement: Matter and Energy in Ecosystems unit, Lesson 1.6

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies How Plants Find Water Underground” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Bringing Back the Buffalo

About this activity: In this activity, students change one competing population to try to decrease the other in the Sim, and read a short article about a scientist who studies buffalo.

Recommended placement: Populations and Resources unit, Lesson 3.2

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Bringing Back the Buffalo” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Rereading “A Continental Puzzle”

About this activity: In this activity, students reread “A Continental Puzzle” and think about how patterns were helpful to Wegener’s work.

Recommended placement: Plate Motion unit, Lesson 3.2

Materials:

Instructions: Direct students back to “A Continental Puzzle” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students re-read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about a scientist who studies variation of traits in monkey populations.

Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 1.6

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Meet a Scientist Who Studies Variation in Monkey Populations” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Extinctions and Human Impacts

About this activity: The purpose of this lesson is for students to see how increases in human population and consumption of natural resources can negatively impact Earth’s systems.

Recommended placement: Natural Selection unit, Lesson 4.5

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Extinctions and Human Impacts” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Steno and the Shark

About this activity: In this activity, students read a short article about Nicolas Steno, a scientist from the 1600s whose studies of fossilized sharks’ teeth embedded in rock layers laid the foundation for the modern understanding of stratigraphy.

Recommended placement: Evolutionary History unit, Lesson 2.4

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Steno and the Shark” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Activity Title: Scale in the Solar System

About this activity: In this activity, students read and annotate the articles “Scale in the Solar System” and “The Solar System Is Huge.”

Recommended placement: Earth, Moon, and Sun unit, Lesson 1.2

Materials:

Instructions: Download the PDF “Scale in the Solar System” above and remind students of the Active Reading guidelines. Before students read the article, invite them to share prior experiences. Then have students complete the copymaster above.

Explore your print samples

Amplify Science physical samples can be found at the Hamersley Library at Western Oregon University. There you’ll find unit-specific Teacher’s References Guides and Student Investigation Notebooks for each grade level.

A note about the Teacher’s Reference Guides:

It’s important that your committee sees the full breadth and depth of our instruction. For that reason, we provided a copy of each of our unit-specific Teacher Reference Guides.

Rest assured that teachers do not use these robust reference guides for day-to-day teaching. For that, we have a hands-free TG!

A laptop screen shows an energy simulation, with surrounding text and diagrams explaining the Earth's system and energy flow.
  • Teacher Reference Guide: Unlike a typical TG that requires a series of supplemental books to support it, our encyclopedic reference guide is chock-full of everything a teacher needs to fully implement our program and the NGSS.
  • Ready-to-Teach Lesson Slides: For daily instruction, teachers need their hands free. That’s why we created ready-to-teach lesson slides for every single lesson What’s more, they are editable and include suggested teacher talk and point-of-use differentiation and other instructional tips. Click to learn more.

A note about the Materials Kits:

Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science, and is integrated into every unit. In order to make hands-on learning more manageable for busy teachers, Amplify Science materials are organized into unit-specific kits.

Stacked storage bins with labels, arranged neatly; caption notes they are a sample and may not reflect actual quantities or sizes.

Our unit-specific kits:

  • Include more materials — We give teachers enough materials to support 200 student uses.
  • Are more manageable — Unlike other programs that require large groups of students to share limited sets of materials, our kits include enough to support small groups of 4–5 students.
  • Include supportive videos — Each hands-on activity provides clear instructions for the teacher, with more complex activities supported by video demonstrations and illustrations.

At your request, we did not include our materials kits with our submissions samples. However, we did provide grade-specific lists of all materials included in each kit, which you can also find with the links below.

Access your digital samples

Explore as a teacher

Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a teacher.

  • Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the teacher username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
  • Click the Science icon.
  • Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
  • Select any unit.

To help familiarize yourself with navigating the digital platform, watch the below navigational video.

Explore as a student

Follow these instructions to explore the Amplify Science digital platform as a student.

  • Click the Access Amplify Science Platform button below.
  • Select Log in with Amplify.
  • Enter the student username and password found on your unique login flyer enclosed in your physical sample box.
  • Click the Science icon.
  • Click on the Grade Menu in the top center of the screen and select any grade.
  • Select any unit.

Resources to support your review

Oregon standards correlation for grades 6–8

QCD Science Adoption Criteria 2022 for grades 6-8

QCD IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8

Oregon Science IMET for grades 6-8 (Excel download)

Oregon QCD-IMET Citation guidance for grades 6-8

Research behind Amplify Science

Phenomena in grades 6–8

Program structure for grades 6–8

Active Reading in grades 6–8

Engineering in Amplify Science

Approaches to assessment in grades 6–8

Desmos Math 6–A1 correlations with Carnegie Math Texas

To view this protected page, enter the password below:



Eureka Math²

Level K

Module 1: Counting and Cardinality

Topic A: Classify to Make Categories and Count

Lesson 1: Compare objects based on their attributes.Connecting Cubes
Lesson 3: Classify objects into two categories and count.Skye’s Style

Topic B: Answer How Many Questions with Up to 5 Objects

Lesson 3: Sort by Same ColorMatching Groups

Topic C: Write Numerals and Create Sets of Up to 5 Objects

Lesson 10: Count out a group of objects to match a numeral.Designing Shoes with Skye

Topic E: Answer How Many Questions with Up to 10 Objects

Lesson 19: Organize, count, and represent a collection of objects.Investigate: Cafeteria Math
Lesson 20: Count objects in 5-group and array configurations and match to a numeral.Fingers as Math Tools
Lesson 23: Conserve number regardless of the order in which objects are counted.Moving and Grooving

Module 2: Two- and Three- Dimensional Shapes

Topic A: Analyze and Name Two-Dimensional Shapes

Lesson 1: Find and describe attributes of flat shapes.So Much Sorting
Lesson 2: Classify shapes as triangles or nontriangles.What’s That Shape Called?
Lesson 3: Classify shapes as circles, hexagons, or neither.What’s That Shape Called?
Lesson 4: Classify shapes as rectangles or nonrectangles, with square rectangles as a special case.Another Shape

Module 3: Comparison

Topic C: Compare Sets Within 10

Lesson 12: Relate more and fewer to length.More, Fewer, or the Same
Forest Friends
Lesson 13: Compare sets by using more than, fewer than, and the same number as.Fingers and Counters
Comparing Words

Module 4: Composition and Decomposition

Topic A: Explore Composition and Decomposition

Lesson 1: Compose flat shapes and count the parts.Investigate: Casey’s Town
Lesson 2: Decompose flat shapes and count the parts.How Many Objects?
Lesson 3: Decompose a group to identify parts and total.How Many Objects in Pictures?

Topic B: Record Composition and Decomposition

Lesson 5: Sort to decompose a number in more than one way.How Will You Count?
Lesson 6: Decompose a number in more than one way and record.Harry Explores the Ocean

Module 5: Addition and Subtraction

Topic A: Represent Addition

Lesson 1: Represent add to with result unknown story problems by using drawings and numbers.What Does It Mean to Add?

Topic B: Represent Subtraction

Lesson 8: Understand taking away as a type of subtraction.What Does It Mean to Subtract?

Topic C: Make Sense of Problems

Lesson 15: Identify the action in a problem to represent and solve it.The Bus Depot

Level 1

Module 1: Counting, Comparison, and Addition

Topic A: Count and Compare with Data

Lesson 2: Organize and represent data to compare two categories.Shapes Ying Saw

Module 2: Addition and Subtraction Relationships

Topic A: Reason About Take From Situations

Lesson 1: Represent result unknown problems and record as addition or subtraction number sentences.Packing for a Picnic
Lesson 3: Subtract 1 or subtract 1 less than the total.What’s the Difference?
Leaping Lily Pads!

Topic B: Relate and Distinguish Addition and Subtraction

Lesson 5: Use the Read–Draw–Write process to solve result unknown problems.Investigate: Let’s Grow!
Lesson 6: Represent and solve related addition and subtraction result unknown problems.Tutu’s Garden in Maui
Lesson 7: Count on or count back to solve related addition and subtraction problems.The Kalo Plants

Topic C: Find an Unknown Part in Change Unknown Problems

Lesson 8: Interpret and find an unknown change.Replanting Huli
Lesson 11: Represent and solve take from with change unknown problems.Helping Others
A Community Working Together

Module 3: Properties of Operations to Make Easier Problems

Topic B: Make Easier Problems to Add

Lesson 9: Make ten with either addend.Making 10
Kitten Coaster

Topic D: Reason about Ten as a Unit to Add or Subtract

Lesson 16: Identify ten as a unit.Same Number, Different Ways

Module 5: Place Value Concepts to Compare, Add, and Subtract

Topic A: Grouping Units in Tens and Ones

Lesson 2: Count a collection and record the total in units of tens and ones.Investigate: Game Points
Meeting Yara
Lesson 4: Represent a number in multiple ways by trading 10 ones for a ten.It’s a Match
Lesson 6: Add 10 or take 10 from a two-digit number.How Many Cubes?

Topic D: Addition and Subtraction of Tens

Lesson 15: Count on and back by tens to add and subtract.Boris’s Thimbles
Lesson 16: Use related single-digit facts to add and subtract multiples of ten.How Many Tens?

Level 2

Module 1: Place Value Concepts Through Metric Measurement and Data · Place Value, Counting, and Comparing Within 1,000

Topic A: Representing Data to Solve Problems

Lesson 3: Use information presented in a bar graph to solve put together and take apart problems.Exploring Within 10
Ways to Make 10
Lesson 4: Use information presented in a bar graph to solve compare problems.Awesome Aquariums

Topic C: Estimate, Measure, and Compare Lengths

Lesson 12: Model and reason about the difference in length.Lengths of Jungle Animals

Topic D: Solve Compare Problems by Using the Ruler as a Number Line

Lesson 15: Use a measuring tape as a number line to add efficiently.Investigate: Where Am I?
Time to Line Up!
What’s That Number?
Lesson 17: Represent and solve comparison problems by using measurement contexts.Greater Than, Less Than, or Equal to

Module 2: Addition and Subtraction Within 200

Topic A: Simplifying Strategies for Addition

Lesson 1: Reason about addition with four addends.Investigate: Activities at the Block Party

Module 5: Money, Data, and Customary Measurement

Topic A: Problem Solving with Coins and Bills

Lesson 1: Organize, count, and represent a collection of coins.Discovering Coins (Part 1)
Discovering Coins (Part 2)
Lesson 2: Use the fewest number of coins to make a given value.How Much Money?
Lesson 5: Use different strategies to make 1 dollar or to make change from 1 dollar.The Toy Stand
Lesson 3: Solve one- and two-step word problems to find the total value of a group of coins.The Craft Stand at the Block Party

Topic B: Use Customary Units to Measure and Estimate Length

Lesson 12: Identify unknown numbers on a number line by using the interval as a reference point.In Full Bloom

Topic C: Use Measurement and Data to Solve Problems

Lesson 15: Use measurement data to create a line plot.Messy Measurements
“Lesson 16: Create a line plot to represent data and ask and answer questions.
60 min
Bracelets and Wristbands

Level 3

Module 1: Multiplication and Division with Units of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10

Topic A: Conceptual Understanding of Multiplication

Lesson 2: Interpret equal groups as multiplication.Equal Groups

Topic C: Properties of Multiplication

Lesson 10: Demonstrate the commutative property of multiplication using a unit of 2 and the array model.Arrays of Flavor

Topic D: Two Interpretations of Division

Lesson 15: Model division as an unknown factor problem.It’s Chili in Here

Module 2: Place Value Concepts Through Metric Measurement

Topic A: Understanding Place Value Concepts Through Metric Measurement

Lesson 1: Connect the composition of 1 kilogram to the composition of 1 thousand.Investigate: Create a Photo Gallery

Topic C: Simplifying Strategies to Find Sums and Differences

Lesson 13: Collect and represent data in a scaled bar graph and solve related problems.Puppy Pile
Lesson 14: Use place value understanding to add and subtract like units.Adding Your Way
Lesson 15: Use the associative property to make the next ten to add.Panda Patterns
Lesson 16: Use compensation to add.How Would You Solve It?

Topic D: Two- and Three-Digit Measurement Addition and Subtraction

Lesson 20: Add measurements using the standard algorithm to compose larger units once.What is an Algorithm?
Using Fewer Digits
Lesson 21: Add measurements using the standard algorithm to compose larger units twice.Determining Sums of 2 or More Addends
Adding Strategically

Module 3: Multiplication and Division with Units of 0, 1, 6, 7, 8, and 9

Topic B: Multiplication and Division Concepts with an Emphasis on the Unit of 7

Lesson 11: Use the break apart and distribute strategy to divide with units of 7.Relating Quotients to Familiar Products
Lesson 12: Solve one-step word problems involving multiplication and division.Division and Multiplication Equations

Module 4: Multiplication and Area

Topic A: Foundations for Understanding Area

Lesson 2: Recognize area as an attribute of polygons.Investigate: Comparing Rugs
Which Covers More Space?
Lesson 3: Tile polygons to find their areas.Tiling Figures
Area Hunt

Topic B: Concepts of Area Measurement

Lesson 6: Tile rectangles with squares to make arrays and relate the side lengths to area.Rectangles and Arrays
Lesson 7: Draw rows and columns to complete a rectangular array and determine its area.Area Hunt

Module 6: Geometry, Measurement, and Data

Topic D: Collecting and Displaying Dat

Lesson 23: Solve problems by creating scaled picture graphs and scaled bar graphs.2, 5, or 10?

Level 4

Module 1: Place Value Concepts for Addition and Subtraction

Topic A: Multiplication as Multiplicative Comparison

Lesson 1: Interpret multiplication as multiplicative comparison.How Does It Grow?

Module 2: Place Value Concepts for Multiplication and Division

Topic E: Factors and Multiples

Lesson 24: Recognize that a number is a multiple of each of its factors.Hamster Homes
Factor or Multiple?
Lesson 25: Explore properties of prime and composite numbers up to 100 by using multiples.A Number Game

Module 4: Foundations for Fraction Operations

Lesson 1: Decompose whole numbers into a sum of unit fractions.

Lesson 1: Decompose whole numbers into a sum of unit fractions.Investigate: Building Your Own Number Line
Lesson 3: Decompose fractions into a sum of fractions.Math Pizzeria
Lesson 4: Represent fractions by using various fraction models.Fraction Strips
Chop It
Lesson 5: Rename fractions greater than 1 as mixed numbers.All Kinds of Fractions

Topic D: Add and Subtract Fractions

Lesson 21: Solve addition and subtraction word problems and estimate the reasonableness of the answers.Pizza Problems

Topic F: Repeated Addition of Fractions as Multiplication

Lesson 32: Multiply a fraction by a whole number by using the associative property.Equal Groups of Fractions

Module 5: Place Value Concepts for Decimal Fractions

Topic A: Exploration of Tenths

Lesson 1: Organize, count, and represent a collection of money.Investigate: Different Units
Lesson 3: Represent tenths as a place value unit.A New Way to Write Tenths
Lesson 4: Write mixed numbers in decimal form with tenths.A New Way to Write Tenths

Topic B: Tenths and Hundredths

Lesson 5: Decompose 1 one and express hundredths in fraction form and decimal form.Are They Equivalent?
Lesson 6: Represent hundredths as a place value unit.A New Way to Write Hundredths
Lesson 7: Write mixed numbers in decimal form with hundredths.A New Way to Write Hundredths

Topic C: Comparison of Decimal Numbers

Lesson 10: Use pictorial representations to compare decimal numbers.How Can You Compare?
Lesson 11: Compare and order decimal numbers.Robot Factory
What’s the Order?

Level 5

Module 1: Place Value Concepts for Multiplication and Division with Whole Numbers

Topic B: Multiplication of Whole Numbers

Lesson 8: Multiply two- and three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers by using the distributive property.Partial Products Everywhere
Lesson 9: Multiply two- and three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers by using the standard algorithm.How Do They Compare?

Topic C: Division of Whole Numbers

Lesson 15: Divide three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers in problems that result in two-digit quotients.Emptying the Water Tank

Module 2: Addition and Subtraction with Fractions

Topic A: Fractions and Division

Lesson 1: Interpret a fraction as division.Investigate: Sharing Sandwiches
Sharing More Sandwiches
Dance Breaks
Lesson 3: Represent fractions as division by using models.Making Generalizations
Lesson 4: Solve word problems involving division and fractions.Division Story Problems

Module 3: Multiplication and Division with Fractions

Topic B: Multiplication of Fractions

Lesson 7: Multiply fractions less than 1 by unit fractions pictorially.Investigate: Folding Paper
Lesson 8: Multiply fractions less than 1 pictorially.Parts of Parts
One Part of One Part
Rows and Columns
Lesson 9: Multiply fractions by unit fractions by making simpler problems.Messy Multiplication
Lesson 10: Multiply fractions greater than 1 by fractions.Making Food
Installing Turf
Lesson 11: Multiply fractions.Applying Fraction Multiplication
Chores at Animal Haven
The Re-size-inator

Module 5: Addition and Multiplication with Area and Volume

Topic C: Volume Concepts

Lesson 17: Find the volume of right rectangular prisms by packing with unit cubes and counting.Which is Largest
Lesson 18: Find the volume of right rectangular prisms by packing with improvised units.Packing the Barge

Topic D: Volume and the Operations of Multiplication and Addition

Lesson 25: Find the volumes of solid figures composed of right rectangular prisms.Putting It Together
Figures Made of Prisms

Level 6

Module 1: Ratios, Rates, and Percents

Topic A: Ratios

Lesson 2: Introduction to RatiosPizza Maker

Topic B: Collections of Equivalent Ratios

Lesson 6: Ratios Tables and Double Number LinesFruit Lab
Lesson 9: Multiplication Patterns in Ratio RelationshipsDisaster Preparation

Topic D: Rates

Lesson 16: SpeedWorld Records
Lesson 17: RatesMany Measurements
Soft Serve
Lesson 18: Comparing RatesWelcome to the Robot Factory
Lesson 19: Unit Rates to Convert UnitsModel Trains
More Soft Serve
Lesson 20: Solving Rate ProblemsLucky Duckies

Module 2: Operations with Fractions and Multi-Digit Numbers

Topic B: Dividing Fractions

Lesson 6: Dividing a Whole Number by a FractionFlour Planner
Lesson 8: Dividing Fractions by Making Common DenominatorsFill the Gap

Topic C: Dividing Fractions Fluently

Lesson 9: Dividing Fractions by Using Tape DiagramsPuzzling Areas

Topic D: Decimal Addition, Subtraction, and Multiplication

Lesson 13: Decimal Addition and SubtractionDishing Out Decimals
Lesson 16: Applications of Decimal OperationsDecimal Diagrams and Algorithms

Topic F: Decimal Division

Lesson 21: Dividing a Decimals by a Whole NumberMovie Time
Lesson 22: Dividing a Decimal by a Decimal Greater than 1Movie Time
Lesson 23: Dividing a Decimal by a Decimal Less than 1Movie Time

Module 3: Rational Numbers

Topic A: Integers and Rational Numbers

Lesson 1: Positive and Negative NumbersCan You Dig It?
Lesson 3: Rational NumbersOrder in the Class

Module 4: Expressions and One-Step Equations

Topic B: Expressions and Real-World Problems

Lesson 9: Addition and Subtraction Expressions from the Real-WorldSubway Fares

Topic C: Equivalent Expressions Using the Properties of Operations

Lesson 13: The Distributive PropertyProducts and Sums

Topic D: Equations and Inequalities

Lesson 17: Equations and SolutionsFive Equations
Lesson 18: Inequalities and SolutionsHanging It Up
Tunnel Travels
Lesson 19: Solving Equations with Addition and SubtractionWeight for It
Lesson 20: Solving Equations with Multiplication and DivisionHanging Around
Lesson 21: Solving Problems with EquationsSwap and Solve

Module 5: Area, Surface Area, and Volume

Topic A: Areas of Polygons

Lesson 1: The Area of a ParallelogramExploring Parallelograms, Part 1
Lesson 2: The Area of a Right TriangleOff the Grid, Part 2
Lesson 3: The Area of a TriangleExploring Parallelograms, Part 2
Off the Grid, Part 1
Lesson 4: Areas of Triangles in Real-World SituationsExploring Triangles

Topic B: Problem Solving with Area

Lesson 5: Perimeter and Area in the Coordinate PlaneShapes on a Plane
Lesson 6: Problem Solving with Area in the Coordinate PlaneLetters
Lesson 7: Areas of Trapezoids and Other PolygonsTriangles and Parallelograms
Lesson 8: Areas of Composite Rigures in Real-World SituationsPile of Polygons

Topic C: Nets and Surface Area

Lesson 12: From Nets to Surface AreaRenata’s Stickers

Module 6: Statistics

Topic A: Understanding Distributions

Lesson 2: Describing a Data DistributionHoops
Lesson 3: Creating a Dot PlotMinimum Wage
Lesson 4: Creating a HistogramThe Plot Thickens

Topic B: Mean and Mean Absolute Deviation

Lesson 7: Using the Mean to Describe CenterToy Cars

Level 7

Module 1: Ratios and Proportional Relationships

Topic A: Understanding Proportional Relationships

Lesson 1: An Experiment with Ratios and RatesPaint
Lesson 2: Exploring Tables and Proportional RelationshipsTwo and Two
Lesson 4: Exploring Graphs of Proportional RelationshipsDinoPops

Topic C: Scale Drawing and Proportional Relationships

Lesson 14: Extreme BicyclesScaling Machines
Lesson 15: Scale DrawingScaling Robots
Lesson 16: Using Scale FactorScale Factor Challenges
Lesson 17: Finding Actual Distances from ScaleMake it Scale
Lesson 18: Relating Areas of Scale DrawingTiles
Will It Fit

Module 2: Operations with Rational Numbers

Topic A: Adding Rational Numbers

Lesson 2: Adding IntegersFloats and Anchors

Topic B: Subtracting Rational Numbers

Lesson 8: Subtracting Integers, Part 1More Floats and Anchors
Lesson 10: Subtracting Rational Numbers, Part 1Draw Your Own

Topic E: Numberical Expressions with Rational Numbers

Lesson 25: Writing and Evaluating Expressions with Rational NumbersInteger Puzzles

Module 3: Expressions, Equations, and Inequalities

Topic A: Equivalent Expressions

Lesson 1: Equivalent ExpressionsCollect the Squares

Topic B: Unknown Angle Measurements

Lesson 7: Angle Relationships and Unknown Angle MeasuresFriendly Angles

Topic C: Solving Equations

Lesson 11: Dominoes and DominoesKeeping it True

Topic D: Inequalities

Lesson 18: Understanding Inequalities and Their SolutionsI Saw the Signs
Lesson 19: Using Equations to Solve InequalitiesUnbalanced Hangers
Lesson 20: Preserving and ReversingShira the Sheep
Lesson 21: Solving Two-Step InequalitiesBudgeting
Lesson 22: Solving Problems Involving InequalitiesWrite Them and Solve Them

Module 4: Geometry

Topic A: Constructing Geometric Figures

Lesson 3: Side Lengths of a TriangleCan You Build It
Lesson 4: Angles of a TriangleFriendly Angles

Topic C: Circumference and Areas of Circles

Lesson 10: The Outside of a CicleMeasuring Around
Lesson 11: The Inside of a CircleWhy Pi?
Lesson 14: Composite Figures with Circular RegionsArea Challenges

Module 5: Percent and Applications of Percent

Topic A: Proportion and Percent

Lesson 3: Percent as a Rate per 100Mosaics
Lesson 4: Proportion and PercentMore and Less

Topic C: More of Less Than 100%

Lesson 10: Percent IncreaseAll the Equations

Topic D: Applications of Percent

Lesson 16: Markups and Discount100%
Lesson 18: Simple Interest – Solving for Unknown ValuesPercent Machines

Topic E: Problems Involving Percent

Lesson 20: Making Money, Day 1Back in My Day

Module 6: Probability and Populations

Topic A: Calculating and Interpreting Probabilities

Lesson 2: Empirical ProbabilityHow Likely
Lesson 4: Theoretical ProbabilityProb-bear-bilities

Topic B: Estimating Probabilities

Lesson 7: The Law of Large NumbersIs It Fair?

Topic C: Random Sampling

Lesson 11: Populations and SamplesCrab Island

Level 8

Module 1: Scientific Notation, Exponents, and Irrational Numbers

Topic A: Introduction to Scientific Notation

Lesson 2: Comparing Large NumbersSpecific and Scientific (formerly Solar System)
Lesson 4: Adding and Subtracting Numbers Written in Scientific NotationBalance the Scale

Topic B: Properties and Definitions of Exponents

Lesson 6: More Properties of ExponentsCircles
Lesson 7: Making Sense of the Exponent 0Power Pairs

Topic D: Perfect Squares, Perfect Cubes, and the Pythagorean Theorem

Lesson 18: The Pythagorean TheoremTriangle Tracing Turtle
Lesson 19: Using the Pythagorean TheoremTaco Truck
Lesson 23: Ordering Irrational NumbersRoot Down

Module 2: Rigid Motions and Congruent Figures

Topic A: Rigid Motion and Their Properties

Lesson 1: Motions in the PlaneTransformers
Moving Day
Lesson 2: TranslationsSpinning, Flipping, Sliding
Moving Day
Lesson 4: Translations and Reflections on the Coordinate PlaneGetting Coordinated, Part 1
Lesson 6: Rotations on the Coordinate PlaneGetting Coordinated, Part 2

Topic B: Rigid Motions and Congruent Figures

Lesson 8: Sequencing the Rigid MotionsTransformation Golf

Topic C: Angle Relationships

Lesson 12: Lines Cut by a TransversalPuzzling It Out

Module 3: Dilations and Similar Figures

Topic A: Dilations

Lesson 1: Exploring DilationsSketchy Dilations
Lesson 3: Reductions and More EnlargmentsDilation Mini Golf

Topic B: Properties of Dilations

Lesson 5: Figures and DilationsSocial Scavenger Hunt

Module 4: Linear Equations in One and Two Variables

Topic A: Linear Equations in One Variable

Lesson 3: Solving Linear Equations with Rational CoefficientsEquation Roundtable

Topic D: Slope of a Line

Lesson 16: Proportional Relationships and SlopeTurtle Time Trials
Lesson 17: Slopes of Rising LinesFlags
Ups and Downs
Lesson 18: Slopes of Falling LinesFlags
Water Cooler
Ups and Downs

Topic E: Different Forms of a Linear Equation

Lesson 20: Slope-Intercept form of the Equation of a LineStacking Cups (Optional)
Lesson 21: Slopes and Parallel LinesTranslations

Module 5: Systems of Linear Equations

Topic A: Solving Systems of Linear Equations Graphically

Lesson 1: Solving Problems with Equations and Their GraphsMake Them Balance

Topic B: Solving Systems of Linear Equations Algebraically

Lesson 6: Solving Systems of Linear Equations without GraphingLine Zapper

Module 6: Functions and Bivariate Statistics

Topic A: Functions

Lesson 1: Motion and SpeedTurtle Crossing
Lesson 2: Definition of a FunctionGuess My Rule

Topic B: Linear and Nonlinear Functions

Lesson 9: Increasing and Decreasing FunctionsThe Tortoise and the Hare

Topic C: Bivariate Numerical Data

Lesson 11: Scatter PlotsRobots
Dapper Cats
Lesson 12: Patterns in Scatter PlotsInterpreting Scatter Plots
Lesson 13: Informally Fitting a Line to DataFind the Fit (called Fit Fights in Desmos Math)
Lesson 14: Determining an Equation of a Line Fit to DataInterpreting Slopes
Lesson 15: Linear ModelAnimal Brains
Lesson 16: Using the Investigative ProcessScatter Plot City
Lesson 17: Analyzing the ModleScatter Plot City

Topic D: Bivariate Categorical Data

Lesson 18: Bivariate Categorical DataFinding Associations

Topic E: Volume

Lesson 22: Volume of a CylinderCylinders
Lesson 23: Volume of ConesCones

Algebra 1

Module 1: Expressions, Equations and Inequalities in One Variable

Lesson 1: The Growing Pattern of DucksMore Visual Patterns
Lesson 8: Solution Sets for Equations and Inequalities in One VariableSame Position
Lesson 9: Solving Linear Equations in One VariableWorking Backwards
Solving Strategies
Lesson 12: Rearranging FormulasSubway Seats
Various Variables
Shelley the Snail
Five Representations
Lesson 13: Solving Linear Inequalities in One VariablePizza Delivery
Lesson 21: Describing Variability in a Univariate Distribution with Standard DeviationFinding Desmo

Module 2: Equations and Inequalities in Two Variables

Lesson 1: Solution Sets of Linear Equations in Two VariablesSubway Seats
Various Variables
Shelley the Snail
Five Representations
Lesson 6: Applications of Linear Equations and InequalitiesSubway Seats
Various Variables
Shelley the Snail
Five Representations
Pizza Delivery
Lesson 8: Systems of Linear Equations in Two VariablesShape It Up
Lizard Lines
Lesson 12: Solution Sets of Systems of Linear InequalitiesQuilts
Lesson 13: Graphing Solution Sets of Systems of Linear InequalitiesSeeking Solutions
Lesson 16: Using Lines to Model Bivariate Quantitative DataCity Data
Lesson 17: Modeling Relationships with a LinePenguin Populations
Lesson 18: Calculating and Analyzing ResidualsResidual Fruit
Lesson 20: Interpreting CorrelationCorrelation Coefficient
How Hot Is It?
City Slopes
Lesson 21: Analyzing Bivariate Quantitative DataBehind the Headlines

Module 3: Functions and Their Representations

Lesson 7: Exploring Key Features of a Function and Its GraphCraft-a-Graph
Lesson 17: Piecewise Linear Functions in ContextPumpkin Prices

Module 4: Quadratic Functions

Topic A: Quadratic Functions and Their GraphsRobot Launch
Lesson 1: Falling ObjectsQuadratic Visual Patterns
Lesson 2: Projectile MotionStomp Rockets
Lesson 3: Analyzing Functions That Model Projectile MotionStomp Rockets in Space
Lesson 4: Graphs of Quadratic FunctionsOn the Fence
Plenty of Parabolas
Lesson 5: Solving Equations that Contain Factored ExpressionsShooting Stars
Lesson 11: Graphing Quadratic Functions from Factored FormTwo for One
Parabola Zapper
Lesson 14: Solving Quadratic Equations by Completing the SquareSquare Tactic
Lesson 27: Search and Rescue HelicopterCity Data

Module 5: Linear and Exponential Functions

Topic A: Arithmetic and Geometric SequencesMore Visual Patterns
Sequence Carnival
Lesson 8: Exponential FunctionsCarlos’s Fish
Topic A: Arithmetic and Geometric SequencesSequence Carnival
Topic A: Arithmetic and Geometric SequencesRevisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1
Lesson 18: Modeling PopulationsSorting Relationships
Lesson 20: Comparing Growth of FunctionsPlane, Train, and Automobile
Sorting Relationships

Module 6: Modeling with Functions

Topic A: Modeling Bivariate Quantitative DataCity Data
Topic B: Developing Models for ContextsDetroit’s Population, Part 1
Detroit’s Population, Part 2

Grade 6

Module 1: Composing and Decomposing

Topic 1: Factors and Multiples

MATHbookLesson 1: Taking Apart Numbers and ShapesProducts and Sums
MATHbookLesson 5: Yours IS to Reason Why!Fill the Gap

Topic 2: Area, Volume, and Surface Area

MATHbookLesson 1: All About That Base….and HeightExploring Triangles
Triangles and Parallelograms
MATHbookLesson 2: Slicing and Dicing: Composit FigureShapes on a Plane
Letters

Topic 3: Decimals

MATHbookLesson 1: You Have a PointDishing Out Decimals
MATHbookLesson 2: Get In LineDecimal Diagrams and Algorithms
MATHbookLesson 4: Dividend In the HouseMovie Time

Topic 4: Fraction by Fraction Division

MATHiaLesson 1: Representing Fraction DivisionFlour Planner

Topic 5: Area of Triangles and Quadrilaterals

MATHiaLesson 2: Developing Area FormulasExploring Parallelograms,
Part 1
MATHiaLesson 3: Calculating Areas of Various FiguresExploring Parallelograms,
Part 2

Off the Grid, Part 1
Off the Grid, Part 2

Topic 6: Composite Figures

MATHiaLesson 2: Calculating Area of Composite FiguresPile of Polygons

Topic 8: Surface Area of Regulat Prisms and Pyramids

MATHiaLesson 1: Determing Surface Area Using NetsRenata’s Stickers

Module 2: Relating Quantitites

Topic 1: Ratios

MATHbookLesson 2: Going StrongPizza Maker
MATHbookLesson 3: Different but the SamePizza Maker
MATHbookLesson 4: A trip to the MoonFruit Lab

Topic 2: Percents

MATHbookLesson 2: Warming the BenchLucky Duckies

Topic 3: Using Tables to Represent Equivalent Ratios

MATHbookLesson 1: Many ways to MeasureMany Measurements
Model Trains
MATHbookLesson 2: What is the Best Buy?World Records
MATHbookLesson 3: A Trip to the MoonWelcome to the Robot Factory
MATHiaLesson 2: Using Tables to Determine Equivalent RatiosDisaster Preparation
MATHiaLesson 3: Problem Solving with Equivalent Rations and Rates using TablesDisaster Preparation

Topic 9: Introduction to Unit Rate

MATHiaLesson 2: Determining and Comparing RatesSoft Serve
More Soft Serve

Module 3: Determining Unknown Values

Topic 2: Equations

MATHbookLesson 2: Double TalkWeight for It
MATHbookLesson 3: Play It in ReverseWeight for It
MATHbookLesson 4: One, None, or a TonTunnel Travels
MATHbookLesson 5: Getting RealFive Equations
Swap and Solve

Topic 3: Graphing Quantitative Relationships

MATHbookLesson 3: Planes, Trains, and PaychecksSubway Fares

Topic 6: Solving One-Step Addition and Subtraction Equations

MATHiaLesson 1: Exploring One-Step Equations with Double-Number LinesHanging Around

Topic 7: Solving One-Step Multiplication and Division Equations

MATHiaLesson 1: Using Double Number Lines to Solve One-Step Multiplicaiton EquationsHanging Around

Topic 8: Solving One-Step Equations with Decimals and Fractions

MATHiaLessons 1-4:Hanging Around

Module 4: Moving Beyond Positive Quantities

Topic 1: Signed Numbers

MATHbookLesson 1: Signed NumbersCan You Dig It?

Topic 1: Introduction to Negative Numbers

MATHiaLesson 2: Representing Integers on Number LinesOrder in the Class

Module 5: Describing Variability of Quantities

Topic 1: The Statical Process

MATHbookLesson 3: SkyscrapersThe Plot Thickens

Topic 2: Numerical Summaries of Data

MATHbookLesson 1: In the MiddleToy Cars
MATHbookLesson 3: March MADnessHoops

Topic 2: Analyzing Numeric Data Displays

MATHiaLesson 1: Creating Dot PlotsMinimum Wage

Grade 7

Module 1: Thinking Proportionally

Topic 1: Circles and Ratios

MATHbookLesson 1: Pi: The Ultimate RatioMeasuring Around
MATHbookLesson 2: That’s a Spicy Pizza!Why Pi?
MATHbookLesson 2: Circular ReasoningArea Challenges
MATHbook
Lesson 4: Pound for Pount, Inch for Inch
Scaling Machines
Tiles
Scaling Robots

Topic 2: Proportionality

MATHbookLesson 1: Poultry in MotionPaint
MATHbookLesson 6: Minding Your Ps and QsTwo and Two

Topic 3: Proportional Relationships

MATHbookLesson 1: Markups and MarkdownsAll the Equations
100%
MATHbookLesson 4: More Ups and DownsMosaics
More and Less

Topic 3: Scale and Scale Drawing

MATHiaLesson 1: Critical Attributes of Similar FiguresScale Factor Challenges
MATHiaLesson 3: Calculating Measurements Using ScaleMake it Scale
Will It Fit

Topic 4: Ratio Representations

MATHiaLesson 2: Determining Characteristics of Graphs of Proportional RelationshipsDinoPops

Topic 11: Introducing Proportions to Solve Percent Problems

MATHiaLesson 2: Solving Simple Percent ProblemsBack in My Day

Topic 13: Percent Increase and Percent Decrease

MATHiaLesson 1: Calculating Percent Change and Final AmountsPercent Machines

Module 2: Operating with Signed Numbers

Topic 1: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers

MATHbookLesson 1: Math FootballFloats and Anchors
MATHbookLesson 2: Walk the LineMore Floats and Anchors
MATHbookLesson 4: What’s the Difference?More Floats and Anchors

Topic 5: Rewriting Expressions

MATHiaLesson 2: Evaluating Simple Numberic Expressions with IntegersInteger Puzzles

Topic 6: Using Number Properties to Interpret Expressions with Signed Numbers

MATHiaLesson 2: Operating with Signed DecimalsDraw Your Own

Module 3: Reasoning Algebraically

Topic 1: Two-Step Expressions and Equations

MATHbookLesson 4: Formally YoursKeeping it True

Topic 2: Multiple Representations of Equations and Inequalities

MATHbookLesson 3: Solving Inequalities with Inverse OperationsUnbalanced Hangers
MATHbook
Lesson 4: Deep Dive
Budgeting
Write Them and Solve Them

Topic 1: Rewriting Algebraic Expressions

MATHiaLesson 2: Rewriting Algebraic Expressions Involving Integer CoefficientsCollect the Squares

Topic 8: Solving Inequalities with Inverse Operations

MATHiaLesson 3: Solving Two-Step InequalitiesI Saw the Signs
Shira the Sheep

Module 4: Analyzing Populations and Probabilities

Topic 1: Introduction to Probability

MATHbookLesson 1: Rolling, Rolling, Rolling…How Likely
Prob-bear-bilities
MATHbookLesson 2: Give the Model a ChanceIs It Fair?

Topic 3: Drawing Inferences

MATHbookLesson 2: Tiles, Gumballs, and PumpkinsCrab Island

Module 5: Constructing and Measuring

Topic 1: Angles and Triangles

MATHbookLesson 2: Special DeliveryFriendly Angles
MATHbookLesson 3: Consider Every SideCan You Build It

Topic 1: Special Angle Relationships

MATHiaLesson 2: Exploring Angle RelationshipsMissing Measures
MATHiaLesson 3: Solving for Angle MeasuresMissing Measures

Grade 8

Module 1: Transforming Geometric Objects

Topic 1: Rigit Motion Transformaitons

MATHbookLesson 1: Patty Paper, Patty PaperTransformers
MATHbookLesson 2: Slides, Flips, and SpinsSpinning, Flipping, Sliding
MATHbookLesson 3: Lateral MovesGetting Coordinated, Part 1
Getting Coordinated, Part 2
MATHbookLesson 4: Mirror, MirrorGetting Coordinated, Part 1
Getting Coordinated, Part 2
MATHbookLasson 5: Half Turnsa and Quarter TurnsGetting Coordinated, Part 1
Getting Coordinated, Part 2
MATHbookLesson 6: Every Which WayTransformation Golf

Topic 2: Dilations

MATHbookLesson 1: Pinch-Zoom GeometrySketchy Dilations
MATHbookLesson 2: Rising, Running, Stepping, ScalingDilation Mini Golf
MATHbookLesson 3: From Here to ThereSocial Scavenger Hunt

Topic 3: Line and Angle Relationships

MATHbookLesson 2: Crisscrsoss ApplesaucePuzzling It Out

Topic 1: Rigid Motion in the Coordinate Plane

MATHiaLesson 1: Experimenting with Rigid MotionMoving Day

Module 2: Modeling Linear Relationships

Topic 1: From Proportions to Linear Relationships

MATHbookLesson 2: Jack and Jill Went Up the HillTurtle Time Trials
MATHbookLesson 4: Up, Down, and All AroundTranslations

Topic 2: Modeling Linear Relationships

MATHbookLesson 2: Been There, Done That, Got the T-shirtWater Cooler
MATHbookLesson 3: Dining, Dancing, DrivingFlags
Ups and Downs
MATHbookLesson 4: Derby DayStacking Cups (Optional)

Topic 3: Systems of Linear Equations

MATHbookLesson 1: Crossing PathsMake Them Balance
MATHbookLesson 2: The Road Less TraveledLine Zapper

Topic 11: Solving Linear Equations with Variables on Both Sides

MATHiaLesson 3: Solving with Variables on Both Sides with RationalsEquation Roundtable

Module 3: Developing Function Foundations

Topic 1: Introduction to Functions

MATHbookLesson 1: Patterns, Sequences, Rules…Guess My Rule
MATHbookLesson 2: Once Upon a GraphTurtle Crossing
MATHbookLesson 4: Over the River and Through the WoodsThe Tortoise and the Hare
Scatter Plot City
Interpreting Slopes

Topic 2: Patterns in Bivariate Data

MATHbookLesson 1: Pass the SqueezeRobots
MATHbookLesson 2: Off the ChainDapper Cats
MATHbookLesson 3: Mia is Growing Like a WeedFind the FIt (called Fit Fights in Desmos Math)
MATHbookLesson 4: The Stroop TestInterpreting Scatter Plots
MATHbookLesson 5: Would You Rather…?Finding Associations

Topic 4: Drawing Lines of Best Fit

MATHiaLesson 1: Estimating Lines of Best FitInterpreting Slopes
MATHiaLesson 2: Using Lines of Best FitAnimal Brains

Module 4: Expanding Number Systems

Topic 2: Pythagorean Theorem

MATHbookLesson 1: The Right ConnectionTriangle Tracing Turtle
MATHbookLesson 4: Catty CornerTaco Truck

Topic 1: The Real Number System

MATHiaLesson 2: Graphing Real Numbers on the Number LineRoot Down

Module 5: Applying Powers

Topic 1: Exponents and Scientific Notation

MATHbookLesson 1: It’s a Generational ThingCircles
MATHbookLesson 2: Show What You KnowPower Pairs
MATHbookLesson 3: The Big and Small of ItSpecific and Scientific (formerly Solar System)
MATHbook
Lesson 4: How Much Larger?
Balance the Scale

Topic 2: Volume of Curved Figures

MATHbookLesson 1: Drum Roll, Please!Cylinders
MATHbookLesson 2: Conse of SilenceCones

Algebra 1

Module 1: Searching for Patterns

Topic 1: Quantities and Relationships

Lesson 3: f of x, Recognizing Functions and Function FamiliesCraft-a-Graph
Pumpkin Prices

Topic 2: Sequences

Lesson 1: Is there a Pattern Here?Visual Patterns
Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 1
Lesson 2: The Password is Operations!Sequence Carnival
Revisiting Visual Patterns, Part 2
Lesson 3: Did You Mean: Recursion?More Visual Patterns

Topic 3: Linear Regressions

Lesson 1: Like a GlovePenguin Populations
Lesson 2: Gotta Keep It Correlatin’Correlation Coefficient
How Hot Is It?
Behind the Headlines
City Data
Lesson 3: The Residual EffectResidual Fruit
Lesson 4: To Fit or Not To Fit? That Is the Question!City Slopes

Module 2: Exploring Constant Change

Topic 1: Linear Functions

Lesson 1: Connecting the DotsPlane, Train, and Automobile

Topic 2: Solving Linear Equations and Inequalities

Lesson 1: Strike a BalanceWorking Backwards
Solving Strategies
Same Position
Lesson 2: It’s Literally About Literal EquationsSubway Seats
Various Variables
Shelley the Snail
Five Representations
Lesson 3: Not All Statements Are Made EqualPizza Delivery

Topic 3: Systems of Equations and Inequalities

Lesson 1: Double the FunShape It Up
Lizard Lines
Lesson 3: Throwing ShadeSeeking Solutions
Lesson 4: Working with ConstraintsQuilts

Module 3: Investigating Growth and Decay

Topic 1: Introduction to Exponential Functions

Lesson 2: The Power WithinCarlos’s Fish

Topic 2: Using Exponential Equations

Module 4: Describing Distributions

Topic 1: One-Variable Statistics

Lesson 2: A Skewed RealityFinding Desmo

Module 5: Maximizing and Minimizing

Topic 1: Introduction to Quadratic Functions

Lesson 1: Up and Down or Down and UpQuadratic Visual Patterns
On the Fence
Stomp Rockets
Plenty of Parabolas
Robot Launch
Lesson 2: Endless Forms Most BeautifulParabola Zapper
Two for One
Shooting Stars
Lesson 4: You Lose Some, You Lose SomeSorting Relationships

Topic 2: Solving Quadratic Equations

Lesson 4: The Missing LinkSquare Tactic
Lesson 5: The Quadratic FormulaStomp Rockets in Space

Disclaimer

This document is for informational purposes only; references to third-party programs do not imply endorsement or affiliation, and all trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Grade 6

Chapter 1: Use Positive Rational Numbers

enVision MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Lesson 1: Fluently Add, Subtract, and Multiply DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Fruit by the Pound
Lesson 4: Missing Digits
Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 12: Budget Vehicles (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 2: Fluently Divide Whole Numbers and DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 8: Division Diagrams
Lesson 9: Long Division Launch (Print available)
Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)
Lesson 11: Movie Time [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Budget Vehicles (Print available)
Practice Day 2
Lesson 3: Multiply FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 12: Puzzling Areas (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 13: Volume Challenges
Lesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available)
Lesson 4: Understand Division with FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 1: Cookie Cutter
Lesson 2: Making Connections (Print available)
Lesson 3: Flour Planner [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Flower Planters
Practice Day (Print available)
Lesson 5: Divide Fractions by fractionsUnit 4
Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)
Lesson 7: Break It Down
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 9: Division Challenges
Lesson 14: Planter planner (Print available)
Practice Day (Print available)
Lesson 6: Divide Mixed NumbersUnit 4
Lesson 5 Garden Bricks (Print available)
Lesson 6 Fill the Gap [Free lesson]
Lesson 11 Classroom Comparisons
Lesson 7: Solve Problems with Rational NumbersLesson 3: Flour Planner [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Flower Planters
Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)
Lesson 10: Swap Meet (Print available)

Chapter 2: Integers and Rational Numbers

Lesson 1: Understand IntegersUnit 7
Lesson 1: Can You Dig it In [Free lesson]
Lesson 4 Sub-Zero
Lesson 2: Represent Rational Numbers on the Number LineUnit 7
Lesson 2: Digging Deeper
Lesson 3: Order in the Class (Print available) [Free lesson]
Practice Day 1
Lesson 3: Absolute Values of Rational NumbersUnit 7
Lesson 5: Distance on the Number Line
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 4: Represent Rational Numbers on the Coordinate Plane 
Lesson 5: Find Distances on the Coordinate Plane
Lesson 6: Represent Polygons on the Coordinate Plane
Unit 7
Lesson 11: Polygon Maker

Chapter 3: Numeric and Algebraic Expressions

Chapter 4: Represent and Solve Equations and Inequalities

Lesson 1: Understand Equations and SolutionsUnit 6
Lesson 1: Weight for It [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Hanging Around
Lesson 13: Turtles All the Way
Lesson 2: Apply Properties of Equality
Lesson 3: Write and Solve Addition and Subtraction Equations
Lesson 4: Write and Solve Multiplication and Division Equations
Unit 6
Lesson 3: Hanging Around
Lesson 4: Hanging It Up
Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print Available)
Lesson 5: Write and Solve Equations with Rational NumbersUnit 6
Lesson 4; Hanging It Up
Lesson 5: Swap and Solve (Print available)
Lesson 6: Understand and Write InequalitiesUnit 7
Lesson 6: Tunnel Travel [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Comparing Weights
Lesson 7: Solve InequalitiesUnit 7
Lesson 8: Shira’s Solutions
Lesson 8: Understand Dependent and Independent VariablesUnit 6
Lesson 13: Turtles All the Way
Lesson 9: Use Patterns to Write and Solve Equations
Lesson 10: Relate Tables, Graphs, and Equations
Unit 6
Lesson 13: Turtles All the Way
Lesson 14: Representing Relationships
Lesson 15: Connecting Representations (Print available)
Lesson 16: Subway Fares (Print available) [Free lesson]
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Chapter 5: Understand and Use Ratio and Rate

Chapter 6: Understand and Use Percent

Lesson 1: Understand PercentUnit 3
Lesson 8: Lucky Duckies [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Relate Fractions, Decimals, and PercentsUnit 5
Lesson 13: Grocery Prices (Print available)
Lesson 3: Represent Percents Greater Than 100 or Less than 1 
Lesson 4: Estimate to Find Percent 
Lesson 5: Find the Percent of a Number
Lesson 6: Find the Whole Given a Part and the Percent
Unit 3
Lesson 9: Bicycle Goals
Lesson 10: What’s Missing?
Lesson 11: Cost Breakdown
Lesson 12: More Bicycle Goals
Practice Day 2 (Print Available)

Chapter 7: Solve Area, Surface Area, and Volume Problems

Chapter 8: Display, Describe, and Summarize data

Grade 7

Chapter 1: Rational Number Operations

enVision MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Lesson 1: Relate Integers and Their OppositesUnit 5
Lesson 1: Floats and Anchors [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Understand Rational NumbersUnit 4
Lesson 13: Decimal Deep Dive (Print available)
Lesson 3: Add Integers
Lesson 4: Subtract Integers
Unit 5
Lesson 2: More Floats and Anchors
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Lesson 5: Add and Subtract Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 3: Bumpers
Lesson 4: Draw Your Own (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Number Puzzles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 6: Multiply IntegersUnit 5
Lesson 6: Floating in Groups
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 7: Multiply Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available)
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 8: Divide IntegersUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 9: Divide Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available)
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 10 Solve Problems with Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 11: Changing Temperatures
Lesson 12: Arctic Sea Ice (Print available)
Lesson 13: Solar Panels and More (Print available)

Chapter 2: Analyze and Use Proportional Relationships

Lesson 1: Connect Ratios, Rates, and Unit Rates 
Lesson 2: Determine Unit Rates with Ratios of Fractions 
Lesson 3: Understand Proportional Relationships: Equivalent RatiosUnit 2
Lesson 1: Paint [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Balloon Float
Lesson 4: Describe Proportional Relationships: Constant of ProportionalityUnit 2
Lesson 3: Sugary Drinks (Print available)
Lesson 4: Robot Factory
Lesson 5: Snapshots
Lesson 6: Two and Two (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: All Kinds of Equations
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Practice Day (Print available)
Unit 3
Lesson 1 Circumference of a Circle
Lesson 5: Graph Proportional RelationshipsUnit 2
Lesson 8: Dino Pops [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Gallon Challenge
Lesson 10: Three Turtles
Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available)
Lesson 6: Apply Proportional Reasoning to Solve ProblemsUnit 2
Lesson 11: Four Representations (Print available)
Lesson 12: Water Efficiency

Chapter 3: Analyze and Solve Percent Problems

Chapter 4: Generate Equivalent Expressions

Chapter 5: Solve Problems Using Equations and Inequalities

Chapter 6: Use Sampling to Draw Inferences About Populations

Chapter 7: Probability

Lesson 1: Understand Likelihood and ProbabilityUnit 8
Lesson 1 How Likely? (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2 Prob-bear-bilities [Free lesson]
Lesson 3 Mystery Bag
Lesson 2: Understand Theoretical Probability
Lesson 3: Understand Experimental Probability
Unit 8
Lesson 4: Spin Class
Lesson 5: Is It Fair?
Lesson 6: Fair Games
Lesson 4: Use Probability ModelsUnit 8
Lesson 6: Fair Games
Lesson 7: Weather or Not
Lesson 8: Simulate It
Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 5: Determine Outcomes of Compound EventsUnit 8
Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Lesson 6: Find Probabilities of Compound Events
Lesson 7: Simulate Compound Events
Unit 8
Lesson 8: Simulate It
Lesson 9: Car, Bike, or Train? (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print Available)

Chapter 8: Solve Problems Involving Geometry

Lesson 1: Solve Problems Involving Scale DrawingsUnit 1 Lesson 1: Scaling Machines [Free lesson] Lesson 2: Scaling Robots Lesson 3: Make It Scale Lesson 4: Scale Factor Challenges Lesson 5: Tiles Lesson 6: Introducing Scale Lesson 7: Will It Fit? [Free lesson] Lesson 8: Scaling States Lesson 9: Scaling Buildings Lesson 10: Room Redesign Practice Day 1 Practice Day 2   Unit 3 Lesson 1: Toothpicks   Unit 4 Lesson 3: Sticker Sizes
Lesson 2: Draw Geometric FiguresUnit 7
Lesson 6: Is It Enough?
Lesson 3: Draw Triangles with Given ConditionsUnit 7
Lesson 5: Can You Build It? [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Is It Enough?
Lesson 7: More Than One
Lesson 8: Can You Draw It?
Practice Day 1
Lesson 4: Solve Problems Using Angle RelationshipsUnit 7
Lesson 1: Pinwheels
Lesson 2: Friendly Angles [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Angle Diagrams
Lesson 4: Missing Measures [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Solve Problems Involving Circumference of a CircleUnit 3
Lesson 2: Is It a Circle?
Lesson 3: Measuring Around [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Perimeter Challenges
Practice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Solve Problems Involving Area of a CircleUnit 3
Lesson 5: Area Strategies
Lesson 6: Radius Squares
Lesson 7: Why Pi?
Lesson 8: Area Challenges [Free lesson]
Lesson 9: Circle vs. Square
Practice Day 2
Lesson 7: Describe Cross SectionsUnit 7
Lesson 9: Slicing Solids
Lesson 8: Solve Problems Involving Surface AreaUnit 7
Lesson 10: Simple Prisms
Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies
Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Lesson 9: Solve Problems Involving VolumeUnit 7
Lesson 10: Simple Prisms
Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Practice Day 2

Grade 8

Chapter 1: Real Numbers

enVision MathDesmos Math 6–A1
Lesson 1: Rational Numbers as DecimalsUnit 8
Lesson 12: Fractions to Decimals
Lesson 13: Decimals to Fractions
Lesson 2: Understand Irrational NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 14: Hit the Target
Lesson 3: Compare and Order Real Numbers 
Lesson 4: Evaluate Square Roots and Cube RootsUnit 8
Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Solve Equations Using Square Roots and Cube RootsUnit 8
Lesson 5: Filling Cubes
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 6: Use Properties of Integer ExponentsUnit 7  
Lesson 2: Combining Exponents
Lesson 3: Power Pairs (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Rewriting Powers
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Lesson 7: More Properties of Integer ExponentsUnit 7  
Lesson 5: Zero and Negative Exponents
Lesson 6: Write a Rule (Print available)
Lesson 8: Use Powers of 10 to Estimate QuotientsUnit 7  
Lesson 7: Scales and Weights
Lesson 8: Point Zapper
Lesson 9: Use Your Powers
Lesson 9: Understand Scientific NotationUnit 7  
Lesson 10: Solar System [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Balance the Scales [Free lesson]
Lesson 13: Star Power
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Chapter 2: Analyze and Solve Linear Equations

Lesson 1: Combine Like Terms to Solve EquationsUnit 4
Lesson 2: Keep It Balanced
Lesson 2: Solve Equations with Variables on Both SidesUnit 4
Lesson 3: Balanced Moves
Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 3: Solve Multi-Step EquationsUnit 4
Lesson 3: Balanced Moves
Lesson 4: More Balanced Moves (Print available)
Lesson 5: Equation Roundtable (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Strategic Solving (Print available)
Lesson 4: Equations with No Solutions or Infinitely Many SolutionsUnit 4
Lesson 7: All, Some, or None?
Lesson 5: Compare Proportional RelationshipsUnit 3
Lesson 1: Turtle Time Trials [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Water Tank
Lesson 3: Posters
Lesson 6: Connect proportional Relationships and SlopeUnit 2
Lesson 9: Water Slide
Lesson 10: Points on a Plane
Practice Day 
 
Unit 3
Lesson 2: Water Tank
Lesson 4: Stacking Cups
Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Water Cooler
Lesson 8: Landing Planes
Lesson 9: Coin Capture
Lesson 7: Analyze Linear Equations: y = mxUnit 3
Lesson 3: Posters
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 8: Understand the y-intercept of a LineUnit 3
Lesson 5: Flags [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 9: Analyze Linear Equations: y = mx + bUnit 3  
Lesson 6: Translations
Lesson 7: Water Cooler
Practice Day 

Chapter 3: Use Functions to Model Relationships

Lesson 1: Understand Relations and FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Connect Representations of FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 3: Function or Not?
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Compare Linear and Nonlinear FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 4: Construct Functions to Model Linear RelationshipsUnit 5
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 5: Intervals of Increase and DecreaseUnit 5
Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 6: Sketch Functions from Verbal DescriptionsUnit 5  
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories

Chapter 4: Investigate Bivariate Data

Lesson 1: Construct and Interpret Scatter PlotsUnit 6  
Lesson 1: Click Battle
Lesson 2: Wing Span
Lesson 3: Robots [Free lesson]
Practice Day 1 (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Analyze Linear AssociationUnit 6  
Lesson 4: Dapper Cats [Free lesson]
Lesson 5: Fit Fights [Free lesson]
Lesson 7: Scatter Plot City
Lesson 3: Use Linear Models to Make PredictionsUnit 6  
Lesson 6: Interpreting Slopes
Lesson 8: Animal Brains
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 4: Interpret Two-Way Frequency TablesUnit 6
Lesson 9: Tasty Fruit
Lesson 5: Interpret Two-Way Relative Frequency TablesUnit 6
Lesson 10: Finding Associations [Free lesson]
Lesson 11: Federal Budgets
Practice Day 3

Chapter 5: Analyze and Solve Systems of Linear Equations

Chapter 6: Congruence and Similarity

Chapter 7: Understand and Apply the Pythagorean Theorem

Lesson 1: Understand the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 7: Pictures to Prove It
Lesson 8: Triangle-Tracing Turtle [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Understand the Converse of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 9: Make It Right
Lesson 3: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to Solve ProblemsUnit 8
Lesson 10: Taco Truck [Free lesson]
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 4: Find Distance in the Coordinate PlaneUnit 8
Lesson 11: Pond Hopper

Chapter 8: Solve Problems Involving Surface Area and Volume

Lesson 1: Find Surface Area of Three-Dimensional Figures 
Lesson 2: Find Volume of CylindersUnit 5
Lesson 10: Volume Lab
Lesson 11: Cylinders [Free lesson]
Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 3: Find Volume of ConesUnit 5
Lesson 13: Cones [Free lesson]
Lesson 14: Missing Dimensions (Print available)
Lesson 4: Find Volume of SpheresUnit 5
Lesson 15: Spheres
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Our Instructional model

The Amplify Science program is rooted in the proven, research-based pedagogy of Do, Talk, Read, Write, Visualize. Here’s how each element works:

DO
First-hand investigations are an important part of any science classroom, and Amplify Science has students getting hands-on in every unit, from building models of protein molecules to experimenting with electrical systems.

TALK
Student-to-student discourse and full class discussions are an integral part of the program. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to engage in meaningful oral scientific argumentation, all while fostering a collaborative classroom environment.

READ
Students read scientific articles, focusing their reading activities on searching for evidence related to their investigation, and importantly, on asking and recording questions as they read through fascinating texts on 21st-century topics.

WRITE
Following real-world practices, students write scientific arguments based on evidence they’ve collected, making clear their reasoning about how a given piece of evidence connects to one of several claims.

VISUALIZE
By manipulating digital simulations and using modeling tools to craft visualizations of their thinking— just as real scientists and engineers do—students take their learning far beyond the confines of what they can physically see in the classroom in an exciting and authentic way.

Supporting resources

Scope and sequence

GRADE

UNITS

Kindergarten

  • Needs of Plants and Animals
  • Pushes and Pulls
  • Sunlight and Water

Grade 1

  • Animal and Plant Defenses
  • Light and Sound
  • Spinning Earth

Grade 2

  • Plant and Animal Relationships
  • Properties of Materials
  • Changing Landforms

Grade 3

  • Balancing Forces
  • Inheritance and Traits
  • Environments and Survival
  • Weather and Climate

Grade 4

  • Energy Conversions
  • Vision and Light
  • Earth’s Features
  • Waves, Energy, and Information

Grade 5

  • Patterns of Earth and Sky
  • Modeling Matter
  • The Earth System
  • Ecosystem Restoration

GRADE

UNITS

Grade 6

  • Launch: Microbiome
  • Metabolism
  • Metabolism Engineering Internship
  • Thermal Energy
  • Plate Motion
  • Plate Motion Engineering Internship
  • Rock Transformations
  • Weather Patterns
  • Ocean, Atmosphere, and Climate

Grade 7

  • Launch: Harnessing Human Energy
  • Phase Change
  • Phase Change Engineering Internship
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Earth’s Changing Climate
  • Earth’s Changing Climate Engineering Internship
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Populations and Resources
  • Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

Grade 8

  • Launch: Geology on Mars
  • Earth, Moon, and Sun
  • Light Waves
  • Force and Motion
  • Force and Motion Engineering Internship
  • Traits and Reproduction
  • Natural Selection
  • Natural Selection Engineering Internship
  • Evolutionary History

South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021

Amplify Science was designed from the ground up to meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021 are closely aligned to the NGSS at K-8. The guidance below is meant to provide support for integrating additional companion activities that support full coverage of the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021.

Organized by grade level, each section below will outline:

  • Additional activities that support 100% alignment to the  South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021; 
  • The standard being addressed with the activities; 
  • The recommended placement of the activities within a specific Amplify Science unit; and 
  • PDFs of any accompanying materials that are necessary to implement the activities.

Standard: MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
Recommended placementThermal Energy unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials“Liquid Oxygen”
By reading the article “Liquid Oxygen,” which describes how the relationship between attraction and kinetic energy determines when a substance changes phase, students extend their understanding of the possible effects of adding or removing thermal energy to include changes in state (phase). Oxygen is one of the most common elements in the world, but most people are only familiar with oxygen in the gas phase. Because oxygen molecules are only weakly attracted to one another, condensing oxygen is difficult. This article introduces students to molecular attraction and discusses its role in phase change, including how it can be used to turn oxygen from a gas to a liquid.
Instructions:
Download PDFs of the “Liquid Oxygen” and distribute it to students. Before they begin reading, remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines. 

Standard: MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
Recommended placementWeather Patterns unit, Lesson 4.4, addition to Activity 3
Materials“Harvesting Sunlight”, “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice”
After investigating weather patterns, which includes a focus of the effects of energy from sunlight, students extend their learning about light by reading three articles about light and other waves.
“Harvesting Sunlight:” Students read this article to learn about the types of light from the sun that plants use for photosynthesis. The article describes how the sun emits all types of light, but plants can only use certain types of visible light for photosynthesis, mostly red and blue light. Plants also absorb other types of light, and these types of light affect plants in different ways. Students use this information to gather evidence that there are different types of light that can affect a material in different ways.
“Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream:” Students read this article to learn about how waves are transmitted. Explosions that would be deafening on Earth are silent in space. This is because sound is produced by sound waves and, unlike light waves, sound waves need matter to travel through. Reading about this phenomenon helps students understand the similarities and differences between mechanical and electromagnetic waves.
“Making Waves at Swim Practice:” A practice for the school swim team provides an everyday context for discussing light waves and sound waves in this engaging article. First, the article explores sound waves traveling through different materials–the air, the water of the pool, and even a metal poolside bench. Students discover that sound waves travel at different speeds in different materials. The later part of the article discusses light waves, which also travel at different speeds in different materials. As light waves move from one material to another, they change speed and bend. This bending of light waves is called refraction, and it explains why objects that are partly in the water and partly out of the water (such as the legs of a person sitting on the side of a pool) appear ripply and bent.
Instructions:
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the  “Harvesting Sunlight,” “Why No One in Space Can Hear You Scream,” and “Making Waves at Swim Practice” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines. 

Standard: MS-PS2-3: Ask questions about data to determine the factors that affect the strength of electric and magnetic forces. MS-PS2-5: Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
Recommended placementHarnessing Human Energy unit, Lesson 3.4, after Activity 1
Materials“Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Static Electricity”
After concluding their investigations of energy transfers and conversions, students read two articles that introduce the topic of forces that act at a distance.
“Earth’s Geomagnetism:” What makes a compass needle point north, no matter what? This article introduces students to Earth’s geomagnetic field and the field lines scientists use to show its direction.
“Painting with Static Electricity:” This article gives students the opportunity to learn about electrostatic fields and forces in the context of spray painting without making a mess. Electrostatic painting systems use electrostatics to draw spray paint toward the object being painted, and nowhere else. Painters charge the object they are painting with a negative charge and the paint with a positive charge. The opposite charges are attracted to one another, causing the paint to move toward the object. This surprising use of electrostatics saves time and paint and keeps things tidy!
Instructions
Plan one class period for each article. Download PDFs of the “Earth’s Geomagnetism” and “Painting with Electricity” articles. For each article, before students begin reading, preview the article and discuss what students already know and what they wonder about the topic, then remind students of the Active Reading Guidelines. 

What’s included

Science articles
The middle school science articles serve as sources for evidence collection and were authored by science and literacy experts at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Student Investigation Notebooks
Available for every unit, the Student Investigation Notebooks provide space for students to:

  • Record data
  • Reflect on ideas from texts and investigations
  • Construct explanations and arguments

Available with full-color article compilations for middle school units.

Cuatro folletos blancos con detalles en naranja brillante y varias imágenes de temas de la naturaleza en las portadas. Los títulos son parcialmente visibles, centrándose en información sobre el agua y sus usos.

Digital student experience
Students access the digital simulations and modeling tools, as well as lesson activities and assessments, through the digital student experience. Students can interact with the digital student experience as they:

  • Conduct hands-on investigations
  • Engage in active reading and writing activities
  • Participate in discussions
  • Record observations
  • Craft end-of-unit scientific arguments
Una fotografía de tres pantallas de computadora que muestran diferentes interfaces de software: código sobre un fondo negro, un mapa de calor del clima y un entorno de programación gráfico.

Teacher’s Guides
Available digitally and in print, the Teacher’s Guides contain all of the information teachers need to facilitate classroom instruction, including:

  • Classroom Slides
  • Detailed lesson plans
  • Unit and chapter overview documentation
  • Differentiation strategies
  • Standards alignments
  • In-context professional development
A laptop displaying the Geology on Mars webpage sits beside a book titled "Geology on Mars," both featuring the same cover image of Mars and a spacecraft, perfect for enhancing three-dimensional learning in any science classroom.

Hands-on materials kits
Hands-on learning is at the heart of Amplify Science. Each unit kit contains:

  • Consumable and non-consumable hands-on materials
  • Print classroom display materials
  • Premium print materials for student use (sorting cards, maps, etc.)
A perforated rectangular board, three small containers with different powders, a black battery holder with red wires, and three colored alligator clips are arranged on a white background.

Remote and hybrid learning supports

Una persona sentada en un escritorio usando una computadora portátil, con una estantería que contiene libros, una pecera y una pelota de fútbol cerca.

Amplify has launched a new remote learning solution called Amplify Science@Home. Intended to make extended remote learning and hybrid learning easier, Amplify Science@Home includes two useful options for continuing instruction: @Home Videos and @Home Units. 

Amplify Science @Home Videos are recordings of real Amplify Science teachers teaching the lessons. For those teachers who are unable to meet synchronously with their students, the recorded lessons are a great way to keep their students on track and engaged with Amplify Science while at home. These videos will be produced for all K–5 units, and for the first four units of each 6–8 grade level. Their release will be rolling, beginning in August.   

Amplify Science@Home Units are modified versions of Amplify Science units, strategically designed to highlight key activities from the program. The @Home Units take significantly less instructional time than the complete Amplify Science program and allow students to engage with science at home. @Home Units will be developed for all Amplify Science K–8 units. Each @Home unit includes:

  • Teacher overviews explaining how to use the materials, including suggestions for enhancing the @Home Units if synchronous learning or in-class time with students is available.
  • Overviews to send home to families.

Student materials are available in two formats:

  • @Home Slides (PDF/PPT) + Student Sheets (PDF) for students with access to technology at home.
  • Downloadable @Home Packets (PDF) for students without access to technology at home.

Download the Remote and hybrid learning guide.

Looking for help?

Powerful (and free!) pedagogical support

Amplify provides a unique kind of support you won’t find from other publishers. We have developed an educational support team of former teachers and administrators who provide pedagogical support for every Amplify curriculum, assessment, and intervention program. This service is completely free for all educators who are using our programs and includes:

  • Guidance for developing lesson plans and intervention plans
  • Information on where to locate standards and other planning materials
  • Recommendations and tips for day-to-day teaching with Amplify programs
  • Support with administering and interpreting assessment data and more

To reach our pedagogical team, use our live chat within your program, call (800) 823-1969, or email edsupport@amplify.com

Timely technical and program support

Our technical and program support is included and available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, through a variety of channels, including a live chat program that enables teachers to get immediate help in the middle of the school day.

For your most urgent questions:

  • Use our live chat within your program
  • Call our toll-free number: (800) 823-1969

For less urgent questions:

Contact us

Contact your South Carolina team representatives:
Jeff Rutter
Field Manager
jrutter@amplify.com
(727) 512-8440

Lisa Jurovaty
Account Executive (West South Carolina)
ljurovaty@amplify.com
(803) 526-1899

Cathy McMillan (East South Carolina)
Senior Account Executive
cmcmillan@amplify.com
(904) 465-9904

Inspiring the next generation of Alabama scientists, engineers, and curious citizens

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Welcome to Amplify Desmos Math California!

California educators, welcome to math that motivates. Introducing Amplify Desmos Math California, a new, curiosity-driven TK–12 program that builds lifelong math proficiency. Each lesson poses problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals. Students encounter math problems they are eager to solve; teachers spend more time where it’s most impactful: creating a collaborative classroom of learners.

Scroll to learn more about the program and explore sample materials.

About the program

Amplify Desmos Math California is a TK–12 core math program designed to meet the CA Math Framework and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Offered in English and Spanish, Amplify Desmos Math California thoughtfully combines conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and application through a structured approach to problem-based learning. Through engaging activities, Amplify Desmos Math California invites curiosity and math discourse into the classroom to create lifelong math proficiency.

Please scroll to learn more about the K–8 program and explore sample materials. (TK and high school materials are in development and will be available soon.)

A powerful math suite

Amplify Desmos Math California combines the best of assessment, problem-based core lessons, personalized practice, and intervention into a coherent and engaging experience for both students and teachers.

Laptop displaying a math problem interface with student assessment reports in the background.

Assessment

mCLASS benchmark assessments, along with daily formative checks, measure not only what students know, but also how they think. The asset-based assessment system provides teachers with targeted, actionable insights, linked to core instruction and intervention resources. Unit- and lesson-level core assessments give teachers data at their fingertips to guide and differentiate instruction. In grades 3–8, core assessments and performance tasks are designed to prepare students for success on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) testing.

Core instruction

Amplify Desmos Math California core lessons pair problems students are eager to solve with clear instructional moves for teachers. Each lesson is designed to tell a story by posing problems that invite a variety of approaches before guiding students to synthesize their understanding of the learning goals. With built-in differentiation and Multilingual / English Learner support, Amplify Desmos Math California will allow every student to find success in the math classroom.

An educational game screen with a worm on a log and numbered blocks. Adjacent is a worksheet titled "Finding the Missing Pair" with instructions and incomplete equations.
A digital educational screen showing a math problem about converting meters to centimeters. It involves a diving toy sinking 5 meters into a pool. Text prompts users to input the conversion.

Personalized learning

Boost Personalized Learning activities help students access grade-level math through engaging, independent digital practice. Responsive Feedback adjusts to students’ work, providing item-level adaptivity to further support their learning.

Intervention

Integrated resources like Mini-Lessons, Fluency Practice, and Math Adventures provide targeted intervention on a specific concept or skill connected to the daily lesson. Extensions are also available to stretch students’ understanding.

Two pages of a math workbook displaying exercises on determining coordinates after rotation. The pages include diagrams, tables, and practice problems.
Network diagram with interconnected nodes labeled: Measure and Compare Objects, Represent Data, Dollars and Cents, Problem Solving with Measure, Skip Counting to 100, Number Strategies, Squares in an Array, Seeing Fraction in Shapes.

Big Ideas

The CA Mathematics Framework encourages a shift from power standards to thinking about math as a series of connected Big Ideas. Each Amplify Desmos Math California lesson supports one or more Big Ideas and the connections between Big Ideas. The grade-level diagram changes through the course based on the math concepts being addressed.

Focus, coherence, and rigor

Each lesson highlights why the content being covered is important, how students will engage with the mathematics, and what students will do with the learning. Our lesson opener helps teachers understand the most important concepts of the lesson, and includes the Drivers of Investigation (DI), Content Connections (CC), and Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) that drive learning in each lesson.

An educational slide on addition story problems, detailing goals for solving problems, language goals, and strategies using equal expressions, tens and ones, and number sense.
A screen titled "Match the Score" with a 2D target graph showing various scores. Instructions request four ordered pairs to total 400. Four pairs are listed: (4, 2), (7, 4), (7, 6), (10, 6). A "Try again" button is shown.

Built-in authentic tasks

Mathematics is not learning in isolation. Students are connected to each other’s thinking and can use math to understand the world. With accessible invitations to authentic tasks, all students can experience mathematical success. Amplify Desmos Math California provides these authentic invitations in a variety of ways:

Each unit begins with an “Explore” lesson, which allows students to engage with authentic exploration in low-floor, high-ceiling tasks. These tasks are designed in such a way that all students can access the basic mathematical concepts, but they also offer possibilities for advanced exploration and problem-solving for those ready for more complex work, promoting an inclusive and differentiated learning environment.

Our innovative course-level investigations are designed to facilitate multipart exploration. Students grapple with Big Ideas, diving deep into key concepts that encourage comprehensive understanding. Data science is infused into the approach, equipping students with a strong foundation in interpreting and applying data-driven solutions. The Environmental Principles and Concepts (EP&Cs) are also a focus of our investigations, enabling students to understand and appreciate the coherence and interrelationship of Earth’s environmental systems.

A focus on multilingual and English learners

Children sitting at desks in a classroom with a large illustrated caterpillar on the wall. Beside them are printed educational materials labeled “Amplify Desmos Math” and “Ying’s Aquarium Story.”.

In building Amplify Desmos Math California, we partnered with the English Learner Success Forum (ELSF) to provide guidance on our multilingual/English learner support for teachers. ELSF is a national nonprofit organization that advocates for high-quality instructional materials that are inclusive of multilingual learners. ELSF’s guiding documents reflect research-based instructional strategies that are critical to curriculum design and were created by researchers, linguists, and practitioners from across the country. ELSF reviewed our materials and provided directional guidance and feedback to ensure that the program fully supports multilingual/English learners.

A component of our K–5 curriculum is the engaging unit stories that interweave mathematics with real-life situations and relatable narratives. These unit stories are specifically crafted to inspire curiosity and foster a deep connection between the learner and the math concepts being explored. This unique approach not only makes learning fun and interesting, but also allows our young learners to see themselves in the math.

To help students grow their domain-specific and academic vocabulary, Amplify Desmos Math California provides embedded vocabulary routines, such as prompting teachers to use a Frayer Model. These routines allow students to make connections to new language and offer repeated opportunities to develop and refine language.

Amplify Desmos Math California recognizes the diverse language needs of our students and is designed to be inclusive. Each lesson in the program features a parallel language activity, designed to be available to all students, in the form of teacher guidance and student activities. The activities in the Math Language Development Resource has leveled ELD (Emerging, Expanding, Bridging) differentiation to support all levels of Multilingual and English Learners. This approach ensures that all students, regardless of their language skills, can participate fully, grasp the material, and excel in their mathematical journey.

Uploaded digital glossary for languages other than Spanish. Up to nine languages of translations will be provided for.

Amplify Desmos Math California will include support resources for Spanish-speaking students across TK–Algebra 1/Integrated I beginning in the 20262027 school year.

A computer displays an educational activity about measuring platform heights. A notebook page is layered behind it, with a colorful hamster-themed illustration.

K–5 sample materials

Click the links in the drop-down sections below to explore sample materials from each grade. 

For helpful navigation tips and more program information, download the Amplify Desmos Math Program Guide.

You can also watch a product expert walk through a lesson and the available program components.

Screenshot of a kindergarten curriculum outline featuring units like Math in Our World, Numbers 1-10, Positions and Shapes, Understanding Addition, Making 10, and Shapes All Around Us. This comprehensive program utilizes New York Math standards to build foundational skills.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Kindergarten Amplify Desmos Math California.

Cover of Amplify Desmos Math Grade K Teacher Edition featuring three children playing with math-related objects and a group of rabbits sitting nearby, aligning with the engaging curriculum seen in New York math classrooms.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Counting and Comparing Objects.

Digital educational activity showing a blue backpack illustration with dots, a task to match dots on cards, and printed sheet featuring a similar dot-matching exercise.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math: Student Edition Kindergarten," featuring an illustration of three children playing with math-related toys. A group of small white animals, possibly hamsters, play nearby. The scene brilliantly captures the joy of New York math exploration for young learners.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Grade K Centers Resources" featuring a large, stylized red and pink "C" on a light pink background with simple geometric designs. This distinctive cover complements New York math curriculums with its engaging visual elements.
Centers Resources

Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math: Grade K." The title is displayed with a geometric "I" illustration in the center. Subtitle reads "Intervention and Extension Resources" on a pink and white background, ideal for New York math standards.
Intervention and Extension Resources

Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Illustration of a bear choosing a path with more mushrooms. Activity book page titled "A Furry Feast" with groups of objects to compare quantities.

In this lesson, students apply their understanding of how to compare groups of images as they determine which group has more or fewer and then compare their strategies by guiding a bear through a path that has more mushrooms than the other.

A clear plastic box contains various math manipulatives, including counting cubes, geometric shapes, rulers, and dice, displayed outside the box.
Hands-on manipulative kit

An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Grade 1 math curriculum overview displaying six units with instructional and assessment days: counting, addition, subtraction, numbers to 10, comparing numbers, measuring length, and geometry—aligned with the New York Math standards.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Grade 1 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Children interact with math activities on a large tablet while observing fish illustrations. The text reads "Amplify Desmos Math Grade 1 Teacher Edition, aligned with New York Math standards.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Story Problems in Maui.

A digital educational activity showing a math problem about leaves on a kalo plant with a related worksheet on plant growth.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Illustration of three children engaged in math activities from the "Amplify Desmos Math: Student Edition 1" textbook. One child holds a number card, while the others manipulate counters and images, experiencing an exciting approach inspired by New York math techniques.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Centers Resources

Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Intervention and Extension Resources

Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Interactive math activity for kids featuring a frog and number line for subtraction problems, asking to find differences to locate bugs.

In this lesson, students find differences when subtracting 1 and 2 from the same number by helping a frog reach a lily pad where it can eat a bug.

A clear plastic box contains various math manipulatives, including counting cubes, geometric shapes, rulers, and dice, displayed outside the box.
Hands-on manipulative kit

An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

A curriculum overview for Grade 2 in New York Math displaying 8 units, including topics like comparisons, addition, subtraction, and geometric shapes, with details on the number of instructional and assessment days. This plan integrates resources from Amplify Desmos Math to enrich learning experiences.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Grade 2 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Cover of the "Amplify Desmos Math" Grade 2 Teacher Edition, showcasing children measuring with rulers and a poster displaying a mathematical equation, set against whimsical scenery with a colorful dragon. Perfect for New York math classrooms.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Adding and Subtracting.

Two digital worksheets about Theo's aquarium with tasks to estimate animal quantities using draggable graphs and illustrations of fish, frogs, and shrimps.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Student Edition 2" showing three children performing a New York math activity with blocks and measurements.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Cover of an educational book titled "Amplify Desmos Math Grade 2 Centers Resources" featuring a green "C" on a light green background, perfect for enhancing New York math education.
Centers Resources

Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Grade 2: Intervention and Extension Resources" featuring a green numeral 1 on a light green background, aligning with the New York math standards.
Intervention and Extension Resources

Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Educational activity on a screen showing a worm and blocks with numbers. Another page shows an activity titled "Finding the Missing Pair," with numbered options and a video prompt.

Students continue to develop fluency by finding the number that makes 10 by helping a millipede reach its favorite food – a clump of leaves!

A clear plastic box contains various math manipulatives, including counting cubes, geometric shapes, rulers, and dice, displayed outside the box.
Hands-on manipulative kit

An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

An educational curriculum outline for Grade 3 with seven units covering various mathematics topics, including multiplication, shapes, fractions, and measurement. Suggested instructional days are provided. The New York Math approach ensures a thorough understanding of each concept.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Grade 3 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Cover of a "Grade 3 Amplify Desmos Math Teacher Edition" book, featuring a cutaway building with diverse students and a teacher working on New York math problems and organizing materials.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Concepts of Area Measurement.

Math activity screenshot showing a problem to calculate the area of an unpainted wall space with given side lengths in a room diagram.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Student Edition 3" showcasing illustrated children engaged in various mathematical activities inside a glass house structure, reflecting the dynamic energy of New York math.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Cover of the Amplify Desmos Math Grade 3 Centers Resources book, featuring a 3D letter "C" in blue and white on a minimalistic background, perfect for aligning with New York math standards.
Centers Resources

Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Cover of an "Amplify Cover of the "Amplify Desmos Math" Grade 3 book featuring intervention and extension resources, with a blue geometric "I" on a light blue background, aligning with New York Math standards.
Intervention and Extension Resources

Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Activity sheets showing a bar graph and a table for counting animal stickers: 7 rabbits, 5 raccoons, and 2 foxes. Includes instructions for arranging data points on a graph.

Students compare data represented on bar graphs with different scales by using animal stickers to create scaled bar graphs.

A clear plastic box contains various math manipulatives, including counting cubes, geometric shapes, rulers, and dice, displayed outside the box.
Hands-on manipulative kit

An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

A course outline for Algebra 1 with 8 units, each detailing the number of instructional and optional days. The total suggested instructional days are 144 and 28 optional days, aligning with New York Math standards.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Grade 4 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math: Teacher Edition Grade 4" showing children learning New York Math outdoors, using large mathematical tools and numbers, with one child in a wheelchair.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Size and Location of Fractions.

Screenshot of a digital math activity showing a fraction number line task with a log-cutting visual and an instruction page titled "Locating Fractions.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math, Student Edition, Grade 4," showcasing students collaborating on math problems involving shapes and numbers against a vibrant backdrop that blends cityscapes and natural scenery, capturing the essence of New York math learning.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Cover of the "Amplify Desmos Math" Grade 4 Centers Resources book, featuring a large, stylized blue letter "C" on a light blue background. This essential resource for New York math educators ensures engaging and effective instruction.
Centers Resources

Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math, Grade 4: Intervention and Extension Resources," featuring a geometric illustration and a blue and orange color scheme inspired by New York math standards.
Intervention and Extension Resources

Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

An educational activity displays a drag-and-drop task to determine platform heights using tube lengths, showing a room scene and instructions on a digital interface.

Students choose tube lengths to connect to platform heights for hamster homes, identifying possible heights using what they know about multiples.

A clear plastic box contains various math manipulatives, including counting cubes, geometric shapes, rulers, and dice, displayed outside the box.
Hands-on manipulative kit

An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

A Grade 5 curriculum scope and sequence chart with units covering volume, fractions, multiplication, shapes, place value, and measurement. Each unit lists instructional and assessment days to amplify Desmos Math activities.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Grade 5 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Illustration of three students engaging with various math activities outdoors and around large blocks. Text at the top reads "Amplify Desmos Math, Grade 5, Teacher Edition" - a perfect resource for New York math educators.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from a complete sub-unit on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Unit 1: Fractions as Quotients.

Activity worksheet and digital screen showing a panda on a cliff, with instructions about placing a missing bamboo shoot to help it reach the leaf.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math: Student Edition, Grade 5" featuring students engaged in various mathematical activities outside, such as block building, measuring, and gardening—a perfect resource aligning with New York math standards.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Cover image of "Amplify Desmos Math Grade 5 Centers Resources" featuring a large purple letter C on a light purple background, showcasing the innovative approach of Amplify Desmos Math that's making waves in New York math education.
Centers Resources

Engaging, hands-on games for students to play collaboratively to strengthen their understanding of key skills and concepts.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Grade 5: Intervention and Extension Resources," featuring a large, stylized number five in purple against a light purple background with minimal geometric patterns, ideal for New York math curriculum support.
Intervention and Extension Resources

Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Screen showing a student activity about decomposing a figure into prisms, with a drag-and-drop exercise and an adjacent worksheet labeled "Seeing Prisms.

Students decompose a figure into rectangular prisms and determine the volume of the figure by adding the volumes of the individual prisms.

A clear plastic box contains various math manipulatives, including counting cubes, geometric shapes, rulers, and dice, displayed outside the box.
Hands-on manipulative kit

An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

6–A1 sample materials

Click the links in the drop-down sections below to explore sample materials from each grade. 

For helpful navigation tips and more program information, download the Amplify Desmos Math Program Guide.

You can also watch a product expert walk through a lesson and the available program components.

Laptop showing a math activity with geometric shapes. Two textbooks titled "Amplify Desmos Math" are displayed above.
An educational document titled "Scope and Sequence" for Grade 6 math, designed in collaboration with Amplify Desmos Math, outlining six units with instructional and optional days for topics such as fractions, integers, and expressions.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Grade 6 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Cover of the Grade 6 Amplify Desmos Math Teacher Edition, showcasing students engaging in various mathematical activities around a balance scale with variables, inspired by New York math educational standards.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from three sub-units on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Area; Unit 3, Sub-Unit 1: Units and Measurement; and Unit 6, Sub-Unit 1: Solving Equations.

A digital activity showing two model trains on a track with a question about speed. A printed page on the right is titled "Model Trains" with warm-up instructions.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Cover of “Amplify Desmos Math, Student Edition, Grade 6” featuring an illustration of children engaging in various New York math-related activities outdoors.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Cover image of "Amplify Desmos Math" for Grade 6, featuring a 3D pink letter "I" and the text "Intervention and Extension Resources." This New York math edition supports students with comprehensive resources.
Intervention and Extension Resources

Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

A digital illustration of math balancing scales featuring boxes and a fox, alongside a worksheet displaying similar content and activities for learning math concepts.

Students use equations and tape diagrams to represent seesaw situations and to determine unknown animal weights, helping them make connections between diagrams that represent equations of the form `x+p=q` or `px=q`.

A clear plastic storage box filled with educational math manipulatives, including colorful blocks, shapes, measuring tools, and counting cubes displayed outside the box.
Hands-on manipulative kit

An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

A Grade 7 math curriculum outline, featuring units on scale drawings, proportional relationships, measuring circles, rational numbers, operations, equations, angles, area, and probability with sequencing and days allocated. Perfectly aligned with Amplify Desmos Math for New York Math standards.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Grade 7 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Cover image of "Amplify Desmos Math Teacher Edition Grade 7" featuring an illustration of students engaging in math-related activities with geometric shapes and construction elements against a New York cityscape background.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from three sub-units on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Scaled Copies; Unit 4, Sub-Unit 1: Percentages as Proportional Relationships; and Unit 6, Sub-Unit 1: Equations and Tape Diagrams.

Activity page showing a grid for shape creation with an area of 8 square centimeters. Includes shape options and instructions on rotation. A booklet page displays area challenges and warm-up tasks.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math, Student Edition, Grade 7" showing students engaged in math activities against a cityscape reminiscent of New York, with purple geometric structures and a crane in the background.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math: Grade 7 – Intervention and Extension Resources" featuring a stylized 3D "I" on a light purple background, ideal for both New York math and national curricula.
Intervention and Extension Resources

Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

Screenshot of an educational website showing a math activity featuring a sheep named Shira. There is a graph and a worksheet on inequalities displayed.

Students solve inequalities with positive and negative coefficients to solve a variety of challenges featuring a fictional sheep who eats grass according to an inequality.

A clear plastic storage box filled with educational math manipulatives, including colorful blocks, shapes, measuring tools, and counting cubes displayed outside the box.
Hands-on manipulative kit

An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

Grade 8 math curriculum chart featuring 9 units, such as Rigid Transformations and Congruence, with Suggested Instructional days. Each unit outlines instructional days, assessment days, and optional days—complemented by insights from Amplify Desmos Math to enhance your New York math learning experience.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Grade 7 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Illustration of children engaging in learning activities outdoors near a large slide. The title "Amplify Desmos Math Grade 8 Teacher Edition" is shown at the top, highlighting its relevance to New York math curriculum standards.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from three sub-units on this site: Unit 1, Sub-Unit 1: Rigid Transformations; Unit 3, Sub-Unit 2: Linear Relationships; and Unit 6, Sub-Unit 2: Analyzing Numerical Data.

Image of a digital math activity titled "Line Capture #2" featuring a grid, equations, and instructions. A paper worksheet with graphs and a "Line Zapper" title is displayed alongside.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Cover of the "Amplify Desmos Math" Student Edition for Grade 8, featuring students engaging in various mathematical activities in a stylized outdoor New York setting.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math Grade 8: Intervention and Extension Resources" featuring a stylized "I" on a gray background, tailored for New York math standards.
Intervention and Extension Resources

Additional resources to reinforce and extend key concepts, including Mini-Lessons and Extensions.

An educational worksheet on robots, featuring a graph with red, purple, and blue robot icons, and instructions for a warm-up activity.

Students connect points on a scatter plot with individuals in a population and rows of data in a table. The analysis of scatter plots continues with data about the eye distances and heights of robots.

A clear plastic storage box filled with educational math manipulatives, including colorful blocks, shapes, measuring tools, and counting cubes displayed outside the box.
Hands-on manipulative kit

An optional add-on to your Amplify Desmos Math California program, the manipulative kit provides hands-on learning tools designed to simplify and illustrate complex mathematical concepts.

A course outline for Algebra 1 with 8 units, each detailing the number of instructional and optional days. The total suggested instructional days are 144 and 28 optional days, aligning with New York Math standards.
Program structure

Get to know the content and structure of Algebra 1 Amplify Desmos Math California.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math: Algebra 1, Teacher Edition" featuring diverse characters engaged in mathematical activities, with a graph and a bridge in the background, illustrating the vibrant energy of New York math.
Teacher Edition pages

Planning and instructional guidance is visual, organized, and easy-to-follow. To help you review the program, we have included samples from two complete sub-units on this site: Unit 2, Sub-Units 1–2: One-Variable Equations and Multi-Variable Equations.

A digital educational interface shows a graph with data points and textual instructions comparing year and breeding pairs. Adjacent is a page discussing penguin populations with charts and illustrations.
Digital experience

Explore our digital experience! Every lesson in Amplify Desmos Math California has student print materials and digital recommendations.

Cover of "Amplify Desmos Math" Student Edition A1, featuring an illustration of diverse characters engaging in New York math activities against a backdrop of graphs and mathematical concepts.
Student Edition pages

Motivate students with mathematics that is both rigorous and delightful.

A digital math activity screen showing block arrangements and a worksheet page titled "Shelley the Snail" with related graphics.

Students represent the solutions of a situation using a table, a graph, and multiple forms of an equation to identify multiple combinations of blocks that can help Shelley the Snail cross a gap.

Contact us

For questions, samples, or more information, please contact your local Amplify Account Executive:

Erin King
Sales Director, CA
(512) 736-3162
eking@amplify.com

Northern CA
Wendy Garcia
Senior Account Executive
(510) 368-7666
wgarcia@amplify.com

Bay Area
Lance Burbank
Account Executive
(415) 830-5348
lburbank@amplify.com

Central Valley and Central Coast
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Senior Account Executive
(559) 355-3244
dgonos@amplify.com

Ventura and L.A. County
Jeff Sorenson
Associate Account Executive
(310) 902-1407
jsorenson@amplify.com

Orange and L.A. County
Lauren Sherman
Senior Account Executive
(949) 397-5766
lsherman@amplify.com

San Bernardino and L.A. County
Michael Gruber
Senior Account Executive
(951) 520-6542
migruber@amplify.com

Riverside and L.A. County
Brian Roy
Account Executive
(818) 967-1674
broy@amplify.com

San Diego County
Kirk Van Wagoner
Senior Account Executive
(760) 696-0709
kvanwagoner@amplify.com

Under 2300 students in Bay Area, Sacramento Valley, and Northern Counties
Kevin Mauser
Lead Account Executive
(815) 534-0148
kmauser@amplify.com

Under 2300 students in Southern CA, Central Coast, and Southern Central Valley Counties
Charissa Snyder
Account Executive
(720) 936-6802
chsnyder@amplify.com

Request additional samples.

Ready to learn more? Connect with an Amplify Desmos Math California expert to request additional program samples.

S3-02: How science strengthens literacy and language development

A graphic with the text "Science Connections" and "Amplify" features colorful circles and curved lines on a dark gray background.

In our second episode of the season, we continue finding ways that science is overlooked and how it can be better utilized in schools—and as an ally to other subjects!

We sat down with Susan Gomez Zwiep, former middle school science teacher and senior science educator and staff advocate at BSCS Science Learning. She shared past experiences and research that shows the benefits of integrating science and literacy, as well as strategies for applying these ideas in the classroom.

We hope you enjoy this episode and explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page!

DOWNLOAD TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (00:00):
We started to see this trend of students communicating more in English because they were excited about the science that they had been learning.

Eric Cross (00:10):
Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host Eric Cross. In this third season, we’re exploring the theme of science as the underdog. And last time around, we delved into the data showing that compared to other subjects, science is often put on the back burner. Now it’s time to explore why it’s so important to change that and how to do it effectively. So over the course of these coming episodes, we’re gonna make the case for science and equip you with data and strategies for advancing science in your own home, school, or community. To kick things off, we’re going to spend a few episodes going in depth on the integration of science and English instruction. We know we need to dramatically improve literacy rates in this country, and as we’ll show in the coming episodes, science can be a key ally in that goal. We’ll also show how language development and literacy instruction can support science. Yes, it can be a win-win, folks. To start out, I’m joined by someone who has been studying science and language development for more than a decade. Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep is a senior science educator and staff advocate for BSCS Science Learning. On this episode, she talks about her own experience as a middle school science teacher and share some key insights and strategies from the research on integrating science and English language development. Please enjoy this conversation with Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep.

Eric Cross (01:36):
Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for being here and having this really important conversation. So I’m so glad you can make it, Susan.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (01:43):
Yeah, I’m excited to be here.

Eric Cross (01:44):
We’re gonna talk all about language development and science. But first I was hoping that you can just kind of set the stage and tell the listeners about yourself and how you came about to studying this specific subject.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (01:57):
Sure. So I am a California native. I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and that’s where I started teaching. I have an undergraduate degree in integrated biology from UC Berkeley. And I thought I was gonna go be a field scientist. And while I was waiting for grad school applications to run their course, I took a substitute job in Montebello to kind of bide my time. And because I had a science degree, they asked if I would take a permanent placement, well, a temporary permanent placement. And I said sure. And found myself teaching seventh and eighth grade general science to a population that at the time was about 68% English language learners, in a school that you would consider urban, under-resourced with a community that was large percentage immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America. And I never looked back. I kept that job.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (03:04):
I loved it. I love the middle school classroom. I love teaching science to my middle school students and truly, truly just found a really good home for my love of science, but also my love for talking about science and helping other people understand science. So at some point I was entertained with the idea of going to graduate school. So while I was still teaching, I actually did a Ph.D. At the University of Southern California in the science education field. And once there, realized that I actually had a unique experience in higher ed, that experience of teaching with populations that are learning English or have home languages other than English, was actually not common in higher ed circles. And being from that community was also not common. And so I pretty quickly leveraged that experience to combat what I think is universally agreed as an equity issue that in my school where I taught, the district had advocated for ELs to get an extra hour of language development in order to promote their English language proficiency.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (04:28):
And, our principal wisely said, there are not enough English-only students in this school to do that without losing all of our science teachers because there’s not enough kids left to actually fill a day, a teacher’s day. And she said, these kids learn more language in their science courses than they do anywhere else, so I don’t wanna remove that. But the reality is, is that at that time–this was in the late nineties, early two thousands–if you were not proficient in English, you went to more time with language development. And that makes a lot of sense in some ways. But when you look at the big picture, you realize, well, that means those kids aren’t going to science and they’re not having opportunities to have consistent quality science learning opportunities simply because they spoke a language other than English at home. And so that’s really how I fell into this work.

Eric Cross (05:28):
And that has a downstream effect. I mean, once you start pulling students from a course, that automatically sets the trajectory for later outcomes, which we ultimately see in STEM fields where we, we don’t see the population of our students represented in the STEM fields. Now, I know this goes back a few years, but you were doing research for your Ph.D. What did you start to follow?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (05:50):
Yeah, so I eventually took a position at Cal State Long Beach, which was not by chance, it’s a Hispanic-serving institution, and that’s where I wanted to do my academic work. And once I was there, sought funding with a district to support elementary science learning. So it had a teacher professional learning component that was both summer and in-class, sort of like PD in the classroom component. And the district came back and said, the only way you are gonna get time to even talk about science in elementary school is if it’s attached to language development. And so that’s what we did. It was a three-year grant, there was a sister grant that followed–so all told, it was about a five-year program where we basically said, what if instead of following the traditional ELD, English Language Development curriculum, we modified and put science as the context for language development in the K2 bands.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (07:01):
Teachers at the district traditionally had not been excited about their language development curriculum until we said, we’re gonna take that and we’re gonna do some science instead. And then they were like, no, no, no! We love our ELD curriculum. But they hung in there with us. The project was successful enough that it actually became a K4 and then a K5 project. The district ended up having to put in a ton of money into this because the grant only paid for so much. But their schools actually wanted “in” ’cause what they heard is when we put science as a context for language development, kids were talking more. Kids were speaking in English more. Kids were writing more. Kids were engaged. And the ultimate, kids were developing English quickly and in a community where you could actually operate within the community without speaking English. These are Spanish-speaking communities and the schools operated in Spanish outside the classroom. So if you walked into the school’s office, the principal secretary, the person who manned the door, spoke Spanish. The field supervisors that the lunch supervisors spoke Spanish.

Eric Cross (08:17):
The non-teaching staff that are supporting the rest of the students outside of the classroom.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (08:23):
Yeah. Everybody spoke Spanish and they spoke Spanish at school. And even the principals came back and said, from being in this project, that the kids were coming into the office and had transitioned to communicating in English, especially when they wanted to talk about science, and they really wanted to talk about science ’cause they were super excited about the stuff that they were learning. So we started to see this trend of students communicating more in English because they were excited about the science that they had been learning. And yeah, that sold itself and we had schools jumping in.

Eric Cross (09:01):
So you started off in a situation where you were told that you had to, if you wanna get science and you had to merge it into English, basically. And is it fair to say that that’s because of testing requirements that schools have on them? Like this is what gets analyzed or what was the purpose behind that?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (09:15):
It was district policy and it was site policy and those policies were put into place for very good intentions. Students don’t get reclassified into English only, and reclassification is how you traditionally got access to all this other programming, electives, AP college prep, all those other things. And the best way to get them reclassified was to learn English, and to learn it sooner rather than later. So it was in an attempt to get kids reclassified from English learner to English proficient.

Eric Cross (09:55):
And then during that process it was able to be expanded to K4. And then with these open-minded teachers, you gave them the content, they used science as the context for learning. And then your students who were mostly emerging bilinguals and multilingual students, you found that they started speaking English more frequently. What did you make of that result? Like what did you come to after seeing all that happen?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (10:20):
So I do wanna say that there’s a couple of reasons why we think this works so well. But I have to really acknowledge that there were linguistics, second language acquisition experts that were part of this team. And we wouldn’t have been able to make any of this work if it was purely science educators leading this cause. There’s a lot we didn’t understand about language development, and they really helped us. But one of the things that we think is unique about science, there’s a few really important aspects–one is that we all have experiences in the natural world, since we can process outside information, right? We all have observations, things we’ve observed with our eyes, we’ve heard, we’ve felt, and all of those experiences build some pretty good science ideas before we enter formal schooling. You know, kids already have ideas about this.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (11:20):
We don’t have to give them language for it. They already have these concepts and experiences. The other thing is that we are inherently interested in the natural world we occupy. And so we’re curious, science is often considered cool, there are science channels and science fiction movies and science fiction books and magazines–and this is just … it’s just cool. And that tended to be the trigger, you know, when we gave kids something interesting to observe. A Ziploc bag with water that we added an Alka-Seltzer to, and strange things starts happening in the baggie. That curiosity, that excitement allowed kids to leap over any concerns they had about the language they were supposed to use in the classroom. One of the most difficult things about learning a language is using a language that is imperfect. So saying things and communicating in a language that you are not a hundred percent confident about, that you’re not sure you’re using the right words or the right tenses. But when kids were excited about this thing in a Ziploc bag, they didn’t care. They communicated however they could, sometimes in their primary language or their home language, sometimes in imperfect English, but by and large they just communicated. They did it in oral language, like listening and speaking, but they also did it in writing. And that was easy. Like we didn’t have to do anything other than provide interesting science experiences. And that’s, that’s pretty common.

Eric Cross (13:06):
Yeah. I feel like, to co-sign on the science is cool, it is objectively, if a matter of fact, even just looking at the Oscars, like we have multiverse, you know, we have sci-fi you know, the costume designer of Wakanda Forever. We have all of these different movies that are all founded in some kind of these scientific principles. And so the idea that science is cool and organic, naturally engaging is something I think we, we all can connect to and it resonates with all of us. So I feel like is sort of your origin story too.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (13:33):
That’s the origin story.

Eric Cross (13:34):
That’s the origin story right there, to continue with this like movie theme. Now if we fast forward to today, based on all the research that you’ve seen since then, and your experience, why would you advocate merging English language development and science?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (13:49):
Well, for one, the research that we conducted actually provided some really nice evidence that showed, even though we had essentially stole minutes from language development time and inserted science. And on state mandated tests and on their students’ language proficiency measures, the kids in the program with the blended, did significantly better than students who were getting ELD instruction alone. Traditional ELD instruction. And that kind of blew our mind. We would’ve been happy if they had done just fine. Like we could put science into a student’s day and do no harm. They could get their language development; they could get science. But in fact, what we found was that they did better. That they actually gained English more quickly and it showed up in multiple measures, including the state English language arts assessment, which again, kind of blew our mind.

Eric Cross (14:55):
So just to be clear about the study that you did, you looked at two groups and one was the blended science and English language development, and then the other one was a control group. And the blended group ended up showing more improvement.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (15:09):
Yes. So there’s quite a bit of research now, this research was done in the early two thousands, and the research has built around it to really suggest that this does seem to be a more efficient way to promote language development while still maintaining students’ access to a core content area. But in recent years, the standards have shifted and that has been just a remarkable, wonderful change. And both standards have shifted. So when we did our research, we did it under the old California Science standards that were fairly heavy in technical terms. They were heavy in science concepts rather than kids doing things. And they were a much narrower focus.

Eric Cross (16:04):
And these are the standards that most of us grew up on, right? Those of us who are pretty much teachers in the classroom today pretty much grew up on what you’re talking about. Is that fair to say?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (16:12):
That’s fair to say, yes. So the new standards that we have now, the California NGSS Standards emphasize not just ideas, but they also emphasize students doing things in science. And we didn’t have to build-in language portions to the standards. They now exist. The NGSS is a very, very rich linguistic opportunity for students. And at the same time, the way we’ve thought about language development has also shifted. We used to talk about language and science… we used to think about science as a lot of words, and you had to know the words, you had to have this technical language. And we’ve sort of shifted that to really thinking about, language is no longer a prerequisite for science learning. Language is now developed through the science learning or the content learning experiences.

Eric Cross (17:11):
So now there’s more chances to integrate English into science. Have you seen success stories or have you seen examples of this? Maybe just anecdotes of teachers kind of doing this since you’ve been doing this research and kind of watching. If so, would you mind sharing one or two?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (17:30):
Yeah. And I will just give a nod to Dr. Dr. Okie Lee who’s now at NYU who has really led sort of this reconception of language and science. And one of the ways she talks about it is this notion that I enter this learning experience, I enter this observation of this phenomena with fairly naive, simple scientific ideas. And my language about it is equally simple. But as I develop more and more ideas, as my understanding of the phenomenon, what I figured out becomes more sophisticated, I need more sophisticated language. And so what we’re starting to see are these spaces where teachers are building science ideas and science and understanding along with the language. And in order to do that, you really need to know what’s the storyline arc of my science lesson? What do they figure out in lesson one? What do they figure out in lesson two?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (18:35):
What do they figure out in lesson three? How are the science ideas building over time? So that I can then look at the language that they’re using and what language supports do I need in order to allow students to not only engage and figure things out, but communicate their ideas about it. And so we’re seeing teachers blow up what we call language, what we call text. It’s not just words. It’s not just sentences written on a paper, but it’s models, it’s pictorial representations, it’s gestures, it’s this wide range. We pretty much said, let’s blow language up. Let’s like use all of the linguistic registers that we have in order to make meaning of what we’re seeing it in together in this classroom. So that’s one thing that we’re starting to see. The other thing is that teachers are really allowing students opportunities to use what we call social language, non-standard dialects.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (19:40):
The language I use at home and with my friends. Because earlier I had said, we have all these experiences and those experiences in the world are tied up in my social register. They’re tied up in my home language ’cause that’s where I experience them. And to let students have access to using that language in the classroom, especially initially in a unit, means we’re giving ’em access to those experiences that they have that are related to the phenomena under study. So I totally understand the benefit of promoting academic language and promoting language frames and forms that we use in more academic settings. But it’s a sticky wicket. You have to be careful how you tell students about the way you want them to communicate. Because when we tell them that language that you use at home with your friends and family is not welcome here, we can send a message that they’re not welcome here. And that those experiences that they have outside of classroom about how things fall, the way sunlight heats up different surfaces, where you’ll find plants and what plants you will find based on conditions. All of those experiences, we’re sending a message that those are not welcome in the classroom. And so this expansion of language, including non-standard dialects and even home language, is really important for letting students bring their whole selves into the classroom.

Eric Cross (21:23):
I love what you just said. It legitimizes the funds of knowledge, the language, the cultures that our students are bringing to the table. I remember when I first learned the word code-switching in college and you know, I’m biracial, I grew up in my home community and my school community were two different communities and I ethnically, culturally belonged to both. And I had to code-switch in order to kind of survive and be accepted into different communities. And not until I was in college did I actually understand what I was doing. Now there were all kinds of teasing and jokes that went on to how I would talk if I code-switched improperly. And in my classroom, I would see students who would explain concepts in a way that was maybe like a casual register. They just were explaining it the best way they could.

Eric Cross (22:10):
And the way they were speaking was kind of denigrated or it was seen as negative even though they were communicating their concept. And when I became a middle school teacher, one of my, I don’t know, it’s like sometimes when you teach, you get to, you change how you were taught or what you experience and legitimizing my students’ language, and they would tell these beautiful stories and in their most common like, casual language, but they’re explaining the concept brilliantly. And it was phenomenal to see this barrier be removed of saying, you have to talk like this in order to be a scientist or you have to say these right words. And, and that’s what I feel like I’m hearing that in how you’re describing kind of how science has been done and what language can do to certain groups of students.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (22:58):
Yeah, very much so. And you know, back to the origin story, you know, I grew up in a multi-generational household. My mom, my aunt, my grandmother, Spanish was their first language, but they lost it because my mom was raised in Riverside and she, you know, went to school in the, the fifties and sixties and back then you weren’t allowed to speak Spanish at school. And so they lost the language.

Eric Cross (23:27):
They weren’t allowed to speak it at all.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (23:29):
At all. I didn’t directly observe it, but that is the story that my family tells, that there was no English spoken anywhere on school grounds. And that was a different issue. Right? That was very much for people unfamiliar with some of the history in Southern California. Their segregated schools, severe racism, linguistic racism, racial racism against Mexicans was a real thing. But yet I grew up in this household where the sort of way of speaking, like I think many Mexican households, the context is everything. So you can’t get to the facts until you’ve told the whole context of everything happening around it. So we used to joke that we couldn’t send my grandmother to the doctor by herself ’cause he had 15 minutes, and she was gonna take 20 just to tell him how she got there before she got to why she was there. But this telling of the context, the telling of the story around the idea is part of the linguistic, this sort of linguistic way of my household. When I got to school, I had to learn to drop it because teachers found me off topic. You know, I still have to be careful how I express things and sometimes I’m not a fast storyteller <laugh>, and I monitor that for myself. So I can only imagine what it’s like to be a kid in a classroom.

Eric Cross (24:59):
Right. And there are so many constraints in the school day, you know, especially if you’re multi-subject and you’re elementary and you’re teaching multiple subjects and someone’s trying to tell a story and you’re just like, land the plane! And they’ve, you know, gotta tell ’em the story, but realizing that when you look at it through a lens of like, culturally, this is how we communicate, then it reframes what the student is trying to do. They’re communicating to you based on how they’ve learned to communicate and they’re including essential parts of the story. And so how do you both honor that while also, you know, certain things like brevity and being concise and things like that that they’ll have to learn. But also honoring that and making sure that there’s space for that in your classroom. Even me, I’m thinking about this where I had students record this video and it was one minute to two-and-a-half minutes explaining three concepts. And I had students coming up to me afterwards saying, Mr. Cross, I need to record two videos because two-and-a-half minutes is not long enough. And I was like, how? I even extended it. But I’m realizing and listening to you and going, they’re probably not just getting to the point. They’re probably including more context into this because that’s how they story tell and that was actually part of the lesson.

Eric Cross (26:12):
So now I need to go back and extend their time that I’ve given them for <laugh> that project. I wanna come back to kind of, since we’re on this topic about why this is also an equity issue. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So we were talking about language, you touched on this a bit, and we were talking about integrating into science, but can we go a little bit further into how this integrated approach maybe can benefit English language learners in particular? And maybe anything else that’s related to equity that comes to mind.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (26:40):
So there’s a couple of layers of the equity issue. The most tangible and clear is student access. If we wait until students develop English proficiency to allow them access to quality science learning, we lose a tremendous number of students that could not only could they benefit from science, we could benefit from their entering this science conversation. And I was at a university and I was in a college of natural sciences and we were dedicated to increasing the diversity of the faculty. And it was a struggle ’cause the number of Ph.D. science ed or biology or chemistry academics that come from marginalized populations is very, very small. And it’s not by accident. You know, the number of students that make it into the next level, that make it into college prep courses, that make it into STEM majors, that complete STEM majors and go on to either careers or advanced degrees narrows at every possible step.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (28:01):
And so the equity issue is really one of access. And as basic as that is, it’s the easiest to solve. So that’s the first layer of equity. But the second issue around equity is how we engage these students once they’re in this space. Do we make it possible for them to see themselves as a scientist or an engineer? Are we creating learning experiences that not only allow them to use all the sense-making resources that they have, but do we make them feel like they’re valuable and useful in that space? Because there’s a lot of people that will say, I could be successful as a scientist, but I’m not willing to give up who I am in order to do that. And that’s a real thing. There’s a lot of research about like, why are they leaving? Like why, you know, is it because they’re not able?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (29:05):
Is it because they don’t see themselves as being capable? And now I think we’re looking at this as a different issue. It’s not that students don’t see themselves as capable and not that they’re not achieving. They see the cost that it will take to enter these fields and essentially not be able to be their full selves. So that’s the second equity issue. And in both cases we lose. As a society, we lose. We lose access to the full range of human resources that we have, and we lose access to their unique perspectives that they would bring to real problems facing us. It’s like all hands-on deck. We need to stop making it too difficult to participate in the conversation and we need to be more inclusive about how we invite these other perspectives and how we respect and utilize their ways of sense-making. That may not be Western science ways that we have in our books now, but hopefully those science materials are gonna change and we’re gonna start to see other ways of sense-making and other people involved in the stories that we tell around science concepts.

Eric Cross (30:29):
And just to be clear, this practice in integration, while it lifts up equity for marginalized or underrepresented groups or students who are emerging bilinguals or students who typically we don’t see representation of, this approach also benefits native speakers as well. Correct?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (30:47):
Yeah. And there’s actually a group of native speakers that come from text poor homes. It’s typical in underserved communities. Poor people living in poverty that may be native English speakers. They may not be marginalized populations. But they don’t have access to like text. And so that’s another group altogether that needs linguistic support. And then once you have all voices in the room contributing, everybody benefits because now the conversation, the building understanding conversation we’re having or the sense-making conversation that we’re having has everybody involved. And we all benefit from that.

Eric Cross (31:33):
And we see, I think one of the benefits about a country like the U.S., is we have such a heterogeneous group of people. And when we’re moving in the same direction, we’re all coming to the same problem, but from different perspectives and we’re able to come up with more innovative and novel solutions to them. And that’s kind of what I’m hearing is like as we generate scientists that are all coming from different backgrounds, we’re gonna be able to solve future problems, current problems a lot more effectively because nobody has a monopoly on perspective. Nobody has a monopoly on knowledge or the fastest way to do something or the best way to do something.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (32:11):
Right. Right. And traditionally we really have privileged particular experiences, particular ways of sense-making particular linguistic registers. And if we could just kind of put that privileged ways aside and open up space for everybody to feel like they have a voice, I think the next generation could change the world. I think they could solve some real problems. I’m truly hopeful that they would see themselves not just as capable, but as necessary in these pursuits.

Eric Cross (32:50):
So what does it actually look like today to do this work in instruction well? So to integrate the science, to integrate literacy, to take the benefits of the things that we’ve been talking about. What are some practical things that educators could do to get started, whether it’s in early, you know, K5 or middle school or even high school.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (33:13):
So I will say, I’m gonna kind of separate ’cause in the elementary space, students are primarily developing literacy in multiple languages. The language of the classroom, typically English, home language, languages, they may be multilingual. In the secondary setting where students tend to have developed social language in some language, it’s a little different. So I’m gonna kind of separate those two. So for elementary spaces where teachers tend to teach multiple things, I recommend that you get a partner. Don’t do this work alone. You cannot do this work alone. I mean you can, but it’s very frustrating and not nearly as much fun. So you really wanna take a look at what is the science that kids are going to be engaged in. Because when we look at science first and build language development around it, the experience tends to be more authentic and organic.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (34:18):
And what we used to do is we used to, like when we were talking about the science, we’d monitor the language we were using and then use that to say these are the registers. This is the language that we use when we were thinking about this. So if students are gonna use this, these are the scaffolds they’re gonna need. ‘Cause to do it, well, to do it efficiently, the scaffolds need to be specific to the science learning. So if we’re doing cause and effect, those are specific linguistic scaffolds that are different than if, say we’re doing model and systems and systems models, those are a whole other slew of scaffolds. And so you wanna be really tending to, what is the science being discussed and what is the language that kids are going to use and build scaffolds around it.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (35:10):
And then you also wanna think about what is the social language? What are the experience that kids will have either in words or pictures that I can leverage in this space. And then you wanna do that for the arc of the unit and slowly increase sophistication around those linguistic supports, as well as the science learning. But if kids have social language and they’re now in, there’s a group we call long-term English learners who have not been reclassified way beyond what the typical reclassification is. And that actually is important to think about because if you think about the kinder group, the group of kindergartners that enter a school when they’re five or six, those kids are going to go from grade to grade to grade. And as students develop proficiency, will get reclassified and they move out of this group that we’re still calling English learners.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (36:10):
So by the time you get to like seventh, eighth, ninth grade, if they’re still students in that category, they have very different needs on average than the group we started with. Often when we talk about secondary or these long-term English learners, we can leverage social language a lot more, but have to build the scaffolds more carefully around, for lack of a better word, the more academic content transferring that those social nonverbal language into more sophisticated forms. I think in any setting, you wanna utilize your resources. If I’m in a secondary space and I have a language development teacher and I’m not talking to her or him or they, that’s a problem. You need to go talk to the other people that have these same kids and talk to them about, how are you engaging in language, what are you doing?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (37:07):
Because you know, you could actually have a lesson, maybe this is a lesson about energy and you’re using a model and the kids are creating an initial model. And over in ELD land, they’re doing some linguistic supports. They’re working on some forms and functions of language. You could talk about the catapult, you could talk about the solar heater. You could use the context of the science conversation, which has a whole bunch of tangible experiences. You know, there’s the solar heater in front of you. I don’t need to keep it all in my head ’cause it’s in front of me and we can point to things and talk about things by manipulating the materials. And then I can take all of that and my ELD partner can use that as context when available. But it takes collaboration, but it’s collaboration well spent. And it’s more challenging in the initial phases of the collaboration. Once you kind of the get into the groove, it becomes a lot easier.

Eric Cross (38:16):
The meta of this, as we talk about integrating science and literacy is, and this is great advice, but it’s basically integrate your science teachers with your English teachers and co-plan and do this work together. It’s a force multiplier. One, you’re both, you’re getting two specialists together. It also, I’m just listening to just the parallels. It also resembles what you actually do in the STEM fields of collaboration working together to problem-solve, and you’re modeling for your students what you want to happen. And if I was an administrator listening to this, someone who had control, like master schedules and things like that, there also needs to be space created for these teachers to talk to each other and plan and do all these other things to kind of maybe come up with like interdisciplinary units or even just meet and begin the conversation. It just seems like such great advice.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (39:07):
Yeah. We’re professionals. We have academic degrees and credentials and experience in the classroom and yet more often than not, we leave it to the students in the seats to make the connections between my class and the class they go to next. And that’s not fair. We need to be talking to each other. So if we’re talking about argumentation, argumentation in science and argumentation in ELA and argumentation in math–we’re not even talking about the same thing. I mean, cognitively we’re talking about taking some evidence and creating a claim and supporting it, but what we mean by evidence is very different in the different disciplines. What counts as more convincing evidence changes. And yet we assume that because we say evidence in one class, the kids know what we’re talking about. And the kids are sitting there going, which one is this? Which evidence are you talking about? Because last period it was something else. And so I think we also need to really consider who’s in the best position to clarify the connections and the integration because we leave it to kids more often than not right now.

Eric Cross (40:19):
I agree. Just having those conversations and defining your terms and agreeing on them just to make it easier for students. ‘Cause you’re right, they are left to make those connections or bridge the gaps. And when you have an education system for many schools, I think most of us, it’s still pretty siloed. You’re still kind of like, especially when you’re in secondary, it’s we’re doing this or even elementary, different times of the day you do different subjects, versus the way that we experience life itself or even our professions. We’re actually integrating science and math and reading and writing throughout the day, and ebbs and flows going back and forth. And without making those explicit connections, we’re leaving a lot of things to chance, hoping that the learning’s there in such a valuable moment. Before we go, I’m wondering if you have a parting message for listeners about the topic of integrating science and literacy. You’ve already said so many amazing things, but you have the platform speaking to educators and folks out there. What would you wanna say to them?

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (41:18):
This is not an easy endeavor. The system that we operate in does not make this effort easy, but it is worth it. It is worth it to the kids in our classrooms. It is worth it to the building of a scientific community and a scientifically literate populace. It’s important to solving problems in the future. It’s important to have kids feel like regardless of how they say things, that they belong in a classroom. If we can relax the sort of linguistic demands on kids and let them enter science learning in a way that allows them to use all their resources and they’re curious, they can really leverage both areas in a way that they don’t do individually. It’s really hard to think about what it is I’m trying to say if I’m worried about how I have to say it. And so we really need to think about, when are those times that we’re gonna let kids just tell us what it is that they’re excited about and when is it that we’re going to help them craft a more formalized language around those ideas. Right now we do a really good job at that second half. We need to do better at the first.

Eric Cross (42:46):
Susan, thank you so much for joining us today and for sharing your expertise and your wisdom and your passion for serving the students and for bringing everybody to the table through language and through science. We really appreciate it and the listeners will too.

Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep (43:03):
Thank you so much. This is my favorite topic.

Eric Cross (43:06):
Thanks so much for listening to my conversation with Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep, senior science educator and staff advocate at BSCS Science Learning. And please remember to subscribe to Science Connections so that you don’t miss any of the episodes in this exciting third season. And while you’re there, we’d really appreciate it if you can leave us a review. It’ll help more listeners find the show. Next time on the show, we’re going to continue exploring the how and why of integrating science and literacy instruction.

Speaker 3 (43:35):
When we interview scientists, they spend a lot of their time reading the work of other scientists and writing their findings, writing grant proposals, presenting at conferences. A huge part of the work of a scientist is not just at a bench conducting experiments, but even if you’re conducting experiments, you’re using your literacy processes to think about what you’re seeing in your experiment.

Eric Cross (43:57):
That’s next time on Science Connections. Thanks so much for listening.

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What Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep says about science

“When we used science as a context for language development, kids were talking more, kids were writing more, kids were engaged.”

– Dr. Susan Gomez Zwiep

Senior Science Educator, BSCS Science Learning

Meet the guests

Susan Gomez Zwiep began her career in science education as a middle school science teacher in Los Angeles where she spent over 12 years working in urban schools. Prior to joining BSCS, Susan worked at California State University, Long Beach as a Professor of Science Education.

Susan has also worked as a Regional Director for the K-12 Alliance, providing high-quality professional development in science and mathematics for K12 educators, including the CA NGSS Early Implementer Initiative. Susan consistently works toward establishing equitable access for all students to rigorous, inquiry-based science instruction and supporting teachers in their journey to become advocates for students, science education, and their own professional development.

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About Science Connections

Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. 

S2-06: Making time for science in the K–5 classroom

Promotional graphic for "Science Connections" podcast, Season 2 Episode 6, featuring Lauran Woolley discussing making time for science in K–5 classrooms.

In this episode,  Eric Cross sits down with TikTok star and podcast host Lauran Woolley about her experience teaching science content within her K–5 classroom. Lauran shares how she’s learned how to make time for science, and what most K–5 teachers experience when creating their own science curriculum. Lauran also talks about her rise in popularity on TikTok, her podcast, Teachers Off Duty, and establishing strong relationships with her 5th grade students. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.

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Lauran Woolley (00:00):

I wanna make sure that they’re ready for the real world, and I wanna make sure that they’re able to apply these things that I’m teaching them in their life, not on a multiple choice test.

Eric Cross (00:11):

Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host Eric Cross. My guest today is Lauren Woolley. Lauren is a full-time fifth grade teacher in Leetonia, Ohio, who has amassed a following of 5.5 million subscribers on TikTok and over 1 million followers on YouTube. She’s also co-host of the podcast, Teachers Off Duty. Lauren has combined her teaching vocation and her talent for entertaining to connect with her students and encourage teachers across the world using her own unique style of edutainment. My most vivid memory from our discussion was her sincerity and openness about her experiences. It quickly became obvious to me that her personal transparency was a characteristic that she has remained grounded in despite her social media success. And now, please enjoy my discussion with Lauren Woolley.

Eric Cross (00:53):

You’re currently teaching fifth grade?

Lauran Woolley (00:55):

Yes.

Eric Cross (00:55):

What is it like to teach all content areas? ‘Cause I’m a middle school science teacher.

Lauran Woolley (00:59):

I didn’t always teach all content areas. First I started in second grade, so I used to teach like primary. I taught that for about three years. And I only really got my 4-5 endorsement because it was told to me that it would make me more marketable as a teacher. So I got it <laugh>. I was like, I’m never gonna use that. And then, my second year teaching, my class had low numbers and they collapsed my second grade classroom, split up my students, and then moved me to fifth grade in January. I had to take over a fifth grade class with all content areas in the middle of a school year. And it was really hard. It was like probably one of the most challenging things I’ve ever had to do teaching. When I got my job at my current school, it was only language arts, social studies.

Lauran Woolley (01:46):

So we only have two fifth grade classes. My other teacher would teach math, science. I taught language arts, social studies, and then the timeframes weren’t matching up. Like, I didn’t have enough time in my schedule for all the things we had to do in our curriculum. And she had like a little bit too much time. We realized as a district that it would be better for our fifth grade classes to just be self-contained. And last year was the first year I taught all five subjects. And I liked the variety of teaching everything because when I taught just language arts, social studies, I just felt like I was repeating myself twice a day. <laugh>. It was kind of boring for me. So like, I like doing all of it. <laugh>.

Eric Cross (02:24):

Yeah. With all of your talents and like your background and what I’ve seen, I could totally see why having all the different content areas would like make sense. Are you using a set curriculum? How do you come up with what to teach? Do you do it with teams? Like who comes up with that?

Lauran Woolley (02:36):

Uh, me, myself and I.

Eric Cross (02:38):

Well done.

Lauran Woolley (02:39):

My school, for literacy we’re using literacy collaborative. Then for math, we just adopted bridges, which I love and it’s very hands-on, very like student-led. For science, we had nothing. And I am not a science, or was not a science teacher at the time when I took over. So I panicked a bit and I was like, “Hey, can we have some kind of science curriculum? ‘Cause I got nothing.” And it’s not hard to look at the state standards and figure out what you need to teach them, but having no resources to go off of is extremely difficult. And luckily I have an older brother, he’s like three years older than me and he’s also a teacher. He actually is a science teacher. ‘Cause that first year that I was teaching all subjects, I was like, “Hey Ryan, can you just like send me all of your Google Drive files for science <laugh>?

Lauran Woolley (03:33):

And he’s like, “Yeah, sure.” So he kind of was like a mentor for like the first year that I taught science. And this year being my second full year teaching science, I feel much more confident. I’m still using his resources. We don’t have a dedicated curriculum at my school. So that’s like one thing I’ve been fighting my school on. And not that they don’t wanna get us one, but like they were focused on getting the math curriculum last year. And then I was told, okay, this year will be science because in my state, fifth grade is a tested area for science and we have no curriculum.

Eric Cross (04:04):

Ryan, keep doing what you’re doing big bro. Second, thank you to every teacher who’s had a Google Drive folder full of curriculum that you graciously shared to a new teacher or someone else that they could have.

Lauran Woolley (04:18):

Can we just say like, can schools, like schools, please get your teacher’s science curriculums.

Eric Cross (04:24):

No, absolutely right. And there is this way of thinking that, especially as a science teacher, it’s something that is dear to my heart, but we do want to develop these math and English skills that’s important and we need that for science. But we’ve always taught so siloed for so long, but that’s not the way that we learn and that’s not the way life works. Something that intrigued me about what you said, and I think a lot of people can relate to it, and I know I can because that was me, is you created your own content or your science content. Like you’re kind of piecing that together from what Ryan had shared with you. How do you make time for that with all of the other things that you’re doing and pressures of state testing and things like that. Like how do you weave that into your teaching?

Lauran Woolley (05:02):

So we have like things that are non-negotiable in our schedules. Like we have to have so many minutes of this, so many minutes of that, so many minutes of whatever else. Well, the first year, I was self-contained. I was like, okay, my main goal, because science is a tested area, I wanna make sure that I get in science every single day, 90% of the time I’m able to get anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes of science every day. But this year it was my goal to make sure that I was getting science done and like we were doing meaningful lessons. And last year I didn’t do this, but this year I’m doing a Christmas center for STEM. So I got it off of Teachers Pay Teachers. I’m sorry, I can’t remember who it was made by, but it’s called Jingle All the Way and it’s like building Santa’s new sleigh. And so like the kids have an activity where they have popsicle sticks, straws, a plastic cup and then like tape. And they have to build a new sleigh for Santa and see how many pennies their sleigh can hold. Like talk about a sleigh being lightweight but also strong and like what would make it strong and different things like that. So I’ve been trying to incorporate a lot more STEM activities. And then something I really like to use for experiment days, I call them lab days, is Gizmo. Have you heard of Gizmo?

Eric Cross (06:15):

Yeah. The simulations.

Lauran Woolley (06:16):

Yeah. My brother showed me that too and he was using it in his class. I mean there’s so many different ones that they have that align with the standards and they have like student lab sheets that go with them and teacher guides and stuff. I’ve just been trying to like up my game a little bit more this year, because last year I was like struggling to get all of the standards in before state testing came around because, can we agree, state testing should not be as early as it is? Our state test happens in like March and we have two months of school left. So like, we better be done with standards by February so we could review, because otherwise we’re kind of outta luck because we run outta time.

Eric Cross (06:59):

Yes. That and there’s all kinds of other things that state testing brings with it that we could spend a lot of time probably critiquing and talking about like as far as what’s ideal for kids and what’s the best way to measure and assess learning. That is one question I wanna ask you though, because I know with your work on TikTok and Instagram and YouTube, you must be connected to a pretty vast teacher network and maybe you have like, kinda like more of an inner circle of people, but you must come across so many different perspectives and get into great discussions. Is there <laugh>, is there anything that kind of stands out to you as far as if you were in charge of what we’re doing? Because that’s kind of the system that we all live in and we kind of are trying to internally change it, but it’s been that way for a long time and we just kind of have to work within it until we can make changes. But if you were to, I dunno from an elementary school perspective, change or modify the way kids are learning, what would you do if you had Monarch ability?

Lauran Woolley (07:54):

Okay, I got three main things I’m thinking in my head. Okay, first things first, we got Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Okay. If kids are coming to school hungry, if they’re coming to school and don’t have, you know, fresh clothing to put on, if they’re coming to school and they have issues at home that they are dealing with, that they are not okay with, the learning is not happening. That’s secondary. They don’t, it doesn’t matter to them. It doesn’t matter to me because what’s most important is that child as a human being and whether or not they’re okay. If I had unlimited resources, I would love to be able to build like a little mini village inside a school and have like a clothing store that kids could grab stuff from. Or like a, you know how I know how school have like closets and food pantries, but like a real place they could get some new clothes, not like hand-me-down clothes, like a store they could go and grab some food if they needed food for their homes or whatever. We have like an onsite counselor but not like a school counselor, like a therapist-type counselor for like mental health. Having some kind of like health clinic, not just like a school nurse because, let’s be real, our school nurses see everything <laugh> and they do not get enough credit, but like to have like a little like urgent care clinic, like basically a small town <laugh> inside a school that like kids would have all of the resources that they need met. Like that would be my number one thing that I would love to do. I have taught in, you know, I’ve only taught in two different schools, but like I’ve seen a lot of things and the number one thing that keeps coming back is just like home lives and mental health and having someone to talk to.

Lauran Woolley (09:41):

And I think our kids don’t have enough of that. Second of all, would be obviously state testing. Because I mean, it’s good to see like where our kids are at. I don’t think it should be used punitively and I don’t think that it should be putting as much pressure on teachers and students the way that it is. It’s not effective that way at all. Let teachers do their jobs without us having to, like, ’cause honestly, who’s not gonna say that they’re not trying to set their students up to do the best on that test. Our evaluation depends on it. I’m gonna make sure my students are prepared for it. I’m gonna teach all the standards, but like, I shouldn’t have to be teaching so that they could do well on a test. I wanna make sure that they’re ready for the real world and I wanna make sure that they’re able to apply these things that I’m teaching them in their life, not on a multiple choice test. Third of all, <laugh>.

Eric Cross (10:33):

This, this is great. And I think a lot of teachers will listen and be like, “That’s what I’m talking about right there.” Keep going. You’re on three.

Lauran Woolley (10:40):

That would be two teachers in every classroom. Either two teachers in each room or like a teacher and a paraprofessional in each room, because there’s not even an argument that teachers are more effective when they have help.

Eric Cross (10:54):

I would even carry the math on further and say that it’s a force multiplier, like exponentially, that it’s not just, it’s not just like a one plus one equals two teachers. It’s almost like you can almost have like three or four just because of the energy and the synergy that can be created between the two. And you can push off of each other, encourage one another and both support different types of students. So I agree a hundred percent. I think that if you had two teachers that were in sync and planning together and talking about kids all of the time, you would be able to go deeper with students. You’d be able to find out those things that you talked about in Maslow’s because sometimes we don’t find out about it until a parent-teacher conference or kids left our classroom. I wish I would’ve known that. The student was without these things in the very beginning.

Lauran Woolley (11:41):

Absolutely. Mm-hmm.

Eric Cross (11:42):

So when do you start in the school and do we go on LinkedIn to sign up and apply or is it like a lottery system? Like, ’cause you know, I was gonna get a lot of attention.

Lauran Woolley (11:52):

I would love to Oprah Winfrey this and like build my own school <laugh>.

Eric Cross (11:56):

We gotta get those followers up. We gotta build up the sponsorships. We gotta get you up to a hundred million.

Lauran Woolley (12:01):

Listen, if all of my followers across all my platforms donated like $2, we could have $12 million to build a school. <laugh>.

Eric Cross (12:10):

Think about like, DonorsChoose, right? People do that. And I know there’s mixed feelings about it because we need stuff in our classroom. I’m just gonna say that. All right. So, whether I have to ask for it on a website or whatever, but people want to give directly to kids, or people who need it. And I think when there’s opportunities like that, that are visible, people are more likely to want to.

Lauran Woolley (12:29):

In reality, should other people have to fund education in classrooms? No. That’s literally what your taxes are for. A government-funded classroom versus a teacher-funded classroom are two different things. And we know that. But if teachers are asking for things or asking for donations on Amazon or on DonorsChoose, just know in your heart that that teacher has probably already shelled out a lot of their own cash to do that. It’s not that they’re, you know, asking for handouts or anything like that. They’re trying to give their students the best that they can and that’s the thought process behind it. And until we get changes in our education system or changes in legislature that will allow us to do that or will allow classroom budgets, I mean, our hands are tied. Like there’s only so much teachers can do. I’m very fortunate to teach in a district that sees the value in spending money on their teachers and students. And, like my school, like I said, they just shelled out thousands of dollars on a new math curriculum. They bought school supplies. Literally every teacher made their school supply list this year. And then the district went in and paid for every single student’s school supplies in the entire district.

Eric Cross (13:49):

Can we get a shout out to your district real quick?

Lauran Woolley (13:51):

Uh, yeah. I mean, shout out Leetonia schools like, I mean, you guys are awesome and I’ll shout that from the rooftops. I love where I teach. Like I really do think that they value our students and they care about our students and our admin is great. We got a new superintendent a couple years ago. He’s been doing a phenomenal job and I really love it and I’m glad I teach there.

Eric Cross (14:12):

When you move out of the classroom, you know, in any position of leadership, you do have the microscope or magnifying glass on you and a lot of times it’s critical. And not unjustifiably so, I mean, there’s a lot of things that can be critiqued. However, what we don’t always hear is the success stories or where it’s working for teachers and why. And we need leaders to be able to talk to each other and find, “Hey, it’s working in your district? Oh, I just heard, I just heard this district get shot out. I’m gonna go reach out to those people. Hey, what are you doing?” Because we connect with each other, but I think when you go like a level up, that kind of getting up the top of the mountain, the, the connection sometimes can become more difficult for people. There’s not a lot of, I don’t know, maybe there are, but admin influencers.

Lauran Woolley (14:54):

Oh yeah, there definitely are. And I’ve met some really incredible ones. I’m on a committee at my school, it’s called NNPS, it’s the National Network of Partnership Schools. It was started out of Ohio State University. Essentially it is a committee in the school that’s dedicated to bringing together the community and businesses and partnering with people to make our school as strong as it can be. We started last year and we did a bear breakfast, ’cause our mascot is a bear. And we had Christmas things and we had the choir caroling, and we had pancake breakfast for everybody and it was completely free. It was just really nice to see everybody come together. And it feels like the culture changes when people work together and come together for the betterment of the school and for the students. And I think what’s challenging is that so many people have such a negative experience from their schooling that they’re hesitant to get involved in their kids’ schooling. I urge any parents out there, any guardians out there that are, you know, in that mindset where you’re like, I didn’t like my teachers in school, or I had this, this, this and happened to me at school. Give it a chance to know that things have changed and things are changing.

Eric Cross (16:11):

I definitely agree with you about parent engagement and getting involved and sometimes parents, they just don’t know that they should. But wow, your voice is so powerful, especially at board meetings and things like that. Getting stakeholders involved, creating community, which it sounds like your school did a great job or your district did a great job of. The last question I wanna ask you, and it’s kind of going back to who your influencer was, is you now are in a position where your impact exceeds more than, you know. You’re planting so many seeds you’re sharing, and you’ll hear maybe a few, or I’m sure you’ll hear the things that kind of come back to you, but that’s only a fraction. But I wanted to ask you, like, as you think back on your career as an educator or when you were in school K through five or K through 12, is there anyone who stands out to you or who was maybe your influencer or teacher who made a big difference that was memorable? And if so, who was it and what was it about them or what did they do?

Lauran Woolley (17:01):

So I had a lot of teachers that I really had good relationships with and I loved school growing up. But one always stood out in particular, and that was my ninth grade English teacher and her name is Andrea Reid. She was the first person who really told me that I was talented at something and that I could succeed in something because she was the English teacher. She was also a coach of the speech and debate team at my high school. Just one day after school. She was like, “Hey, like you should come to speech tryouts.” So I went to tryouts, like I did it not thinking like I cared if I made it or didn’t, and then I made the team. And honestly, I feel like speech was the starting point of all of it. I competed in speech and debate for four years of high school and she was my coach.

Lauran Woolley (17:49):

I always have horrible nervousness with public speaking, even though I do it a lot. And she would always give me like the best hype speeches and the best confidence boosters. And I feel like speech started my love of acting and started my love of like, you know, comedy and stuff like that. And so therefore TikTok happened and I don’t think any of this would’ve happened had it not been for her and her opening that door for me and telling me, “Hey, you would be good at this. You should try it.” We’re still friends to this day, 15 years later, and she is like an older sister to me and I love it.

Eric Cross (18:26):

That’s amazing. Andrea Reed, that’s her name.

Lauran Woolley (18:28):

Andrea, yep.

Eric Cross (18:29):

Andrea. Andrea Reid. Ms. Reid, thank you, for inspiring Lauran and <laugh> because of your impact, now it’s impacting so many others and as teachers, like, we don’t even, we don’t know, but it’s so humbling to know that like the words that we say to people have that impact and power. It’s so, it’s, it’s so inspiring to me. One of the things that resonate with you so much is your transparency. Like in your depth. Like even as just listening to you talk, you normalize and humanize so many things that we experience and I’m sure that’s what a lot of the people that watch you connect with. You show your life, your family, your house, all these things that are happening. And I was just looking through the comments and there’s just so many people that are warmed. Not just your students, but like so many teachers. So thank you for doing what you’re doing and I wish you tremendous success. Thank you for your time.

Lauran Woolley (19:17):

No, thank you so much for having me. This was awesome. I just wish everybody a great school year and I hope that we all make it through winter break. <laugh>.

Eric Cross (19:27):

Thanks so much for listening to this season of Science Connections. I love learning about science educators just like you. You can nominate educators that inspire you to become a future guest on Science Connections by emailing STEM@amplify.com. That’s S T E M at amplifycom.wpengine.com. Make sure to click subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and tune in for a brand new season of Science Connections coming soon.

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What Lauran Woolley says about science

“I want to make sure they’re ready for the real world and I want to make sure they’re ready to apply these things I’m teaching them in their life, not just on a multiple choice test.”

– Lauran Woolley

5th Grade Teacher, Northeast Ohio

Meet the guest

Lauran Woolley is a fifth grade teacher in Northeast Ohio. She has loved being able to combine her love of education and entertainment into one career. Her goal is not only to humanize educators to both families and students, but to create a safe space for her students on the internet. She has had the privilege of collaborating with educators around the world to shed a light on this amazing career. You can listen and watch the Teachers Off Duty podcast here!

A woman with long dark hair smiles at the camera, wearing a black top and lanyard, with a colorful blurred background.

About Science Connections

Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. 

S1-08: The importance of risk-taking in the science classroom, a conversation with Valeria Rodriguez

AS_Podcast-S1E08-Valeria-Rodriguez_Cover

In this episode, our host Eric Cross sits down with Miami-based educator Valeria Rodriguez. Valeria shares her journey of serving in the Peace Corps, working a corporate job, and eventually finding her passion as a middle-school science teacher. Listen in as Valeria explains how sketchnoting, a form of note-taking that utilizes illustrations, encourages student choice and creativity in her classroom. Eric and Valeria also discuss the importance of risk-taking within the science classroom, and how their own mistakes can be crucial in modeling resilience for students. Lastly, Valeria shares experiences she had with several teachers who inspired her throughout her career. Explore more from Science Connections by visiting our main page.

Download Transcript

Valeria Rodriguez (00:00):

There’s so many things that drawing to me makes an essential connection to. It tells me no matter what, I can continue placing lines on my paper and creating the image I want. Some people will say they messed up the drawing. You know what? They gave it character.

Eric Cross (00:19):

Welcome to Science Connections. I’m your host, Eric Cross. My guest today is Valeria Rodriguez. Valeria is a science educator, instructional technologist, and illustrator, who is currently part of a steam team where she teaches third through fifth graders in Miami, Florida. Valeria has presented and led workshops at education conferences like NSTA, ISTI, and SXSWEdu. In this episode, we discuss how she uses real-world projects to make lessons more meaningful, and why teaching students how to sketchnote increases their conceptual understanding in science. I hope you enjoy this pun-filled conversation with Valeria Rodriguez.

New Speaker (00:58):

Now you’re in Miami and you have a biology background. We’re like kindred spirits. Like we do the same thing. I teach biology here in San Diego at a middle school called Albert Einstein Academy. So I’m in a seventh grade classroom teaching life science.

Valeria Rodriguez (01:11):

That’s so cool. That’s how I started.

Eric Cross (01:13):

Is it?

Valeria Rodriguez (01:13):

Mm-Hmm <affirmative> I started teaching middle school science for seven years, doing life science in my biology background.

Eric Cross (01:20):

How’d you get started? Like where did you kind of begin?

Valeria Rodriguez (01:22):

Well, I went to UF for undergrad as a runner, and I thought I was gonna go to the Olympics, but you know, running in college is hard. And you quickly like realize a path as a full-time athlete is really hard. And one of the days that I was having one of those, like “come Jesus moments” of what am I gonna do with my life, I walked by a sign that said life is calling. And I’m like, okay, <laugh>

Eric Cross (01:52):

You literally had a sign.

Valeria Rodriguez (01:53):

There was a sign. So I was like, I’m reading the sign. I’m following the arrows. And it was for the Peace Corps. And so I went to this meeting and everything that I’ve ever done student government, athletics school education, my backgroundmy family’s from Columbia–everything in that meeting came together and they’re like, we need all these skills. And I’m like, I have those. Those are my skills. And they’re like every Peace Corps volunteer teaches. And so I went in as an agriculture volunteer to Panama because of my major and my background in biology. And while I was in the Peace Corps doing the work, I was teaching at the local school. And I realized that the most sustainable way to create any change is through education. When I came back, I was like, well, what do you do if your first job in the world is in the Peace Corps? Like my background was, you know, managing a machete in a field and teaching second through eighth grade in one classroom, on a chalkboard, you know, in English and in Spanish, while teaching the teacher and the students. So I found that going into teaching allowed me to put some of those skills, that wide array of skills that I had collected until that moment, into practice. And it allowed me to do the arts, do the running, do the science, do the connecting with the community in one place here in the states.

Eric Cross (03:34):

I don’t know if I’m just romanticizing, but you were in Panama and you were doing this amazing teaching. I don’t know. Do you compare it to teaching now in the classroom? Is there anything that ever like makes you wish that you were kind of in that environment again? Or are you kind of, do you like the more kind of technology side of things?

Valeria Rodriguez (03:48):

I tell my students all the time that I miss it, because when I was in Panama, I was in Licencia. They looked at me like this, all knowing being. If they couldn’t come to class because the kids literally had to work, they would bring me their assignment, like run it to me and then run back to their parents. Like, “I had to turn it in, but I have to go to work.” And I’m like, oh my gosh. And like here, sometimes I feel like, you know, I have to negotiate and convince my students to want to give me their work. And maybe it’s because we take a lot of things for granted. I mean, I didn’t have running water in my community. Here, you know, we have everything. I miss how we appreciated — like, my parents would send suitcases of materials for me to hand out to my students, like color and stuff, notebooks, things like that — and the kids would like, hold that notebook, like pristine and here sometimes my students aren’t as careful with materials. And I’m like, why are you breaking the crayon box? <Laugh>

Eric Cross (04:54):

I’m thinking about that. Just even just bringing pens and crayons and how that’s valued. And then a culture that’s built around esteeming teachers, and you’re this essential member of the community — and you feel that. It’s palpable.

Valeria Rodriguez (05:08):

Yeah. And here, sometimes I ask students like, what do you wanna be when you grow up? And you get all sorts of answers, but in my community, it’s gonna sound funny, but they were like, we wanna be a teacher. Like, that means that we would know a lot of stuff and they would put their hair up in a bun, ‘cause I always have it in a bun, and they would write stuff when they were playing and they would act me out <laugh> and I’m like, do I, do I do that? <Laugh> I genuinely got a very rich experience in the time that I was there. And what I learned the most was how to try to not do as much, it’s like a lesson that I’m still trying to learn because like I’m here with the U.S. Mentality of go, go, go.

Valeria Rodriguez (05:58):

And they’re like, but we already did, you know, two things like now we stop. And I’m like, but, but why? And they’re like, you can do that tomorrow. And I’m like, but no, like we’re gonna run out of time. For me. It was a lot of struggle of like slow down. And as a teacher, I feel like I’m always like on the treadmill at a thousand speed. And sometimes I have to tell myself like slow down, be in this moment, like a parent texted me today that her daughter was walking with her dad and said, daddy, let’s talk about the layers of the soil. And I was like, I need to stop right now and acknowledge that this happened. She’s in third grade and she’s asking her dad, you know, she could ask him about anything, and she’s asking him about soil. That’s essential for everything. And we don’t even think about soil here. Like my community had tons of erosion and every year there were less and less crops being able to be produced. We’re not talking about that here. And yet, my student asked her dad here in Miami, <laugh> about soil. And that conversation happened because of our class.

Eric Cross (07:03):

And you allowed yourself to be present and experience and feel that that communication came to you.

Valeria Rodriguez (07:09):

Yeah. We put so much stuff out there and we don’t know where it lands. If it lands on dirt or soil, <laugh>

Eric Cross (07:16):

There you go. I like it. Yeah. Bringing it back. But you’re, I think you’re what you’re saying. Resonates with a lot of educators that’ll be listening to this is that there’s so much that you do. And there’s even times when we do get the feedback, there might be a letter or a card or something, but like, to your point, like we look to the next thing instead of stopping, being present and allowing yourself to absorb it. I think I need to put that up on my, like on my wall, like this, just be present. Now you came back and then you went into the classroom here and you started off teaching science.

Valeria Rodriguez (07:46):

I didn’t go straight into the classroom. I knew that I wanted to continue teaching. But I wasn’t back here in Miami. When I moved back, I moved to Austin. And I ended up getting married and there, I started teaching Spanish as a second language like corporate classes. And I was kind of like tiptoeing around, like, do you dive into education? ‘Cause The idea of a teacher here is very different than the teacher idea that I had while in the peace Corps. So he, a lot of people were like, you can do so many things. Why would you teach? And I was like insulted <laugh>. I was like, wait, what do you mean? Like even to this day, I’ve started a blog post, maybe 20 times with that statement because people all the time are like, you’re so talented. Why do you teach? And it drives me crazy because it makes me feel like they’re looking down on my choice <laugh> but I came to terms with it that it’s just like a societal thing. Cause of that quote, like those who can’t do teach. And I was like, let me let this go.

Eric Cross (09:01):

I find though that educators who come in as a second career, come in with a, a, a variety of skill sets that I, I think you can only get when you’re outside of academia. I mean, you can, you can develop them, you know, going kind of K12 education college and then into the classroom. But those soft skills, the business skills, a lot of those things you really develop. And it’s funny ‘cause your, your story almost sounds like some of the people that I know that work in big tech firms, they have this eclectic story and then now they’re, you know, working for Google or Facebook or something, but that actually was a as set to them because they are able to see the world through multiple perspectives. And I’m hearing kind of a distinguish between art of teaching and the science of teaching. Like you had the, maybe the art connecting ideas, these things, and then the science, like the quote unquote like formal teaching. Okay. That had to get built on later. Like am I hearing that right?

Valeria Rodriguez (09:55):

Yeah. The that’s what rocks I’m teaching the rock cycle right now. So I’m, I’m under a lot of heat and pressure <laugh>

Eric Cross (10:02):

We got the funds, we got the funds rolling. All right. All right. So bringing in the, so the, the art side or the science side we have, and then we just have this amazing illustrator. Now you mentioned your website and we’re gonna post it somewhere, but just so we have it here to, and you say, what is your website where all your majors and sketch notes can be found,

Valeria Rodriguez (10:21):

Www dot Valia, sketches.com.

Eric Cross (10:23):

Okay. So folks that are listening, if you wanna check out the art, there’s some awesome stuff on there, as well as Twitter and Instagram. And we’ll make sure we have it handles in the, the bio of the podcast and the notes. Your art’s amazing. I looked, I checked it. I saw inauguration. I saw astronauts. I saw all kinds of different things. How do you use that in the classroom

Valeria Rodriguez (10:45):

To draw connections? The ones? So what I do is I airplay my iPad onto the board. And sometimes as I’m talking, I’ll draw things, draw things I’m saying, or assignments I’ll sketch out different ideas, or maybe like the schedule I’ll have an icon of some sort that represents things. I use it for everything and anything, because just the way that I tell my students that science is everywhere. I, we don’t realize how programmed we are to use images to for, for information they’re in the street. Bathroom signs, we see the zoom little link, like the image, the icon of zoom. And we know that it’s a call the apps. You know, our phone doesn’t have the words for everything that we’re opening. We just have a list of images that represent information. So we’re programs for this. And all I’m doing is showing my students how we’re programmed for it because we’re so used to seeing images, to represent things that we’re taking it for granted again.

Valeria Rodriguez (12:03):

And sometimes my students will like, I’ll write something and I ask them, make your own visual vocabulary. So I give them the word of the definition for every unit, the younger ones, I give them the definition they have to plug in the word and an image, the older ones, I give them the word they have to plug in the definition and an image. But I don’t tell them what to draw because they need to create an image that will help them to remember the definition. Not me. I tell them, I wrote the list. I know the words, you’re the one that needs to think of something that’s going to help you to remember this. You need to draw a connection to this information. Like I use it and I mess up all the time. And I, I scratch things out because I feel that my students or the student that I’ve had in general are risk averse.

Valeria Rodriguez (12:57):

They don’t want to make mistakes. And drawing is one of those things that it taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes. Like people won’t buy commit to buying houses or they won’t commit to things because they’re gonna make a, I’m like, you can sell the house. You can move again. I mean, I’ve lived in a lot of cities. I’ve been married, divorce, gone out with people. It’s worked out it hasn’t you know, there’s, there’s so many things that drawing to me makes an essential connection to <affirmative> that it tells me no matter what I can continue placing lines on my paper and creating the image I want. And if a line doesn’t necessarily go in the direction, I want it to, I can continue shaping it so that the overall image is in the direction I want. And I can look past those line here and there that some people will say they messed up the drawing. You know what? They gave it character. I, I cycle and I have scars everywhere. They give me character and I keep writing. The overall image in my head is I’m a cyclist, not I’m banged up. <Laugh>

Eric Cross (14:14):

I feel like there’s so much to mind in what you just said. This was like a mini-Ted talk. And I couldn’t write fast enough because there were so many gems of the things that you said, but let me say something worse. And this is I’m gonna be surface with this because, and it’s your fault because you got me thinking in puns and you said, take it for granted. And I said, take it for granted because you’re talking about the rock cycle. So that’s what I heard way back. Anyways, you have your students creating what, but it’s low tech, which is really cool because a lot of times we think of creating content and it’s kind of high tech, but they’re creating something. And this is for us, like as biology folks, like you’re using kind of like this neuroscience that exists about students, creating an art to help them learn.

Eric Cross (14:55):

And this is something that I, I feel gets missed a lot in. When we talk about the quote unquote, the formal teacher training is the element of how creating an art can actually lead to improved learning in the classroom. It’s something you have to go to like a conference to kind of go and see or something, but it’s not as, it’s not as pervasive everywhere. And that thing about risk averse. I feel like I, you spoke to my own life. What I see ‘cause with my own seventh graders, I see the same fear or anxiety when I ask them to draw. As I do, when I ask them to give me a hypothesis about a phenomenon that I’m gonna teach and I say, it’s okay to be wrong, but I see them drift to the Chromebook and want to Google it. You know what you just said about just try it and you can always change and giving character, I feel like is just a great message for everybody to hear

Valeria Rodriguez (15:48):

Today. Students made fossil, right? ‘Cause They’re learning about rocks and we made using plaster, but then I put the green screen up and not only did they make it and they excavated them, but then we put it on the green screen. And they’re like all of a sudden at a dig site,

Eric Cross (16:04):

What I’m seeing right now for those of you who are listening is, is students who are on, is this on IMO?

Valeria Rodriguez (16:10):

This is on we video

Eric Cross (16:12):

Video and they’re holding up fossils that they made. But in the background, because there was a green screen, there’s an overlay of like a, a rock dig site. So the students legitimately look like they’re paleontologists or something somewhere.

Valeria Rodriguez (16:24):

Exactly. And so it’s, it’s not just creating lines, right? The sketching transfers to so much be because even the want, not wanting to make a mistake with their fossil. One of the kids today, when he took off the, the Plato, ‘cause we put the Plato at the base. Then we put in either a shell or some sort of artifact that they were going to fossilize. And then we put in the plaster when he took off the Plato, a piece broke off and everybody’s like, I can’t believe you broke your fossil. And I’m like, not the first. Okay. Do you know how many of these guys and girls have been out there? And all of a sudden they find a dinosaur bone and they’re walking and they fall. And this fossil that took billions of years is all of a sudden broken. I’m like this selfie, the original selfies, these animals died in commitment to their selfies.

Valeria Rodriguez (17:19):

And here you are dropping the bone. So they were all laughing, but it was to go away from the fact that, oh my God, you broke it. You made a mistake. You drew the wrong line. You asked the wrong question. Like no big deal. Keep digging, shout out to the teachers that try doing the projects that they have. They don’t feel completely comfortable with or you know, that they take risks doing. Because even though in theory, it’s like suggested and schools want that or communities want that when it comes down to it, people also expect us to do things at work. But part of our job is also taking risks. Like we did a tethered weather balloon launch the other day because we couldn’t get approval to release the weather balloon in the atmosphere since we’re near an airport. And it was too short of a time.

Valeria Rodriguez (18:14):

And I remember a parent said, oh, you’re not releasing the balloon. And I was like, well, this is a lot of work too. <Laugh> we, you know, we’re, we’re doing the tethered launch. This is a hard project. So the other day when I heard that comment, like I went back to my class and I was like, you know what? I took a risk to do this project. I could have played it safe with a handout of a weather balloon <laugh> or you know, a YouTube video. It’s it’s the, the fact that we’re continuing to push. And so I wanna like really thank the teachers that keep trying to do the hard things that aren’t like tried and tested because it’s scary. Yeah.

Eric Cross (18:57):

Yeah. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for them to have adults that they see in positions of authority or that they respect or admire model failure. And I don’t mean failure in the, like the negative pejorative sense, but like things just not working out and then seeing how you respond to it, ‘cause you’re modeling, taking a risk. But like with real stakes, it’s authentic. I had students swab the campus and we put it in auger dishes and Petri sealed it up and then let it grow room temperature, but we kept it you know, cool enough at 75 degrees. So it wouldn’t be able to survive any, anything pathogenic. And then students, you know, I took pictures of them and then showed them the results. So the students never interacted with it and some things grew and some things didn’t, it was mostly, you know, fungi and some bacteria, but I showed them like, how come mine didn’t grow? And I was like, well, you know, it could have been how we swabbed. It could have been some things don’t grow the temperature, we kept it at, but some of the experiments didn’t yield the cool results. And that was okay. But I front loaded the expectation so that if everything did go great, sweet, but managing expectation, I found really helps to mitigate the pressure.

Valeria Rodriguez (20:01):

Yeah. Well another project that we’ve participated in is growing beyond earth where we’re planting seeds that contribute to like a huge set of data for cultivars that are being considered for growth on the international space station. And my students are like, well, you know, we just have six little pots, like what is this? And I’m like, yeah, we have two little seeds in each of these pots. And we are one data set in like hundreds of data sets that they’re collecting. But we are contributing two research on the international space station. You don’t have to be the next bill gates or the next, you know, Steve jobs. Like everyone thinks they’re gonna be the next big thing. Like you can also be a seed. That’s part of a really big project and that is okay. Like everyone can’t be the next big thing

Eric Cross (20:48):

And the other. And the other thing, I think what Gladwell talks about this in outliers and there’s another book called bounce, but a lot of the people that we see is successful or famous, we don’t realize that their background and their exposure to things was one of the things that led them there, both jobs and gates had access, you know, gates had access at, at the university of Washington to like one of the first computers and then jobs at, at Hewlett Packard. The story go goes on and on, but we don’t see the lineage of some of these people and where they come from. We just see the end result. You just see LeBron James winning a championship or something. We just want the, the end result the, the glory, but not the sweat that it takes to get there. They don’t, we don’t really see that as much, which leads me to like the next thing I wanted to ask you is how do you, and I kind of saw it just now, but how do you engage your kids in the classroom?

Valeria Rodriguez (21:36):

Well, I think I’m funny. Some of them don’t do

Eric Cross (21:38):

They like the puns

Valeria Rodriguez (21:39):

<Laugh> some of them do. And some of them don’t get them. They get them later. And I see when they get it, I like to engage them by bringing in real people, real examples of things, real research when possible. Right. I can’t put them in a real dig site. So the green screen helps me do that. But one of my students yesterday, other day before was like, you have such cool friends because I’ll say, oh, one of my friends does blah, blah, blah. Or, or, oh, when we go to Kennedy space center, we’re gonna, you know, talk to one of my friends. Who’s doing research on, you know, chilies in space and they’re like, wow, your friends are so cool. And I took that moment to tell them, be mindful of the people that you collect as friends in your life, like make good choices, surround yourself with awesome people, people so that you can share ideas. Like you connect with friends who you inspire you to do more. I try to engage them by giving them examples of things that people around me are doing that connect to what we’re doing. Do

Eric Cross (22:43):

You, do you explicitly or intentionally teach soft skills or is it just something that you just kind of organically do natural or are you mindful about making sure that you’re doing that

Valeria Rodriguez (22:52):

A hundred percent? You have to be explicit about it with amplify? Actually, we, we did a poster for incorporating social, emotional skills and other soft skills into the classroom because sometimes we just like other things like writing and, and reading, you know, we silo all these things in education and the school counselor, can’t be the one to deal with everything. You know, you have to deal with things as they surface. And sometimes my kids ha are frustrated because I ask them to think I don’t have yes or no answers. I have, you know, we are gonna launch a high altitude weather balloon. We don’t know how high it’s gonna go. We don’t know what’s gonna happen. We don’t, we don’t know if we’re gonna find it when the <laugh>, when the balloon bursts and it lands in the ocean, are we gonna find it? Is the GPS tracker gonna work?

Valeria Rodriguez (23:47):

Are we gonna lose all that money? I don’t know, but we have to do all the steps and find out. But with kids, they don’t have the skills yet. And I can’t wait for the counselor to come in and talk about handle the frustration that they’re feeling over. Not knowing the correct question to ask, because by the time they go meet with her, the moments pass, I have to stop and say, Hey, like check in with, with what you’re doing. It’s okay to be frustrated. You can’t take it out on a classmate. You can’t take it out on me.

Eric Cross (24:14):

So you were, you, you were intentional about teaching these skills to your students and you had the relationship. So it makes sense that you were the one to bring it across ‘cause you see them more than anybody does. You know, we’ve, we’ve, we’ve imagined. Teaching is for a long time. It’s been okay, you’re the science content expert. You’re the English expert, but so much as teaching evolves, there are these skills or like EQ emotional intelligence that you kind of have to have kind of coming in. Because like those moments, like no having the presence of mind to stop and why a young person through identifying how they feel, why, where it came from. Those aren’t always covered in those aren’t really covered in your methods classes when you’re in college, getting your, your degree or something. Now when you’re you’re sketch noting and for teachers who are, or one, could you just maybe give like a brief explanation of sketch, noting for somebody who may not be familiar with it, like how I was sketch any different than just drawing a picture randomly or something.

Valeria Rodriguez (25:10):

Okay. So you’re creating visual summaries. You’re using text and images combined in different ways to take notes. And before you know how we had like these shorthand things that the squiggly meant an indent and something else meant something else. And we had these lists of things when they would edit our papers, that represented things. It’s kind of like that for your brain. So you’re making a list of maybe icons or small sketches that represent things for you. So as you’re taking notes, you hear things. And when people talk now and they, they say, you know, I’m on the fence about this. Like I literally see a fence. And when they’re talking, I write the note, it’s almost like a T toe with pointy tops and I put a stick figure on top of it. And so later when I look at it, I think, oh, that’s right. My friend is on the fence about that decision

Eric Cross (26:08):

For a new teacher or even a, a, a experienced teacher. That’s interested in sketch noting, where, where would you recommend? They start like the structurize? Like, do you give creative freedom? Are they doing this paper and pencil vocabulary words? Are they up? Like, what are some just kind of maybe three basic things to kind of get started for someone who was just curious about it.

Valeria Rodriguez (26:29):

So it has to be simple because if it requires a lot of energy to go in, then you’re gonna be more hesitant to do it. For example, I wouldn’t start summarizing a video because it’s moving really fast or a live presentation is really hard. So with students, I would start with here’s a paragraph, make a visual summary of it, or here’s a vocabulary list, make an image to represent each word. Then you would move into, well, you know, here’s a unit summarize the three main topics in unit. Then you can move onto like a little YouTube video. That’s like 10 minutes a Ted talk, make a visual summary of the Ted talk because they can pause it.

Eric Cross (27:11):

Mm. Okay.

Valeria Rodriguez (27:13):

The hardest thing is live presentations, ‘cause in conversations you can say, oh, can you say that again? Sketch, noting. You start seeing how people organize or don’t their thoughts when they speak. Because when you start writing things down and all the information is about one thing and then like two blue ORPS about something else. You’re like, wow, that was really unbalanced. So then when you start teaching, you tell them what you’re gonna tell them, you tell them and then you tell them what you told them. So they can check that they put the notes in the right places and you tell them what you’re gonna tell. So they can prep the pathway that they’re gonna set up their notes and I have to be explicit. And I have to say like, I’m gonna talk about the rock cycle. So if I were you, I would put, you know, these four boxes. Oh, but there’s three types of rocks. See? I’m like, yeah, but magma. So let’s put it in the cycle, you know? And, and then I’m like, if I were you, I would put an arrow from here to here because this is how, you know, after erosion and then, you know, heat and pressure. But then it connects like this. So the arrows are gonna help me to remember the directions

Eric Cross (28:13):

As we wind down. There’s there’s one question I wanna ask you there, you are bringing together this science, the, the art, the social, emotional learning, the relationships with your students outside content, like there’s so many different things that you bring in the classroom that is clearly gonna make you a memorable educator for your kids. It just, it’s just, I’m just listening to your learning environment. And it’s so rich who is one teacher that really expired you. So

Valeria Rodriguez (28:38):

There’s a few people that stand out overall. I had very encouraging teachers. I had that one teacher that didn’t like my drawing <laugh> she also stands out <laugh>

Eric Cross (28:49):

We have those too.

Valeria Rodriguez (28:49):

Yeah. So I have colleagues that stand out to me that inspire me every day to like keep trying. And then I had a teacher in high school who I actually work with her daughter now at the school that I work at. And I didn’t even know her mom would make us write almost the whole class. And it was world history. And I remember hearing her say when she was talking about the Roman empire that it fell because it reached more than it can grab. So it kept extending too far out. And I heard that, like I think about, yes, I can keep reaching for things in education and reaching for things in my classroom. But I have to come back to like, what can I hold? I don’t wanna reach further than what I can hold. And yes, I have to believe in myself. And I tell my students to believe in themselves,

Eric Cross (29:38):

I’m in this, I’m in this sketch noting mindset. Because when you said what Ms. Brown shared with you, I thought of a hand reaching out, but then things kind of slipping through it. And I another hand with like a fist right next to it. So even in our conversation here last hour, I I’m thinking in pictures now. And so I’m like, if I can do it, they can do it. Like if you know, ‘cause I am just not the person who spends a lot of time committing to draw. Because a lot of times when I was that student who tried to draw and we get frustrated and look around and now I feel like this is, I wanna try this again. I wanna share this with my students and encourage them. This is gonna be a lot of fun. I look forward to continuing to see the sketch notes that you do. And maybe I’ll, I’ll show you one of mine. Like eventually I don’t know if you can see that there that’s my stick figures. Those of you who are listening right now, I drew, I was drawing stick figures and taking notes while Blair was dropping all of this, these like gems and wisdom in here. So

Valeria Rodriguez (30:31):

Maybe we can do a challenge that once people hear this podcast, they can tag us somehow in the sketch note that they create I’m in. So we see what they a take from it. Because that’s the other thing about sketch noting, you think you’re emphasizing something and all of a sudden people are walking away with something else that resonated to them. And you’re like, wow. And here I was thinking that this was what we were talking about. And this is what really jumped out at them.

Eric Cross (30:57):

Your kids are lucky that you’re in front of them, not just because of how you teach, but how you access all of these different parts of their creativity and their thinking and apply, integrate all of these soft skills and social, emotional skills and just life skills and your experience connecting them to the outside world. They, and like you said, and how we started, you know, where you started in Panama, the students realized what you represent and what you meant to them. And I feel like your students, when they get older, they may not realize it in the time, but as they get older and reflect back, they’ll be telling stories about you. So yeah. Thanks for making time and thanks for being here.

Valeria Rodriguez (31:34):

Well thank you too, ‘cause I know you’re in the classroom and making time to do other things outside the classroom. Isn’t always easy, but it’s what keeps us going in different ways.

Eric Cross (31:49):

Thanks so much for joining me in Valer today. We wanna hear more about you. If you have any great lessons or ways to keep student engagement high, please email us@stemamplifycom.wpengine.com. That’s TM five.com. Make sure to click, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and join our brand new Facebook group science connections, the community for some extra content.

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What Valeria Rodriguez says about science

“I use [sketchnoting] and I mess up all the time…because I feel that my students don’t want to make mistakes, and drawing is one of those things that taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes.”

– Valeria Rodriguez

Educator, Instructional technologist, and Graphic facilitator

Meet the guest

Valeria is an educator, instructional technologist, graphic facilitator, and dreamer. She currently works as a Science teacher as part of a STEAM Team in Miami, Florida teaching third through fifth graders as a free-lance graphic facilitator. She loves to connect with passionate educators she meets around the country. Valeria has presented and led workshops at educational conferences like SXSWEdu, ISTE, NSTA, NSTA STEM Forum, SHIFTinEDU, FAST, FCIS, and SEEC. When she is not teaching or sketching, Valeria can be found adventuring with her family around the world, training for triathlons, and creating opportunities to empower kids in all kinds of communities. 

You can check Valeria’s work on her website and follow her on Twitter & Instagram.

Valeria-Rodriguez_Headshot-LP

About Science Connections

Welcome to Science Connections! Science is changing before our eyes, now more than ever. So…how do we help kids figure that out? We will bring on educators, scientists, and more to discuss the importance of high-quality science instruction. In this episode, hear from our host Eric Cross about his work engaging students as a K-8 science teacher. Listen here!

Grade 6

Chapter 1: Numerical Expressions and Factors

Big IdeasDesmos Math 6–A1
Lesson 1: Powers and ExponentsUnit 6
Lesson 10: Powers
Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 2: Order of OperationsUnit 6
Lesson 11: Exponent Expressions (Print available)
Lesson 3: Prime Factorization
Lesson 4: Greatest Common FactorUnit 5
Lesson 15: Common factors
Lesson 5: Least Common MultipleUnit 5
Lesson 14: Common Multiples
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Chapter 2: Fractions and Decimals

Lesson 1: Multiplying FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 12: Puzzling Areas (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 13: Volume Challenges
Lesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available)
Lesson 2: Dividing FractionsUnit 4
Lesson 1: Cookie Cutter
Lesson 2: Making Connections (Print available)
Lesson 3: Flour Planner [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Flower Planters
Practice Day (Print available)
Lesson 3: Dividing Mixed NumbersUnit 4
Lesson 5: Garden Bricks (Print available)
Lesson 7: Break It Down
Lesson 8: Potting Soil
Lesson 9: Division Challenges
Lesson 14: Planter Planner (Print available)
Practice Day
Lesson 4: Adding and Subtracting DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Fruit by the Pound
Lesson 4: Missing Digits
Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 12: Budget Vehicles (Print available)
Lesson 5: Multiplying DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Dishing Out Decimals (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Decimal Diagrams 
Lesson 3: Fruit by the Pound
Lesson 4: Missing Digits
Lesson 5: Decimal Multiplication
Lesson 12: Budget Vehicles (Print available)
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 6: Dividing Whole NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 8: Division Diagrams
Lesson 9: Long Division Launch
Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)
Lesson 11: Movie Time [Free lesson] 
Lesson 12: Budget Vehicles (Print available)
Lesson 7: Dividing DecimalsUnit 5
Lesson 8: Division Diagrams
Lesson 9: Long Division Launch
Lesson 10: Return of the Long Division (Print available)
Lesson 11: Movie Time [Free lesson] 
Lesson 12:(Print available) Budget Vehicles 
Practice Day 1 (Print available)
Practice Day 2 (Print available)

Chapter 3: Ratios and Rates

Chapter 4: Percents

Chapter 5: Algebraic Expressions and Properties

Chapter 6: Equations

Chapter 7: Area, Surface Area, and Volume

Chapter 8: Integers, Number Lines, and the Coordinate Plane

Chapter 9: Statistical Measures

Chapter 10: Data Displays

Grade 7

Chapter 1: Adding and Subtracting Rational Numbers

Chapter 2: Multiplying and Dividing Rational Numbers

Lesson 1: Multiplying IntegersUnit 5
Lesson 6: Floating in Groups
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 10: Integer Puzzles [Free lesson]
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 2: Dividing IntegersUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles
Lesson 3: Converting Between Fractions and DecimalsUnit 4
Lesson 13: Decimal Deep Dive (Print available)
Lesson 4: Multiplying Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 7: Back in Time
Lesson 5: Dividing Rational NumbersUnit 5
Lesson 8: Speeding Turtles

Chapter 3: Expressions

Chapter 4: Equations and Inequalities

Chapter 5: Ratios and Proportions

Chapter 6: Percents

Chapter 7: Probability

Chapter 8: Statistics

Chapter 9: Geometric Shapes and Angles

Chapter 10: Surface Area and Volume

Lesson 1: Surface Area of Prisms
Lesson 2: Surface Area of Cylinders
Lesson 3: Surface Area of Pyramids
Unit 7
Lesson 10: Simple Prisms
Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Lesson 12: Surface Area Strategies (Print available)
Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Lesson 4: Volumes of Prisms
Lesson 5: Volumes of Pyramids
Unit 7
Lesson 10: Simple Prisms
Lesson 11: More Complicated Prisms
Lesson 13: Popcorn Possibilities
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 6: Cross Sections of Three-Dimensional FiguresUnit 7
Lesson 9: Slicing Solids

Grade 8

Chapter 1: Equations

Chapter 2: Transformations

Chapter 3: Angles and Triangles

Chapter 4: Graphing and Writing Linear Equations

Chapter 5: Systems of Linear Equations

Lesson 1: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by GraphingUnit 4
Lesson 8: When Are They the Same?
Lesson 9: On or Off the Line?
Lesson 10: On Both Lines
Lesson 11: Make Them Balance [Free lesson]
Lesson 12: Line Zapper [Free lesson]
Practice Day 2 (Print available)
Lesson 2: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Substitution
Lesson 3: Solving Systems of Linear Equations by Elimination 
Lesson 4: Solving Special Systems of Linear Equations 
Lesson 6: Scale Drawings

Chapter 6: Data Analysis and Displays

Chapter 7: Functions

Lesson 1: Relations and FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 1: Turtle Crossing [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Guess My Rule [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: Representations of FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 3: Function or Not?
Lesson 5: The Tortoise and the Hare [Free lesson]
Lesson 3: Linear FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories
Lesson 7: Feel the Burn (Print available) [Free lesson]
Lesson 8: Charge! (Print available)
Lesson 4: Comparing Linear and Nonlinear FunctionsUnit 5
Lesson 4: Window Frames
Lesson 5: Analyzing and Sketching GraphsUnit 5  
Lesson 6: Graphing Stories

Chapter 8: Exponents and Scientific Notation

Chapter 9: Real Numbers and the Pythagorean Theorem

Lesson 1: Finding Square RootsUnit 8
Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]
Lesson 2: The Pythagorean Theorem
Lesson 3: Finding Cube RootsUnit 8
Lesson 2: From Squares to Roots
Lesson 3: Between Squares
Lesson 4: Root Down [Free lesson]
Lesson 4: Rational Numbers 
Lesson 5: Irrational NumbersUnit 8
Lesson 14: Hit the Target
Lesson 6: The Converse of the Pythagorean TheoremUnit 8
Lesson 9: Make It Right

Chapter 10: Volume and Similar Solids

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  1. by the School agreeing to our Customer Terms and Conditions located at amplify.com/customer-terms or another written agreement between Amplify and the School, as applicable; or
  2. by an Educator agreeing to the Acceptable Use Policy located at amplify.com/acceptable-use-policy/ (“AUP”) on behalf of the School as outlined in the AUP.

In each case, we collect Student Data and provide these Products solely for the use and benefit of the School and for no other commercial purpose. We require all Schools to review this Privacy Policy, available at amplify.com/customer-privacy, and to make a copy of the Privacy Policy available to the parents or guardians of Child Users.

We also provide limited opportunities for individual users to sign up for an account for use of our Products at-home or otherwise outside of the authorization of a School (“Home Users”). See the Appendix–Supplemental Disclosures for additional information that applies to our Home Users.

What This Privacy Policy Covers 

This Customer Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) describes how Amplify collects, uses, and discloses personal information through the provision of Products.

For purposes of this Privacy Policy, “you” and “your” means Authorized Users (defined below).

This Privacy Policy does not apply to Amplify’s handling of:

  • information collected from users of Amplify’s company website, which is governed by our Website Privacy Policy.
  • job applicant data that we process in accordance with our applicant privacy notice.

There may be different contractual terms or privacy policies in place with some Schools. Such other terms or policies supersede this Privacy Policy for information collected or released under those terms. If you have any questions as to which legal agreement or privacy policy controls the collection and use of your personal information, please contact us using the information provided below. Unless expressly superseded, this Privacy Policy is incorporated into and is subject to the Agreement that governs your use of the Products.

Our Role

Amplify as a processor/service provider: Our School customers are the controllers of Student Data (as well as certain other Educator personal information to the extent required by law or Amplify’s agreement with the School) (together “School Data”).

Amplify acts as a processor/service provider for our School customers with respect to School Data, which means when we use School Data, we do so solely on the instruction of the School. School Data is subject to the School’s privacy policies; therefore, you will need to contact the School directly if you have any questions or would like to exercise your rights with respect to School Data.

Amplify as a controller: We are the controller of all other personal information we collect from non-Student Authorized Users (“Amplify Data”) and can be reached by email at privacy@amplify.com or by mail at Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington St.#800, Brooklyn, NY, 11201.

Policy

1. Definitions

Capitalized terms not defined in this section or elsewhere in this Privacy Policy will have the meaning set forth by Applicable Laws.

Agreement” means the underlying contractual agreement between Amplify and the School.

Authorized Users” means all users of our Products, including Authorized School Users, parents and legal guardians, and Home Users.

Authorized School Users” means Students and Educators.

Local Education Authority” means a local education agency or authority, school district, school network, independent school, or other regional education system.

Non-Student Data” means information that is linked or linkable to Authorized Users who are not Students.

School” means the Local Education Authority or State Agency.

State Agency” means the educational agency primarily responsible for the supervision of public elementary and secondary schools in any of the 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, or other territories and possessions of the United States, as well as a national or regional ministry or department of education in other countries, as applicable.

2. What personal information do we collect?

When you access or use our Products, you may choose to provide us with personal information, including Student Data. This information may be provided to us directly (e.g. when an account is created or through communications with us) or through your interactions with our Products.

Student Data. Below is a list of the categories of Student Data that may be collected by Amplify or its Products, either directly or through the Authorized School User’s use of the various features and configurations of the Products:

  • Identifier and Enrollment Data, such as name, email, school / state ID number, username and password, grade level, homeroom, courses, teacher names.
    • Why? Most of Amplify’s Products require some basic information about who is in a classroom and who teaches the class—Student or teacher Identifier and Enrollment data. This information is provided to Amplify by the School, either directly from the School’s student information system or via a third party with whom the School contracts to provide that information.
  • Demographic Data, such as date of birth, socioeconomic status, race, national origin, and preferred or primary language.
    • Why? To support school instructional and reporting requirements, Amplify’s Products allow Schools to view reports and analyze data using Demographic Data. Generally, Demographic Data is provided on a voluntary basis by the School. For example, a School may wish to analyze Student literacy assessment results based on English Language Learner status to better tailor classroom instruction, and in that case, the School may provide Demographic Data to enable that reporting.
  • School Records, such as grades, attendance, assessment results, and whether an Individualized Education Plan (IEP or local equivalent) is in place.
    • Why? Some of our Products support grading assignments and administering formative, diagnostic, and curriculum-based assessments. Teachers use that information to support Students’ progress in the program or help with instructional decisions. We do not collect specific details from an IEP, nor do we collect protected health information or other sensitive information.
  • Schoolwork and Student Generated Content, which includes any information contained in Student assignments and assessments, including information in response to instructional activities and participation in collaborative or interactive features of our Products, such as Student responses to academic questions and Student-written essays, as well as images, video, and audio recordings.
    • Why? As part of the digital learning experience, some of our Products may enable Students to write text and create and upload images, video, and audio recordings. For example, in Amplify ELA, students may write essays or submit short-form responses in our platform as part of a lesson on literature. As another example, in Boost Reading, student interactions with reading skills games are recorded to keep track of the student’s progress to level up in the program and to provide visibility to teachers on how students are mastering the skills.
  • Teacher Comments and Feedback, such as scores, written comments, or other feedback that Educators may provide about Student responses or student course performance.
    • Why? To enable teachers to track the performance and provide feedback to their students.
  • Non-Student Data. We may collect the following types of personal information from all other Authorized Users:
    • Contact Information, such as name and email address, as well as grade level taught, school name and school location, whether you are an Educator or Home User that creates an account or uses our Products or communicates with us.
    • Account Information, such as user login and password, for account creation and access purposes.
    • Survey Responses, which you provide in response to surveys or questionnaires.
  • Device and Usage Data. Depending on the Product, we may collect certain information about the device used to connect to our Product, such as device type and model, browser configurations, and persistent identifiers, such as IP addresses and unique device identifiers. We may collect device diagnostic information, such as battery level, usage logs, and error logs, as well as usage, viewing, and technical information (e.g., email open rates), such as the number of requests a device makes, to ensure proper system capacity for all Authorized Users. We may collect IP addresses and use that information to approximate device location to support operation of the Product. To the extent that we collect this information, this data is solely used to support operation of the Product and is not linked to Student Data. For purposes of clarity, Amplify does not use Student Data for marketing or advertising purposes (see section 6 of this Privacy Policy for more information about our commitments regarding Student Data).
    • Why? We use this information to remember returning users and facilitate ease of login, to customize the function and appearance of the Products, and to improve the learning experience. This information also helps us track product usage for various purposes, including website optimization, to ensure proper system capacity, troubleshoot and fix errors, provide technical assistance and customer support, provide and monitor the effectiveness of our Products, monitor and address security concerns, and compile analytics for product improvement and other internal purposes.
    • How? Cookies and Similar Technologies. We collect device and usage data through “cookies,” Web beacons, HTML5 local storage, and other similar technologies, which are used in some of our Products solely to support operation of the Products as described above. While we may use third party cookies and similar technologies for advertising and marketing purposes on our website (in accordance with our Website Privacy Policy), we do not permit such tracking technologies to be present on Student-facing portions of the Products. In particular, we only use the following types of cookies in our Products:
      • Strictly necessary cookies – These are cookies that are required for the operation of our websites and applications that host our Products. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our Products. These cookies are not generally stored beyond the browser session and are less likely to include personal information. This category of cookies cannot be disabled.
      • Functionality Cookies – We use these cookies so that we recognize you on the websites and apps that host our Products and remember your previously selected preferences. These cookies are stored on your device between browsing sessions but expire after a pre-defined period. These cookies enable us to “recognize” you when you use our Products, including your preferences such as your preferred language, time, and location. A mix of first party (placed by us) and third-party cookies (placed by third parties) are used.
      • Performance Cookies – These cookies help us and service providers acting on our behalf compile statistics and analytics about users of our Products that are accessed via websites and apps, including Device and Usage Information.
    • Learn how to opt out of cookies and similar technologies by reading the “What Rights and Choices Do You Have?” section of this Privacy Policy below.

3. How do we use personal information?

Student Data. Amplify uses Student Data for educational purposes, to provide the Products, and to ensure secure and effective operation of our Products, including:

  • to provide and improve our educational Products;
  • to support School and Authorized School Users’ activities;
  • to ensure secure and effective operation of our Products;
  • for purposes requested or authorized by the School or Authorized School User or as otherwise permitted by Applicable Laws;
  • for customer support purposes, to respond to the inquiries and fulfill the requests of the School and their Authorized School Users;
  • to enforce Product access and security controls; and
  • to conduct system audits and improve protections against the misuse of our Products, or to detect and prevent fraud and other harmful activities.
  • to enable the adaptive and personalized learning features of the Products.

Non-Student Data. Amplify may use Non-Student Data for the purposes for which Student Data is used as set forth above. In addition, Amplify may use Non-Student Data to provide customized content, advertising and marketing in limited circumstances (e.g. to periodically send newsletters and other promotional materials) directed to Educators and Home Users. For sake of clarity, we do not use Student Data for marketing purposes and we do not direct marketing to Students. Amplify may also use Non-Student Data for internal research and analytics, including generating insights on the use of our Products by Educators in certain Schools so that we can better serve those communities. We will also use Non-Student Data as otherwise required or permitted by law, or as we may notify you at the time of collection. Learn how to opt out of these communications by reading the “What Rights and Choices Do You Have?” section of this Privacy Policy below.

Amplify may use aggregate or de-identified data as described in the Aggregate/De-identified Data section below.

4. To whom do we disclose personal information?

Student Data. We disclose Student Data to third parties only as needed to provide the Products under the Agreement, as directed or permitted by the School or Authorized School User, and as required by law. Such disclosures may include but are not limited to the following:

  • to other Authorized School Users of the School entitled to access such data in connection with the Products;
  • to our service providers, subprocessors, or vendors who have a legitimate need to access such data in order to assist us in providing or supporting our Products, such as platform, infrastructure, and application software. We contractually bind such parties to protect Student Data in a manner consistent with those practices set forth in this Privacy Policy and in accordance with Applicable Laws. A list of Amplify subprocessors is available at https://www.amplify.com/subprocessors;
  • to comply with the law, respond to requests in legal or government enforcement proceedings (such as complying with a subpoena), protect our rights in a legal dispute, or seek assistance of law enforcement in the event of a threat to our rights, security, or property or that of our affiliates, customers, Authorized Users, or others;
  • in the event Amplify or all or part of its assets are acquired or transferred to another party, including in connection with any bankruptcy or similar proceedings, provided that successor entity will be required to comply with the privacy protections in this Privacy Policy with respect to information collected under this Privacy Policy, or we will provide the School with notice and an opportunity to opt out of the transfer of such data prior to the transfer; and
  • except as restricted by Applicable Laws or contracts with the School, we may also share Student Data with Amplify’s affiliated education companies, provided that such disclosure is solely for the purposes of providing Products and at all times is subject to this Policy.

Non-Student Data. Amplify discloses Non-Student Data for the purposes for which Student Data is used as set forth above. Amplify may also disclose Non-Student Data as otherwise required or permitted, or as disclosed at the time of collection. Please note that we do not share mobile information or opt-in consent with third parties / affiliates for their own marketing or promotional purposes.

5. Aggregate/De-identified data

Amplify may use de-identified or aggregate data for purposes allowed under FERPA and other Applicable Laws, to research, develop, and improve educational sites, services, and applications and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Amplify Products. Amplify will not attempt to re-identify de-identified data. We may use aggregate information (which is information that has been collected in summary form such that the data cannot be associated with any individual) for analytics and reports. For example, our promotional materials may note the total number of students served by our programs in the prior year, but that information cannot be used to identify any one student. We may also share de-identified or aggregate data with research partners to help us analyze the information for product improvement and development purposes.

Records and information are de-identified when all personal information has been removed or obscured, such that the remaining information does not reasonably identify a specific individual. We de-identify Student Data in compliance with Applicable Laws and in accordance with the guidelines of NIST SP 800-122. Amplify has implemented internal procedures and controls to protect against the re-identification of de-identified Student Data. Amplify does not disclose de-identified data to its research partners unless that party has agreed in writing not to attempt to re-identify such data.

6. Data prohibitions, Advertising, Advertising limitations

Amplify will not:

  • sell Student Data to third parties;
  • use or disclose Student Data to inform, influence, or enable targeted advertising to a Student based on Student Data or information or data inferred over time from the Student’s usage of the Products;
  • use Student Data to develop a profile of a Student for any purpose other than providing the Products to a School or Authorized School User, or as authorized by a parent or legal guardian;
  • use Student Data for any commercial purpose other than to provide the Products to the School or Authorized School User, or as permitted by Applicable Laws.

7. External third-party services

This Privacy Policy applies solely to Amplify’s Products and practices. Schools and other Authorized Users may choose to connect or use our Products in conjunction with third-party services and Products. Additionally, our sites and Products may contain links to third-party websites or services . This Privacy Policy does not address, and Amplify is not responsible for, the privacy, information, or other practices of such third parties. Schools should carefully consider which third-party applications to include among the Products and services they provide to Students and vet the privacy and data security standards of those providers.

Authorized Users may be able to log in to our Products using third-party sign-in services such as Clever, ClassLink or Google. These services authenticate your identity and provide you with the option to share certain personal information with us, including your name and email address, to pre-populate our account sign-up form. If you choose to enable a third party to share your third-party account credentials with Amplify, we may obtain personal information via that mechanism. You may configure your accounts on these third-party platform services to control what information they share.

8. Security

Amplify maintains a comprehensive information security program and uses industry standard administrative, technical, operational, and physical measures to safeguard Student Data in its possession against loss, theft and unauthorized use, disclosure, or modification. Amplify performs periodic risk assessments of its information security program and prioritizes the remediation of identified security vulnerabilities. Please see https://amplify.com/security for a detailed description of Amplify’s security program.

In the event Amplify discovers or is notified that Student Data within our possession or control was disclosed to, or acquired by, an unauthorized party, we will investigate the incident, take steps to mitigate the potential impact, and notify the School in accordance with Applicable Laws.

Non-Student Data

Outside of Student Data, Amplify uses commercially reasonable administrative, technical, personnel, and physical measures to safeguard personal information in its possession against loss, theft, and unauthorized use, disclosure or modification.

9. Data Storage and Transfers

We are a United States Company, and our servers are hosted, managed, and controlled by us in the United States. If you are outside of the United States, we use industry standards to protect your data when it leaves your country of residence and your data will always be protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy, Applicable Laws and our Agreement regardless of the storage location.

Additionally, where we transfer your personal information to service providers outside of the United Kingdom (UK), European Economic Area (EEA), or other region that offers similar protections, we use specific appropriate safeguards to contractually obligate such service providers to protect personal information in accordance with Amplify’s commitment to privacy and security and applicable data protection laws.

If you have questions or wish to obtain more information about the international transfer of your personal information or the implemented safeguards, please contact us using the contact information below.

10. Data Retention / Deletion

Student Data

Upon request, we provide the School the opportunity to review and delete the personal information collected from Students. We will retain Student Data for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy and our Agreement with the School. We do not knowingly retain Student Data beyond the time period required to support the School or Authorized School User’s educational purpose, unless authorized by the School or Authorized School User. Upon request, Amplify will return, delete, or destroy Student Data stored by Amplify in accordance with applicable law and customer requirements. We may not be able to delete all data in all circumstances, such as information retained in technical support records, customer service records, back-ups, and similar business records. All such information will be protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy and our Agreement until it has been permanently deleted. Unless otherwise notified by the School, we will delete or de-identify Student Data after termination of our Agreement with the School.

Non-Student Data

Outside of Student Data, we keep personal information as long as it is necessary or relevant for the practices described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise required by our Agreement with the School, if applicable. We determine the appropriate retention period for personal information on the basis of the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal information being processed, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of the personal information, whether we can achieve the purposes of the processing through other means, and on the basis of applicable legal requirements (such as applicable statutes of limitations).

11. What rights and choices do you have?

What Choices Do You Have?

Marketing/Advertising

As noted above, we do not use Student Data for marketing purposes and we do not direct marketing to Students. Amplify does not use third party cookies and similar technologies for advertising and marketing purposes on Student-facing portions of the Products. The choices below apply to Non-Student Authorized Users.

Opt-out of Marketing Communications. If you want to stop receiving promotional materials from Amplify, you can follow the unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of each email or email us at privacy@amplify.com. Amplify does not send marketing communications to Students.

Opt-out of Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies. With respect to cookies, you may be able to reject cookies through your browser or device controls. Note that you have to opt-out of cookies on each browser or device that you use. If you replace, change, or upgrade your browser or device, or delete your cookies, you may need to use these opt-out tools again. Please be aware that disabling cookies may negatively impact your experience as some features may not work properly. To learn more about browser cookies, including how to manage or delete them, check the “Help,” “Tools,” or similar section of your browser.

What Rights Do You Have?

Individuals in the U.S.

  • What Rights Do You Have With Respect to Student Data?
    • Review and Correction. FERPA requires schools to provide parents with access to their children’s education records, and parents may request that the school correct records that they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.
    • If you are a parent or guardian and would like to review, correct, or update your child’s data stored in our Products, contact your School. Amplify will work with your School to enable your access to and, if applicable, correction of your child’s education records.
    • If you have any questions about whom to contact or other questions about your child’s data, you may contact us using the information provided below.
    • Other Privacy Rights? Please see section 3 of our supplemental disclosures: “Additional U.S. State Privacy Law Rights” for more information about your U.S. privacy rights

Individuals in the EU/UK

Please see section 4 of our supplemental disclosures: “Notice for European Economic Area and United Kingdom Customers” for more information about your EU/UK privacy rights.

12. COPPA

We do not knowingly collect personal information from a Child User unless and until a School or Educator, with the permission of the School, has authorized us to collect such information to provide the Products. Amplify relies on the School acknowledging that it is acting as the parent’s agent and consenting on the parent’s behalf to process personal information of Child Users in accordance with all applicable provisions of COPPA. To the extent COPPA applies to the information we collect, we process such information for educational purposes only, and no other commercial purpose, at the direction of the School and on the basis of the School’s authorization. If you are a parent or guardian and have questions about your child’s use of the Products and any personal information collected, please direct these questions to your child’s school.

Please refer to the Appendix–Supplemental Disclosures if you are a Home User.

13. Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy in the future. For example, we may update it to comply with new laws or regulations, to conform to industry best practices, or to reflect changes in our product offerings. When these changes do not reflect material changes in our practices with respect to use and/or disclosure of Authorized Users’ personal information, including Student Data, such changes to the Privacy Policy will become effective when we post the revised Privacy Policy on our website. In the event there are material changes in our practices that would result in Authorized Users’ personal information being used in a materially different manner than was disclosed when the information was collected, with respect to Student Data, we will notify the School, and with respect to other information, we will notify you via email and provide an opportunity to opt out before such changes take effect.

14. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@amplify.com
Mail: Amplify Education, Inc.
55 Washington St.#800
Brooklyn, NY, 11201
Phone: (800) 823-1969
Attn: General Counsel

To report a security vulnerability, visit https://amplify.com/report-a-vulnerability/.

Appendix – Supplemental Disclosures

1. Mathigon and Amplify Classroom accounts

While our Products are geared towards Schools we do provide a limited opportunity for Home Users to use the Products at home—outside of the school context. We do not allow persons under the age of 13 (or those under the age of consent in any applicable jurisdiction) to register for an account with us outside the school context.

If you are a Home User, you are prohibited from collecting or providing any personal information from students or minors. You are permitted to access the platform for instructional purposes, but you may not enroll or roster minors, create accounts for minors, or input any personal information of minors into the Product.

Please note that most parts of Mathigon can be used without creating an account or providing any personal information that directly identifies you.

What Rights Do You Have? If you are a Child User who is 13 or older with a legacy Mathigon account (or the parent or guardian of a Child User with a legacy Mathigon account), you may request that we provide for your review, delete from our records, or cease collecting any Child User personal information. To the extent that you are unable to exercise these rights through self-service features within your account with us, please contact us by sending an email to: help@amplify.com and we will provide assistance.

2. U.S. Notice at Collection

Personal Information We Collect How We Use Personal Information

Student Data, which includes:

  • Roster Information
  • Demographic Data, such as race and national origin
  • School Records
  • Account Information
  • Schoolwork and Student Generated Content
  • Teacher Comments and Feedback
  • Device and Usage Data
  • To provide and improve our educational Products;
  • To support Schools’ and Authorized School Users’ activities;
  • To ensure secure and effective operation of our Products;
  • For purposes requested or authorized by the School or Authorized School Users, or as otherwise permitted by Applicable Laws;
  • For adaptive or personalized learning features of the Products; provided that Student Data is not disclosed;
  • For customer support purposes, to respond to the inquiries and fulfill the requests of the School and their Authorized School Users;
  • To enforce product access and security controls; and
  • To conduct system audits and improve protections against the misuse of our Products, or to detect and prevent fraud and other harmful activities.

Authorized Users, which includes:

  • Contact Information
  • Account Information
  • Survey Responses
  • Device and Usage Data
  • For the purposes for which Student Data is used as set forth above;
  • For marketing purposes in limited circumstances (e.g. to periodically send newsletters and other promotional materials), which will not be based on Student Data or directed to K–12 students;
  • For internal research and analytics; and
  • As otherwise required or permitted, or as we may notify you at the time of collection.

Some of the information described above may be considered “sensitive” under the laws of certain jurisdictions (i.e., account credentials and race/national origin) (“Sensitive Information”). We use Sensitive Information for necessary or reasonably expected purposes – specifically, to provide you with our Services (i.e., account credentials are used to allow account logins and race/national origin are used for the School’s reporting purposes when voluntarily provided by the School).

We do not sell or share your personal information, as described in California law.

We retain your personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes disclosed in the chart above. Additional information about our retention of Student Data and personal information from other Authorized Users can be found in Section 10 of this Privacy Policy.

Please see the Additional U.S. State Privacy Law Rights section of this appendix for information about your privacy rights pursuant to applicable U.S. law.

Notice of Financial Incentive

From time to time, to support our services, we offer opportunities to complete surveys and questionnaires. As an incentive for completing the survey or questionnaire, you can voluntarily provide personal information as an entry into a raffle drawing or to obtain other benefits, discounts, offers, or deals that may constitute a financial incentive under California law (“Financial Incentive”). The categories of personal information required for us to provide the Financial Incentives include: contact information and any other information that you choose to provide when you complete the survey.

Participation is voluntary and you can opt out at any time before the survey is complete. We do not allow students to participate in our surveys.

The value of the personal information we collect in connection with our Financial Incentives is equivalent to the value of the benefit offered.

3. Additional U.S. State Privacy Law Rights

Note for Requests Relating to Student Data: Because Amplify provides the Products to Schools as a “School Official,” we collect, retain, use, and disclose Student Data only for or on behalf of the School for educational purposes, including the purpose of providing the Products specified in our Agreement with the School and for no other commercial purpose. Accordingly, we act as a “service provider” for the School with respect to School Data. We work with the School to support and assist them in addressing privacy requests relating to School Data. Please reach out to your School directly if you wish to exercise any privacy rights that may be available to you.

For all other requests: With respect to Amplify Data, individuals residing in certain U.S. states have the following rights, regarding your personal information (each of which is subject to various exceptions and limitations):

  • Access. You have the right to request, up to two times every 12 months, that we disclose to you the categories of personal information collected about you; the categories of sources from which the personal information is collected; the categories of personal information sold or shared; the business or commercial purpose for collecting, selling, or sharing the personal information; the categories of third parties with whom personal information was shared; and the specific pieces of personal information collected about you.
  • Correction. You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information collected from you.
  • Deletion. You have the right to request that we delete the personal information that we maintain about you. Even after the deletion of your account, some personal information may remain on our servers, such as in technical support logs, server caches, data backups, or email conversations. These will be automatically deleted after a reasonable amount of time, unless we are legally required to retain information for longer, or unless there is a legitimate business reason (e.g. security and fraud prevention or financial record-keeping). We are not required to delete any information which has been aggregated or de-identified in accordance with Section 5.
  • No Discrimination. You have the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights.
  • Appeals. You have a right to appeal decisions concerning your ability to exercise your consumer rights.

See Submitting Requests section below for details on submitting a request to exercise these rights.

4. Notice for European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom (UK) Customers

As detailed at the beginning of our Privacy Policy (under the section titled “Our Role”), Amplify operates primarily as a processor that collects personal information on behalf of the School, and we act as a controller in limited circumstances where we offer Products outside the school context.

If you represent a School in the EEA or the UK, please note that we process personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, our Acceptable Use Policy, and our standard Data Protection Agreement, which sets out our responsibilities when it comes to our processing activities. Schools must send an email to privacy@amplify.com to enter into that DPA.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on the following lawful bases for our processing activities:

  • Consent;
    • We obtain your consent to use cookies to collect and process device and usage data to understand how individuals use our Products.
  • Pursuant to a contract for use of our Products;
    • We process School Data to provide our Products (e.g., to create, authenticate and manage your account, to verify your identity, to manage our Products) pursuant to the Agreement between us and the School, as required in order for us to perform our obligations.
  • To comply with our legal obligations;
    • We process all categories of personal information that we collect to ensure the safety and security of our Products where we are complying with security requirements under data protection and cyber and information security law.
    • We process all categories of personal information that we collect to comply with our legal obligations which includes, for example, to access, retain or share certain personal information where we receive a valid request from a government body, law enforcement body, judicial body regulator or similar, to deal with legal claims and prospective legal claims, and to ensure we are complying with applicable laws.
  • When we have a legitimate interest in doing so, which is not outweighed by the risks to the individual.
    • We process all categories of personal information that we collect to support the provision, effective management, and improvement of our Products where such activities are not strictly required under our contract. This is in our legitimate interests to ensure that we are providing the best possible service.
    • We process all categories of personal information that we collect to ensure the safety and security of our services where this is important but not required under the data protection law or cyber and information security laws. This is in our legitimate interests to ensure the security of our services and systems, to prevent threats, abuse or fraudulent or unlawful activity, to promote safety and security and to ensure our Products are used in accordance with our terms and conditions.
    • We process the contact information of Non-Student Authorized Users to manage our relationship, including to respond to queries or otherwise communicate with you in relation to our Products and the operation of our business where this is not strictly required under a contract with you. This is in our legitimate interests to communicate with and resolve queries from users of our Products and to ensure that we are providing the best possible service.

We process the contact information and survey data of Non-Student Authorized Users for internal research and marketing purposes in limited circumstances (e.g. to periodically send newsletters and other promotional materials), which will not be based on Student Data or directed to Students. This is in our legitimate interests to understand our customers and prospective customers, understand how our products and services are perceived in the market, to promote our products, and to grow and develop our business.

Your Data Subject Rights

Note for Requests Relating to School Data: Amplify acts as processor to its School customers with respect to all School Data. We work with our School customers to support and assist them in addressing privacy requests relating to School Data. Please reach out to your School directly if you wish to exercise any privacy rights that may be available to you.

For all other Requests With respect to Amplify Data, you have the following rights if you are in the EEA or UK, subject to certain exceptions:

  • Right of access: You have the right to ask us for confirmation on whether we are processing your personal information and access to that personal information.
  • Right to correction: You have the right to have your personal information corrected.
  • Right to erasure: You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information.
  • Right to withdraw consent: You have the right to withdraw consent that you have provided.
  • Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority: You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
  • Right to restriction of processing: You have the right to request the limiting of our processing under limited circumstances.
  • Right to data portability: You have the right to receive the personal information that you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and you have the right to transmit that information to another controller, including to have it transmitted directly, where technically feasible.
  • Right to object: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal information

See Submitting Requests section below for details on submitting a request to exercise these rights.

5. Submitting Requests

To exercise any of the rights described in sections 2 and 3 of this appendix, email us at privacy@amplify.com and specify which privacy right you intend to exercise. We may require additional information from you to allow us to confirm your identity. The verification steps will vary depending on the sensitivity of the personal information and whether you have an account with us. Please note that your rights may not apply in all cases. For example, we may need to retain your personal information to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, prevent fraud and enforce our agreements. We will inform you if we are not able to fully respond to your requests. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. When submitting the request, please ensure the authorized agent identifies himself/herself/itself as an authorized agent and can show written permission from you to represent you. We may contact you directly to confirm that you have authorized the agent to act on your behalf or confirm your identity.

Complaints

If you have any issues, you have the right to lodge a complaint with an EEA or UK supervisory authority. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you approach a data protection regulator and would welcome you directing an inquiry first to us. To do so, please contact us by email at privacy@amplify.com or by mail at Amplify Education, Inc., 55 Washington St.#800, Brooklyn, NY, 11201.

6. Google APIs

Amplify uses Google’s Application Programming Interface (API) Services to enable Authorized Users to log in to Amplify, import classes and rosters from Google Classroom, create assignments in Google Classroom, and copy, edit, and publish Amplify content using Google Slides. Amplify will use and transfer information received from Google’s API in accordance with Google API Service User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Update History:

Update: 6/13/2025: This Policy has been updated to align with product updates and to provide additional context for authorized educational use of Amplify’s Products.

Update 6/27/2024: The Policy has been updated to include an explanation regarding Google APIs in the Appendix — Supplemental Disclosures section.

Update 6/30/2023: This Privacy Policy has been updated to address new state law data privacy requirements.

Season 6, Episode 12

Celebrating many meanings: Language comprehension and the importance of Black English, with Jasmine Rogers

While working with students, one educator came to a realization that put her on a path to fascinating research in the Science of Reading. In this episode, Jasmine Rogers—manager and coach with the In Schools program at the DC Reading Clinic and an early literacy intervention lead at American University—shares her story and delves into her research on dialects and best practices for structured literacy instruction. She discusses Black language and how it connects with the language comprehension strand of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. Jasmine also offers recommendations for classroom teachers who have bidialectal students.

Meet Our Guest(s):

Mujer sonriente con el pelo trenzado, enmarcada en un círculo, con iconos de un corazón y una bombilla cerca de su cabeza, sobre un fondo verde.

Jasmine Rogers

Jasmine Rogers is a manager and coach with the In Schools program at the DC Reading Clinic, serving the District of Columbia Public Schools. In this role, she manages professional development on structured literacy best practices. For nine years, she was an elementary teacher serving in kindergarten and special education as well as a reading specialist. She also mentored at the DC Reading Clinic in its 2019 inaugural cohort. She holds masters degrees in sports administration, elementary education, and special education. She is currently an early literacy intervention lead at American University, pursuing her doctorate in education policy and leadership.

Meet our host, Susan Lambert

Susan Lambert is the Chief Academic Officer of Elementary Humanities at Amplify, and the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Her career has been focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Susan is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.

As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. As a former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, Susan is dedicated to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.

Susan-Lambert_Headshot

Quotes

“As a teacher, a Black woman, who speaks Black English, who knows the language, who is very well versed in structured literacy, if I overlooked this, if that caught me off guard a little bit, then that means that could potentially catch someone else off guard.”

—Jasmine Rogers

“With language comprehension, and considering in your native language, there may be a word that doesn’t necessarily match up with a language that you are learning in the classroom. So you have to then use your incredible cognitive skills that speak two completely different codes, comprehend what is happening, and then tie that back into, of course, the Rope to become a fluent reader.”

—Jasmine Rogers

“I consider Black English to be a very complex and complicated language…but I think typically in society it has been viewed very negatively. You can see in the media and in research where people have talked about it and used negative connotations. And I think those beliefs from society have seeped into the classroom.”

—Jasmine Rogers

“A strength of children that are bidialectal is the similar strength to students that are bilingual—they have an ability to take language that is different from theirs and translate it. That right there is an asset.”

—Jasmine Rogers

“The languages that we speak and bring from home also are not wrong. They’re simply different. And we’re gonna work together so that we take what we know differently and come together with a common language so that we’re communicating with one another.”

—Jasmine Rogers

“We have got to give our students access to this code so that they can become literate and run our society one day.”

—Jasmine Rogers

Season 10, Episode 14

Your comprehension questions answered, with Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D.

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, returning guest Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D., joins Susan Lambert to close out the season by answering thoughtful and thought-provoking comprehension questions submitted by listeners. Nathaniel and Susan answer questions about comprehension strategies, the relationship between comprehension and memorization, and how to shift the mindset among your teaching colleagues to help them understand comprehension.

Second Mockup Episode 14: Your comprehension questions answered, with Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D.

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Season 10, Episode 14

Your comprehension questions answered, with Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D.

In this episode of Science of Reading: The Podcast, returning guest Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D., joins Susan Lambert to close out the season by answering thoughtful and thought-provoking comprehension questions submitted by listeners. Nathaniel and Susan answer questions about comprehension strategies, the relationship between comprehension and memorization, and how to shift the mindset among your teaching colleagues to help them understand comprehension.

Mockup Episode 14: Your comprehension questions answered, with Nathaniel Swain, Ph.D.

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