Using question 28 from the May Problems to Ponder in volume 114, the author and her seventh- and eighth-grade students launched into a discussion of creativity, linearity, piecewise, and recursive definitions of functions. This pattern to ponder provided rich mathematical opportunities for all students in her middle school classroom.

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders struggle with learning and retaining many aspects of mathematics. Tasks requiring conceptual understanding and reasoning are especially challenging. Given these difficulties, it is essential that teachers use techniques designed to support mathematical learning. We explain how to infuse…

A problem-based learning activity focusing on the human impact on the environment and the importance of sustainable development is presented. The activity revolves around a mysterious island where the civilization is on the blink of extinction, prompting students to investigate how human behavior, ecosystems, resources, and natural balance…

Students need to be actively engaged to learn--intellectually curious, physically active, and emotionally involved in collaborative work that builds their capacity for empathy. What can teachers do to instill these elements in the classroom? "Active Learning: 40 Teaching Methods to Engage Students in Every Class and Every Subject" is the…

"High Yield Routines 2nd Edition, Grades K-8," is an essential resource for elementary and middle school mathematics teachers seeking to enhance their instructional practices and optimize classroom time. Authored by experienced educators, this book presents effective mathematical routines designed to integrate seamlessly into everyday…

"Human Impacts on Our Climate" outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic problem solving while grounding them in integrated STEM disciplines. Like the other volumes in the series, this book is designed to meet the growing need to infuse real-world learning into K-12 classrooms. This interdisciplinary, three-lesson…

This task structure both engages students in serious, grade-level appropriate mathematical work and allows the teacher to do the intentional and purposeful work of building a collaborative classroom culture. We highlight possibilities for adapting this task structure to teach different mathematics content across grade levels 3-5.

In many elementary classrooms nationwide, less and less time is spent on social studies. Lack of attention to social studies is evident in states like New York where teacher evaluations are contingent on students' performance on two subjects: English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics. In this article, the authors describe their experience…

Graphing and calculating percentages are integral skills in a STEM curriculum. Teaching students how to create graphs allows them to identify numerical trends and to express results in a clear and concise manner. In this activity, students will remain engaged in the lesson by moving around the room and then work together to generate their own…

Developed specifically for grades 6-8, this resource presents classroom-ready lessons that support the ISTE Standards for Students. Use the lessons, which focus on four essential skills--communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity--to take instruction and learning to the next level through the use of technology. Each chapter…

The decline in middle school students' motivation and engagement during young adolescence remains a concern for educators, administrators, and educational researchers. This article draws on the philosophies of providing the appropriate person-environment fit and meeting students' basic psychological needs to enhance teaching and learning. These…

Significant numbers of adolescents and young adults do not adequately understand complex texts, impeding their school success, access to postsecondary learning, and opportunities within an increasingly competitive work environment. National data (National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], 2015) have shown improvements among fourth- and…

To help middle school students make better sense of decimals and fraction, the author and an eighth-grade math teacher worked on a 90-minute lesson that focused on representing repeating decimals as fractions. They embedded experimentations and explorations using technology and calculators to help promote students' intuitive and conceptual…

This unique volume surveys recent research on spatial visualization in mathematics in the fields of cognitive psychology and mathematics education. The general topic of spatial skill and mathematics has a long research tradition, but has been gaining attention in recent years, although much of this research happens in disconnected subfields. This…

Imagine middle and high school science classes without a science fair. Participation in science fairs is declining (Harmon 2011), a trend that some teachers, parents, and students find disturbing. The authors opine that the decline in science fairs calls for critically reviewing the potential disconnect between the aims and outcomes of science…