Over the years, our Educational Coaches have come up with helpful learning tools to conquer basic math, take good math notes, study and prepare for tests, and even keep track of all the nitty-gritty details included in word problems.
Here are four learning tools from our math toolbox for note-taking, order of operations, solving word problems, and working with real integers.
1. Math Notes
Taking good notes in math goes beyond copying down a few example problems from the teacher’s whiteboard. To really understand a concept, students need more information in their notes.
This is a template students can use for taking notes in math. The template includes a section for the:
Title of the concept
Relevant formulas and key terms
Examples from the book
Steps needed to solve a problem
2. Order of Operations
Some students have no problem remembering to: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.
Other students need a visual reminder, or some extra help remembering what to do when a problem has both multiplication and division, or addition and subtraction.
3. Solving Word Problems
This is a checklist of steps students can follow to successfully solve a word problem.
*Bonus Tip: Slip this problem-solving tool into a page protector to use the same checklist multiple times with a whiteboard marker.
Also included are common terms found within word problems and the operation most likely associated with each term.
4. Addition and Subtraction of Real Integers
Adding numbers with the same sign? No problem. Or maybe not a problem as long as both numbers are positive.
Adding numbers with different signs? Potential problem, but we have a tool to help!
Use this flowchart to help figure out what to do when adding or subtracting positive and negative numbers.