This activity is so easy to teach you might feel guilty for taking a
paycheck! Students will quickly pick up on the meaning and use of variables and will be able to substitute values into formulas to solve them. As a bonus, students can learn the Distributive, Associative, and Commutative properties as well!
My writing partner, Brad Fulton, and I have presented this activity to thousands of teachers over the years. The response has always been one of amazement that so much math can be found in so simple a format. Since the activity was written, we have found so many extensions to the basic format that Menu Math could be a 100-page book by itself. As you become comfortable with the activity (complete instructions provided) you will find new ways to use Menu Math with your students. We have heard stories from teachers of students from primary grades through high school of kids who “finally get it” after using this simple approach.
This four-page downloadable activity is is pdf format so it will print well at your site and allow you to make an overhead transparency of the Menu Math graphic shown in this post.
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Yes, this seems to be very practical and relevant for making a clear connections to math that so many feel is difficult.
Mina
this is really cool. I am in the first years of college in Education classes, and i am in the class room all ready tutoring and doing lesson plans and all. this is very neat and i will definitely put this to use.