Math GATE

This is a fun non curricular thinking task that goes beyond just asking students to convert rational numbers to other forms and put them in order. It provides students with an opportunity to think more deeply about the relative sizes of rational and irrational numbers and strategically choose which shapes to place where.

There are many valid approaches and answers to this task so it is a great way to start the year and build a thinking classroom.

This includes both a version made for 5th, 6th, or 7th grade with mixed numbers and decimal side lengths as well as a version for 8th/9th grade which includes square roots as well.

My Other Thinking Classroom Tasks

Non-curricular BTC 4 Points Task

Writing Equations from Tables Thin Slicing Task

Rectangle Area and Perimeter Thinking Problems

These number line problems range from extremely accessible to very challenging for even my highest students. They gradually take students through different rational number concepts and strategies while working on a number line. This really helped my 6th graders better understand the magnitude of fractions, mixed numbers and decimals and how to place numbers on the positive and negative side of the number line. It promoted great discussions in the student groups.

It includes 4 pages of student worksheets or thin slicing problems with an answer key.

The task: Draw 4 points such that when you connect each point to the other 3 points for a total of 6 line segments, there are exactly 2 distinct lengths of line segments. You must connect each point to every other point.

This product includes

• examples and non-examples to use when introducing this task to kids
• questions to support struggling and advanced groups
• a detailed two page answer key that demonstrates each solution visually

This worked really well with my honors Geometry students, it led perfectly into the symbols we use to show congruent side lengths and the definition of point, line segment, etc and many other geometry topics. It has also been a good challenge for my more advanced 6th and 7th grade students.

My Other Thinking Classroom Tasks

Noncurricular Task: Estimating Rational and Irrational Numbers

Rectangle Area and Perimeter Thinking Problems

Writing Equations from Tables Thin Slicing Task

This is all of my fraction resources that I use with my 6th graders.