Practical Tips for Neglected Math Units

No teacher wants to admit it, but every year certain math lessons and even whole chapters are either skimmed or skipped over entirely. But before anyone who is not a teacher gets all judgmental, please realize that math teachers face a steep uphill battle every year trying to cover the whole curriculum. The truth is there are simply never enough instructional days to make it happen. On paper, it looks doable.  However, math curriculums and pacing guides do not take into account days spent reteaching difficult skills, weather days, assemblies, emergency drills, district benchmark testing, state testing, holiday parties, music programs, field trips, student reward celebrations, track and field day and the list goes on and on.

Which Math Skills Get Neglected?

So, what usually gets the shaft? In short: geometry. Most math curriculums for grades 3rd-6th place the chapters on all things geometry at the end. As a result, these skills are usually the ones that teachers are unable to cover or spend an appropriate amount of time on. Veteran teachers or teachers that have been lucky enough to teach the same grade level for several years are experts at knowing which geometry skills are most important and likely to show up on standardized tests. They are also magicians in creating time to work these skills into their instruction. But we are not all that lucky! 

What is Important to Cover in Each Grade?

If you find yourself staring down the end of the school year and facing countless days of end of the year fun and testing leaving no possible way of covering the number of math lessons you have left in that geometry unit, here are some suggestions as to the most important topics to prioritize in each grade:

3rd Grade:

• Area and perimeter
• Classifying quadrilaterals

4th Grade: 

• Classifying and measuring angles
• Recognizing lines of symmetry

5th Grade: 

• Identifying and graphing points on the coordinate plane

•  Classifying two-dimensional shapes based on their attributes

6th Grade:

• Finding the total area of irregular polygons by decomposing it into triangles and rectangles

•  Finding the volume of right rectangular prisms

•  Identifying nets of three-dimensional figures and using those nets to find the surface area of the figure

Ideas for How to Fit These Skills in Next Year

You are human - yes, even teachers! Give yourself some grace and remember that what matters is that you learn from these obstacles. Take some time and think of what possible solutions and strategies you can implement next school year so that you (and your students) are better prepared.  Here are some suggestions to get you started 😊

• Dedicate a day every other week to teaching a critical skill from the geometry unit.
• Make sure to mix in problems from these skills into your daily bell ringers or spiral review problems
• If you are a self-contained teacher that teaches other subjects to the same class throughout the day, implement geometry read-alouds with illustrated books into your reading lesson to help build background knowledge and math vocabulary.
• On those holiday party days, play a game that teaches geometry related skills like 2-D or 3-D shape BINGO or quadrilateral BINGO!

Once you get creative, you will probably think of other great ideas for working these skills in. Do your future self a favor and write them down! Take a few minutes to jot down your ideas on paper so you can remember to incorporate them into your classroom next year. 

With the calendar rushing towards the last day of school, it's easy to get a little stressed about all that's left to cover. Our final tip? Don't forget to take a moment and give yourself a big pat on the back for all the things you did accomplish with your students this year!