4
How to Use This Book
Eighth-Grade Math Minutes is designed to be implemented in numerical
order, starting with Minute One. Students who need the most support will
fi nd the order in which skills are introduced helpful in building and retaining
confi dence and success. For example, the fi rst time that students are asked
to provide the value of pi to the hundredths place, the digits in the ones and
tenths places are provided. The second time, the digit in the ones place is
provided. It is not until the third time that students are asked the value of pi
that they must recall the number without additional support.
Eighth-Grade Math Minutes can be used in a variety of ways. Use one
Minute a day as a warm-up activity, review, assessment, or homework
assignment. Other uses include incentive projects and extra credit. Keep in
mind that students will get the most benefi t from their daily Minute if they
receive immediate feedback. If you assign the Minute as homework, correct
it in class as soon as students are settled at the beginning of the day.
If you use the Minutes as a timed activity, place the paper facedown on
the students’ desks or display it as a transparency. Use a clock or kitchen
timer to measure one minute—or more if needed. As the Minutes become
more advanced, use your discretion on extending the time frame to several
minutes if needed. Encourage students to concentrate on completing each
problem successfully and not to dwell on problems they cannot complete.
At the end of the allotted time, have the students stop working. Then, read
the answers from the answer key (pages 108–112) or display them on a
transparency. Have students correct their own work and record their scores
on the Minute Journal reproducible (page 6). Then, have the class go over
each problem together to discuss the solution(s). Spend more time on
problems that were clearly challenging for most of the class. Tell students
that problems that seemed diffi cult for them will appear again on future
Minutes, and that they will have another opportunity for success.