What suggestion can you offer for enhancing a specific lesson of a Glencoe mathematics text? Ideas may include using concrete objects to illustrate concepts, working with cooperative groups, incorporating ongoing assessment, or any other strategy that you have used successfully in your classroom.

Example: This activity was written by a teacher using the 2001 edition of Glencoe Mathematics: Applications and Connections, Course 2, Lesson 6-1, page 228. The lesson is entitled "Solving Addition and Subtraction Equations."

"To reinforce the Addition and Subtraction Properties of Equality, I use the example of a teeter-totter. You and a friend are perfectly balanced on a teeter-tooter. What happens if your friend jumps off? Or what happens if someone else jumps on with your friend?"

Lesson 1-7: Alice C., Educator
King George, VA
"We use area tiles to compare the perimeters and areas of different figures composed of 1 tile, 2 tiles, 3 tiles, and 4 tiles. Then students use dot paper to draw all of the pentomino patterns. They discover all of the pentominoes have an area of 5 square units and a perimeter of 12 units except one."

Lesson 2-6: Steve W., Teacher
Glencoe, MD
"I have my students turn their notebook paper sideways so that they run vertically and have them write their multiplication and division problems with each digit of the numbers in its own column. It helps them keep the proper numbers lined up."

Lesson 2-8: Teresa S., Teacher
Toledo, OH
"Students need a lot of practice using the metric system. To review the relationships in the metric system, I suggest that students go home, open the cupboard, and guess how much is contained in each box, can, or bottle and then check their guess by reading the product label."

Lesson 3-5: Joan C., Teacher
Ocean, NJ
"Instead of recording their heights with numbers, we made a human back-to-back stem-and-leaf plot with boys on one side and girls on the other. We then took a picture so that everyone could see the statistics in motion."

Lesson 3-6: Kim T., Teacher
Croton-on-Hudson, NY
"I provide students with a list of all the seventh graders. They do a survey asking every other seventh grader. Results are posted using frequency tables, stem-and-leaf plots, and various graphs."

Lesson 3-7: Amy W., Department Chair
Kirksville, MO
"I have students use their last 10 assignment scores to make two graphs: one misleading and one that accurately reflects the data. Then they write a paragraph explaining how they organized and created their graphs. I also ask them to tell which graph they would show their parents as a reflection of their scores and why."

Lesson 4-1: Margaret F., Teacher
Cleveland Heights, OH
"After reviewing divisibility rules, I use the overhead spinner to randomly generate 2-, 3-, and 4-digit numbers. Then I have students work in groups to check whether each number is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, or 10. I also have them attempt to discover a rule for divisibility by 8."

Lesson 4-2: Travis G., Teacher
Swainsboro, GA
"We make a Sieve of Eratosthenes to recognize prime numbers and keep it handy when doing prime factorization. When we do factor trees we use "power trees" in which each prime number is considered in order to make the factor tree. This also helps to compare numbers when finding the LCM and GCF."

Lesson 4-4: Kathy G., Teacher
Shamong, NJ
"I feel students should be able to be exposed to different methods to approach the same problems, so I show them how the GCF can be found using Euclid's Ladder. It can also be used to find the LCM."

Lesson 5-3: Gary L., Teacher
East Troy, WI
"I let my students play Coordinate Battleship. Each player gets two coordinate grids and randomly chooses eight points on one of the grids. Then the two students alternate turns trying to guess where the other's points are located. Each guess must be graphed on the other coordinate grid. Misses are recorded in one color and hits in another."

Lesson 5-4: Travis A., Teacher
Elk Point, SD
"To practice positive and negative numbers, we play a game of "Stock Market." Groups of students select a name for their company and are given a $50 market value. Then each group draws an integer from a hat to add or subtract to their market value. We draw as many rounds as possible in 40 minutes and reward the team who has the highest market value in the end."

Lesson 5-5: Leslee H., Teacher
Narberth, PA
"I teach subtraction of integers by using three words--Leave, Change, Opposite--which means leave the first numbers alone, change - to +, and take the opposite of the second number."

Lesson 5-7: Cheryl C., Teacher
Makawao, HI
"After students learn to add, subtract, multiply, and divide integers, we play Integer Concentration to review and practice. On a grid on an overhead projector, I mix up expressions and their corresponding answers. I cover each grid square with a slip of paper. Students take turns uncovering pairs of squares to find a match."

Lesson 6-1: JoEllyn H., Teacher
Fond du Lac, WI
"To reinforce the Addition and Subtraction Properties of Equality, I use the example of a teeter-totter. What happens if your friend jumps off? Or what happens if someone else jumps on with your friend."

Lesson 6-3: Tim K., Teacher
Wamengo, KS
"I put masking tape down the center of the students' desks to represent an equals sign. Then I give students three colors of dots to represent positive numbers, negative numbers, and variables. Then I have them work through several two-step equations to solve for the variable dot."

Lesson 7-6: Joy M., Teacher
Delaware, OH
"To assess students, they were asked to make rectangles that had a perimeter of 24 inches. Some made their rectangles with tape on the floor while others constructed them on paper. Some had only whole number dimensions while others included the use of fractions and mixed numbers."

Lesson 7-7: Judy D., Teacher
Lathrop, MO
"I bring several different sized circular objects into the classroom. Each group of students uses a tape measure to find the circumference and diameter of each object. Then we divide to find a pattern and thus discover pi."

Lesson 8-4: Greg R., Teacher
Madison, OH
"Students use centimeter grid paper to make scale drawings of their "dream house." The first drawing's scale is 1 cm = 3 ft. Then they make a second drawing with a scale of 1 cm = 10 ft. They can include anything they want, but the square footage of each area has to be listed and there must be at least one bathroom."

Lesson 8-8: Virginia H., Teacher
Harrisburg, VA
"Students can act as servers with menus from local restaurants. Students switch from the role of server (where they total the bills and calculate the tax) to the role of customer (where they check the total and determine the tip). This is a practical use of percents that everyone needs to practice."

Lesson 9-2: Suetta G., Department Chair
Milford, VA
"In order to identify polygons, students are given laminated pictures of buildings. Students work in groups and use water-based markers to outline polygons found in the pictures. Then they must name these polygons and list their properties."

Lesson 9-4: Carol T., Teacher
Cedartown, GA
"To help students master the vocabulary of mathematics, I have an oral "Math Bee" from time to time. We continually use the terms from our master vocabulary list all year. As we come to specific terms in the textbook, we spend more time discussing them. I try to show students how knowing these terms can help on standardized tests."

Lesson 10-4: Kathy K., Teacher
Hastings, MN
"I have students trace their hands on square centimeter paper and find the area of their handprints. That area represents about 1% of the skin on your body--a fact that burn units in the hospitals use all the time."

Lesson 11-6: Alvin H., Teacher
Stafford, VA
"I challenge students to write real-world problems that involve percents. An example follows. Todd purchased 9 packages of baseball cards. Each package costs $1.09. The sales tax in his state is 6%. If he handed the cashier a $20 bill, how much change should he receive?"