Using summer math activities for incoming 8th Graders is a great way to avoiding the summer slide. This is so important for students when it comes to math. If students take a little time to review their math skills over the summer, it can have a huge impact on how quickly they transition to their new math class at the beginning of the next school year.
But, finding a way to review math over the summer can be a huge challenge. Students need a break after the busy school year. They’re often reluctant to do any school work over the summer months. In fact, many students often wait until the night before the first day of school to even look at any summer work.
Parents need a break from homework. They also struggle with giving their children “assignments” over the lazy days of summer.
Summer Math Packets Are So Helpful
That’s where summer math packets are effective. Having students practice 2 pages every week can be a great way for them to do a little math review at a time. If parents don’t want to manage this, there are always tutors that can help over the summer too.
For rising 8th grade students, it’s so important to review all the 7th grade math topics. That’s the best way to make sure they’re prepared for 8th grade math in the fall. I like to use a combination of multiple choice and skills questions to help them review the topics. The idea is that they do one page of multiple choice ad one page of skills questions each week. That way, the packet doesn’t seem so overwhelming.
Multiple Choice Questions
These are effective because they are similar to the questions for the end of year testing. Plus, students aren’t as intimidated as they would be with fill in the blank questions.
It’s important that these questions cover all the topics for 7th grade so they’re fully prepared for back to school. It’s also helpful if the common core alignment is listed for each question. That way, teachers, tutors, or parents know what topics might need to be reviewed before the beginning of the school year. Answer keys are a huge time saver too.
Skills Pages for Summer Math Activities for Incoming 8th Graders
Each grade level has its own set of math skills that deserve a little more attention when it comes to review. Maybe it’s something that students need to show their work for or maybe it’s something that students should have more than 1 question to practice over the summer months. As with the multiple choice pages, it’s important that the answer keys are available for easy grading.
Here are some of the 7th grade skills that students can have a little more practice with their summer math packet: Integers, Order of Operations with Integers, Solving One Step Equations, Circles, Mean, Median, Mode & Range, 2 and 3 Dimensional Shapes, Multiplying & Dividing Decimals, Fractions, Probability, and Fractions, Decimals & Percents.
Students Complete 2 pages Each Week
The summer break is usually 9-10 weeks so having students complete 2 pages each week (one page of multiple choices and one page of skills review) can make summer math so much more manageable. Using summer math activities for incoming 8th graders in smaller pieces is definitely the best way to review.
Other Ways to Use Summer Math Activities for Incoming 8th Graders
There are 4 ways that I suggest teachers use these summer math packets:
- Over the summer to avoid the summer slide
- For test prep and state end of year testing
- At the end of year for a fun review in the last days of school
- At the beginning of the year to transition students to a new grade level and assess what topics need to be reviewed
I hope this is helpful and I hope you enjoy using this summer math packet over the summer.