Why I Love Guided Notes for Middle School Math

We’ve all been there: "How do I teach this new topic?"

One solution that has worked wonders for me in math class is guided notes.

They're a powerful tool that helps students stay engaged and organized in any middle school math classroom.

They provide a structured framework to follow along with the lesson, allowing students to focus on understanding the concepts rather than scrambling to write everything down. They engage students with art integration, and can help you understand mastery by embedding practice activities. And after class, students can use them as an easy reference for review.

They’re such a fun and powerful tool.

What are guided notes?

Guided notes are note templates that have some information and prompts partially filled in. Students then fill in the remaining key vocabulary words or phrases as you go along, and solve embedded practice problems. This increases notetaking accuracy and retention of concepts.

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What makes guided notes effective?

They help promote active learning in class by providing a structured format for organizing key concepts:

• Increased accuracy. Instead of trying to write down every word the teacher says, students can focus on listening and understanding the material. This leads to an increase in accuracy as they engage with the content more effectively, and are focused on the key vocabulary.
• Enhanced engagement. By filling in the missing information and solving practice problems, students actively engage with the material rather than passively writing sentences. This hands-on approach helps deepen their understanding of concepts and enables the teacher to differentiate as needed.
• Improved organization. With important information already provided, students can easily add their own ideas and examples. And outside of class, when collated as a part of a binder or interactive notebook, they serve as a valuable resource for review and study throughout the school year, ensuring that students have all the information they need in one place.

Regardless of whether you're teaching a topic for the first time, or re-teaching a concept who've seen it before, guided notes are a powerful tool for making tricky concepts stick.

How do I make guided notes fun and engaging for 6th-8th grade?

Now, you might be wondering how to make middle school math notes fun and engaging for your students. Here are a few ideas:

• Real-life applications. Show your students how the math they are learning can be applied to everyday situations. This helps them see the relevance and importance of the concepts, making them more motivated to learn and answering the inevitable "when will we ever use this?"
• Math and art. Incorporate visual elements such as line diagrams or illustrations, and encourage students to doodle or color them in as you work through class. This not only makes them more visually appealing but also helps students better understand and remember the information.
• Interactive activities. Break up the lesson with interactive activities that allow students to apply what they have learned. This could be solving short problems, math mazes, or solving color by number activities. You can use these to “check for understanding” while lecturing and reteach or provide them as independent practice, either in class or as homework.

Here’s an example of what this might look like:

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By combining these techniques, they become an incredibly engaging way to teach—and one that you'll find students keep asking for more of class after class.

How do I use guided notes in my classroom?

Regardless of whether you're teaching 6th, 7th, or 8th grade math (or algebra!), they're easy to use in your lessons day to day:

1. Teach. Distribute a printed copy to each student. Introduce the concept and hook our class with the real-life application. Then walk through the lesson, possibly under a doc camera, and fill in the missing parts. Along the way, use the practice problems to assess mastery and reteach.
2. Practice. After that, you can have your class work independently on practice activities. This is a great time to walk around and answer questions, or pull part of our class out for reteaching in small groups. Consider having multiple practice activities for fast finishers, and assigning it as homework to those who didn't finish.
3. Review. Wrap class by talking through the real-life math application for the concept, and have have students organize the notes in a binder or notebook as a future review resource. You may want to consider an exit ticket to further assess how your class is feeling about the topic.

If you want more concrete examples, I've written a series of free lesson plans for teaching via middle school math notes:

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Where can I download guided notes?

I’ve made a line of middle school math notes that you can use in your classroom.

They're a blast.

These middle school math notes are fun and visual with places for students to doodle, contain different kinds of interactive activities, and incorporate a real-life application of the math. Each set is aligned to the Common Core State Standards, so you can feel confident in them playing well with your curriculum.

And better yet, don't miss the money-saving 6th grade bundle, which will cover you for dozens of lessons.

Regardless, they save you a ton of time on prep, and you'll love them. Download them today:

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Trust me, you won't regret it.

What do teachers think about guided notes?

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive over on Teachers Pay Teachers:

• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Great resource and a different way to take notes. Students were engaged and used their notes to help them with solving problems later.” - Heather P.
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “My students really enjoyed these notes. I needed an additional resource to reteach this material before our end of the year assessment, and this was perfect.” - Ashley H.
• ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I used this resource with students who typically struggle to remain engaged in mathematics. They remained very engaged and didn’t hesitate to fix mistakes and complete their work. Great resource!” - Carissa S.

You're in great company with many other middle school math teachers who use these in their classroom.

Give my middle school math notes a try

Your students will love the interactive and visual nature of my middle school math notes.

With spaces for doodling, your class can make them their own. The incorporation of real-life applications of math ensures that students understand the practical relevance of what they are learning. Aligned to the Common Core State Standards, they seamlessly integrate with your curriculum, saving you precious time on preparation. And if you're a 6th-grade teacher, don't miss out on the money-saving bundle that covers dozens of lessons.

So don't hesitate—download my guided notes today and see how they transform your classroom.