Seventh-grade students are asked to "use properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions." While they may be able to solve these equations, they don't often make the connection between abstract algebra formulas and the world outside the classroom.

The 13-page Bead Factory template provides real-world context for using algebraic equations as students are given parameters and asked to price jewelry based on the algebraic expression they write.

Editor's Note: This blog is the sixth in a series of posts from former math specialist Scott Loomis. In these posts, he shares more about the real world math templates he has created for Wixie and outlines how you can use and modify them for your own awesome performance tasks. You can read the backstory on his experience and expertise below.

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First graders continue to develop their geometric understanding of two- and three-dimensional shapes by moving beyond the simple attribute identification and shape creation they learned in kindergarten to defining attributes and creating composite shapes. First graders also get their first assessed look at fractions via the part-whole relationship and are asked to partition triangles and rectangles into equal shares.

Editor's Note: This blog is part of a series of posts from former math specialist Scott Loomis on the real-world math templates he has created for Wixie and how you can use and modify them for your own awesome performance tasks. You can read the backstory on his experience and expertise below.

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Second-grade students are expected to identify and draw shapes such as triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, and hexagons. Their geometric reasoning is extended to include the equal partitioning on both circles and rectangles into two, three, and four parts/shares. This template engages students initially by having them identify shapes based on provided names (triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, and hexagon) and then partition two circles and two rectangles into specific parts. The final part has students decorate a tie with identified specific shapes and even colors.

Editor's Note: This blog is the fourth in a series of posts from former math specialist Scott Loomis on the real-world math templates he has created for Wixie and how you can use and modify them for your own awesome performance tasks. You can read the backstory of his experience and expertise below.

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Kindergarten students are expected to describe their physical world using geometric ideas involving shapes, orientation and their special relationships to other shapes. This simple template asks students to name objects/shapes and describe their relative position. The final activity involves modeling shapes in the world, in this case a flower painting, by creating a design with specific shapes.

Editor's Note: This blog is the third in a series of posts from former math specialist Scott Loomis on the real world math templates he has created for Wixie and how you can use and modify them for your own awesome performance tasks. You can read the backstory on his experience and expertise below.

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Building fluency with addition and subtraction is a critical area of focus for second-grade math instruction. In addition to mastery of basic facts within 20, skip counting and other computations strategies learned from previous grades are applied. Students’ use of computation skills coincides with the ability to solve word problems involving money. The four-page Post Office Problems template requires students to apply these skills to present a handful of stamp-buying-related questions.

Editor's Note: This blog is the second in a series of posts from former math specialist Scott Loomis on the real world math templates he has created for Wixie and how you can use and modify them for your own awesome performance tasks. You can read the backstory on his experience and expertise below.

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