MathWise Linear Equations: With Answer Key

For a video description of the MathWise series of workbooks click on the "Follow the Author" - Peter L. Wise.

MathWise books are specially designed to be unique and effective.

Most math textbooks and workbooks have a mini-lecture at the beginning of each lesson, and then have pages of problems. Students often get impatient with the explanations and have difficulty knowing how to proceed to work the problems. The format looks dry and boring, and students lose interest.

MathWise books communicate with students as they work through the book. The answer boxes teach good technique, neatness, and organization. Students are guided through the steps in a friendly way, with speech bubbles giving hints and explanations.

MathWise books emphasize deeper level understanding of the material—how and why math works the way it does. The key is: “Understand more, memorize less.”

MathWise books all work together to ensure the development of strong number sense and mathematical thinking.

MathWise Linear Equations starts with the basics of graphing and progresses to a wide range of topics, including:

• Slope
• Slope-intercept form
• Solving for intercepts
• Solving for x- or y-values
• Finding equations from 2 points
• Standard-form equations
• Point Slope equations
• Linear inequalities
• Systems of equations

SPECIAL FEATURES

Tips and Tricks
Students have found the tips and tricks to be helpful and memorable, and they have also found that they add interest and excitement to their math studies.

Speech Bubbles with Teacher Insights
Speech bubbles are used to provide guidance, point out insights, or give helpful hints as students are solving math problems.  Students learn best by doing, and the instruction given in the speech bubbles is designed to (1) sharpen students’ powers of observation, (2) increase number sense, and (3) instruct in digestible chunks.

Simplicity of Instruction
Every page (excluding review pages or quizzes) has a specific focus.  Most pages have generous amounts of white space to keep students focused. Movement is from the simple to the increasingly complex.

Step-By-Step Procedures
Students learn best when given explicit, step-by-step instruction. When several steps are involved, the steps are numbered.  This makes learning much more logical and memorable.

Logical-Sequential Instruction
Carefully designed problems are presented in a logical sequence, so that previous answers contribute to students’ abilities to solve future problems.  The order in which math problems are presented is critical to promoting number sense.

This edition comes with an answer key and is reproducible for single-classroom use.

Peter Wise, a veteran teacher of over 30 years, has developed innovative and strategic methods for teaching math and motivating students. He has coached math teams and taught hundreds of students in before- and after-school math clubs. The students he teaches typically make 2-3 years’ growth in math in one year. His teaching techniques have been featured in newspaper reports and recognized on tv. He is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and was nominated for Teacher of the Year in California and Colorado.

His own two children (who helped him with the MathWise books) competed successfully in state and national math competitions.

A resident of Colorado, he also enjoys music, chess, and hiking.