Seventh Grade Math Curriculum

Everything You Want to Know About Seventh Grade Math

Once students start seventh grade math, they are firmly in middle school and more comfortable in their new learning environment. The seventh grade math curriculum reflects this, as it focuses on some more difficult concepts and asks 12- and 13-year-old students to push themselves more than in previous grades. New topics in the seventh grade math curriculum include ratios and more complex investigations into statistics and probability. 

We’ve put together a complete guide on seventh grade math, so read on to learn more about this exciting time in a math student’s life!

What is covered in 7th Grade Math?

Most states follow Common Core standards, which ensures that students across the country in the same grade study the exact same math concepts. With only a few states not following the standards (Virginia, Texas, Alaska, Nebraska, Arizona, Oklahoma, Indiana, and South Carolina), students and parents can feel comfortable moving across state lines while knowing that educational standards will stay the same.

Let’s take a look at the seventh grade Common Core standards for math.

• Ratios and Proportional Relationships
• Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems. 
• The Number System  
• Apply and extend previous understandings of operations with fractions to add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational numbers. 
• Expressions and Equations  
• Use properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions.  
• Solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations. 
• Geometry  
• Draw, construct and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationships between them.  
• Solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume. 
• Statistics and Probability  
• Use random sampling to draw inferences about a population. 
• Draw informal comparative inferences about two populations.  
• Investigate chance processes and develop, use, and evaluate probability models.

Teaching Seventh Grade Math

For seventh grade math students, a new year of studies brings a range of exciting challenges. This is also true for teachers, and those new to the grade may be wondering how to teach seventh grade math. 

The key to teaching math – at any grade – is balancing the learning of concepts with having a little bit of fun. This ensures that all curriculum concepts are covered, but students remain engaged along the way. With that in mind, below are some tips and tricks for making the most of the seventh grade math curriculum.

Engage Your Students with Real-World Math Problems

As math problems get more complicated in seventh grade math, teachers can make the most of this challenge by making the content of word problems more relatable to their students. Ways to do this include involving students' names, events that have happened in the classroom, or situations students have been in outside of school.

Teachers can even turn the tables on their students by having a competition to see who can create the best real-world math problem (involving concepts learned in class), either individually or in pairs. This allows students to get involved in the fun and think about math from another perspective.

Gamify, Gamify, Gamify!

Nothing keeps a lesson fresher than a little bit of fun. The perfect way to do this is with Prodigy Math’s free, curriculum-aligned gaming platform. Teachers can keep a close eye on students’ progress with regular assessments, and even customize learning from student to student. This means that students can practice specific pain points, review concepts from previous grades, or display their math prowess with particular concepts. 

Teachers can also host Classroom Challenges, with students competing against each other to prove their math skills. Prodigy Math provides a fun, low-stakes gamified atmosphere for the seventh grade math classroom that makes sure no student is left behind.

Use the News

By seventh grade, students are much more interested in world events and using the news to teach math concepts is a great way of exploring this. In the seventh grade math curriculum, this is particularly relevant when teaching statistics and probability. 

Teachers can use coverage of political events in particular to discuss polls, and explain how statistics are an important part of everyday adult life. This allows students to feel connected to the subject matter they are learning and understand how it will be useful in the future.

If you’re looking for some extra resources for your seventh grade math curriculum, take a look at our fun worksheets here!

Learning 7th Grade Math

12- and 13-year-olds are at a very distinct point in brain development and for students in seventh grade learning math, this is an opportunity for them to really excel. Here’s some insight on where seventh grade students are in their development, and how they learn.

Adolescence Is a Unique Time

Researchers believe that children have heightened learning capacity during adolescence, most likely due to increased connectivity in the brain. This means their memory and other intellectual abilities are also increased, and they are able to understand and apply more complex topics in math and other school subjects.

Subject Preferences Loading!

By the seventh grade, students have started determining which subjects they prefer and which they enjoy less. However, this means that educators can help guide students toward at least neutral feelings for trickier subjects by allowing them to feel good about their progress. 

At this age, students start to form the idea that they are “good” at certain subjects and “bad” at others, based on feedback they receive from teachers, parents, and even peers. The way they feel about themselves and their abilities has a distinct effect on how they perform, so if this mindset is shifted at this vital time, seventh grade students can even learn to enjoy subjects they previously struggled with or thought they lacked talent in.

How Prodigy Improves Seventh Grade Math

With Prodigy Math, students join a fun, magical world where they solve math problems to move ahead in the game. Prodigy is an excellent addition to the seventh grade math curriculum as it gives teachers even more insight into their students’ progress throughout the year and makes it easy to pinpoint individual student strengths and weaknesses.

Simply put, Prodigy makes math classes easier for teachers and students. So, why not inject a little bit of fun into your classroom with Prodigy Math’s adaptive, effective curriculum-aligned platform? Register for your free teacher account and help your students thrive!

Seventh Grade Math Curriculum

To learn more about the Common Core seventh grade math curriculum, visit our Curriculum Standards page. 

You can select your state and child’s grade level, and then scroll through the topics that will be covered throughout the year. If you’d like to check on another child’s curriculum, or the curriculum in a different state, navigate back to the top of the page and re-select the grade level or State. Happy learning!