Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Math Resources and Interventions for Students with Disabilities
Keeping students engaged and excited about math is of critical importance to helping them stay on task and achieve successful outcomes. This requires not just having a mindset shift but challenging the current stereotypes about how students with disabilities (SWDs) learn and what they can do in the mathematics classroom. It also requires treating disabled students with dignity in their inherent capacities to think and do mathematics. Below is a collection of resources that educators, families and caregivers can utilize when teaching and supporting all learners.
Find math-related activities, materials, and resources with which your students will engage by exploring the collection of resources below.
Please note that the links provided are suggestions for resources and do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the New Jersey Department of Education of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individuals.
- Early Math - What do you need to know and do to help your preschooler learn about math?
- Help Your Child Develop Early Math Skills - Learn what informal activities give children a head start when they start learning math in school.
- NAEYC | Math - Playful math learning articles.
- Sesame Street in Communities - Home - Hundreds of bilingual multi-media tools to help kids and families enrich and expand their knowledge during the early years of birth through six, a critical window for brain development. Our resources engage kids and adults in everyday moments and daily routines—from teaching early math and literacy concepts to encouraging families to eat nutritious foods, to serious topics such as divorce and food insecurity.
- Teaching Math to Young Children Practice Guide Summary: Educators' Practice Guide Summary - Build on children's natural interest in math to make preschool and kindergarten more engaging and beneficial.
- 99Math - Easy and fun way to practice math facts in a classroom! Engaging and perfect for all-class activities. No students' accounts required.
- AAA Math - Features a comprehensive set of interactive arithmetic lessons. Practice is available on each topic which allows thorough mastery of the concepts. You can sort by grade level. K-8.
- BrainPop | Math - A group of educational websites with over 1,000 short animated movies for students in grades K-12, together with quizzes and related materials, covering the subjects of science, social studies, English, math, engineering and technology, health, and arts and music
- Cabin Fever Math—Bedtime Math - Bedtime Math helps families introduce math as a fun part of their daily routine, like a beloved bedtime story.
- Geogebra | Elementary - Explore over 300 resources through which elementary school students can learn math concepts in a fun and interactive way!
- I Know It - Math Practice Site for Kids - A comprehensive, interactive math practice site for students in Kindergarten to fifth grade.
- Investigations Math Games - Inquiry-based bilingual math games.
- Monsters vs Fractions Game by SMART | Monsters vs Fractions - Fun site that uses game-based learning to “solve” a mystery and teach fractions.
- NRICH - The NRICH Math Project (based at Cambridge University) offers mathematics resources for children, parents and teachers to enrich learning. It provides resources for students of all ages.
- PhET: Free online physics, chemistry, biology, earth science and math simulations - Free K-12 science and math simulations for teaching STEM topics, including physics, chemistry, biology, and math, from University of Colorado Boulder.
- SplashLearn - A curriculum-aligned learning program that covers K-5 math skills through engaging games.
- Virtual Manipulatives for Math | Didax - Virtual Manipulatives are a great way to enhance at-home learning. Simply drag the manipulatives into position to see math concepts come alive!
- Zearn Math - K-5 curriculum aims to build deep understanding and a love of learning math for all students.
- Against All Odds: Inside Statistics - Shows students the relevance of statistics in real-world settings. Video series for high school and college classrooms.
- Covid-19: School closures - free maths support, resources and ideas - Ready-to-use resources for MS/HS math.
- Geogebra | High School - Explore over 1700 resources through which high school students can learn math concepts in a fun and interactive way!
- Geogebra | Middle School - Explore more than 500 interactive resources through which middle school students can learn math concepts in a fun way!
- Math at the Core: Middle School from PBS Learning - Find engaging, standards based media and integrated activities.
- SolveMe Puzzles - Use logic to solve visual, interactive mathematical puzzles.
- PhET: Free online physics, chemistry, biology, earth science and math simulations - Free K-12 science and math simulations for teaching STEM topics, including physics, chemistry, biology, and math, from University of Colorado Boulder.
- Virtual Nerd - Over 1,500 video lessons covering Middle Grades Math through Algebra 2
- Yummy Math – real world math - Engaging, real-world math activities.
- Census | Statistics in School - Use real-world Census Bureau statistics to create materials for use year after year at all grade levels.
- Desmos - A collection of free digital math activities for teachers and students.
- Expii - Explore daily challenges, lessons, and interactive math puzzles for pre-algebra, algebra 1 and biology.
- Financial Algebra Course | NGPF - Free curriculum for high school math teachers who are looking to weave real-world personal finance applications with math standards alignment and deep algebraic rigor.
- Free Resources for Teaching Math Online | NCTM - With so many teachers currently transitioning to online teaching, NCTM offers these free resources to support teachers and their students.
- Graphic Organizers to Help Kids With Math | Understood.org
- Inquiry Maths - Inquiry Maths is a model of teaching that encourages students to regulate their own activity while exploring a mathematical statement.
- Learning about COVID-19 through Math
- Mathematics Educational Videos - Organizes thousands of free educational video clips in all subjects for teachers, students, and parents.
- Math Learning Center | Free Lessons & Publications - Innovative and standards-based curriculum, resources, and professional development.
- Math Lesson Plans | Teacher.org - Lessons ranging from elementary through high school and organized by grade are created by teachers from schools across the United States.
- National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - Concept activities for numbers & operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis & probability leveled grades PreK-12.
- Open Middle® - Challenging math problems worth solving - Challenge students with math problems that have an “open middle” with multiple ways to approach and solve the problem.
- Real World | NASA eClips Real World - Resources connecting classroom mathematics to 21st century careers and innovations.
- Summer Math Challenge - is a free, six-week program that helps students practice math skills taught during the school year. When you join the challenge, you’ll get access to daily fun activities and resources designed for your student’s grade and ability level.
- UDL Tech Toolkit - Math Tools - Online Math tools and visual manipulatives make learning accessible to all students.
- Which One Doesn't Belong? - Provides thought-provoking puzzles for math teachers and students.
- XtraMath - A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to math achievement for all. Our goal is to develop effective, efficient, adaptive, and intrinsically rewarding supplemental math activities.
- Youcubed - A nonprofit organization offering free K-12 mathematics resources for educators and families.
Supporting Recognition Networks
- Define Math Vocabulary, Symbols and Notations via Math dictionaries
- Illustrate Key Concepts with Different Representations that includes words, symbols, graphs, diagrams, tables, formulas, and manipulatives (Physical or Online).
- Provide or Activate Background Knowledge; Connect New Knowledge to Previously Learned concepts via discussions; writing prompts and reasoning.
- See USDOE Practice Guide and Additional Examples
Supporting Strategic Networks
- Provide Varied Ways to Interact and Respond
- Facilitate Managing Information and Resources; examples
- Provide Scaffolds for Practice and Performance; examples
- Enhance Capacity for Monitoring Progress
- Provide appropriate tools such as Microsoft math and Wolfram alpha
Supporting Affective Networks
- Offer Choices that students can select from. Examples and Instructions
- Vary Levels of Challenge and Support
- Increase Mastery-Oriented Feedback
- Enhance Relevance, Value, and Authenticity; Reduce Threats, Distractions.
- Provide Options for Self-Regulation. Helpful Tips and stress handling
Click here to learn more about Universal Design for Learning (NJDOE)
- Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RtI) for Elementary and Middle Schools - This guide is designed to help teachers, principals, and administrators use Response to Intervention for the early detection, prevention, and support of students struggling with mathematics.
- Best Evidence Encyclopedia - Middle & High School Math - This review summarizes evidence on three types of programs designed to improve the mathematics achievement of students in grades 6-12.
- Center on Instruction - A collection of research-based resources on instruction. While these resources are useful for improving the achievement of all students, they particularly target students in the lowest performing schools, students with difficulties learning mathematics, students needing intensive instruction, or special needs/diverse learners, including English language learners.
- Developing Effective Fractions Instruction for Kindergarten Through 8th Grade | WWC - This practice guide presents five recommendations intended to help educators improve students’ understanding of fractions.
- Inside Mathematics - A professional resource for teachers, coaches, and administrators passionate about improving students’ mathematics learning and performance.
- Illuminations (NCTM) - Lesson plans, activities, games, and brain teasers by NCTM. Filter by resource type, grade level (PreK-12) or standards.
- K-5 Math Teaching Resources - K-5 math teaching resources and professional learning opportunities to support excellence and transform the teaching and learning of mathematics, improving outcomes for all students in elementary school and beyond.
- Kentucky Center for Mathematics Webinar Series - Free online mini-classes for educators.
- Mathematics Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities or Difficulty Learning - This document guides K–12 teachers of students with disabilities and at-risk students in their selection and use of effective mathematics instructional methods.
- Mathematics Interventions | Education Northwest - Mathematics Interventions: What Strategies Work for Struggling Learners or Students With Learning Disabilities? Studies and resources that can help math teachers employ solid teaching practices.
- National Center of Intensive Intervention - Mathematics - NCII developed a series of mathematics lessons and guidance documents to support special education instructors, mathematics specialists, and others working with students who struggle with mathematics.
- National Council of Teachers of Mathematics - The Math Forum has a rich history as an online hub for the mathematics education community. NCTM makes many of the most popular parts of the Math Forum content accessible to the mathematics education community.
- National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - Concept activities for numbers & operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis & probability leveled grades PreK-12.
- NCTM’s 100 Days of Professional Development - 60-minute webinars presented by selected speakers from the NCTM Centennial Annual Meeting & Exposition program.
- Skew The Script - Offers free, socially relevant math lessons for Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and AP Statistics Lessons are on lighter topics that students actually cared about, like sports, fast food, and pop culture, along with others on more serious issues like climate change, equity issues, gun control, and vaccinations.
- Teaching Strategies for Improving Algebra Knowledge in Middle and High School Students | WWC - This practice guide provides three recommendations for teaching algebra to students in middle school and high school. Each recommendation includes implementation steps and solutions for common roadblocks. The recommendations also summarize and rate supporting evidence. This guide is geared toward teachers, administrators, and other educators who want to improve their students’ algebra knowledge.
- What Works Clearinghouse - Math - Reviews existing research on different programs, products, practices, and policies in education to provide educators with the information they need to make evidence-based decisions.