Developing Proportional Reasoning

Proportional reasoning is a crucial skill both in middle school and life in general. We’ll explore nine approaches to developing this important skill moving across a spectrum from most visual and conceptual to most abstract. By using a multi-representational approach, students of many different abilities and learning modalities can learn to reason about proportionality and hone their skills with it. These strategies have been implemented with my own heterogeneously grouped students of highly varying abilities, and teachers in diverse classroom settings across the country have had success with them as well. Strategies for students in gifted, regular, and special education will be demonstrated.