Beginning Algebra Puzzle Practice Workbook

About this resource

What's inside this resource

Beginning Algebra, a Grades 6-8 workbook from Milliken Publishing Company (a Lorenz company), packs roughly fifty single-page skill exercises into puzzle formats — code-breaking messages, magic squares, crossword grids, cross-number puzzles, treasure-map paths, and word searches — covering order of operations, the distributive property, properties of whole numbers, exponents and scientific notation, writing and solving equations and inequalities, integers, prime numbers and factors, fractions, decimals, percents, polynomials, and graphing lines on a coordinate plane. Each page opens with a worked example and a short "Remember" or "Tip" box explaining the rule before students solve fifteen to twenty problems, and the correct numeric answers double as a code that spells out a hidden word, mnemonic phrase, or the name of a mathematician (such as De Moivre or Sir Isaac Newton), giving students a built-in way to self-check. A complete answer key at the back of the book keys every activity page to its correct answers and hidden-message solutions. The book notes that a list of Common Core alignments is available separately on the publisher's website rather than printed inside the book.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Apply the order of operations, including exponents and grouping symbols, to evaluate numeric expressions.
Use the distributive property and properties of whole numbers to simplify and manipulate expressions.
Write and solve one- and two-step linear equations and inequalities, including from word problems.
Perform operations with integers, fractions, decimals, and percents in applied problems.
Graph points and linear equations on a coordinate plane and interpret slope-intercept form.

Teaching tips

Assign one puzzle page per skill as either guided practice or an independent center, since each page is self-contained with its own worked example.
Use the hidden-message and code-breaking format as a built-in error check — a garbled result signals a computational mistake before the teacher even reviews the page.
Sequence pages by topic (order of operations, then properties, then equations, then graphing) rather than strictly by page order, since topics build in difficulty within the book.
Reserve the word-search and crossword pages as vocabulary review after the corresponding computation pages have been completed.

Skills covered

Order of operations — students solve nested expressions with parentheses, brackets, and exponents across three escalating difficulty levels.
Equation and inequality solving — students write and solve one- and two-step equations and inequalities from numeric and word-problem prompts.
Integer and rational number operations — students add, subtract, multiply, and divide integers, fractions, decimals, and percents in both abstract and applied problems.
Algebraic properties — students match equations to the distributive, commutative, associative, and identity properties.
Coordinate graphing — students plot points and graph linear equations, identifying slope and intercept.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

How does the puzzle format let students check their own work as they go?

Correct numeric answers are matched to a code (letters, symbols, or grid positions) that spells out a hidden word, mnemonic, or mathematician's name, so an answer that doesn't fit the emerging pattern signals a computational error before a teacher reviews it.

No reviews yet

Downloaded this resource? Tell other teachers how it went.

Curriculum

Standards, concepts & topics

Standards

6.EE.A.2 — Write, read, and evaluate expressions in which letters stand for numbers. a. Write expressions that record operations with numbers and with letters standing for numbers. For example, express the calculation “Subtract y from 5” as 5 – y. COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS for MATHEMATICS GRADE 6 | 44 b. Identify parts of an expression using mathematical terms (sum, term, product, factor, quotient, coefficient); view one or more parts of an expression as a single entity. For example, describe the expression 2 (8 + 7) as a product of two factors; view (8 + 7) as both a single entity and a sum of two terms. c. Evaluate expressions at specific values of their variables. Include expressions that arise from formulas used in real-world problems. Perform arithmetic operations, including those involving whole-number exponents, in the conventional order when there are no parentheses to specify a particular order (Order of Operations). For example, use the formulas V = s3 and A = 6 s2 to find the volume and surface area of a cube with sides of length s = 1/2.
7.EE.B.4 — Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities. a. Solve word problems leading to equations of the form px + q = r and p(x + q) = r, where p, q, and r are specific rational numbers. Solve equations of these forms fluently. Compare an algebraic solution to an arithmetic solution, identifying the sequence of the operations used in each approach. For example, the perimeter of a rectangle is 54 cm. Its length is 6 cm. What is its width? b. Solve word problems leading to inequalities of the form px + q > r or px + q < r, where p, q, and r are specific rational numbers. Graph the solution set of the inequality and interpret it in the context of the problem. For example: As a salesperson, you are paid $50 per week plus $3 per sale. This week you want your pay to be at least $100. Write an inequality for the number of sales you need to make, and describe the solutions.
6.EE.A.3 — Apply the properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions. For example, apply the distributive property to the expression 3 (2 + x) to produce the equivalent expression 6 + 3x; apply the distributive property to the expression 24x + 18y to produce the equivalent expression 6 (4x + 3y); apply properties of operations to y + y + y to produce the equivalent expression 3y

Core concepts

order of operations
linear equations
integers
properties of operations
graphing linear equations

Topics

algebra

More to explore