Episode

Creative Classrooms: Teaching Years 7–8 using AMSI’s new ICE-EM maths textbooks

Podcast
MathsTalk by AMSI Schools
Published
Apr 16, 2026
Duration seconds
2078
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://mathstalk.podbean.com/e/using-textbooks-in-the-creative-classroom/
Audio
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/cxmvcx755qdk4b8t/Using_textbooks_in_the_Creative_Classroom_Y7_8.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/mathstalk-by-amsi-schools-252038/episodes/creative-classrooms-teaching-years-7-8-using-amsi-s-new-ice-em-maths-textbooks
Markdown
/podcast/mathstalk-by-amsi-schools-252038/creative-classrooms-teaching-years-7-8-using-amsi-s-new-ice-em-maths-textbooks.md

Actions

  • POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/mathstalk-by-amsi-schools-252038/episodes/creative-classrooms-teaching-years-7-8-using-amsi-s-new-ice-em-maths-textbooks/transcription-requests
    Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
  • GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/mathstalk-by-amsi-schools-252038/creative-classrooms-teaching-years-7-8-using-amsi-s-new-ice-em-maths-textbooks.md
    Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

In this solo episode of MathsTalk, Leanne McMahon explores how to use Textbooks creatively in Years 7 and 8, where students are moving from primary habits into more abstract secondary mathematics. The episode focuses on building precise mathematical language, identifying common transition misconceptions, using textbook exercises for concept development rather than simple practice, and structuring mixed-ability lessons around the same core task so all students can engage with the same important mathematics. It also argues for the central role of conceptual understanding in a book-based curriculum, and for teachers being deeply familiar with the curriculum so they can adapt, extend and refine tasks with confidence. Resources mentioned in the episode include: AMSI ICE-EM textbooks will be published by Cambridge later in the year https://schools.amsi.org.au/ice-em-mathematics-textbooks/ Texas Instruments Australia for teacher resources and professional learning (https://education.ti.com/en-au/teachers?category=professional-development ) NRICH for rich tasks and problem-solving https://nrich.maths.org/ Compression https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMmaiaZZeW0 youcubed for open and creative classroom tasks https://www.youcubed.org/ GeoGebra for interactive visual exploration https://www.geogebra.org/ Open Middle for challenging problems that unlock student thinking (Open Middle® |) Illustrative Mathematics for problem-based middle years mathematics and collaborative reasoning routines (Illustrative Mathematics K–12 Math) University of Melbourne’s decimal misconceptions site for insight into common misconceptions about decimal numbers (extranet.education.unimelb.edu.au)