Math Strategy Quick Guide
A Practical Reference for Teaching Math Strategies with Confidence
Support strategy-based math instruction with a classroom-ready guide that helps educators model, explain, and reinforce 15 essential math strategies across addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Designed for grades K–8, the Math Strategy Quick Guide makes it easier to build understanding, encourage flexible thinking, and support meaningful math discussions.
Transform your math instruction with the Math Strategy Quick Guide (MSQG)! This dynamic resource equips educators with high-yield strategies for every operation—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—across whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and integers. With clear visuals, step-by-step models, and tips for connecting concrete understanding to abstract thinking, the MSQG makes math accessible to all students. Flexible, standards-aligned, and easy to use, it’s the perfect companion for any curriculum.
Highlights
- Clearly organized for quick reference during lessons and intentional planning to help teachers model strategies with confidence and make the most of every math block.
- Provides consistent, grade-appropriate vocabulary to support clear communication in math discussions.
- Adaptable entry points for students at different learning levels, making it ideal for mixed-ability classrooms.
A Practical Reference for Teaching Math Strategies with Confidence
Support strategy-based math instruction with a classroom-ready guide that helps educators model, explain, and reinforce 15 essential math strategies across addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Designed for grades K–8, the Math Strategy Quick Guide makes it easier to build understanding, encourage flexible thinking, and support meaningful math discussions.
What Is the Math Strategy Quick Guide?
The Math Strategy Quick Guide(MSQG) is a teacher reference tool that helps educators teach math strategies clearly and consistently. Instead of relying on scripted lessons or memorized steps, MSQG helps teachers show multiple ways to think about math.
Each of the 15 strategies is presented with clear visuals, student-friendly language, and examples that help students see how and why each strategy works. Designed for grades K–8, the guide works alongside any math curriculum to help students develop stronger reasoning, problem-solving skills, and mathematical confidence. The MSQG fits naturally into whole-group instruction, small groups, intervention, and number talks, and works alongside any math curriculum.
See Every Strategy in Action
Why Teachers Use MSQG
- Makes strategies clear and visible during instruction
- Supports student choice and flexible thinking
- Gives teachers consistent language for math discussions
- Saves time—no need to create visuals or models
- Builds confidence for both teachers and students
- Helps math start to make sense
Frequently Asked Questions
The Math Strategy Quick Guide is a teacher-facing reference that helps educators model, explain, and reinforce core math strategies with clarity. It gives teachers visual models, student-friendly language, and examples that make strategies easier to teach and easier for students to understand.
The MSQG is designed for K–8 classroom teachers, interventionists, math specialists, instructional coaches, tutors, and math teams. It’s great for homeschool families too.
The guide includes 15 core math strategies organized by operation, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division strategies. Examples include Make Ten, Doubles and Near Doubles, Count Up, Compensation, Partial Differences, Partial Products, Repeated Addition and Subtraction, Multiply to Get Close, Proportional Reasoning, and more.
Yes. MSQG is not a replacement for your math curriculum. It works alongside any curriculum by helping teachers explain strategies more clearly, support student reasoning, and connect visual models to mental math.
The Math Strategy Quick Guide includes one 8.5” x 11” full-color, spiral-bound guide with 15 strategy pages organized by operation. Each strategy includes a clear explanation, visual models, sample problems, student-friendly language, and guidance on when and why to use the strategy.
MSQG includes visual models such as number lines, arrays, base-ten blocks, and place value charts. These models help students see how strategies work instead of simply memorizing steps.
The Math Strategy Quick Guide is a practical resource teachers can use every day to make math thinking visible. With ready-to-use visuals, consistent language, and clear examples of operational strategies, teachers don't have to stop and create models or explanations from scratch. The guide is there when they need it.
Teachers use MSQG during:
- Whole-group lessons
- Small-group instruction
- Intervention
- Number talks
- Math discussions
- Lesson planning
- Coaching conversations
The MSQG is more than a teaching tool. It's a support system that helps teachers strengthen their own understanding of math strategies and how those strategies connect. By simplifying the strategies and clearing away the noise, the guide helps teachers build flexibility and confidence with the math before teaching it to students.
Many teachers tell us they wish they had a resource like MSQG earlier in their careers. It helps make sense of the strategies, supports instructional decision-making, and provides a reliable reference teachers can return to again and again.
The MSQG supports student choice, flexible thinking, and mathematical reasoning. Showing multiple ways to solve problems helps students understand that math is not just about following one procedure. Students learn to choose strategies that make sense and explain why they work.
No. The Math Strategy Quick Guide is not a scripted program, lesson plan, worksheet, or student workbook. It is a teaching reference that strengthens instruction by making math strategies easier to model, discuss, and apply.