Grade Levels: 6-8

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Percents Lesson Plan

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Percents, and supports the standard of finding a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

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Prompt students to think of other times they’ve seen similar messages. Ask:

  • What does it mean for something to be 14% complete?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign Percents Challenge and Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about percents while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

  • Make-a-Movie: Produce a commercial for a clothing store sale. In your commercial, explain how to calculate the amount of money shoppers will save if a $45 shirt is 15% off. 
  • Make-a-Map: Create a concept map sequencing the steps to determine how much money a 20% tip would be on a restaurant bill of $53.
  • Creative Coding: Code a math problem involving percentages. Challenge a classmate to solve. 
  • Primary Source Activity: Examine the map of immigration trends during the 19th and early 20th centuries and cite evidence to answer the accompanying questions.  

More to Explore 

Cat Insanity: Players explore the basics of credit and debt in this interactive game. 

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of ratios and proportional relationships with these topics: Proportions, Ratios, and Interest.

Teacher Support Resources:

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments