Making Inequalities Math Accessible: 3 Activities Your Students Will Actually Love

Team Gatebreaker
6 days ago
3 min read

If you’ve taught a lesson on math inequalities to a room full of intervention students, you know the exact moment the collective shutdown happens. Teaching inequalities math can sometimes feel like a constant battle against "which way does the sign go?" and "is the circle open or closed?"

For students who already struggle with number sense, a symbol that changes meaning based on its direction feels like a cruel trick. They spend so much mental energy trying to remember if the circle is open or closed that they miss the actual math - the idea that we aren't just looking for one answer, but a whole set of possibilities.

I’ve spent years trying to bridge this gap, and I’ve realized that standard worksheets just don't cut it. To make inequalities math click for students who struggle with math, we have to move away from rote memorization and toward deeper understanding and visual fluency. By getting students to move, touch, and see the math, we build the number sense they were missing in the first place.

Whether you are working on foundational understanding (6.EE.B.5 and 6.EE.B.8) or moving into the rigor of solving multi-step inequalities in high school (HSA-REI.B.3), these activities ensure students aren't just memorizing steps, but building true conceptual mastery.

#1 One Step Inequalities Math Matching

I am a huge believer in the power of matching activities for students who struggle with math. This One-Step Inequality Matching activity asks students to connect the inequality, its algebraic solution, and its graph on a number line. By seeing all three representations together, students start to see the logic behind the math rather than just following a set of rules. It’s the perfect "low-floor" entry point to build visual fluency.

Solving Inequalities - Multi Step Inequalities Activity

#2 Solving Inequalities Math Scavenger Hunt

Movement is essential in a math intervention classroom! This scavenger hunt takes abstract concepts and turns them into a physical task. Students solve an inequality and then have to hunt for their answer around the room to find the next problem.

This is helpful for your kinesthetic learners. These students often struggle in traditional math settings because they need to do something to process information. By physically moving from problem to problem, they are engaging their bodies and brains simultaneously, which helps the math stick in a way that sitting at a desk simply can't. For students who struggle with focus, this provides the movement they crave while keeping them 100% on task.

Pro-Tip: Managing the Flow

To keep the movement productive rather than chaotic, I like to use a "Starting Line" strategy. Assign pairs or groups (no more than 4 per group) of students to different "starting" problems around the room so they aren't all bunched up at one problem. Then use a timer to signal when to move. Do not let students just move to the next problem when they are done, ask that they wait until the timer goes off, then have everyone rotate quietly at one time.

#3 I Have, Who Has Inequalities Math Activity

I am a huge fan of the I Have, Who Has activity structure. This is a high engagement game that can be done as a whole class or in small groups where every student has a card (or cards) and a role to play. It requires active listening and builds massive fluency with reading inequality statements aloud. It’s the perfect way to introduce or reinforce the initial concepts while keeping the energy high.