Teaching de-streamed Grade 9 math (MTH1W): a full-semester roadmap

MTH1W brings every Grade 9 student into one math class, adds coding to every strand and, from 2026–27, uses the EQAO Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics as the written final exam, worth 20% of the final mark. Here's a sequence that covers the whole curriculum in a standard semester of 75-minute periods.

A unit-by-unit plan

1. The Story of Numbers (about 11 lessons). Start with number sense: rational numbers, operations and estimation. A strong start here helps every student, whatever their background.
2. Powers and Proportions (about 10 lessons). Exponent laws, ratios, rates and percents, with lots of real-world proportional reasoning.
3. Algebra and Code (about 11 lessons). Expressions, equations and patterns, with Python coding built in so students see algebra in action.
4. Linear and Non-Linear Relations (about 13 lessons). Tables, graphs and equations, rate of change and initial value. Desmos makes these relationships visual.
5. Geometry and Measurement (about 12 lessons). Angle properties, the Pythagorean relationship, area, surface area and volume, and optimization.
6. Money Matters (about 7 lessons). Financial literacy: budgets, interest, and comparing options, using everyday examples.
7. Data and Modelling (about 10 lessons). Collecting and analysing data, and building mathematical models of real situations.
8. Culminating task and review. A modelling task that pulls the strands together, a couple of review classes, then the EQAO assessment.

Tips for a de-streamed class

• Use low-floor, high-ceiling tasks. Problems that everyone can start and some can extend far keep a mixed class engaged.
• Weave coding through, don't bolt it on. Short Python tasks in each unit are easier than a separate coding unit at the end.
• Show worked solutions. Students (and supply teachers) benefit from seeing every step.
• Plan around EQAO. Since the EQAO assessment is the written exam, schedule review before your school's assessment window, and remember the 65% classroom work and 15% attendance and participation that make up the rest of the mark. More on the new evaluation rules.

Want it ready to teach?

The MTH1W Complete Course follows this plan: every lesson with a teacher plan, slides with speaker notes, handouts and worked answer keys, plus unit tests, summatives with rubrics, the culminating task, a day-by-day schedule and five buffer lessons. Prefer to start small? Buy a single unit or try a free MTH1W lesson.

Teaching outside Ontario? The sequence fits Grade 9 math in any province, and Pre-Algebra or Algebra 1 in the US.