This ready-to-use, practical resource is a great way to prepare your students in grades 6 through 8 for more formal algebra instruction. Using 0-9 number tiles, algebraic thinking is developed through exploring and formalizing patterns, verbalizing relationships, making generalizations, symbolizing relationships, working with functions, and making connections between real world situations and algebraic statements. 144 pages with teacher's notes and over 100 reproducible activity sheets exploring number sense, place value, basic number theory, variables, and simple algebraic expressions and equations. Use with plastic 0-9 tiles or make index card tiles with supplied blackline masters.