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Curriculum Leader: Kellee Koeppen, ext. 204

Everyday Mathematics

Sixth Grade Curriculum

Everyday Mathematics is a curriculum that has been adopted district-wide for grades one through six. It is designed to enable students to learn more mathematical content and become life-long mathematical thinkers. Everyday Math makes math meaningful by supplying students with real life problems and applications and by addressing many different learning styles. Everyday Math is a spiraling program that revisits major topics multiple times as well as supplying students with multiple methods for solving a problem. Lastly, we feel that Everyday Math will supplement College Preparatory Math (the seventh and eighth grade text) very well, as they are designed in a similar fashion with high expectations for ALL students. The major topics that will be covered in sixth grade include fraction, decimal, and percent operations, pre-algebra skills like algebraic expressions, geometry of two dimensional figures, statistics and probability, and of course mathematical reasoning. If you have any specific questions or concerns, please notify your student's math teacher or the department head immediately. We look forward to working with each of you this year.

College Preparatory Math (CPM)

Seventh and Eighth Grade Curriculum

Algebra 1 CPM, College Preparatory Mathematics, is an algebra program designed to make algebra a visual experience and allow for student self-discovery. It is a spiraling program that forces students to think critically and make links between mathematical topics. Students are asked to write- an unusual task in math. But by doing so, students learn to express their mathematical ideas and hypotheses with increasing clarity and skill. They also become better writers! In seventh grade, we will cover the first 5 (actually 6, the first unit is Unit 0) units of CPM. The second half of algebra will be taught in eighth grade, thus allowing students, who succeed in this program, to be ready for geometry in ninth grade. The students will experience a lot of success and frustration in this class. They will feel very mathematically competent upon leaving this class as well. One of the most rewarding pieces of this class is the newness- algebra will open a door for all students that most have not been through. It will be an exciting journey for us all. Basic Skills One of the staples of this algebra class is basic skills. Basic skills include many math skills that were learned and practiced in elementary school and sixth grade. Without expertise in these skills, students can still do REALLY well in Algebra, but without these skills the length of time the student spends on math will increase significantly. Classes will spend some time reviewing basic skills such as fractions, decimals, and percents, but because by seventh grade, students are expected to have mastered skills such as multiplication, division, and a sense of numbers, much of your basic skills practice will have to be done at home. If you are interested in a specially designed basic skills program for seventh or eighth graders to supplement CPM, please see Kathy Haven. We have designed a program for seventh and eighth graders that should allow them to practice and perfect basic skills that will be used daily in class, but not necessarily emphasized. We would gladly share it with any interested parent.

PARENT SUPPORT WARNING: If you do not consistently help your child with their homework, you will be lost quickly. CPM does "algebra" quite different than most of us did algebra. Your student will be able to explain very difficult problems in visual pictures and terms. Please do not discourage your student from solving a problem their own way. The best help a parent can give is to provide a quiet work place for students and a consistent homework schedule. Do homework daily at the same time and place. This will make it a habit. Students will have math homework EVERY NIGHT!!!! It is important that they begin to take responsibility for their homework, class work, and organization this year

Click to view the District Standards

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