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General Statement
The SF School math program is aimed at preparing students who are developmentally ready to master Algebra in 8th grade to pass into a High School level Geometry course. Furthermore, it aims to build a strong foundation for others to succeed in High School Algebra."Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in April 2000 lays the foundation for the middle school math curriculum. The curriculum for each grade includes content standards for number and operations, algebra, geometry and measurement, and data analysis and probability. The curriculum for each grade includes process standards for problem solving, reasoning and proof, communications, connections, and representation. The curriculum is implemented with materials developed by the Connected Mathematics Project.
Content and Process
The curriculum materials are organized into units that take 4 to 6 weeks each. Each unit is focused around problem situations called investigations that help students to learn an important set of related mathematical ideas and to become skillful at using these ideas to solve problems. The curriculum is designed to help students learn to communicate their strategies and their reasoning so that their mathematical understandings are solidified.
The units for the 6th grade are listed below. This year we have
started with Prime Time. We will go next to Shapes and Designs.
In the 6th grade there is a focus on the content standards for
number and operations and geometry and measurement. However, the
curriculum is so purposefully "connected" that there is a high
degree of integration of multiple standards throughout the units.
- Prime Time
Number
Theory; primes; composites, factors and multiples
- Shapes and Designs
Reasoning about shapes and shape properties; angle measure
- Covering and Surrounding
Measurement: Area and Perimeter
- Bits and Pieces, Part II
Using Rational Numbers: Computation
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- Data About Us
Data
Investigation; Formulating questions, gathering data, organizing
and analyzing data, making decisions based on data
- Bits and Pieces, Part I
Understanding Rational Number: Fractions, Decimals,
and Percents
- How Likely Is It?
Probability
- Ruins of Montarek
Spatial visualization and spatial reasoning
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Structure for Learning
Students are absorbed during class time with investigations of problems. The curriculum is built around these problems. The problems have as their context either the real world, fantasy, or mathematics itself. A problem may take more than a class period depending on the length of the period and the challenge of the problem. Throughout the problem-solving investigations and following their conclusion, the class is pulled together to share insights. Their discoveries are honed into cogent communications of mathematical ideas, patterns and relationships.
Working together in small groups is a part of the learning structure, as is discovering and sharing as a class unit. Independent work and individual assessment are the other parts of the structure.
Individual assessment occurs with grading on homework, class work, projects, skills checks and tests. Homework is assigned on throughout the week, and is due the following class day. Homework can take a variety of forms. Worksheets may be assigned from an auxiliary text. These worksheets will reinforce or refresh skills needed for math and science classes. Applications, connections, and extensions of the class curriculum may be assigned. Printouts of the curriculum materials will explain these assignments. Homework assignments may also involve small "thinking pieces" that emanate from discoveries, insights or connections made by the students during class. These will involve writing, creative work, or research.
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