Middle School Mathematics

Mathematics

In middle school, students will be developing their problem solving skills as they apply the concepts and procedures that they are studying as prescribed by the Connecticut Core Standards of Mathematics.  All math units will focus on the three aspects of rigor focusing equally on conceptual understanding, procedural skills and fluency, and mathematical application.  Each year students will be learning new concepts as described below:



Courses

Key Concepts Addressed

Grade 6

Grade 6 Mathematics

Grade 6 mathematics students will focus primarily on the following areas described in the Connecticut Core Standards of Mathematics. Students will be able to

  • Applying ratio and rate to solve problems,

  • Understand fraction division ,

  • Extend and apply the numbers to include all fractional (rational) numbers and negative numbers (integers) ,

  • Write, interpret, and using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations, and

  • Justify conclusions using basic statistics.

Grade 7

Grade 7 Mathematics


Grade 7 mathematics students will focus primarily on the following areas described in the Connecticut Core Standards of Mathematics. Students will be able to

  • Apply proportional relationships

  • Understand operations with fractional (rational) numbers and work with them in expressions and linear equations

  • Solve geometry problems involving area, surface area, volume, scale, geometric shapes and figures.

  • Draw inferences about populations based on sample data.


Grade 8

Grade 8 Mathematics


Grade 8 mathematics students will focus primarily on the following areas described in the Connecticut Core Standards of Mathematics. Students will be able to:

  • Formulate and reason using algebra including graphing and solving equations, linear equations, systems of linear equations, and bivariate data.

  • Understand the concept of a function and how it can be used to describe relationships.

  • Analyze figures using distance, angles, similarity, congruence and the Pythagorean theorem.

*8th Grade Algebra 1 is offered based on school programming. See individual school information for availability



In order for students to be a productive member of our society in today's highly technical world, students must transcend mere rote computation and be able to use mathematics and critical thinking as a powerful tool to solve problems and understand the world in which we live.  Therefore, CREC students will learn mathematics that focuses on making sense of the concepts they study through a rich experience that values active participation, perseverance, and attending to precision both in written and verbal forms.  Through this vision, CREC mathematics teachers commit themselves to equity, excellence, and success for all students. 


The CREC middle schools utilize a teacher developed curriculum that highlights some of the best resources for teaching mathematics such as Illustrative Mathematics, The Mathematics Assessment Project, the EngageNY curriculum among others.   


Throughout each unit, students of all ages will: 

  • Collaborate with peers and investigate real world problems that highlight mathematical concepts and skills. 

  • Communicate and share strategies (formulaic, conceptual, or procedural) during lessons to explain math concepts or solve problems. 

  • Practice current skills at their independent level while teachers work with students individually or in small groups.

  • Extend their own learning by grappling with challenging mathematics during small group instruction with flexible grouping and targeted instruction. 

  • Engage in various instructional routines such as Number Talks, the 5 Practices for Productive Discussions and Which one Doesn’t Belong, among others. 


Classroom Materials:   

Schools identify and use a variety of classroom materials including:

  • CREC curriculum resources including common activities and assessments.

  • Illustrative Mathematics Curriculum to provide supplemental activities and assessments

  • Online programs such as Tenmarks, IXL, MobyMax, and Mastery Connect

  • Math Manipulatives such as algebra tiles, integer counters. 


What You Can to Do at Home 

Here are some ideas to consider that will help your child with math. 

  • Never tell your child that you were “never any good at math.” Instead say “I don’t know how to do that, or I don’t remember how to do that”

  • Encourage your child to stick with it whenever a problem seems difficult. This will help your child see that everyone can learn math. Perseverance is key and will lead to your child’s future success in more advanced mathematics classes. Give them an example of when you struggled and succeeded. 

  • Stress that learning only occurs through mistakes. 

  • Play board games that stress numerical reasoning, spatial reasoning, strategy, or computational fluency. Examples include Monopoly, Blokus, Mancala, Mastermind.

  • Have your child estimate how much the shopping cart will cost at checkout.  After checkout, ask them how they did well, or what mistake they could have made. 

  • Have your child cook and bake with recipes.  Ask them how much would be needed for ½ a recipe or double a recipe. 

  • Praise your child when he or she makes an effort, and share in the excitement when he or she solves a problem or understands something for the first time.

  • Ask your child to calculate the unit rates of items purchased from the grocery store. For example, if 2 pounds of flour cost $3.00, how much does flour cost per pound?

  • Ask your child to determine tax, tip, or discount amounts before.



Resources 

Helping Your Child with Homework

Ask questions or make suggestions like:

  1. Is there an example in the book of a similar problem?

  2. Do you have an example like this in your notes?

  3. Can you do some easier problems and go back to this one after?

  4. What part of the problem is giving you trouble?

  5. Let's read the problem together and make sure we understand what it is asking.

  6. Can we draw a picture of the problem? (This works well for word problems.)

  7. Can we make up an easier problem that is similar to this? Then we can work our way up to this one.

  8. What did your teacher say about this assignment?

  9. Let’s take a 10 minute break and come back to this when we aren't so frustrated.

Math Curriculum Resources


Additional Resources

  • Figure This: Helps families enjoy mathematics outside school through a series of fun and engaging, high-quality challenges  (available in English and Spanish)

  • Illustrative Mathematics Provides sample tasks to help illustrate what students are expected to know and be able to do.  

  • Geogebra Features interactive graphics, algebra problems, and spreadsheets from elementary school to university level

  • Desmos Desmos is an online graphing calculator that can help students make connects between graphs and equations that they learned in class available as an app.


Apps

  • Desmos Graphing Calculator for Apple and Android

  • Geogebra for Apple and Android

  • Buzz Math for Apple


Contact Information Scott Kapralos, Supervisor of Mathematics, [email protected]

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