We had a great time representing 7th grade math at the STEAM showcase. Thank you to all of my wonderful student presenters and to everyone who stopped by our table - it was great to see you!
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Hello Parents!
Conference week Conference week is next week. Our lovely science team is coordinating conferences; if we missed you and you want to meet please let me know ASAP. 7th grade conferences are a bit more challenging and hectic versus 6th grade conferences. Each of us have about 140 students and we may be running back and forth between two rooms trying to catch all of our students and parents. If your child is struggling in certain classes take note of the teachers and make sure you talk to each. If you have any concerns you can also email me if you can't make it in person. Grades If your child is struggling in math this is reflected by their grade. 80% of their grade is based on their performance on exams. 20% is based on participation/effort. Their grade includes two retake opportunities for each topic and their original scores are recorded in the comments section. Students have two more retake opportunities Nov. 7th and Nov. 17th to retake operations with rational numbers. I have been encouraging students that are struggling to come in for extra help before or after school. Even if we move on from a concept, we have about 1 class period per week/two weeks so students can work on what they need. At home The first thing that can be done at home to help promote mathematical thinking is to play math games. If your child has siblings they may prefer to play with a sibling. A simple game to start with is called 5 Steps to 0. This game helps students develop number sense. I will introduce it to students in class so they are familiar with it. Good numbers to start with or try at home are below. Check out directions here. Numbers to try at home: 127, 213, 249, 216, 284, 305, 321, 352, 428, 804 Another great game to try is called hit the target. This game is all about estimation and a useful strategy: guess and check. 1. You play the game with calculators (your phone) 2. You start the game with a range of two numbers (i.e. 650 - 670). This is the "target." The object of the game is to get inside this target. 3. You also start with a single number (such as 26). This is the "ball." 4. You try to "hit the target" with the ball by multiplying the ball by a number that you choose. 5. If the result is in the target you win. 6. If not, the result is the new ball, and the other team tries to hit the target with that ball. 7. And so it continues until there is a winner Tips: students should not hit clear after their guess because the new result becomes the "ball", or decide how you want to treat decimals I am really excited about this school year - I see so much potential in our students! This is where you can find out what we are learning in class. Please also check out the resources tab.
Back to school night is Tuesday. I hope you can make it. I'll kick-off the evening with a short survey. You can take it in advance here. Thanks for stopping by! To help your student improve their math learning I recommend spending some about an hour each week over the summer going over concepts essential for success in 8th grade math. Depending on your student's needs this could include 7th grade concepts or prior year concepts. I think the best option for this type of review is Khan Academy. I also recommend spending some time reviewing vocabulary. Two resources that I recommend are Kahoot and Quizlet. I've included all the links for you below and will be updating this post with more specific links to help prioritize concepts and vocabulary words.
Khan Academy Number System Proportional Relationships Solving Equations/Inequalities Try using the links below to search for vocabulary words or topics to practice Kahoot Quizlet List of the most important 7th grade concepts Towards the end of May all 7th graders will take a placement test to see if they qualify to be in the compacted accelerated math program (CAP). The CAP Program starts in 7th grade (6th graders are given a placement test) and students are taught 7th grade math standards and about 1/2 of the 8th grade math standards. The CAP 8th grade class continues where the 7th CAP left off and also includes the high-school, Integrated Math 1 standards. For students to be prepared for the placement test and CAP 8 they should have mastered the following 8th grade topics: 1.) Interpreting unit rate as slope (in word problems, tables, graphs, and equations) 2.) Slope Intercept Form 3.) Solving Multiple Step Linear Equations 4.) Exponent Rules (including Scientific Notation) 5.) Irrational Numbers Please see the pdf attached below for additional details and actual standards. Besides the placement test a student's Trimester 3 iready results and prior year's SBAC scores are used for CAP placement.
Please check out the 10 minute video on grades (sorry it's so long!). I talk about each assignment and where to find it and what needs to be done for full credit. You may fast forward, rewind, replay as needed! Please subscribe or have your student subscribe to quickly find my video resources. After clicking play, click on bottom right rectangle to make the video full screen.
Check out the video below for specific directions on how to raise your grade. Hint click the full screen button in the bottom right to make the video bigger.
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