7TH GRADE MATHEMATICS   
Mr. Montgomery 2011-2012
Roycemore School
Evanston, Illinois

The Purpose of this Course
There are four main goals of the course:
1) To help the students to recognize and appreciate the vital role that mathematics plays     in the real world.
2) To help students understand the importance of patterns in mathematics.
3) To encourage students to reason and communicate with each other about skills and     ideas in mathematics
4) To provide a solid foundation for exploring and understanding algebra and geometry     concepts.

Grades and Assignments
Each quarter we will cover 2-4 chapters of material.  The grades for the chapters will then be averaged together to form the quarter grade.

Books
The book we will use is Prentice Hall Mathematics Course 2. There also will be several units that are supplemented with materials from Connected Mathematics Grade 7.

Folders and notebooks
Each student will keep a notebook to complete daily activities. They will be expected to take notes. Each student also receives a folder that will be used to organize papers and keep track of their grades for the current chapter.

Writing in Math
Students will frequently be asked to write out the process they went through to determine the answer to a problem.  We will then, as a class, analyze the different approaches that students took to solve the problems.

Assignments for each unit will include:
 
1) Class participation
2) Homework assignments
3) Quizzes
4) Chapter Tests
5) Projects
6) Notebook
7) 1st Semester and 2nd Semester Finals
 

Videos
For each concept that is covered there is an accompanying video that can be viewed through a computer.  The videos are available at the andymoteach channel on YouTube.

Projects
Students will complete work on a project for some of the units we are studying. Most of these will require a few minutes everyday to keep track of data such as stock prices, weather temperatures, or sports averages.

Homework
Most days students will be allowed time to complete homework in class. Many students will not have traditional math homework from the book if they use their time effectively. However, they will frequently be required to watch 5-10 minutes of material on the computer as an introduction to the next lesson.

Pre-tests
Before each unit students will be given a pre-test to assess what areas they have mastered and what areas they need to develop a better understanding.
 
The grading scale will be:
 
A+     97-100%
A      93-96%
A-     90-92%
B+     87-89%
B      83-86%
B-     80-82%
C+     77-79%
C      73-76%
C-     70-72%
D+     67-69%
D      63-66%
D-     60-62%
F      59 or below
 

Expectations
Students are expected to bring their textbooks, folders, homework, and additional handouts to class, and to be prepared for class discussions and activities. All math work should be done in pencil and students are expected to show their work. Students are also expected to follow the rules of the class and the Roycemore School Code of Conduct.

Differentiation
Students will be challenged to do their best in this class.  This may mean that there are different expectations for different students.  If you feel the class is too hard, please let me know.  If you feel the class is too easy please let me know.

Quarterly Calendar
1st Quarter
Chapter 1: Decimals and Integers
Chapter 2:  Equations and Inequalities

2nd Quarter
Chapter 3: Exponents, Factors, and Fractions
Chapter 4: Operations with Fractions
Chapter 5: Ratios, Rates, and Proportions
Chapter 6: Percents

3rd Quarter
Chapter 7: Geometry
Chapter 8: Geometry and Measurement
Chapter 9: Patterns and Rules
Chapter 10: Graphing in the Coordinate Plane

4th Quarter
Chapter 11: Displaying and Analyzing Data
Chapter 12: Using Probability

Information on the Internet
Students will receive a written description of the requirements for each unit.  The web address for this class is:
http://roycemoreschool.org/teacher/montgomery