Welcome to Ms. Iversen S 6Th Grade Math Class!

Welcome to Ms. Iversen’s 6th grade math class!

I’m excited to learn and grow with each and every student throughout the year. In 6th grade this year we will be using Connected Mathematics (CMP) curriculum along with supplemental resources. In this 6th grade class, students will be collaborating with peers, persevering through problems, learning strategies to explain and connect ideas, and attend to precision in computation, notation, and explanation. There are 7 units throughout the year.

Teacher Information: Email: [email protected] Website: iversenmath.weebly.com

Classroom Expectations: Students are expected to behave respectfully towards their classmates, teacher, school, and community. Students are expected to complete assignments in a timely manner and put forth their best effort.

Grading Policy: Students will be evaluated in two categories: Habits of Learning and Assessment of Learning. Habits of Learning are regular evidence of scholarship including (but not limited to) homework, classwork, Do Nows, exit tickets, and class participation. Assessments of Learning are more formal evaluations such as tests, quizzes, and projects. Students may re-take Assessments of Learning for a higher grade when they’ve shown evidence of studying.

Grading Scale 90% and above A 80% B 70% C 60% D

Grade Composition (approximate): 40% Habits of Learning 60% Assessment of Learning

Semester Grade Each of the quarter grading periods is weighted proportionally to the part of curriculum introduced. The district interim assessments will be entered into a student’s grade with opportunities to improve their score via test corrections.

Missed Work/Absences: It is the student’s responsibility to meet with the teacher about missed work and assignments. If the student has a planned absence, please see the teacher before the absence to discuss missed work. You can find all assignments on my website www.iversenmath.weebly.com

Extra Help and Tutoring: I can make myself available to students outside of class times as needed. Please give 24 hours notice if students are planning to see me before or after school.

Materials: Everyday students are expected to bring their math binder, a pencil, a pen, a positive attitude, and be ready to learn. Monitoring Progress & Late Work: Infinite Campus (IC) is available both for students and their parents to monitor individual’s progress. Please have student address any inaccuracies or errors in teacher’s records as soon as possible. Missing work will be marked “M” in IC, students may redo and makeup assignments until the end of the quarter, at which point, any missing assignments will be recorded as zeroes. Copies of homeworks are found on my website www.iversenmath.weebly.com

Communication: It is easiest to get in touch with me via email. Naturally, the Internet does not exclude possibility of communication by phone or in person. Please check with the front office to make sure your contact information is up to date in Parent Portal. Sometimes I may send messages through IC to an entire class regarding missing assignments or failing grades, please check IC regularly so you do not miss any announcements.

Units of study Semester 1: Unit 1: Factors and Multiples In this unit, the focus is on the properties of whole numbers, especially those related to multiplication and division. Students will learn about factors, multiples, divisors, products, prime and composite numbers, common factors and multiples, the Distributive property, and Order of Operations. They will discover key properties of numbers and use them to solve problems.

Unit 2: Ratios, Rational Numbers, and Equivalence In this Unit, students will deepen their knowledge of and comfort with fractions and build understandings of ratio for use in later units and grades. They learn to recognize fractions and decimals as numbers that can be located on the number line as well as compared, counted, partitioned and decomposed. Students recognize ratios as comparisons of two numbers. They also recognize equivalence of fractions and ratios, and use equivalence to solve problems.

Unit 3: Understanding Fraction Operations In this unit, your students will focus on understanding and developing systematic ways to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions. While working on this unit, students will investigate many interesting problem situations that help them to develop algorithms for fraction computation. In addition, students will use number sense, benchmarks, and operation sense to estimate solutions, helping them to decide if exact answers are reasonable. Students will use the skills developed in this unit to compute with decimals and percents in the next unit.

Unit 4: Computing with Decimals and Percents (split between semesters) Students will engage in problem situations that help them develop algorithms for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals. They will explore percents in the contexts of tips, taxes, and discounts. Students will use knowledge acquired in earlier units to make sense of decimals and percents. They have two ways to make sense of decimals—extending place value concepts and interpreting decimals as fractions. These ideas are related, but they look and feel different. To understand and demonstrate skill in computing with decimals, students need to understand both ways.

Units of study Semester 2: Unit 5: Focus on Algebra This unit has two main goals, 1) identify variables and relationship in problem situations and describe patterns of change in words, data tables, graphs, and equations, and 2) use data tables, graphs, and equations to solve problems. In the first part of the unit, students explore three ways to representing a changing situation: with a description in words, with a data table, and with a graph. Later in the unit, students write symbolic expressions as a shorter, faster way to give a summary of the relationship between two variables. The advantages of a symbolic rule over a data table or graph are investigated. Students use informal reasoning to find values for x or y when given the value for the other.

Unit 6: Two Dimensional Measurement The overarching goal of this unit is to help students understand what it means to measure. Students study several types of measurements: perimeter, area, and surface area, and volume. The problems are structured so that students can build a deep understanding of what it means to measure perimeter (length), area (squares), and volume (cubes). The counting students do to find these measurements leads to the development of formulas. Many ideas from previous units will be revisited and extended in this unit. For example, this unit revisits the connection between factors and dimensions of rectangles.

Unit 7: Statistics and Data Analysis This unit gives students opportunities to ask questions about people around them, then collet data to answer these questions. Students investigate various real-life examples of data and will conduct experiments to collect it. Students will construct line plots, dot plots, frequency charts, ordered value bar graphs, histograms, and box-and-whisker plots. They will interpret patterns they see in these displays. Your student will also learn to compute the mode, median, mean, range, interquartile range (IQR), and mean absolute deviation (MAD) of a data set. He or she will use these statistics to describe data and make predictions.

I look forward to a wonderful year filled with discovering, exploring, learning, laughter, and fun. I’m excited for our classroom to become a trusting environment where students can grow mathematically, socially, and emotionally.

Please keep this syllabus for your records and return the signed bottom half to Ms. Iversen by Monday, August 29 (White Day)

By signing and returning this portion, you are agreeing that you and your student have read and understand the content of the syllabus. Feel free to email me with questions or concerns.

Student Name: ______Student Signature: ______

Parent Name: ______Parent Signature: ______

Please return this portion to Ms. Iversen by August 29 (White Day).

Please include 3 words that describe your child:

______, ______, ______