Dear Parents,

Welcome back to the start of a new school year. I look forward to a good year and having the opportunity to work with your child.

This year I am the math teacher for all of the seventh and eighth grade students. . I will use this overview to highlight some of the objectives and topics for each of these courses, and will be glad to provide more detail at Open House or through individual discussion at your request.

Students will continue their study of mathematics from the Connected Math Project (CMP), which helps stdents develop understanding of important concepts, skills, procedures and ways of thinking in number theory, geometry, measurement, algebra, probability and statistics. It gives an investigative approach to learning and follows guidelines set forth in the NH State Frameworks and the NCTM Principles and Standards. The materials are organized into units, each of which is focused around problem situations 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 structured to help students communicate their strategies and reasoning so that their mathematical understandings are deepened. Practice with ideas and skills are provided throughout the units

Grade 8 Units include Moving Straight Ahead, Thinking With Mathematical Models, Looking For Pythagoras, Growing Growing, Growing, Frogs Fleas and Painted Cubes, and if time allows Say It With Symbols.

Grade 7 Units include Variables and patterns, Stretching and Shrinking, Comparing and Scaling, Accentuate the Negative, Filling and Wrapping, and if time allows What Do You Expect?

One section of eighth grade students has been recommended to begin in depth study of algebra. We utilize Algebra I by Larson, Boswell, Kanold and Stiff. The curriculum emphasis is on fractions, decimals, percents, signed numbers, order of operations, solving, writiing and graphing equations that are linear or quadratic, solving systems of equations, exponentials, polynomials, factoring and radicals.

All Greenland Middle School students will utilize scientific and graphing calculators. Our classes will use the TI-83 pluss graphing calculator.

Attached to this letter is a list of classroom expectations.

I am looking forward to a rewarding year with your child. Your suggestions are welcome.