Murray Middle School 6th Grade Math

Please take the survey by 9/11/2012.  If you do not have interent access at home, I will grant you time in class to take the survey. It is worth one journal grade.  Please do not get help from a parent, friend, or calculator.  It will be graded on effort not accuracy.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dE1aZ1RIUlZMOW9PODFHOG1maHpXdmc6MQ

You can check your child's understanding of the content covered in class by logging into infinte campus.  This is a great way to see how your child is doing in their classes, before report cards come out.  Even though homework will not be counted as a grade on the report card, I still need to use it to evaluate how my students are understanding daily topics and I need to let you know how they are doing as well.

I will list each learning topic in infinite campus.

Students will recieve a 1 if they demonstrate the abilty to answer the problems consistantly  through their homework or practice problems after the homework is reviewed.

Students will receive a 0 if they are unable to consistantly demonstrate the abilty to answer the problems in their homework and/or practice problems after the homework is reviewed.

*** Remember even though this will be in infinite campus it will not impact thier report card.  It simply shows what your child understands and needs to work on for quizzes and tests***

Example:

Student: John Doe

Learning Target:   Score

Add Multi-Digit Numbers: 1

Subtract Multi-Digit Numbers: 1

Multiply Multi-Digit Numbers: 0

Divide Multi-Digit Numbers: 1

Add/Subtract Decimals: 1

Multiply Decimals: 1

Divide Decimals: 0

What this would tell you is that John Doe needs to work on multiplying multi-digit numbers and dividing decimals.  It does not mean that he does need to study the learning targets that he recieved a 1 on for quizzes and tests, but that he needs to spend extra time reviewing the learning targets the he recieved a zero on. 

**** Students will be aware when they recieve a zero on a learning target.  It is their job to tell you that they recieved a zero or for you to check infinite campus for their performance.  I will not be sending home hard copies of 1's/and 0's on homework.  I will do my best to make parent contacts when a student is getting a high number of zero's, but the best way to keep up with how your child understands concepts in my class is by looking on infinite campus****

Syllabus

6th Grade Math

2012-2013

Teacher: Martin Son

Text: Crosswalk Coach KY 6th grade Math(I will only have enough for a class set, so students will not be bringing home a math textbook)

Dear Students and Parents,

I am excited about the upcoming year. With so many negative connotations that go along with math, my goal is for each student to leave my classroom confident in their mathematical abilities and to have a positive attitude about math. I hope to accomplish this by making math as fun and relevant as possible.

Martin Son

Assessment Methods: Students will be assessed by homework, quizzes, tests and their daily journal. Since it is not fair to expect students to master content when it is first introduced, homework assessments will not be reflected on the report card. Homework will still be assessed to understand a student’s level of understanding of the content. This will hopefully discourage students from copying/cheating to make good grades, and to encourage students to do homework for the purpose of enhancing their understanding of the content. Quizzes, tests, and a math journal will reflect an individual’s grade in my class.

Homework Policy: Homework will be assigned four to five times a week. Students will normally be given time to work on the assignment in the classroom. Even though homework will not be calculated in the report card, it will still be assessed on a daily basis for students to understand their mastery of the content. Homework assessments will be posted on infinite campus, so parents have access to their child’s performance. Consequences for not completing an assignment will result in loss of character cash or an infraction.

Tutoring: Early morning tutoring will be Tuesday through Friday in the library from 7:15 am to 7:50am. I will be in the library at this time and will be able to help you with any problems.

Website: I have created a website that will show short video examples of the content that is covered in class. The website will be updated weekly. This will be a great tool for students to use at home to study for a test or to help with their homework. This will also be a useful tool for parents to help their child with homework or studying. The website is: http://mmsmath.webs.com/

Test/Quiz Policy: For each test or quiz, students will be granted a second chance if necessary (80 or below is mandatory/ 99-81 isoptional). If a student does poorly on a quiz or test, they will be given the assessment back with direct feedback instead of a grade. For example, instead of receiving a 65 a student would get a “retake” on their first assessment with specific feedback on what they need to work on for the retake. If a student retakes an assessment, I will take the higher of the two scores.

Class Organization: Students need to purchase a 3 ring binder and looseleaf paper. This binder will organize our unit worksheets, handouts, and notes. Students also need to purchase a composition notebook. We will use this for our math journal. The journal will be kept in my classroom.

Grading: Students grades will be based on a percentage of100. The breakdown for the 100% is as follows:

Tests (Unit tests and Constructed Responses) = 50%

Math Journal = 15%

Quizzes = 35%

Please note we will have a semester final in December (covering our first two units)and a end of the year final (covering all five units). Each final will be worth two test grades. We will not have retakes on the finals, but we will set aside a week to review for each.

Journal Entry: We will usually have a journal entry each day. A journal entry will start with a student writing down the date and lesson title. A journal entry can be composed of: bell ringers (a small task given at the start of class), quiz corrections, test corrections, or practice problems. A journal entry can be graded on effort, neatness, showing your work, # of tasks completed, # of practice problems completed.

Math Content: The material covered in your child’s class will be the following units:

Unit1: The Number System

Unit 2 Geometry

Unit3 Expressions and Equations

Unit4 Statistics and Probability

Unit5: Ratios and Proportions

MMS Grading Scale:

94-100 A 70-76 D

86-93 B 69 & Below F

77-85 C

Classroom Expectations: The following expectations will be explained and taught at the beginning and throughout the year. 6th grade teachers will use positive rewards such as character cash and various activities throughout the year for appropriate work and social behavior. Character cash will be explained indetail by your child’s homeroom teacher and in a letter home. Fines will be given if students do not follow the classroom expectations. Each teacher has a list of fines posted in his/her classroom.

Treat others the way you want to be treated(Ex. speak kindly toward others, calmly discuss differences of opinion)

I always do my best (Ex. use time wisely,complete and turn in assignments)

Give respect (Ex. respect people and property, speak at an appropriate voice level, use pencil sharpener at appropriate times)

Everyone acts responsibly (Ex. follow directions and rules, communicate school matters with parents, be prepared for class)

Remember to cooperate with others(Ex. take turns/ be fair, share materials)

Success begins with me (Ex. have a positive attitude, do your best work)

**The math syllabus will remain posted on my website for the remainder of the year.

Posted below are the learning expectations for our first unit.  Since this is such a big unit, I will be giving the students an assessment after the first half of the unit and a second assessment over the 2nd half of the unit when we finish the unit.  Each assessment period will contain a 25 question test, and a constructed response test.  The constructed response test will contain 2 short answer questions and 1 open response.  Students will have the opportunity to retake both assessments, and I will take the best score out of the two attempts.  I will hand out a study guide before each test and provide a link for a practice test as well, but I will not provide those resources before a quiz.  During this unit we will have 2 to 3 quizes spread over the units span.  Calculators will not be used in the classroom or during tests for this particular unit (due to the fact that most concepts deal with basic computations).  Good luck! 

Number Theory Unit Learning Target

1. I can add multi-digit numbers

2. I can subtract multi-digit numbers

3. I can multiply multi-digit numbers

4. I can divide multi-digit numbers

5. I can add and subtract numbers with decimals.

6. I can multiply and divide numbers with decimals.

7. I can explain what a rational number is.

8. I can compare and order negative and positive numbers.

9. I can plot positive and negative integers on a line diagram.

10. I can evaluate an inequality involving a negative number.

11. I can add and subtract positive and negative numbers.

12. I can multiply and divide positive and negative numbers.

13. I can find the absolute value of a rational number.

14. I can relate absolute value to the real world.

15. I can convert a mixed number to a fraction.

16. I can add fractions and mixed numbers.

17. I can subtract fractions and mixed numbers.

18. I can multiply fractions and mixed numbers.

19. I can divide fractions and mixed numbers.

20. I understand the relationship between multiplying and dividing fractions.

21. I can create a visual fraction model to show the sum, difference, quotient, or product.

22. I will find the Greatest Common Factor of two whole #’s less than or equal to 100.

23. I will find the Least Common Multiple of two whole #’s less than or equal to 12.

24. I can plot a point on a coordinate grid.

25. I can identify which quadrant a point is located in on a coordinate grid.

26. I can plot a reflection of a point on a coordinate grid.

27. I can find the distance between two plotted points on a coordinate grid.