ALGEBRA
Course Description
Grade 8 Algebra is a high school level Algebra 1 course, and is the first course on their growth in upper level mathematics. The fundamental purpose of this course is to formalize and extend the mathematics that students learned through mastery of the middle school standards. Because it is built on the middle grades standards, this is a more ambitious version of Algebra 1 than has generally been offered. This 8th grade course assumes that students are working at an accelerated level: need less time and practice to attain mastery of a topic; are more able to retain what they have learned in previous instruction so less review or reinforcement of topics from previous courses is required; and can complete more work in a given class period and a fast pace is maintained.Our courses and curriculum use a problem-based approach with concrete models. The course helps students to develop multiple strategies to solve problems and to recognize the connections between concepts. The course is offered to students who meet a variety of criteria as prerequisites determined during their 7th grade year. The criteria includes:
- Average performance on tests/quizzes
- Demonstration of proficiency in key academic standards
- Performance on Hall’s placement tests (skill tests and performance tasks)
- Information from standardized tests (benchmarks or CAASPP)
All of Hall’s mathematics courses share a commitment to rigor. As defined in the Common Core, rigor refers to deep, authentic command of mathematical concepts, not making math harder or introducing topics at earlier grades. To help students meet the standards, educators will need to pursue, with equal intensity, three aspects of rigor in the major work of each grade: conceptual understanding, procedural skills and fluency, and application.
Additionally, all of Hall’s mathematics courses share a commitment to the eight mathematical practices listed above that are to be developed throughout their learning of mathematics, no matter what the grade level.
This course is a high school equivalent Algebra class so the pace is rigorous and falling behind will not be an option. Redwood High School requires that students maintain at least a C on tests and have the recommendation of their Algebra teacher in order to move to Geometry next year as freshmen.
The curriculum for Algebra 1 is aligned with the National Common Core Standards for Algebra. We’ll be using the text from College Preparatory Mathematics (CPM), and using the eBook exclusively for classwork and homework.
