Welcome

To 6^th Grade Math

Teacher: Ms. Falcon

Room: 206

Phone: 696-5959

Website: www.amphi.com/~lfalcon/index.htm

Dear Student:

Welcome to math at Cross Middle School. This is going to be a wonderful year. All of us at Cross would like to welcome you, the incoming sixth grade students and your parents.

What We Will Be Learning

Congratulations! You will be learning many exciting things this year. This is a great opportunity for you to gain skills and knowledge that you will be using your entire life. There are twelve separate units that we are scheduled to learn. Please read the attached schedule. Keep in mind that this is a projected schedule, and as we learn together, we may need to spend more or less time on some units.

The decision to study these topics was made based on the school, district, and state standards, as well as to prepare you for the AIMS test. I will show you some ways that each of these topics will directly impact you at some time in your life.

Progress Reports

Every week you will be given a progress report. This report is to help you and your parents keep track of your academic progress and your classroom citizenship. Each report will show your current grades to date, any missing work, your test and quiz scores, and your citizenship grade. It is very important that you and your parents review these reports every week. Progress reports may also be checked on the internet through my website.

Grades

Quarter grades in this class will be based on seven categories.

Bellwork 5%

Groupwork 5%
Classwork 10%
Notes 10%
Homework 10%
Quizzes 20%
Tests 40%
Bellwork 5%

At the beginning of every class there will be a short assignment posted on the overhead projector. This assignment will be a review, usually including work we studied the day before.

There are three reasons that we begin each day with bellwork. First it is a chance to get “warmed up” for math. Second, bellwork gives you the opportunity to review the material we covered the day before, or earlier in the year. This review is an important part of the learning process. Bellwork also will give you the opportunity to learn valuable organizational skills.

Bellwork is assigned every day, but is graded approximately once every unit. On the day of the bellwork check four problems will be picked randomly from the bellwork given to you since the last check. You will have to find the problems and copy them from your work. This means that your work must be organized and in order by date. For the first quarter there will be bellwork checks every couple of weeks to help you learn how to keep your work organized. You will have to keep your bellwork (including the problems, your work, and your answers) for up to a month at a time, so it might be helpful to have a spiral notebook just for this work. At the end of each quarter your final grade for bellwork will be worth 5% of your total grade.

Groupwork 5%

This year you will have several opportunities to learn with your peers. The ability to work with others is an important skill. Often the best way to help yourself learn is to teach.

We will focus on learning skills important to working in groups. At least one lesson in every unit will involve a group activity. Your total grade for these activities each quarter will be worth 5% of your final grade.

Classwork 10%

In math we will be breaking down complex procedures into small steps. On most days we will introduce a new topic, after reviewing a previous topic with our bellwork. After you have listened to an explanation of how to use the skill discussed that day, you will have an opportunity to try the skill on a few problems and have your work checked. We will usually accomplish this by completing 3-10 problems from the book and turning it in for correction before you begin your homework. If you do the problems, show your work, and make any needed corrections you will receive 100%. These daily assignments will make up the majority of your classwork grade.

Notes 10%

Note taking is an important skill that you will learn this year. We will take notes for most sections of the book that will include vocabulary words, important procedures, and examples.

You will need to keep your notes together in one spiral notebook that you will turn in for a grade at the end of each chapter.

Homework 10%

In order to master the skills that you will learn this year you must practice them. Therefore on most days you will have homework in this class. You will not have homework over material we have not covered in class first.

Most homework assignments are worth 10 points. If you answer 19 out of 20 questions correctly you will receive 9.5 out of 10 points because 19/20 = 95% and 9.5 points is 95% of 10 points. Both the questions answered correctly and the points earned will be displayed on your progress reports.

One of the important skills that we will learn this year is to communicate about math in writing. In order to meet this state standard I will check homework for the work shown, not just the answers. Assignments turned in without work will not be graded.

Some homework will be graded only for effort and completion. These assignments will be marked with a stamp to show that the work was not corrected for accuracy. It is your responsibility to carefully go over these assignments when we discuss the answers in class and to make corrections on your own.

You must be responsible for completing your homework. Not only is your homework grade worth 10% of your quarter grade, homework is assigned to help you prepare for tests and quizzes by practicing the skills that will be tested.

Quizzes 20%

Most weeks we will take a quiz over the material that we have learned since the previous quiz. These quizzes are an opportunity for you to assess how well you have mastered the topics we study. Each quiz will be worth 10 points. The total grade you receive for quizzes will be 20% of your final quarter grade. Your problem-solving journal will also count toward your final quiz grade.

Tests 40%

At the end of each unit there will be a test over the skills we have learned in the unit. Each test will be worth 100 points. The total grade you receive for tests will be 40% of your total quarter grade. Please see the section titled “Resources Available to Help You Succeed” for information about test retakes.

Absences

If you are absent you will have a number of school days equal to your absence available to make up any work you may have missed. It is your responsibility to find out what you missed and to turn in your work to the appropriate place. The work we complete each day is posted on the calendar in the classroom. Work may also be found in your purple unit overviews, on the homework hotline, and on my web page. You must label all absent work as absent on the top of the page and turn it in to the absent bin.

If you will be absent for three or more days, please call the office to make arrangements to have your work picked up.

If absent work has not been completed by the next progress report the assignment will be displayed as ab and have a score of 0 points. If it is completed within the time allowed the score will be replaced with the earned grade, if it is not completed it will remain a zero.

Late Work

All homework must be completed in pencil, have the correct heading, and be turned in to the correct place in order to receive full credit.

Any assignment not completed in the correct format or turned into the correct place at the start of class on the day it is due is late. Late work will be accepted for 50% credit if it is turned in by the end of the chapter that the assignment is from. It will be announced on progress reports which of your assignments may still be turned in late.

Extra Credit

There will be challenge packets available for 5 points extra credit toward one homework assignment. You may only complete extra credit packets if you have no missing assignments. If you are missing or need to redo work this should be done first as it will raise your grade much more than the extra credit will. You may complete one packet per quarter for credit. This will be the only extra credit available for the year.

Resources Available to Help You Succeed

It is very important that you learn the material in this class. If you are having any problems with the material taught this year there are several ways to receive help.

Peer tutoring is available during R/S two days a week. In addition, I am available for tutoring during R/S, or after school Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday by appointment.

Tutoring and supplemental lessons are also available on the internet. Please check my web page regularly for lesson and chapter reviews as well as homework schedules and current student progress reports.

Any homework assignment may be redone for an improved grade unless I specify otherwise before the assignment. Work that was graded for effort and completion and late work may not be redone. To redo homework, get a new copy of the assignment from the extra handout file and correct any problems that you missed. Attach your original assignment to the corrected copy and write redo on the top of the paper as well as your heading. Turn the paper into the redo bin. You will receive an average of the scores from the two papers for your final grade. All homework redos must be completed before the test over the unit they are in. Redo papers will not be graded unless they are in the correct format.

All tests and quizzes may be retaken. To retake a quiz you must correct all the problems that you missed, return the quiz to me, and make an appointment for the retake. I will average the scores together. To retake a test you must correct any problems you missed and have a parent or guardian sign the test. You must then return the test and make an appointment for the retake. You will receive the higher of the two grades. All quiz and test retakes must be completed by the Monday after the first progress report they appear on.

It is your responsibility to ask for help if you need it. Some sections of this class may be harder for you than others, but if you put forth effort you will succeed.

Materials

Every day in math you must bring certain materials with you in order to participate in class. These include:

Pencil
Loose Leaf Paper
Math Folder
Bellwork/notes notebook (I recommend either 2 small spiral notebooks or one large notebook divided into at least two sections)

In addition, at times throughout the year we will be studying units that require specific equipment. This equipment will be available for loan in the classroom, but you may find it helpful to bring your own from home. I will inform you before these items are needed. These items include:

Calculator
Ruler (inches and centimeters)
Protractor

Technology

Technology is an important part of every subject, including math. This year we will be using calculators and computers to help you understand how to use these important tools as well as to help you master the subject matter.

It will be announced before we begin each unit, weather or not you should use a calculator. If the objective (what you need to learn) for a unit involves computation, such as adding decimals, you will not be allowed to use a calculator. If I am not testing to see if you know these arithmetic skills, but another topic such as problem solving or geometry, you will be encouraged to check your work with a calculator.

Textbook

To help us learn this year we will be using several resources. The book for this class is Mathematics: Applications and Connections. You will be issued one book to take home and leave there. There will be a book in the classroom for you to use. (Please be careful with your book. Due to limited resources if you misplace or damage it, you must replace it.) Throughout the year we will also use worksheets, manipulatives, and each other to help us learn!

Classroom Rules

In order to help you learn in a safe, comfortable environment we will follow a set of classroom rules. These rules, as well as the consequences for choosing to break the rules, are posted in the room and included in the “Behavior Plan for Neon Team” that you will receive on the first day of school.

Teacher Communication

There are many ways that I will communicate with students and parents about my expectations over the course of the school year. Students will receive a printed unit overview and calendar at the start of every chapter that details what work we will be completing on each day of class. You may also find the homework posted in the classroom, on my web page, and on the neon team homework hotline.

Please check my website regularly for information about the units that we are studying, your grade reports, and valuable study aids.

If you need to contact me at any time please email me at lfalcon@amphi.com, or leave a voicemail message at 696-5961.

In closing, welcome to Cross Middle School. We are going to have a wonderful year.

Sincerely,

Leah Falcon

Sixth Grade Math Teacher

Neon Team

Cross Middle School

Please sign and have your child return the following pages.

· I have read and understand the information in the welcome to sixth grade math letter.

· I have read and understand the citizenship plan for sixth grade.

· I will expect progress reports every Wednesday and call the teacher as soon as possible if I am not receiving them.

Parent/Guardian Signature: _____________ Date: _