ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

Analysis of need for a 7th / 8th grade Algebra unit: All school districts in North Dakota must undergo a five year school improvement plan as directed by the Department of Public Instruction. The Nedrose School District, has set as one of its goals in that process, the improvement of math comprehension scores on fall State Assessments and the annual NAEP evaluations in February.
Primary focus within our school, is on improving performance in grades 3-6, and maintaining outstanding performance in grades 7 and 8. Last year’s 8th grade class had a class composite score in math, that placed them in the 71st percentile. Last year’s algebra class had over 50% of its membership over the 90th percentile. This compares to a state average slighly above 68% and the national average of 50%.
This data indicates we are performing well as a district in those grades, and must continue to strive to maintain excellence in 7th and 8th grade math performance. Evidence furthermore indicates, we must continue to enhance our math program and provide algebra students, as well as those in other middle-school math classes, with the opportunity to excell and grow through interesting and challenging electives such as the TWT initiative.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: 1. Students need to be able to fomulate problem-solving strategies when presented with a problem or question. 2. They should be able to use knowledge and skills learned in 7 / 8 grade algebra class to correctly come to a conclusion, or series of conclusions, regarding the problem.  3. They need to be able to know what resources to draw upon, understand how to utilize the information they find, why it is needed to resolve the problem, and when to apply those resources.  4. Memorization is not nearly as important, as is knowing how and where to find a solution to a problem or question.
Goal(s): 1. Students will apply technological skills in mathematical situations.  2. Students will formulate problem solving strategies.  3. Students will draw conclusions from data gathered.  4. Student understanding will improve performance on standardized State Assessments.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: 1. Are students able to attack and understand a problem or challenge without seeking assistance from someone other than their peers or themselves?  2. Have they learned problem-solving strategies and where to seek answers to questions?  3. Do they understand the role of technology in finding solutions to either mathematical situations or real life challenges?  4. Can students evaluate what they find, and formulate a hypothesis that might solve the problem?  5. If one of the goals of these activities, is for students to be independent thinkers, are they able to apply what they’ve learned in this project, to other real-life situations and other facets of Algebra and future math classes?
Objectives: 1. 7th and 8th grade students will identify algebraic patterns and processes in assignments they are given and be able to verbally express this information to the teacher. 2. 7th and 8th grade students will physically demonstrate in the classroom to the instructor, how to use technology and related resources to address and solve mathematical challenges.  3. 7th and 8th grade students will apply knowledge gained in class, to projects and activities they are asigned, and convey this information on work they turn in.  4. 7th and 8th grade students will show knowledge they reviewed state math standards based on data they submit at the end of these projects .  5. Upon completion of these activities, students will demonstrate increased proficiency on the mathematical portion of the 2005 State Assessments, producing scores in the 65+ percentile.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding? 1. Given a situation or problem, identify what algebraic concepts will be used to solve or understand the situation. Example 1 - Your family has two cars, one is new, the other five years old a) Which costs more to own and operate?  b)Which family member should drive which car, based on useage and job? Example 2-You decide to buy a lighthouse. a) How many tourists / visitors must drop in daily to cover expenses? b) What will you charge them?  c) Will expenses be the same all year?  d)How about useage? e)Construct graphs to give supporting evidence why or why not.
What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding? 1. Are there variables in your analysis?  2. Can technological tools such as graphing calculators, automatic graphers, or research on the internet, help familiarize yourself with strategies to make a sound analysis?  3. Would such tools as CD’s or visual aides created on a computer, give a better analysis in your approach to solving the problem?
What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding? Students will demonstrate command of multiplication in algebra, addition in algebra, subtraction in algebra, use of slopes and lines, exponents and powers, uses of variables, linear systems, functions, and scientific notation.
What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect? Pupils will show through their reading of resources and group discussions that they understand the nature of the problem. 1. They will provide computations and statistics that show direct correlations between what they have learned and how algebra was applied.  2. Evidence should be prepared in such a way that technology played a part in their findings and supports their conclusions.  3. Discussions with individual students or small groups, should provide insights into how engaged students are in the activity.

Instructional Strategies

Two strategies will be used in these lessons. The first will be to present students with several problem based activities. Through these activities students will begin to use higher-order thinking skills. As our classroom uses cooperative learning strategies on a daily basis already, students will utilize this approach in the two problems presented. Both of these were mentioned earlier in this project. These will be the family automobile efficiency comparison and lighthouse purchase.
The focus of these two lessons will be to reinforce and promote problem-solving strategies. The second phase of this project will be the project-based portion of the student exercise. In these activities, students will again need to work together in small groups. They will collectively produce a summary of 10 areas in their lives, which algebra is a part of. They will show data that explains how and why these areas use algebra. They will also show what technological resources were used to formulate their choices, as well as provide evidence of understanding of the lessons goals and objectives mentioned earlier in this outline.