Review & Preview
Make sure that you are spending time each day doing your Review & Preview problems. They are there not only to help you practice prior skills that you will continue to need, but to help preview content of future lessons. Keeping up with the Review & Preview problems and asking questions as they arise, will make your homework time more efficient. If you are struggling, check out http://homework.cpm.org/cpm-homework for extra help!
CPM offers resources for parents and students at its website www.cpm.org and within the eBook. You might find it useful to take a look at the following sections:
● About CPM
● Support -> Parent Support
In the About CPM section, you will find an introduction to CPM, more information about the program, research supporting the program, and more information about the curriculum.
In the Support -> Parent Support section, there are suggestions of ways to help your student, parent guides to lessons, and tips for learning. There are also videos of students in the classroom that will give you an idea of what your child’s math class might look like.
Course specific resources are available at http://cpm.org, select Textbook Resources, then your child’s textbook.
Mindset
Success in math is all about your mindset. Having a growth mindset and believing you can learn anything if you work hard instead of a fixed mindset where you believe you are either good at math or not, will be important for success in school and life. Your brain is a muscle that gets stronger at math by practicing math.
Welcome to College Preparatory Mathematics, CPM. Your student will be involved in interesting and stimulating mathematics this school year. To help you understand what is happening in your child’s math class, you will be receiving a Tip of the Week.
CPM believes all students can be successful in mathematics as long as they are willing to work and ask for help when they need it. We encourage you to contact your child’s teacher if you or your student has additional questions.
During class your child will often be working in a small group called a study team. Study teams are designed to encourage students to engage in mathematical conversations. Collaboration allows students to develop new ways of thinking about mathematics, increases students’ abilities to communicate with others about math, and helps strengthen their understanding of concepts and ideas by having to explain their thinking to others. Each student in the study team has an assigned role with a clear set of expectations, which are listed in the student text.
Because students are expected to work together to solve problems, the main role of the teacher is to be a supporting guide. Instead of just showing a process and having students mimic it, your child’s teacher will be introducing the concept of the day and then circulating the classroom, listening to team discussions, asking questions of teams, and initiating a closure activity at the end of each lesson to ensure the intended math content has been addressed.
The main objectives of Chapter 1 are to introduce the course to the students, allow them to apply previous learning in new ways, and review ideas from previous math courses. You will notice boxes titled “Math Notes”. Math Notes boxes contain definitions, explanations, and/or examples. Your student’s teacher will explain how these notes will be used in class. The homework is given in a section titled “Review and Preview”.