Dear Parent/Guardian,
Greenville County middle schools will be using a student-centered blended mathematics curriculum for the 2025-2026 school year. GCS has partnered with McGraw Hill for a task-based math program and software to fully implement both South Carolina College and Career Ready Math content and process standards.
McGraw Hill offers blended math (consumable text and Aleks software) offers the most successful math program in the nation: they have researched how students think, learn, and apply new knowledge in math, and then crafted materials that play to each student’s learning needs. By constantly developing new ways for students to learn, McGraw Hill ensures that students achieve greater success and improved math scores.
The textbook comes in two parts, a consumable and a physical textbook. The consumable booklet your child will receive is theirs to keep. There is space for writing, sketching, drawing, cutting, pasting, and constructing new mathematical ideas. Students may want to highlight key terms, take notes in the margins, or even doodle on the cover. They can make it their own!
Throughout the lessons, students will build new knowledge based on their prior knowledge. They will apply math to real-world situations so that they can see why it’s meaningful. If students need additional practice, they can find it in Aleks Software, the Assignment Pages or the Skills Practice pages available in your child’s portal and Student Backpack.
Today’s workplace demands teamwork and self-confidence. McGraw Hill designed the Math Series to help students to make the most of their math courses. In the classroom, students will be encouraged to work together in pairs or in groups because it gets students talking about their insights. Everyone will share his or her ideas and thoughts in class - Learning by Doing® and mathematical discourse/accountable talk.
You may find this new textbook to be different from what you are used to, but it’s for all the good reasons described above. McGraw Hill knows you want to help your child be successful in math class, MH supports and encourages involvement in your child’s learning.
Tips for a successful year:
Make sure your child is at school every day. Class discussions and opportunities to explore problems with classmates cannot be reproduced.
Help your child find a place and time for homework. Stick with this routine every day. The homework may be the lesson-specific from the student text (Assignment Page), Skills Practice, and/or software practice on Aleks
When assisting with homework:
Help your child make sense of the problem by asking them questions (find out what they know about the problem and what they are trying to figure out). o
Encourage your child to use problem-solving strategies (draw a picture, act it out, work backward, guess and check, use simple numbers at first, etc.)
If you have classroom-specific questions, please contact your child’s teacher.
Geometry Syllabus - Northwood Middle School
Room: 807
Phone: 355 - 7022
Email Address: jaramsey@greenville.k12.sc.us
McGraw HIll
Aleks student software
8th/Geometry with Statistics Year-At-A-Glance
Unit 1A: Patterns of Association
Suggested Pacing: 15 days
In this unit, students will develop a deeper understanding of linear equations and data analysis. They begin by exploring linear equations, identifying the number of possible solutions, and justifying their reasoning using appropriate mathematical language and tools. Students then transition into working with bivariate data by creating and interpreting scatter plots to determine the type and strength of relationships between variables. They will use lines of fit to analyze linear associations and apply statistical questioning to investigate real-world data. The unit also includes interpreting two-way tables and relative frequency tables to recognize patterns and relationships. Finally, students will examine how changes to data sets affect measures of center and variability, and compare multiple data sets using graphical representations to draw informed conclusions.
Unit 2A: Irrational Numbers and Exponents
Suggested Pacing: 18 days
This unit will focus on analyzing and comparing functions using multiple representations, including mappings, tables, graphs, equations (when linear), and verbal descriptions. Students will learn to identify whether a function is linear or nonlinear and will describe key features. The use of technology tools such as spreadsheets and graphing software is encouraged to enhance conceptual understanding and facilitate visual analysis.
This unit also focuses on the real number system and will look deeper at rational and irrational numbers and radical expressions.
Unit 3A/B: Probability
Suggested Pacing:13 days
This unit focuses on helping 8th-grade students understand the fundamental concepts of probability, including categorizing events, applying the Addition and Multiplication Rules, and determining sample spaces. Students begin this study by first displaying sample spaces in various ways. The Fundamental Counting Principle is used to find the total number of outcomes, which involves calculating probabilities after organizing data into lists, arrays, and tree diagrams. Students will develop skills to calculate and interpret the probabilities of both independent and dependent events, equipping them for real-world applications and a deeper understanding of mathematics. Proportional reasoning is also included in this unit, requiring students to use fraction/decimal/percent equivalents to communicate the likelihood of compound events occurring.
Unit 1B: Tools of Geometry
Suggested Pacing: 8 days
This module begins by introducing students to the concept of axiomatic systems and connecting this to those that are fictional. Afterwards, the module then provides students with an understanding of the basic elements of geometry, including points, lines, segments, planes, and angles. They will also work with number lines and coordinate planes to calculate distances and to find midpoints. While learning these elements, students will think about how points, lines, and planes are used to model the real world.
Unit 2B: Angles and Geometric Figures
Suggested Pacing: 8 days
Students begin by taking a deeper look into angles, one of the basic elements of geometry. After using congruence to describe relationships between angles, students next study figures in two and three dimensions. Students will also receive a brief introduction to transformations in the coordinate plane
Unit 3B: Logical Arguments and Line Relationships
Suggested Pacing: 17 days
Students learn to write conjectures using inductive reasoning based on patterns found from their observations. They prove the conjectures using logical arguments or disprove them using counterexamples. This will show an understanding of the basic principles of logical reasoning to determine the truth values of the conjectures. Then they apply logical arguments to basic line and angle relationships. Using deductive reasoning, students learn to construct logical arguments by writing paragraph proofs, flow proofs, and two-column proofs.
Unit 4B: Transformations and Symmetry
Suggested Pacing: 7 days
Students were briefly introduced to rigid motions in an earlier lesson, Lesson 2-4. However this unit provides opportunities for students to gain a deeper understanding of each rigid transformation separately. Students will learn that rigid transformations result in images that are congruent to preimages and justify those relationships by identifying which transformation occurred. They continue to work with rigid motions with the compositions of transformations and symmetries that map the preimages onto itself. All transformations in this unit will be completed on the coordinate plane.
Unit 5B: Triangles and Congruence
Suggested Pacing: 14 days
This unit focuses on the properties of triangles, congruence, and the relationships between angles. It emphasizes the application of geometric theorems and critical reasoning to solve problems related to triangles and their attributes. Students will use triangle sum theorems to solve problems, prove triangles congruent using different congruence criteria, and then solve problems using congruent triangles.
Unit 6B
Unit 7B
Unit 8B
Unit 9B
Unit 10B
Unit 11B
Notebook with loose-leaf paper
Textbook
Chromebook
Pencils (at least two)
Calculator
Graph paper
In an effort to remain consistent with high school standards and grading conventions, credit-bearing courses at Northwood Middle will be weighted as follows:
Major grades: 60%
Minor grades: 40%
Please note that no midterms will be administered for these courses. The final grade will be assessed with the first semester counting as 45%, the second semester as 45%, and the final exam as 10%.
Major assignments consist of tests and projects. Minor assignments consist of homework, quizzes, and class work. A grade floor of 50% will be applied to overall quarter grades, not to individual assignments. This means that while students may receive lower scores on specific tasks, their final quarter grade will not fall below 50%.Assignments that are not handed in on the assigned due date will be coded as NHI in the gradebook and can be turned in for up to 5 school days. After the 5th school day, assignments will no longer be accepted.