Curriculum-Course Progression
Mathematics Curriculum
All programs are designed to emphasize the development of student understanding of selected concepts and topics; to perform operations; to understand problems and then to select appropriate methods and operations for solutions; and to develop higher order thinking skills. An accelerated program is included, beginning at the seventh grade level. Course prerequisite criteria can be found in the Middle School Program of Studies. Mathematics coursework must be taken at Tenafly Middle School. No summer courses are accepted.
The curriculum offered supports the Mathematical Practices established by the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS), namely to:
- Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
- Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
- Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
- Model with mathematics.
- Use appropriate tools strategically.
- Attend to precision.
- Look for and make use of structure.
- Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Math 6
The critical areas of instructional focus are: (a) connecting ratio and rate to whole number multiplication and division,(b) using concepts of ratio and rate to solve problems, (c) completing understanding of division of fractions, (d) extending the notion of number to the system of rational numbers, including negative numbers, (e) writing, interpreting, and using expressions writing and solving one-step equations and inequalities and (f) developing understanding of statistical thinking.
Math 7/7A
The critical areas of instructional focus are: (a) developing understanding of and applying proportional relationships, (b) developing understanding of operations with rational numbers, (c) fluently solving linear equations and graphing solutions of inequalities, (d) solving problems involving scale drawings and informal geometric constructions,working with two-and three-dimensional shapes to solve geometric problems, and (e) drawing inferences about populations based on samples.
Math 8
The critical areas of instructional focus are: (a) understanding the unique language of mathematics, (b) formulating and reasoning about expressions and equations, (c) solving linear equations and systems of linear equations, (d) grasping the concept of a function and using functions to describe quantitative relationships, (e) analyzing two- and three-dimensional space and figures using distance, angle, similarity, and congruence, and (f) understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem.
Algebra – Grade 7 or Grade 8
This class is the equivalent of the HS Algebra 1 class with the same rigor and expectations. The critical areas on instructional focus are: (a) modeling with linear equations and inequalities, (b) modeling with linear functions, (c) solving linear systems and exponential functions, (d) solving quadratic equations, functions, polynomials, and (e) modeling with statistics.
Geometry Grade 8
This course is the equivalent of HS Geometry Honors with the same rigor and expectations. The critical areas of instructional focus are: (a) congruence and construction, (b) congruence, similarity and proof, (c) trigonometric ratios, (d) modeling geometric relationships with equations, (e) geometric modeling with two and three-dimensional figures.