Preparing Communication and Organization Tools

Parent Letters

There is a Parent Letter available for each of the 23 Units. These letters provide valuable information about the Unit goals and key vocabulary that will be used, as well as information about how parents can be helpful to their children in learning mathematics. You can personalize the letters to include your name and contact information. You can send letters home with your students or send them electronically. Some teachers have found it helpful for their students to write personal letters to their parents or guardians at the end of each Unit to share specific examples of their learning. Also, you may want to direct your parents to the support available to them in the Familes section of our website or Peason's CMP3 myMathUniverse Parent and Family Place.

Student Notebooks

Students can use a three-ring binder to hold their texts and their work. Some teachers ask students to organize their binders into sections such as the following:

• Student Edition of current Unit
• Journal: a record of the in-class Problems with Summarize notes
• Mathematical Reflections
• Vocabulary: student-created Mathematics Dictionary
• Homework: ACE questions and additional practice exercises
• Assessments: Individual Check Up Quizzes, Partner Quizzes, Unit Tests and Projects

Other teachers have found that a simpler organization of student notebooks is effective:

• Front pocket for the current work in an Investigation
• Student Edition and Mathematics Dictionary
• Back pocket for assessed student work to include in-class Problems, ACE, Mathematical Reflections, and Quizzes

Student Portfolios

At the end of each Unit, key artifacts from the Unit are shifted to an in-class mathematics student portfolio. Many teachers hold the portfolios in crates or a file cabinet in the room. The portfolio may include the following:

• Unit Record Sheet (reflecting all assessed items from the Unit)
• Two samples of best work selected by the student
• All Mathematical Reflections
• Quizzes and the Unit Test and Project 
• Student Self-Assessment
• Pre- and Post-Assessment Reflections