Parents – 8th Grade Math

8th Grade Math

Overview

Extensive work with linear equations (equations whose graph is a line) ties together much of what your student will learn this year. They’ll understand them in the context of functions and represent them using tables, graphs, and equations. They’ll take data that suggest a linear relationship, find an appropriate line, and make predictions based on the graph or the equation. Geometry will center around lines as well–shifting, stretching or reflecting 2- and 3-dimensional objects using specific lines as a reference. Linear functions will be one basis for understanding more complicated functions such as quadratic and trigonometric functions, and links to the extensive 6^th ad 7^th grade work with proportional relationships. They will also be analyzing angles formed when lines intersect, and finding the distance between two points on a line using the Pythagorean Theorem.

Homework Help – click here

Homework help offers tips, strategies and sometimes solutions for every homework question in this chapter.

Parent resources for Core Connections Course 3

The links below provide a description of the math content by chapter of College Preparatory Math plus additional resources specific to the math of each chapter.

General parent tips for supporting 8th grade math

• Encourage productive struggle and perseverance. Careful and complete reasoning is much more important than quickly arriving at an answer.

• There are skill-based supports emerging that are aligned with Common Core. The Khan Academy is working hard to create worthwhile tasks, for example. But if your child needs extra support, you might consider working together with your child on an activity like the Barbie Bungee one or activities from Mathalicious, which because they are interesting and sometimes “real world” are more likely to engage them.

• There are many contexts in which linear functions arise, for example costs of cell-phone plans as discussed in the high-school handout. If you or someone you know can point this out and use them to show why the material is important and how what they are learning in school is a helpful skill, This can help motivation and engagement at a challenging age.