Algebra 1
Course Information
Current Syllabus & Assignments: 1st quarter, 2nd quarter, 3rd quarter, 4th quarter
At Lawrence North High School, the entire hand-picked team of Algebra 1 instructors believes passionately that mastering these skills and concepts will have a stronger influence on your future success throughout high school and beyond than any other single course in which you may choose to enroll. Algebra 1 skills and conceptual relationships are the foundation of the CORE 40 graduation exam but will also prepare you for future math and science courses. We are committed as a team to providing quality instruction and appropriate materials and supporting you with plenty of attention, patience, and other resources. We understand the importance of the content of this class and we truly want you to succeed.
Some of the “big ideas” we emphasize in Algebra 1 include properties of real numbers, solving equations and inequalities and proportions, functions and graphs, understanding lines and slope, polynomials and factoring, radicals and quadratic functions.
Our measuring sticks are that darn CORE 40 test and your future success in Algebra 2, but our focus is on mastering those “big ideas” along the way. Some of these skills will be difficult for you to understand at first. I encourage you to keep these three P’s in mind:
1)
Practice! Math is a skill and can only be mastered through routine,
Practice! Math is a skill and can only be mastered through routine,rigorous and disciplined practice. 2)Pace! Don’t try to rush or skip ahead until you fully understand what we have already done.
Pace! Don’t try to rush or skip ahead until you fully understand what we have already done.Take breaks and ask lots of questions.3)Perspective! This class is imperative regardless of your goals. I encourage you to
Perspective! This class is imperative regardless of your goals. I encourage you totake a step back from the mechanical steps of the arithmetic and try to understandthe concepts and relationships. When you understand why certain steps are requiredyou’re not as likely to forget them or do them incorrectly. Congratulations! You made it to the second semester of Algebra 1. Only the students who have demonstrated a solid understanding of the concepts in the first semester are here right now. Yes, it’s that important. The second semester is notable more difficult than the first, but we’re confident you’ll make it through or it would not have been recommended that you be here. We have two goals this semester: 1) to make sure everyone is prepared for the Algebra 1 End-of-Course Assessment (ECA) graduation exam in May, and 2) to help ensure your future success in Algebra 2.
Our seventh unit explains the rules for exponents and multiplying and dividing factors with the same base. We’ll follow that up with a unit on polynomials to get comfortable adding and subtracting like terms with exponents, then multiply polynomial groups together using the Distributive Property. In the next unit we will change directions and go backwards through the distributive process to factor polynomial expressions, especially quadratic trinomials. As the quarter draws to a close, we’ll be breaking down and solving quadratic equations.
Test Schedule:
Jan 22-25 ExponentsFeb 9-10 PolynomialsFeb 26-Mar 1 Quadratic ExpressionsTBA Mid-Term Exam
