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August 30, 2006

Dear Family,

My name is Adam Lane, and I will be your child’s math teacher for this school year. I have recently graduated from Iowa State University and currently live in Belvidere. I am a fifth year teacher and am excited about being in Belvidere Central Middle School. To say the least, I am eager to begin another year of teaching and am looking forward to a great year.

The materials are organized into units, each of which takes about 6 to 8 weeks of class time. Each unit is focused around problem situations that help students to learn an important set of related mathematical ideas and to become skillful at using these ideas to solve problems. The curriculum is structured to help students communicate their strategies and their reasoning so that their mathematical understandings are deepened. The kinds of problems that the student will work on in class, as well as for homework, may be more challenging and interesting than those they have encountered in the past. Practice with ideas and skills are provided throughout the units in the Applications-Connections-Extensions questions assigned for homework. Our main goal is to help more of our students be successful in mathematics and to encourage them to continue its study as they proceed through middle school and high school.

You can do a great deal to help your child succeed in mathematics. Here are some strategies that can be used through the year with many of the mathematics units.
- Encourage your child to do his or her homework on a regular basis. Provide a regular place and time to do homework.
- Have your child show you his or her mathematics notebook and explain to you what he or she has been doing in class.
- Help him or her to be more organized. Look for sections in the notebook that contain class notes, vocabulary, homework, and assessment pieces.
- Have your child explain the words in the vocabulary list or the solution to a problem.
- Encourage your child by explaining that you believe that he or she can succeed through trying and working hard at the assignments.

We are excited about this curriculum and its potential for helping students develop strong mathematical knowledge and skills. We are looking forward to a successful year for all of our students. If you have any questions or concerns at any time during the year, please feel free to contact me at school (544-0190 ext. 2931), at home (815-762-1117), or by email (alane@district100.com).

Sincerely,

Mr. Lane