This is the sixth course in a series of small group classes for middle school math. These classes are a hybrid of individualized learning and traditional classes. Each section has no more than five learners which provides a foundation for strong relationships, social-emotional learning, and truly individualized instruction. 
This series is based on an accelerated math curriculum that covers three years of content, aligned to Common Core Math Standards, over the course of two school years. It is perfect for students beginning middle school and students who need to catch up. The curriculum is problem-based this means instead of lectures or videos students work together as a small group to solve problems to discover principles and strategies with teacher guidance, as necessary. Therefore, we will spend approximately 90% of each class period working on problems and discussing them as a group. The use of discussion and problem-solving leads to generalized mathematics or proofs. This process prepares students well who may seek advanced mathematics in high-school or beyond. Students will complete a math notebook In the style of a “Main Lesson” book found in Waldorf and Steiner education philosophies to help with recall and long-term retention.
This unit is a three week study of percent change, error, and interpretation using early Algebra skills. These topics are centered around real-life scenarios including shopping, taxes, discounts, commission, mark-up and other financial topics to incorporate early finance and budgeting skills as well. 
Week 1: We will begin with a pre-unit skills assessment to refresh prerequisite skills for the unit. Then we will begin working with proportional relationships with fractions and decimals as well as introducing the idea of percents over a hundred and increasing/decreasing percents. 
Week 2: Students will practice percent change with equations and begin working with percents less than 1. Then they will begin applying their knowledge of percent change to real world situations. 
Week 3: Students will apply their percent skills to situations and begin discussing error including percent error and error intervals to evaluate percents and build early statistic skills. Students will apply these skills in a project using newspaper clippings. Finally, students will take a end of unit test.