K-12 Blended and Online Learning

Syllabus for Math 8 – Unit 3: Pythagorean Theorem

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Course Information Welcome to Mrs. Maher’s 8th Grade Math class! This course will be taught using the blended model of
station rotation. With this model of blended learning, students will participate in a variety of activities,
including small group activities, full-group lectures, group projects, individual tutoring, and pencil/paper
tasks. During these station rotations, students will always have the opportunity to participate in online
learning. We will be using our district-issued laptops regularly, so students are required to bring their
laptops and chargers to class daily.

Here in Cobb County, we utilize CTLS (Cobb Teaching and Learning System). This learning
management system can be accessed here. Within our math class in CTLS, students will have access
to notes, tutorial videos, discussion boards, activities, assignments, and assessments.

There is no textbook for this course. However, there will be plenty of resources posted within each
module and provided in class to help support student learning. Students will also be keeping up with
their own notebooks with a table of contents to organize their notes and practice, essentially creating
their own textbook.

Any time a student or learning coach has a question, I can be reached from 8:30am – 5:00pm Monday
through Friday using the information under “Teacher Communication.”

Expected Student Audience My students live in the Cobb County School District, specifically Kennesaw, Georgia, USA. These 8th
grade students (ages 13-15) have successfully completed the 7th grade Math curriculum and mastered
the 7th grade Math standards as assessed by the Georgia Milestones End-of-Grade assessment.

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Teacher Communication Students, parents and/or learning coaches can email me any time with questions or concerns. You can
expect a response within 24 hours Monday-Friday, but an email after 5:30pm on Friday might not get a
response until Monday.

Appointments/conferences can also be requested to discuss progress and can be held either by phone
or video conference. Please sign up for an appointment using this link.

Email: Lindsay.maher@cobbk12.org
Front Office: 770-591-5020

Course Description This course will be following the 8th grade math standards from the Georgia Standards of Excellence.
In the first unit, students will use online geometry software and hands-on manipulatives to learn about
angle relationships, angle measures, geometric transformations, and congruent and similar figures.

Standards to be addressed:
Understand congruence and similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry
software.
MGSE8.G.1 Verify experimentally the congruence properties of rotations, reflections, and translations:
lines are taken to lines and line segments to line segments of the same length; angles are taken to
angles of the same measure; parallel lines are taken to parallel lines.
MGSE8.G.2 Understand that a two-dimensional figure is congruent to another if the second can be
obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations, reflections, and translations; given two congruent
figures, describe a sequence that exhibits the congruence between them.
MGSE8.G.3 Describe the effect of dilations, translations, rotations and reflections on two-dimensional
figures using coordinates.
MGSE8.G.4 Understand that a two-dimensional figure is similar to another if the second can be
obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations, reflections, translations, and dilations; given two
similar two- dimensional figures, describe a sequence that exhibits the similarity between them.
MGSE8.G.5 Use informal arguments to establish facts about the angle sum and exterior angle of
triangles, about the angles created when parallel lines are cut by a transversal, and the angle-angle
criterion for similarity of triangles.

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Learning Outcomes In this unit, students will:

• Find the measures of angles formed by transversals, focusing on the sum of the angles in a
triangle and the measures of exterior angles of triangles.
o The learner will be able to use angle relationships to calculate unknown angle measures, as
demonstrated by 80% accuracy on the summative assessments.
• Physically manipulate figures to discover the properties of similar and congruent figures
o The learner will be able to identify properties of both similar and congruent figures, as
demonstrated by 80% accuracy on the summative assessments.
• Relate rigid motions to the concept of symmetry and use them to prove congruence or similarity of
two figures
o The learner will be able to identify rigid transformations, as demonstrated by 80% accuracy on
the summative assessments.
• Develop the concept of transformations and the effects that each type of transformation has on an
object
o The learner will be able to describe what each transformation does to a figure, as demonstrated
by 80% accuracy on the summative assessments.
• Explore the relationship between the original figure and its image in regard to their corresponding
parts being moved an equal distance, which leads to the concept of congruence of figures
o The learner will be able to perform each transformation by applying each transformation’s
specific criteria, as demonstrated by 80% accuracy on the summative assessments.
• Learn to describe transformations with both words and numbers
o The learner will be able to state the transformation that occurred between preimage and image,
and list appropriate preimage and image coordinates, as demonstrated by 80% accuracy on the
summative assessments.

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Topics by Week The following schedule is tentative and may need to be adjusted based upon student
performance/progress:
▪ Week 1- Angle Relationships
o Module 1: Angle relationships formed by parallel lines being cut by transversals
o Module 2: Angle measures

▪ Week 2 - Triangles
o Module 3: Triangle Sum Theorem
o Module 4: Exterior Angle Theorem

▪ Week 3 - Geometric Transformations

o Module 5: Practice on the Coordinate Plane
o Module 6: Translations

▪ Week 4 - Geometric Transformations

o Module 7: Reflections
o Module 8: Rotations
o Module 9: Congruent Figures

▪ Week 5 – Geometric Transformations

o Module 10: Dilations
o Module 11: Similar Figures

▪ Summative Assessments
o Performance Task (Apply skills learned during this unit to a real-world scenario)
o Unit Test

**Formative assessments will occur within each module to assess student progress. Students who do
not demonstrate mastery on these formative assessments will receive correctives and be provided the
opportunity to reassess before moving on to the next module.

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Expectations of Student Students are expected to:

Participation 1. Attend class every day.
2. Check CTLS for assignments and resources if absent.
3. Bring district-issued laptop and charger to class every day.
4. Access ALL resources posted within each module and take notes in individual notebooks.
5. Set goals for participation, engagement, and mastery of learning.
6. Write a reflection paragraph in CTLS at the end of each module.
7. Respond to all discussion forum questions posed by Mrs. Maher.
8. Complete all CTLS assessments independently and within the assessment window.

Student Communication 1. Be kind and respectful to your peers and teacher. (If there are rude or inappropriate posts, those
Expectations students will be dealt with individually.)
2. Provide constructive feedback to peers when reviewing work or participating in discussions.
3. Check Cobb County email daily and reply to emails from Mrs. Maher within 24 hours.
4. Students will send emails to Mrs. Maher using only their Cobb County email address.
5. Check Cobb County email daily and reply to classmates within 24 hours.
6. When writing emails and discussion posts, students will use complete sentences, correct grammar,
and proper capitalization (We’re not texting each other!).

Late Work Policy Due dates will be clearly communicated for each assignment and assessment, as well as dates for
when assignments/assessments will be graded and returned. Late work will only be accepted when
discussed with Mrs. Maher, and only until the assignment has been graded and returned. If a student
wants to complete the assignment after it has been graded and returned, that student needs to make
arrangements to meet with Mrs. Maher either before or after school to complete it during that time. No
late work will be accepted during the last three days of the grading period.

Students are strongly encouraged to not only work at a steady pace in class, but to work ahead as to
avoid any potential for late work. All modules will be available for those students who wish to work
ahead.

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Grading Policy All assignments will be graded out of 100 points. For example, if there is an assessment with 25
questions, each question will be work 4 points to make the total score out of 100.

Due dates will be clearly communicated for each assignment and assessment, as well as dates for
when assignments/assessments will be graded and returned. Unless indicated otherwise, graded
assignments with feedback will be returned to students no more than 3 days after the due date.

Grading Weights:
Summative assessments make up 60% of the overall grade, which includes tests, performance tasks,
and projects. Formative assessments make up 40% of the overall grade, which includes quizzes,
classwork, and homework.

Grading Scale:
90% - 100% A
80% - 89% B
74% - 79% C
70% - 73% D
0% - 69% F

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Assessments Within each module, students will complete a formative assessment and a reflection paragraph. If a
student scores below 80% on a formative assessment, they will need to remediate and reassess
before moving on to the next module.

At the end of the unit, students will complete a performance task in which they will apply the skills they
learned during the unit to a real-world scenario. Students will have two options for their performance
task in unit 1. In “Angle City,” students design a city using parallel lines and transversals to map out the
city streets and angle relationships to place buildings and landmarks on their map. In “Treasure Hunt,”
students use sequences of transformations to describe how to find hidden treasure on a pirate’s
treasure map.

Students will also take a unit test which aligns to the Georgia Performance Standards for this unit. This
test contains both multiple choice and constructed response questions. The test will be taken on CTLS,
which provides a timed testing window and disables if the student leaves the testing screen.

• Formative assessments will be automatically graded using an answer key.

• Reflection paragraphs will be graded using the reflection rubric.
• Performance Tasks will be graded using the task rubric and an answer key.
• Unit Tests will be automatically graded using an answer key (multiple choice) and teacher-graded
with an acceptable answers list (constructed response).

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Academic Honesty Students are expected to complete their own assignments, on time, and independently. Any student
caught giving OR getting answers from another student or plagiarizing will not receive credit for the
assignment, resulting in a grade of zero. Consequences for academic dishonesty may include:
1. Warning if caught in time of submission
2. Grade resulting in a zero
3. Discipline referral
4. Phone call to inform parent/guardian of incident
5. Restricted technology access for repeat offenders.

If you have any questions about academic honesty, the Cobb Virtual Academy has a summary that
describes academic integrity and possible consequences if academic integrity is not maintained.

Any concerns that a student, parent, or learning coach has regarding student honesty should be
directed to Mrs. Maher immediately. Please refer to the student agenda for more clarification on
Academic Honesty.

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Acceptable Use Policy Cobb County’s Online Technology Consent Form must be signed by a parent/guardian for a student to
be permitted to use online technology at school. This consent form also serves as the Internet safety
policy, discussing what students should and should not do on the Internet at school.
• Students are responsible for good behavior/character online just like they are in our school
building.
• Students are not permitted to use obscene, profane, threatening, or disrespectful language.
Bullying will not be tolerated.
• Students should notify the teacher of anything inappropriate.

The Cobb County Acceptable Use Policy describes what is expected of students and teachers with
Internet and technology. Students should refrain from searching for inappropriate material or posting
inappropriate material. Further offenses can be seen in sections F (Personal
Communications/Electronic Devices), G (Disrespectful Conduct), H (Disruption of School), L
(Harassment, Intimidation, Threats, and Bullying Behavior), N (Off-Campus Offenses), and W (District
Technology Offenses) of the Cobb County Code of Conduct. Parents sign off on receipt of this form at
the beginning of the school year.

Consequences for misuse of technology will be as follows (depending on the severity of the misuse,
some students may skip to the third offense):
• First offense - brief student-teacher meeting to discuss the misuse and make student aware of
the mistake.
• Second offense - the teacher will contact parent/guardian to let them know that the student has
been warned once and is now receiving a second warning.
• Third offense - Administrator referral which could result in the removal of access to technology
during the school day.

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Student Right to Privacy Cobb County’s Online Technology Consent Form must be signed by a parent/guardian for a student to
be permitted to use online technology at school. This consent form also serves as the Internet safety
policy, discussing what students should and should not do on the Internet at school.

Cobb County’s Permission to Display Student Work must be signed by a parent/guardian in order for a
student’s work to be displayed or performed on the Cobb County School District website.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of student education records
and gives parents the right to review records. Under FEPRA, schools may disclose directory
information in certain circumstances. More information regarding FERPA may be found in the district’s
annual Parent Information Guide.

Technology Requirements Students are required to bring their laptops and chargers to class daily, and it is recommended that
each student has a wireless mouse. Students also need their log-in information for their school email
address and CTLS.

Students must have the following to participate effectively in class:

1. Internet access in and outside of school
2. Student log-in for email and CTLS
3. Working web-cam and microphone
4. Working headphones/earbuds

Students will need basic skills with technology and may want to practice typing at home in order to
speed up discussion post writing. These games are fun and help students to be more fluid typists.
Otherwise, there will be general instructions when students encounter new software.

If a student experiences technical problems with their device, they need to report their concerns to Mrs.
Maher. If Mrs. Maher is unable to troubleshoot the issue, they will then submit a work order for either
Mr. Kelly (IT support) or Ms. Wickline (media specialist) to resolve the issue.

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Copyright Statement All course materials are owned by Mrs. Maher, Palmer Middle School, Cobb County Schools, or an
outside source. Course materials are not to be copied, edited, or redistributed for any purpose. As
students complete the assignments, information that is not theirs needs to be cited. Copyright law is
crucial to follow.

If you have questions regarding materials created by Mrs. Maher, please contact me at
Lindsay.maher@cobbk12.org.

Students with Disabilities
Per the IDEA ’04 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), students with disabilities will be provided
all accommodations listed in their IEP or 504 plans. Students on RTI will have different interventions in
place in order to support academic growth. Mrs. Maher will work closely with Special Education case
managers and counselors to ensure all information is current and that students’ needs are being met.
Examples of these accommodations can be extended time, small group testing, read-to assignments,
study guides, and many more.

Any questions? Much more information can be found on the IDEA website and ADA website that
describe what students might need and will be provided.
*This document pairs with Designing a Syllabus for an Online Unit of Instruction (Peer Evaluation Checklist) by Lokey-Vega.

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