7th Grade Math

Did you know…

• There are 41 California Standards for 7th Grade Math.

• 17 of these 41 standards are identified by the state as “key standards”.

• Only 13 of these “key standards” appear two or more times on the annual California Standards Test (CST) for 7th Grade.  According to the State Blueprint, these 13 “Power Standards” make up approximately 70% of the questions on the CST.

Purpose of Star Power Warm-ups

Star Power Warm-ups are designed to help teachers prepare students on a daily basis for the CST.  Each of the 130 daily warm-ups consists of 5 standards based multiple-choice questions.  This collection of warm-ups goes beyond state-approved textbooks and what they are designed to accomplish.

Star Power Warm-ups are proportionally aligned to the CST.  Most state-adopted textbooks are aligned to the state standards, though they are not proportionally aligned to the CST.  For every one question on the CST, there are about 10 warm-up questions spiraled throughout this collection.  Standard PS1.3 (which involves finding the minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile and maximum of a data set) has 3 questions on the CST.  Thirty-one different warm-up questions are contained in these warm-ups to help students develop understanding and practice with PS1.3.  

AF1.3 (which involves properties of rational numbers…e.g., identity, inverse, associative, commutative, distributive) has 5 questions on the CST.   Five questions on the CST is a full one-thirteenth of the test.  Does the average teacher spend one-thirteenth of the year on properties?  Most spend only one or two days discussing properties.  Star Power Warm-ups helps to correct this imbalance by dedicating more attention to the standards that are most often tested.  If your textbook did this, there would be an entire chapter dedicated to properties of rational numbers.

Standards-based concepts are introduced in similar pacing to how they are introduced in the state-approved textbooks.  Every effort was made to introduce the standards to students after they have encountered them in the textbook.  We want students to be successful with these warm-ups, and it is recommended that you start the warm-ups around the third week of school.  This will enable you to complete the first chapter of your textbook and gain a small head start on the warm-ups.  One of the first standards introduced in the 7th grade state approved textbooks is AF1.3 on properties.  This standard is also introduced on the very first warm-up.  Standard MG3.3 on the Pythagorean Theorem is often introduced much later in textbooks like in chapter 8 or 10.  Consequently, students will not encounter this standard until warm-up number 69.

Warm-up questions closely resemble state-released CST questions.  The state encourages teachers to review released questions with their students, but not all at once as in a complete test or practice test.  Star Power Warm-ups provide extra support to students and teachers by making it part of their daily routine.  If students complete all 130 warm-ups, they will have taken the equivalent of ten CST exams.  This significant amount of review will make a big difference in year-end test scores.

Allows students to see which types of questions are most critical on the CST.  Each question on the warm-ups is identified by standard, which lies below the question.  Each question is also accompanied by a number of stars.  Many students will incorrectly assume that these stars indicate the level of difficulty of the problem.  Teachers should advise students that the stars indicate how many times that type of question appears on the CST.  Standards-based questions that have 5 stars appear on the CST five times.  A question that has 2/3 of a star appears on the test two out of every three years.

Implementation

Give the warm-ups every day including Fridays.  In order to review 130 warm-ups before the CST is given in mid-May, they must be given on a daily basis.  Students will find this routine comfortable.  It is important to complete the last nine warm-ups as these review the "Power Standards” exclusively.

Allow students 5 to 7 minutes to complete each daily warm-up.  It is important that students write their answers down in their notebooks.  Encourage them to show work on applicable problems.  “If it is possible to show work on the problem, then I want to see it.”

Immediately review the warm-up questions with students.  The purpose of these warm-ups is to enable students to think about standards, prepare for the year-end test, and eliminate misconceptions.  Immediate feedback will help students accomplish these goals quickly, and allow the teacher to see greater progress on future warm-ups.

Track student progress.  There are a number of ways to track the progress of students on these warm-ups.  Teachers can keep track of the most missed standards-based questions through something as simple as a show of hands.  The best way to track progress, however, is through the use of a students response system like Quizdom®, Senteo®, or CPS®.  These hand-held student remotes can provide teachers and students with instant feedback on class mastery of every warm-up question.