Year 8 Geometry

Rationale and justification
Geometry is all around us; how an object is physically shaped can all be expressed and also manipulated with geometric knowledge. I chose Year 8 geometry since it requires the most basic knowledge about geometry, yet is highly applicable in real life. One of the reason why students are getting demotivated in math class is that they think they will not use the maths formulas in their real life. I have heard too many times students asking to a math teacher ‘why are we learning this, I won’t be going to use it later on?’. Indeed, students learn better if they perceive the content knowledge valuable. Thus this curriculum package is constructed to possess connections between mathematical knowledge and students’ real life

Moreover, the first lesson in the curriculum package involves a learning objective from Year 7 geometry, which is, ACMMG159. This has been done intentionally since ACMMG159 is about formulas for areas of rectangles and triangles, and hence, it is the most fundamental mathematical skill that will be required for the following lessons in the curriculum package. It is significant to make another connections between students’ previously learnt knowledge and the series of new knowledge that the students will be learning, since those connections will lubricate the flow of the curriculum package.
This curriculum package has two main groups of target learners; one of them is the students from non-English speaking background (or EAL students). Regarding that EAL students may have deficient level of English skills than the native English speakers, they may have a range of problems with English in every class including limited vocabularies and reading a context (Iwai, 2008). Also, in my placement schools, I observed many EAL students gather around each other for most of lessons and recess times, and use their first language although they are

I believe that students’ engagement can be maximised when they are enjoying the class and learning. The curriculum consist of various hands-on activities including physically moving around the classroom and measuring with their rulers a length value in order to proceed calculation. Through this kinaesthetic learning, students are not passive learners who sit and listen to what a teacher teaches for a whole period, rather, they become an enthusiastic investigator who desires to discover/test some facts. These activities will allow them refreshes their boring minds and actively concentrate on the lesson. Another feature in the curriculum package that may help stimulating students’ curiosity is the Pi song in lesson 3. Since the song is played with a piano with melody of Pi, the song can be used as an energising starter of the lesson, and/or as a relaxing disclosure of the lesson. It will fully attract students’ attentions and elicit curiosity about the idea of Pi. In addition, the fact that the platform of the video is YouTube, students can easily access to the song and listen to the song in their private time. Indeed, a group of secondary teachers have discovered the effectiveness of the use of songs in mathematic class (Lykins, 2015). Lastly, the curriculum package wraps up the lessons by letting students playing a