This Week...
12/16/2019
Last week of school before break! I hope everyone is looking forward to a fun and relaxing two weeks.
MATH 6 This week, I will not be assigning any homework; however, I will be giving an extra assignment to students who need to prepare for a retake. Please consider this assignment as a means to prepare you for your retake, not as a punishment. As such, do not spend hours stressing over this. Please come in for help and make sure you understand the material. This is not about completion as much as it is about catching up on what you don't understand. You can complete the extra assignment at any time throughout the week and turn it in when you are ready. I will meet with each student after they complete the assignment to see if they would like to schedule a retake. While retake tests are optional, the assignment is not. I highly recommend retaking any test on which you receive a low grade simply because math concepts in this class build on previous units. If you didn't perform well on the second unit test, and you didn't go back and try to understand those topics, chances are you also struggled on the test that followed. I highly recommend you try to finish the assignment early this week so that you can perhaps take a retake and improve your grade before you leave for break. CONTENT: This week, we will be diving into some fun Geometry lessons. This is good content, but I wanted to keep things light this week. We will be focusing on what area is. MATH 7 This week, I will not be assigning homework. Please take this time to make sure you check your grades and look into taking a retake test if you need to. CONTENT: We are going to be exploring the circumference of circles and ending the week with a partner quiz on the topic. Homework and Announcements
12/9/2019
Happy Monday! We have a big week ahead of us. All classes are wrapping up the unit that they are currently working on at some point this week. Read below to see how best to prepare:
Math 6 This week, we are finishing our mini-unit on percentages. We went out of the text book for this unit as I have found in past years that our text doesn't quite dive deep enough into percentages. You will be receiving a review sheet on Wednesday and the test will be on Thursday. Your only homework is MathXL and the review sheet if you don't finish it in class on Wednesday. Math 6 - Topics Covered this week Let’s say 440 people attended a school fundraiser last year. If 330 people were adults, what percentage of people were adults? If it’s expected that the attendance this year will be 125% of last year, how many attendees are expected this year? A double number line can be used to reason about these questions. Students use their understanding of “rates per 1” to find percentages, which we can think of as “rates per 100.” Double number lines and tables continue to support their thinking. The example about attendees of a fundraiser could also be organized in a table. Toward the end of the unit, students develop more sophisticated strategies for finding percentages. For example, you can find 125% of 440 attendees by computing With practice, students will use these more efficient strategies and understand why they work. Here is a task to try with your student: For each question, explain your reasoning. If you get stuck, try creating a table or double number line for the situation.
Solution: Any correct reasoning that a student understands and can explain is acceptable. Sample reasoning:
(source: Open Up Resources) Math 7 Last week, we wrapped up our Comparing and Scaling unit. We are going to be reviewing today and testing tomorrow. The test is shorter than usual, so I am only setting aside one day to complete it. Your only homework is MathXL and the review sheet if you don't finish it in class. Math 7 - Topics Covered this week This week your student will work with graphs that represent proportional relationships. For example, you could make a graph that represents a relationship between the amount of square feet of carpet purchased and the cost in dollars. Say for instance that each square foot of carpet costs $1.50. The point on the graph tells us that 10 square feet of carpet cost $15. In proportional relationships, the points on the graph are arranged in a straight line. If you buy 0 square feet of carpet, it would cost $0. Graphs of proportional relationships are always parts of straight lines including the point (0,0). Here is a task to try with your student: Create a graph that represents the relationship between the amounts of grape juice and peach juice in different-sized batches of fruit juice using the recipe “for every 5 cups of grape juice, mix in 2 cups of peach juice.” (source: Open Up Resources) Homework and Announcements
12/2/2019
It has been a long time since I have updated my website. I apologize for the lapse in time. In that break since I've updated this site, we ended the trimester and enjoyed Thanksgiving break. I hope everyone enjoyed the break and is returning to school well-rested. Here are a few things we have coming up this week:
Math 6 We finished the Comparing Bits and Pieces Unit the week before break. You should have received a letter home from me regarding the topics covered in that unit and your child's level of mastery on the unit test. If you did not receive the letter, chances are it is still in your student's backpack. After finishing that unit, we started a mini-unit on percentages. I am going out of the textbook for this unit. We have found in past years that our text doesn't quite dive deep enough into percentages, so I will be pulling from other resources to put together this short unit. We will be taking an assessment on percentages sometime before the winter break. Your only homework is MathXL. Math 6 - Topics Covered this week Let’s say 440 people attended a school fundraiser last year. If 330 people were adults, what percentage of people were adults? If it’s expected that the attendance this year will be 125% of last year, how many attendees are expected this year? A double number line can be used to reason about these questions. Students use their understanding of “rates per 1” to find percentages, which we can think of as “rates per 100.” Double number lines and tables continue to support their thinking. The example about attendees of a fundraiser could also be organized in a table. Toward the end of the unit, students develop more sophisticated strategies for finding percentages. For example, you can find 125% of 440 attendees by computing With practice, students will use these more efficient strategies and understand why they work. Here is a task to try with your student: For each question, explain your reasoning. If you get stuck, try creating a table or double number line for the situation.
Solution: Any correct reasoning that a student understands and can explain is acceptable. Sample reasoning:
(source: Open Up Resources) Math 7 This week we will wrap up our Comparing and Scaling unit. I have scheduled the test for next Tuesday as I didn't want to rush you back in and test this week. Your only homework is MathXL. Math 7 - Topics Covered this week This week your student will work with graphs that represent proportional relationships. For example, you could make a graph that represents a relationship between the amount of square feet of carpet purchased and the cost in dollars. Say for instance that each square foot of carpet costs $1.50. The point on the graph tells us that 10 square feet of carpet cost $15. In proportional relationships, the points on the graph are arranged in a straight line. If you buy 0 square feet of carpet, it would cost $0. Graphs of proportional relationships are always parts of straight lines including the point (0,0). Here is a task to try with your student: Create a graph that represents the relationship between the amounts of grape juice and peach juice in different-sized batches of fruit juice using the recipe “for every 5 cups of grape juice, mix in 2 cups of peach juice.” (source: Open Up Resources) |