Bowl-a-thon

Your child may be coming home talking about going to the "bowl-a-thon". Please read over the invitation with them and consider allowing them to participate. This is a great fundraiser for our 8th grade gifted program's trip to New York City. I especially encourage all the 6th and 7th grade students in the gifted program to participate as they may be going on this trip in years to come.

 

6th: Today we covered other polygons. Students will have a quiz tomorrow!

7th: Today we continued with volume of pyramids and cones and students were able to do practice problems. We will talk about volume of complex figures tomorrow and students will have a TEST on Friday.

8th: Both 8th grade classes covered solving systems of equations with substitution today. We will continue to graphing inequalities tomorrow. Please encourage your students to stay for help on Thursday if they need it! Both classes have a worksheet with HW problems tonight.

FINISH EDUTEST!!!!!

ANYONE who has not already finished the Edutest, must finish it by Wednesday! 8th graders, especially, do it at home if possible. I will stay after school for anyone who has not completed it tomorrow afternoon. If you do not complete it by Wednesday morning you will have to finish during lunch or PE.

 

6th: Today students were passed back all work on quadrilaterals. We covered classifying and area of triangles today and students should complete 10.4 evens and 11.5 Triangles only for HW. We will discuss other polygons tomorrow and have a quiz on everything from April 17th to now on Wednesday. 

7th: Today in class we tested and proved that if a pyramid/cone has the same base area and height of a prism/cylinder, the prism's volume is equal to three times the pyramid's volume. This could also be worded, a pyramid's volume is one third the volume of a prism with the same base area and height. We will do practice problems on this concept tomorrow. 7th grade will have a test on 3D figures Friday!

8th-2nd Block: I am now assuming that your student can graph equations when given in either slope intercept form or standard form. Please talk to them about this. IF they can not do these graphs with confidence they need to stay after school for help sessions on Tuesday or Thursday or both! Today we began talking about systems of equations. This is a simple extension of graphing and solving equations. Without the bases of graphing students will struggle for the rest of the year and all through Algebra 1 next year. Please help me be sure they feel very comfortable with graphing! This class should complete the worksheets 11.7 #1-4 and 8.1 #7-10 for homework!

8th-4th Block: I am now assuming that your student can graph equations when given in slope intercept form. Please talk to them about this. IF they can not do these graphs with confidence they need to stay after school for help sessions on Tuesday or Thursday or both! Today we talked about how to convert from Standard Form equations back to slope intercept form equations. This is a connection between algebra that we covered earlier in the year and the algebra we are covering now. Students who paid attention in class today seemed to grasp this concept well. They have no HW other than completing edutest. We will begin talking about systems of equations tomorrow.

 

 

Edutesting and More

All Classes began taking the Edutest Benchmark Exam online yesterday.  Any 8th grader who did not finish will need to do so on their own time before Monday 4-28.  8th graders who are going to the beach, you will have to finish at home or if you do not have internet access, you will need to plan a trip to the library. 8th graders who are not going to the beach, you will have some time in labs on Thursday and Friday, but if you do not finish then, you will need to finish on your own as well.  6th and 7th grade classes will have another period to finish Edutest here at school on Thursday.

 

6th: Today in class we began talking about basic geometric figures. today we covered quadrilaterals. We will discuss measures of and how to find area of quadrilaterals tomorrow. Students have a HW sheet tonight that is a review from Friday's lesson on transversal lines. We will move onto triangles on Friday. Reminder: Friday will be test correction day!!

7th: Today in class students began taking the Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test. This is simply a standardized test that allows us to better place your student for next year. If an Algebra 1 class is offered at SEMS, this test will be part of the criteria used for placement. This test is not being used as part of the grade for this quarter in my class and is not a test that students could have studied for. We will finish this test tomorrow hopefully and finish edutest on Thursday, then go over both test on Friday. There is no homework for 7th grade this week.  

8th: Both 8th grade classes were given back quizzes from Friday and we were able to go over the correct answers. Students will need to study these quizzes for their next test! No HW. Beach trippers, happy packing! Everyone else, see you tomorrow!

Good Luck BOB TEAM!

SEMS Battle of the Books team will be taking on the regional tournament tomorrow! 8 of my students will be participating! Good luck to them all!

 

6th: Today 6th graders received the tests graded from yesterday. Test corrections for this test will be Friday April 25th due to conflicts with BOB, Students Government, and the short notice of tomorrow. 6th graders have no HW tonight!

7th: just ask your children how math is related to making Kool-Aid and I hope they will all explain to you how to find the volume of a cylinder! Today in class we discussed volume of prisms and cylinders and students were to complete 7.5 Study Guide and Word Problems for HW.

8th-2nd Block: Some students in my 2nd block are struggling with the pace we have taken now that we have started major Algebra topics. Please remind them that I am available to help after school if they ask! Some have taken advantage of this, others need to! Today in class we graphed equations in standard form using intercepts. There is a short HW sheet to practice this concept. Many of them finished in class but some still need to do it. We will have a quiz on Graphing Linear Equations tomorrow. STUDY!

8th -4th Block: Students in this class  are doing GREAT with the new algebra topics we are covering. They are clicking right along with graphing lines in slope-intercept form. Several of them however have missing HW and need to get that turned in! Please ask your child if they are missing work for my class! We will have a quiz on Slope-Intercept Form tomorrow! STUDY! 

Taxing Tuesday

Ok no play on words, my day really was! Plus, my taxes are still not done......hey, what? I have a few more hours!

 

6th: We did a great review today on the CPS unit. If you don't know what that is, just ask your kids, they love it! We will have a TEST tomorrow on Customary and Metric Measures. Some students still really need to study! Below are some great sites for study and practice!

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/measurement/measurement_unit.htm

http://www.harlan.k12.ia.us/mrsc/measurement.htm

http://www.studyzone.org/mtestprep/topic5.cfm?TopicID=116

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769580.html

http://www.edhelper.com/metric_system.htm

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/con_math/g03c25.html

7th: Today in class we used objects taken from real life and measured the surface area. There will be a Quiz on Surface Area of 3D figures tomorrow.

8th-2nd Block: Today we learned another form that linear equations can be written in -Standard Form. Students have 6 problems to do for HW taken from the board where they will need to use Algebra skills to convert from standard form (Ax+By=C) of the equation to slope-intercept form (y=mx+b) of the equation. We will learn another way to graph equations written in standard form tomorrow and have a quiz on graphing on Friday.

8th-4th Block: We are currently graphing functions using tables, this is the 7th grade way to graph. We have begun to look for patterns that can be used to graph with a short cut. We will learn this short cut and begin to graph "the 8th grade way" tomorrow. Students have 11.3 worksheet for HW. They need to graph each line, then find the slope and check to see if the pattern we discussed in class today works (Is the slope the same as the coefficient of the x?). Then students should look back at the constants in each equation and study the graphs to see if they have any special part on the graphed line. We will discuss this relationship further tomorrow.

Just for FUN

Ok so students are always scared when I say, "Today we re going to have some fun!" In fact I even had 7th grader ask me last, "Mrs. Burford is this going to be real fun or just your kind of fun?" Sooooo, I was searching for some things online today about 3D figures and ran across something that I think is fun. Did you know excercising your brain can be fun?!?!  Check it out here. http://www.mathplayground.com/logicgames.html

 

Wednesday = No Homework

 

Most classes have no HW today because it's Wednesday, however the 7th grade quiz was changed from Friday to tomorrow due to a guest brass quintet visit on Friday. 8th grade 4th block don't forget to complete your pretest so that we can go over it tomorrow and STUDY for your Test on Friday. ***Don't forget -Test Corrections this week are tomorrow due to Camp London on Friday!

Did you know we have less than 30 days left before the EOG's??

6th: For the past two class periods these students have been talking about Customary (English) units of measure. They will have a quiz on estimating length, weight, and capacity as well as converting from one unit to another tomorrow. They also have a worksheet to practice with for HW tonight.

7th: This class has gotten a lot of great hands on practice in the past two days talking about different views and ways to draw 3D figures. Ask them to show you their (for some of them, new found) art skills. We will have a quiz on Friday on views and ways to draw 3D figures. No HW tonight.

8th -2nd Block: Today we finished up the discussion on linear and non linear functions, then looked back over the pretest on this material for any last questions. TEST tomorrow on Functions, Slope, and Linear/Non Linear. STUDY!

8th -4th Block: Today we discussed how to tell if a function is linear or nonlinear. Students should have completed worksheet 12.1 and should use it to study this topic! We will do review centers tomorrow and students will be given a practice test to work on at home. We will go over the practice test and review one last time on Thursday for the TEST on Friday on Functions, Slope, and Linear/Non Linear. You should start to STUDY now! There are links to practice slope on the post from Friday the 4th and below are some links to practice linear and nonlinear.

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/studytools/cgi-bin/msgQuiz.php4?isbn=0-07-873819-9&chapter=13&lesson=5&&headerFile=7

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/studytools/cgi-bin/msgQuiz.php4?isbn=0-07-875051-7&chapter=12&lesson=1&headerFile=7

8th Grade Slope Practice

I promised the 8th graders that I would place some practice links on the blog for SLOPE! Here they are!

I encourage you to use these as you study! 2nd Block will have a test on Wednesday and 4th Block will have a test on Friday. Both tests will cover Functions, Slope, and Linear and Non-linear relationships.  

http://math.uww.edu/faculty/mcfarlat/slopesj.htm

http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/anns/mps/math/mathlab/col_algebra/col_alg_tut25_slope.htm

http://www.learningwave.com/lwonline/algebra_section2/slope3.html

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/math/studytools/cgi-bin/msgQuiz.php4?isbn=0-07-825083-8&chapter=5&lesson=1&headerFile=4&state=na

 

6th and 7th grade classes took tests yesterday and will begin new concepts on Monday. Test corrections will be held on Thursday due to the Camp London March on Friday afternoon. Please ask your student how they did on our tests yesterday! Have a great weekend everyone!

Review....Review...Review

6th: Today in class students we able to review for tomorrow's test in centers set up around the classroom. for more review you may want to se the links on the March 19th posting. Also remember to go back over the Functions Quiz and review your notes!

7th: Students spent the day today doing presentations to help review their peers for tomorrow's test. For further study it would be a great idea to study the quizzes we have had on 2D figures so far as well as Chapter 10 and 11 self check quizzes on the text book website.

8th: Functions Rule?!? Oh wait, those are function rules.....In both 8th grade classes we reviewed the 8th grade notation of function rules today as well as talking about how functional relationships are used in real life. Students completed a worksheet with function practice in class. We will move on to talking about Slope (another review of 7th grade curriculum) tomorrow. We will have a test on Functions, Slope, and Linear vs. Non-linear next week.  

 

Welcome Back!

We are in the home stretch! Only one quarter left to go!!

 

6th: We will have a test on Functions on Thursday. Students should be studying using the quiz we took before spring break as well as the links on the post below. tonight they have a graphing practice work sheet with 10 problems. They were able to begin this sheet in class.

7th: These students will have a test on all of 2D figures on Thursday. Today the students were placed in groups and will be responsible for reviewing their peers on one section of the material we have covered. Today they were given time to plan and each group will have 6 minutes tomorrow to present.

8th-2nd Block: Today students were given a pretest on Functions, Slope, and Linear/Non-Linear. We graded them in class and began a discussion to review functions. We will complete functions tomorrow. We will have a post test on these topics next week.

8th-4th Block: We were able to review functional relationships from 6th and 7th grade today in class. Students should finish #7-10 on 9.6 Practice Worksheet if they were not able to complete them in class. (Many students did complete them!) We will go over these last few problems and move into functional notation from the 8th grade curriculum and real life functional relationships tomorrow.