7 West Math

Third period Pre-Algebra went to the computer lab on Friday and entered the world of Web 2.0 at school!  They behaved beautifully, they stayed on-task, and they were enthusiastic about what we were doing.  They followed the instructions in the post below and introduced themselves, played a brainteaser, and tried Equation Blasters to practice solving equations.  Mrs. Wright’s students were also blogging that day, and she has already posted some more puzzles for us to solve.  Students do not have to wait until we return to the computer lab to reply to the new posts.  You can access the blog from home, and students who are not in 3rd period are welcome to participate as well.    We have exciting things planned for the future, so stayed tuned!

We are beginning a new project with Mrs. Wright’s math classes from Challenger Middle School in Huntsville. We will be blogging together this year. We are looking forward to making new friends and learning more about mathematics in the process of blogging.

Please remember to follow all of the guidelines that we discussed.
Head on over to The Math Challenger and leave a comment on the welcome post, Your Choice, and Let’s Meet Mrs. Simpson.

Check out Equation Buster. It is a great game for illustrating the properties of equality!  This page lists other links to equation-solving activities that you might enjoy.

Tell me, how do you like what we did today?

Cubeoban is a fun game that is played by pushing and pulling blocks until they are in their designated place. Click here to play.

I found this game on another teacher’s blog. His name is Darren Kuropatwa, and he is doing some amazing things with his students. You can check out one of his blogs here.

I’ve made it to level 28 so far. Can anyone beat me?

Math classes will have a test on adding and subtracting integers tomorrow.  This post has links that you can use for review.  We began Chapter 4 today, and tonight’s homework is over translating algebraic expressions.
In Pre-Algebra we started solving two-step equations.

We worked on graphing in the Coordinate Plane in all classes last week.  Here are some links to try if you need extra help.

Maze Game 

Woopie Birds 

Quia 

Explore Learning Gizmo 

We continued to work on negative numbers today.  Pre-Algebra needs to complete Skills Practice Workbook pages 9-10 (the odd problems only) by Monday.  We will have a quiz Monday over adding and subtracting integers and a test Tuesday.

Math

5th & 6th Periods: Worksheet, Homework 1.2

7th Period:  p. 108, # 12-44 even (7th period is doing work from the book because of their behavior)

I will be out tomorrow for a meeting of the Key Leaders Network.  I am sure that I will learn a lot while I am there.  Students will work on review for the Progress Monitoring test that will be given on Friday.  This test will measure their progress on the following objectives:

• Determine measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and the range using a given set of data or graphs including histograms, frequency tables, and stem-and-leaf plots.
• Use the order of operations to evaluate numerical expressions.
• Translate verbal phrases into algebraic expressions and algebraic expressions into verbal phrases.

We have begun the study of negative numbers this week.  Pre-Algebra has begun to add and subtract integers.  Their homework tonight is p. 73, #14-25 all.  Math is exploring a unit called Accentuate the Negative that gives an in-depth understanding of negative numbers.  Their homework is a worksheet called Homework 1.1. 

 We are also working on how to behave during a group discussion.  Research shows that students learn more when they are given the opportunity to discuss what they are learning.  This is a skill that takes some time to develop, but is well worth the effort.  According the the Alabama Course of Study: Mathematics, 2003,

The seventh-grade mathematics classroom environment encourages communication, exploration, and risk taking that are critical as students become more confident and learn to exist in an ever-changing world (p. 36).

All classes took tests today over Chapter 1.  I hope everyone does as well as they think they did!  I will probably not have them graded by tomorrow because I am attending Open House at Chestnut Grove tonight. 

Pre-Algebra started Integers today after the test.  Their assignment is pp. 59-61, #20-76 even.  Many students were able to finish this before they left class today.  I will give them 5 minutes at the beginning of class tomorrow to finish it up, but if that is not enough time for them to finish because of tonight’s ball game, they can bring the work to me on Monday.  We will begin something else tomorrow, and this would give them two assignments over the weekend. 

Math classes have a worksheet over mean, median, mode and range.  It was very short.  I had planned to give a retest over Chapter 2 tomorrow, but I have not done the things in class that I wanted them to do before I tested them again.  We will review tomorrow and have the retest on Monday.

Thank you to all of the parents who took the time to come to Open House.  We had a great turn-out!  I am really enjoying working with your children.

I did not assign homework today.  Math did have a worksheet to do in class that needs to be completed by tomorrow, but they should have had time to finish it in class.  I will be giving tests Thursday over Chapter 1.

You are invited to attend the CRMS Open House beginning at 6:00 pm, Tuesday, September 12.  The evening will begin with a brief meeting in the auditorium, then parents will proceed to their child’s homeroom to get a copy of their schedule.  You will get to visit each class for a few minutes, and you will have 4 minutes between classes, just like the students do!  I will be giving “Simpson Shillings” to each student who has a parent in attendance.

Progress reports will be going home tomorrow.  Here is a breakdown of the grades in my classes:

40 A’s, 30 B’s, 14 C’s, 23 D’s, 23 F’s

There are two things that make the biggest impact on a student’s grade in my class.  First is the attention they give to the instruction in class.  Second is the completion of assignments.  Students who do those two things well generally score well on tests.  Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns you may have about your child’s grade. 

I was out Friday because my youngest child was sick with strep throat.  In my absence students worked on squares and square roots.  The math assignment was pp. 472-473, #1-30.  The pre-algebra assignment was p. 439, #12-48. 

Today in math we did a review assignment, pp. 47-48, #8-30, 40-43, and p. 504, #7-12.  I was planning to give a test tomorrow over Chapter 1, but we did not have time to go over their questions.  We will do that on Tuesday and have the test Wednesday or Thursday. 

Today in pre-algebra we reviewed exponents and powers.  Everyone seemed to remember this from last year.  The assignment was Skills Practice Workbook, Lesson 4.2.  We will review tomorrow and have a test Wednesday over Chapter 1.