6th and 8th Grade Math
With Ms. Watkins
April 8, 2016
Office Hours (math help after school)
Monday's 3:15-4:00 in room 403 with Ms. Watkins
Tuesday's 3:15-4:00 in room 320 with Mrs. Salgado
Wednesday's 3:15-4:00 in room 401 with Miss. Brockman
On Tuesday, April 19th Audrey will have office hours in the morning at 7:15 instead of after school
This is a time when students may come in and begin their homework, work on reassessment, or just receive additional help with math. All middle school students are welcome to come to either or both office hours.
Expectations:
- Work on math material first.
- Keep voices down so that everyone can focus on their own material.
- If a student wants or needs a snack, it must be nut free.
Middle School Math Reassessment Policy
6th Grade Math
This week our lessons focused on transformations on the coordinate plane. Students translated figures on Monday. This is most similar to sliding it. On Tuesday the lesson focused on reflections. We reviewed symmetry in this lesson as well. On Wednesday students rotated figures on the coordinate plane. Thursday our focus in class was problem solving and showing CLEAR work and justifications. CLEAR stands for Calculations, Labels, Explanation, Answers the question and Reasons why. Friday I passed bace the chapter 8 test and went over the answers. Students were directed to correct their own work and find any mistakes they made in the problems.
Next week we will focus on problem solving again on Monday. Tuesday and any other day that class meets students will be working on a project with a partner on transformations on the coordinate plane. Because students will be taking their ASPIRE test there will be no homework next week.
There have been several times that I assign watching a video as part of the homework. This will continue throughout the year. I have talked with the class about the importance of watching the video and taking notes. If your child is having trouble accessing the video please arrange for them to come to school right at 7:40 so that they can watch it in my room on one of the school computers.
8th Grade Accelerated Pace
This week was all about will be solving quadratic equations using several different methods: factoring, completing the square, and quadratic formula. For Monday's class we solve quadratic equations by factoring. Tuesday I talked about solving quadratic equations by completing the square. On Wednesday we reviewed completing the square at the beginning of class and then turned our focus to solving using the quadratic formula. I also talked about how the discriminant will tell you how many solutions there are. Thursday I spent the class reviewing/reteaching exponential functions and their graphs. Friday I talked about how to determine if a relation models a linear, quadratic, or exponential function.
Next week whenever we meet students will be playing games. The purpose of this activity is to prepare them to modify one of the games they played or to help them design their own game. The week of April 18th students will design a game to demonstrate that they, the designers, know linear, quadratic, and exponential functions and when/how they are used.
There will be several times that a video will be assigned as part or all of the homework for the rest of this year. If your child is having difficulty accessing or watching the videos please arrange for them to come to school right at 7:40 so that they can watch it in my room or in their homeroom on one of the school computers.