6th & 8th grade Math
with Ms. Watkins
October 10, 2014 Volume 6
I will be emailing this newsletter twice a month. Typically the first and third weeks of the month. Otherwise you will find it on the school website as well as my weekly site.
Office Hours
Every Tuesday from 3:15-4:00 I have what I refer to as office hours. This is a time when students may come in and begin their homework, work on the script or a reassessment video, or just receive additional help. This week we had several students in for the office hours and many finished all their math homework during that time. If your child wants to attend it is open for all. Below are some expectations for all who come. The purpose of sharing these are to make it clear that this time is for understanding math.
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 please make sure it is nut free.
Reassessment
If students want to be reassessed on any standard they can make an educreations video. It is due two weeks from when the assessment was sent home.
6th grade Math
In math this week we began by working on adding and subtracting mixed numbers. On Tuesday we reviewed for the quiz. Students were able to ask questions and the study guide was passed out at the end of class. On Wednesday they took their quiz on adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. Since I was with the 8th graders on a field trip for the remainder of class students watched the caves portion of planet earth, and wrote down every number they heard on the video. Thursday we ended our week with making models to multiply fractions. At the end of class students discovered that when you multiply fractions you multiply the numerators together and then you multiply the denominators together.
8th Grade Math
This week began with reviewing for the quiz on radical numbers. On Tuesday students took the quiz. Wednesday we had beautiful weather for our walking field trip. At the architecture center students were asked to think about the choices the builders of the Chicago model made in reference to scale. They also saw an exhibit that focused on women architects and were able to learn about the design process. They will be using this knowledge in November when they begin a combined Language Arts, Math, and Art project. Also at the architecture center was an exhibit on data. We will be using some of the data collected for an assessed activity on scatter plots. Students were told to send information to me about what type of data they are interested in. Some students have already expressed interest in Starbucks and Taco Bell data. On Thursday we reviewed information about scatter plots and students collected data on the number of rubber bands and the distance traveled when a toy was bungee jumping.