Welcome Class of 2017

Welcome Class of 2017 Parents and Students.

It was great to meet so many of you during Open House.

I am looking forward to an exciting year of learning in 8th grade math. It is important that students have their supplies and are prepared for class as quickly as possible. The supply list for math is as follows:

• 2 composition notebooks (One for now will do.)
• Pencils (with extra lead if using mechanical pencils)
• Erasers
• Pocket pencil sharpener
• Colored pencils
• Markers
• Highlighter
• Ruler
• Graph paper
• Lined paper
• 2 pocket folders with prongs
• Index cards
• Glue sticks

Reminder:  We are placing a school order for Math Crosswalk CRCT Coach Books for students. This book is well aligned to the 8th grade math standards and will serve as an excellent resource for students as they complete assignments and prepare for CRCT. The cost is $6 per book. We must receive your order form and payment no later than Friday, August 9.

If you have any questions about 8th grade math, please contact me.  

Week at a Glance: February 4, 2013

This week in math, we will continue with the function unit. We will review the quiz from last week and continue to review identifying functions from: ordered pairs, mapping diagrams, tables & graphs.  Students will also identify functions from verbal expressions and word problems.

Students will learn to write rules for relations (functions and non functions) and distinguishing between linear and non linear relationships. They will also apply function rules (given a function rule and a set of input values, students will find the corresponding output values).

Week at a Glance: January 28, 2013

This week in math, we will begin the functions unit. We will start the unit by unpacking the standards to ensure that students understand what they are expected to learn. Students will work on identifying functions from a variety of situations:

*set of ordered pairs
*mapping diagrams
*tables
*graphs

Students will have a quiz on Friday. The quiz will require them to use different methods to determine if relationships are functions. It is important that they can explain their reasoning. They need to be able to articulate how the input values determine whether or not the relation is a function.

Week at a Glance: January 21, 2012

This week in math, we will finish the Pythagorean Theorem unit. I decided to spend one more week on this unit to provide some additional practice for the students. The unit assessment will be on Friday, January 25. Students will be assessed on their understanding and ability to apply the Pythagorean Theorem. They should be able to do the following:

Demonstrate an understanding that the Pythagorean Theorem is a statement about the areas of squares off of the legs and hypotenuse of a right triangle.

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find a missing side length (leg or hypotenuse) of a right triangle.

Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the area of a square and its side length.
 -- side = square root of area

Find the square root of perfect squares and estimate the square root of non perfect squares.

Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find distances (or lengths) in a coordinate grid.

Use the Pythagorean Theorem (converse) to determine if a given set of side lengths could form a right triangle.

Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to solve problems.

Distinguish between rational and irrational numbers.


The link below is to a website that has some helpful information about the Pythagorean Theorem.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/pythagoras.html

Week at at Glance: December 17

This week in math, we will focus on the Pythagorean Theorem. Students will be participate in an activity through which they will discover the relationship between the squares made off of the legs and hypotenuse of a right triangle to give them a frame of reference for understanding the theorem. Once they learn the theorem, they will apply it to solve problems.

Advanced math students were introduced to the Pythagorean Theorem last week. They will use the theorem to solve problems this week. Advanced math students will also study multiplying and simplifying radical expressions and use these skills as they work with right triangles.

The link below provides an overview of the Pythagorean Theorem and several proofs to show students the relationship between the squares off of the legs and hypotenuse of a right triangle.

http://www.brainingcamp.com/resources/math/pythagorean-formula/lesson.php

Week at a Glance: November 26, 2012

This week in math, we focus on writing algebraic equations to represent situations and solving multi-step equations. Students will be encouraged to use verbal modeling to help them make sense of the word problems / situations so they can represent them algebraically.

Students will need to be able to solve multi-step equations in which they have to use the distributive property and/or combine like terms to simplify each side of the equation first. It is important that students are able to use algebra to solve equations as opposed to relying on "guess & check." Therefore, they must show work.

Grade Recovery Update:
Students who intend to complete grade recovery for the scientific notation unit must have test corrections and all PLATO modules completed by Wednesday, November 28. I have extended the deadline because some students have difficulty accessing the PLATO over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Week at a Glance: November 5, 2012

This week in math, we will continue with the Expressions & Equations unit that we started lastweek. The focus for the week will be:

• translating between verbal and algebraic expressions and equations
• evaluating expressions
• writing equivalent expressions
• simplifying expressions (combining like terms and using the distributive property)

Thereafter, we will move into writing equations to represent situations and solving multi-step algebraic equations.