Friday, February 27, 2009
A Whole Other Level
We took our work with equations to a whole other level today with multi-step equations. Multiple variables on both sides of the equations, combining like terms, moving across the equals, whew! This is quite the abstract stuff--and your kids, again, are doing swimmingly.
A large chunk of class time was spent engaged in solving these equations. They take a bit of time and careful concentration to get them... but they are fun! It's a like a line by line puzzle almost. :)
I asked the kids to pick ONE problem to work on over the weekend, just so they don't forget all of the wonderful things we've learned this week. I'll get that docs posted up on Class Docs in a bit.
A large chunk of class time was spent engaged in solving these equations. They take a bit of time and careful concentration to get them... but they are fun! It's a like a line by line puzzle almost. :)
I asked the kids to pick ONE problem to work on over the weekend, just so they don't forget all of the wonderful things we've learned this week. I'll get that docs posted up on Class Docs in a bit.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Practico On Both Sides
I finished what we started yesterday talking about equations with the variable on both sides of the equation. (Looks like... 4x + 3 = 5x - 7)
We worked through a few problems together and then I gave the kids five problems to do in class, which they worked diligently on and thus do not have anything for homework this evening.
I can't tell you how proud I am of these kids--they are working with some really head-y stuff here... and they are doing just fabulously!
I'll post the notes and examples from today on the class docs in a minute.
We worked through a few problems together and then I gave the kids five problems to do in class, which they worked diligently on and thus do not have anything for homework this evening.
I can't tell you how proud I am of these kids--they are working with some really head-y stuff here... and they are doing just fabulously!
I'll post the notes and examples from today on the class docs in a minute.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Meshing the worlds...
We started bridging the gap between expressions and the equations we've been working on for so long now today. And we even got to some equations with variables on both sides!
But, we just scratched the surface today... we'll continue tomorrow. :)
But, we just scratched the surface today... we'll continue tomorrow. :)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Dividing Butts
After we multiplied butts? Time to divide them!
The wonderful thing is that now that they know how to multiply, the dividing is almost just the same. (see previous posts and pictures about how to multiply with butts... I mean variables.)
They DO have homework. Tonight is from the same sheet we've been working on for awhile now, #s 33-55 ODD. Check the class docs for a PDF copy of this sheet as needed.
The wonderful thing is that now that they know how to multiply, the dividing is almost just the same. (see previous posts and pictures about how to multiply with butts... I mean variables.)
They DO have homework. Tonight is from the same sheet we've been working on for awhile now, #s 33-55 ODD. Check the class docs for a PDF copy of this sheet as needed.
Monday, February 23, 2009
What's this I hear about butts?
I may have mentioned this in an earlier posting (how long has it been since I've posted?!), but you may be wondering what all this stuff about Pre-Algebra and butts is about.
I teach "Combining Like Terms" with the metaphor of expressions as creatures... For example, 3y... the 3 (coefficient) is its body and the y (variable) is its butt. It makes it VERY convenient to talk about adding and subtracting like terms, and explaining what happens when you are multiplying/dividing terms.
Today we didn't make it far at all in my plans... we only made it part way through the checking of homework! (I'll post that to the class docs in a moment.)
But, we've been focused on combining like terms for the past week or so, and we'll be in this place for awhile. No homework tonight because we didn't even get to finish checking the homework from last week!
I teach "Combining Like Terms" with the metaphor of expressions as creatures... For example, 3y... the 3 (coefficient) is its body and the y (variable) is its butt. It makes it VERY convenient to talk about adding and subtracting like terms, and explaining what happens when you are multiplying/dividing terms.
Today we didn't make it far at all in my plans... we only made it part way through the checking of homework! (I'll post that to the class docs in a moment.)
But, we've been focused on combining like terms for the past week or so, and we'll be in this place for awhile. No homework tonight because we didn't even get to finish checking the homework from last week!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Evaluations!
Today after our warm up, we used the mobile Mac Lab to literally <> our evaluations. I've been experimenting with GoogleDocs, and Forms in particular, and the kids used a form that I had created to help in the writing of their evaluations!
You'll here more about this later, when evals come home, but if you want to see what it looked like, click here for a pdf version. (Look under All Class Docs)
You'll here more about this later, when evals come home, but if you want to see what it looked like, click here for a pdf version. (Look under All Class Docs)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Same Butts!
Your kids may give you a funny look before they answer the question, "What did you do in math today?"
We talked about variable expression... with the same butts! We talked about combining like terms (in math language) using a "butt" as a metaphor for variables and coefficients. It gets them giggling... and they magically get it! :)
No homework, but be prepared for more "butt" talk!
We talked about variable expression... with the same butts! We talked about combining like terms (in math language) using a "butt" as a metaphor for variables and coefficients. It gets them giggling... and they magically get it! :)
No homework, but be prepared for more "butt" talk!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Concreteville or Abstractland?
Oh what a great day in Pre-Algebra!
I gave the infamous Concreteville / Abstractland lecture/story today... and the kids did wonderfully with it. :) You'll have to check with them to learn more about what all that is about.
In short, its a conversation about learning math... as opposed to just learning another skill... that really helps in learning math.
No homework, but back to those equations tomorrow!
I gave the infamous Concreteville / Abstractland lecture/story today... and the kids did wonderfully with it. :) You'll have to check with them to learn more about what all that is about.
In short, its a conversation about learning math... as opposed to just learning another skill... that really helps in learning math.
No homework, but back to those equations tomorrow!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Equations with Masks on!
I'm just beside myself impressed with these kids. Today I threw some harder equations at them... I mean some really complex stuff! And they were great! And they got it! No homework over the weekend, though.
I'll put the notes from today up on the wiki soon. :)
I'll put the notes from today up on the wiki soon. :)
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Fractional Two-Step
Sounds nasty doesn't it?
In fact, I think there was an audible "Ewww!" as I wrote up the first example for today...
Anyways, check out the class docs to see what we worked on--all two-step equations that have fractions as the coefficient. And we did quite a few of them!
We're tackling some really mind-bending stuff here!
In fact, I think there was an audible "Ewww!" as I wrote up the first example for today...
Anyways, check out the class docs to see what we worked on--all two-step equations that have fractions as the coefficient. And we did quite a few of them!
We're tackling some really mind-bending stuff here!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
The Secret Negative One!
We spent much of second period working on one type of equation [ 2 - c = 7 ] -- and the secret of negative one! Check out our notes on class docs. We also worked more on The Equations Sheet. I asked some kids to work on a few more problems at home tonight, but overall, there isn't any homework in honor of the play.
Tomorrow? We'll take it up a notch with equations.
Tomorrow? We'll take it up a notch with equations.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Practicing two-step
Today we actually got some solid time to work on two-step equations. You're children are just amazing!
No homework, but you might want to check out the class docs to see some of the things we're working on.
No homework, but you might want to check out the class docs to see some of the things we're working on.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Class Docs Link - NEW!
Check out the LINKS section of our blog over there on the right. There's a new addition! A direct link to the docs for Pre-Algebra! Check it regularly... for notes and copies of stuff from class.
Switching Gears A Bit...
Wow! Hey! I hope this post finds you well!
We made it through Adolescent Issues Forum, and dove right back into our Word Problems at the end of last week. The strangest thing happened though... we're really starting to nail these problems! Whoohoo!!! So, I trusted my gut today and started working on two-step equations. (You may remember that we had a quiz on one-step equations a bit ago and were headed towards a quiz on Word Problems. I've decided to bypass that quiz for now and dive into harder equations!)
There are a few class docs that have been added to the wikispace, so you'll definitely want to check those out. Plus, I've reorganized the wikispace because we started to get so many documents up there! Check it out!
http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs
We made it through Adolescent Issues Forum, and dove right back into our Word Problems at the end of last week. The strangest thing happened though... we're really starting to nail these problems! Whoohoo!!! So, I trusted my gut today and started working on two-step equations. (You may remember that we had a quiz on one-step equations a bit ago and were headed towards a quiz on Word Problems. I've decided to bypass that quiz for now and dive into harder equations!)
There are a few class docs that have been added to the wikispace, so you'll definitely want to check those out. Plus, I've reorganized the wikispace because we started to get so many documents up there! Check it out!
http://cfsmatthew.wikispaces.com/classdocs
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