Week 2

We had a great first week! I really enjoyed getting to know the 8th graders. This week we will begin our first book Moving Straight Ahead. The students will learn about linear relationships.
This week's homework:
Monday: Variables and Patterns review worksheet. Due Wednesday
Wednesday: Pg. 12 #1 & Pg. 17 #16 & 17. Due Friday
Friday: Pg. 14 #6 & Pg. 18 # 22 A or B. Due Tuesday

As always, call or email with any questions!

Welcome Back!

I am so excited for the new school year! We had a great first day!
Welcome to all the new 8th graders and their parents.
I look forward to meeting you during our Parent Night on September 1st.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. My email is andersonm@usd320.com, this is the best way to contact me. If you would prefer to call, the school number is 785-456-7682 ext. 4410.

Homework Help

I have added 3 worked equations from the homework assignment "What Is The Title Of This Picture?". It is listed above this post as Equation (Dist prop) HW Help.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mrs. Anderson

Updates for the week of May 2nd

I have changed the schedule for this week because of career day tomorrow afternoon. We were going to start a new book, Say It With Symbols, on Wednesday. Since I will not have 5th hour or 7th hour I am going to start the new book on Thursday. The students in 5th and 7th hours know that homework from Monday is due by 3:45pm tomorrow afternoon or it will be considered late. Also, the homework assignment for Wednesday pg. 28 #1 will now be due on Monday instead of Friday. Friday's assignment pg. 31 #17 and pg. 32 19-22 is still due on Monday.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you!
Mrs. Anderson

April Updates

Now that we are done with State Assessments our schedule will get back to normal. We are starting a new book today called Growing, Growing, Growing. The students will learn about exponential growth and decay. Our homework schedule will resume with assignments on Monday, Wednesday, Friday due on Wednesday, Friday, Monday.
 If your student is in track please remind them that they are still responsible for the work they miss and homework due dates are the same.
Assignments this week:
Monday (due Wednesday) pg. 11 #2-7 & pg. 12 #15-20
Wednesday (due Friday) pg. 13 #22, 23
Friday (due Monday) pg. 15 #25-30

As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Mrs. Anderson

Fourth Quarter and other news

Welcome to the 4th quarter! This is a sad time of year for me because I know it won't be long before my students move on to high school!
We are also preparing for the state assessments. We will be taking the Math Assessments April 5, 6, & 7. This gives us less than two school weeks to prepare! I have talked to the students about working hard during this time to meet their personal goal and their classroom goal. I have made a deal with them that if they work hard in class during the next two weeks, they will not have any homework leading up to the assessments.
Please talk to them about the goals they have set and feel free to ask me any questions you have about testing.
Thank you and have a great Spring Break!
Mrs. Anderson

Homework Help

I have added an example that is similar to pg. 25 #36 in our book Looking For Pythagoras.

Thank you!
Mrs. Anderson

Homework

The homework (pg. 45 #63) today from the book, Thinking With Mathematical Models, is a little difficult. I have posted the steps for part b if you need help. It is at the top of the page listed as "Homework Key".
I also think it would be helpful to work part D and C before A and B. It does not matter to me what order they are in when the assignment is turned in.

Thank you!
Mrs. Anderson

Welcome back!!

Happy New Year!!
I can't believe we are starting the second semester, the year is flying by!
On Wednesday, January 5th we will start a new unit. The book is called Thinking With Mathematical Models. In the first investigation, we will find the breaking weight for a bridge (using pennies) based on the thickness of the bridge and the length of the bridge. This book will look at linear relationships (which we studied in Moving Straight Ahead) and non-linear relationships.
I'm looking forward to getting back to our routine. Remember, students will have homework assigned Monday due Wednesday, Wednesday due Friday, and Friday due Monday.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
I hope everyone had a wonderful break!
Mrs. Anderson

Unit Project Information

I have attached the guidelines for the unit project that I have handed out to students today. Here is the timeline:

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 2 choices from the sheet are due
If the free choice option (under 50 points) is chosen the proposal must be approved by Dec. 1, 2010

Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - All projects are due

Week of December 13th - appointments can be made to share the project with me, either before or after school. The students will also have the option of presenting to the class. This will be scheduled during this week. (Please note: this is for 80 point projects)

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.



Upcoming dates to remember:

DMCT for 8th grade students - December 9th and 10th (only for students that did not pass in 7th grade)

Last day of the quarter/semester - December 21st


Happy Thanksgiving!
Mrs. Anderson

Homework

I have attached a copy of pg. 11 from the book, What Do You Expect? The two problems on this page are the homework due on Monday, November 22nd.

Next week the students will take a practice test in the computer lab on Monday. On Tuesday we will go over the unit test and play bingo. I will not assign homework for the Thanksgiving Break.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mrs. Anderson

This and That

The students took the unit test today. Tomorrow we will be starting out new unit on Probability. I have told the students that we only have a classroom set of this book, so they will need to be more diligent about taking notes during class. If I assign work from the book I will give a copy of the page and they will need to rely on their notes to work the problems. They also have the option of doing their homework in my classroom before or after school to have access to the book.
 As we move into the new unit I have told the students any missing work or corrections from Samples and Populations must be turned in by Friday at 3:45pm. Please check their grades in PowerSchool and have them correct any assignments with less than a 70%.

Feel free to contact me with any questions! Thank you!

New Unit - What Do You Expect?

On Tuesday we are starting a new unit called What Do You Expect?
The following link is a parent guide explaining what we will cover in this unit and how you can help your child with homework.
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/CMP2/pg_Expect.pdf

Please let me know if you have any questions. Probability can be a difficult concept, but our curriculum makes it a lot of fun!

Also, instead of a traditional unit test the students will create a game using probability.

Week of October 25th

This week we are working on Investigation 1 of Samples and Populations. We will have a quiz over Investigation 1 on Friday, as well as a bellwork quiz.
Homework this week:
Assigned Monday due Wednesday  pg. 22 #27 a,b,c

Assigned Wednesday due Friday pg. 18-19 #7,8,9,10,11,12,13

Assigned Friday due Monday (Nov. 1) - Integers Worksheet 1.4.k2a (this will be posted later this week)

Please contact me if you have any questions!
Have a great week!

Links

I have added links to the other 8th grade teachers' blogs. They are listed at the bottom of the page.

Test Grades

The test grades are posted in PowerSchool under the 2nd quarter. I handed back the tests today and the students were able to ask questions. I do keep the tests, so your child will not be able to show it to you. If you would like to go over their test, please feel free to contact me and we can set up a time for you to come in.
I was very pleased with the scores for our first big test. We are now moving into a book called Samples and Populations. With the exception of 5th hour, I handed the new books out to all the students today.

REMINDER: There is no school on Thursday and Friday. Wamego Middle School will have parent-teacher-student conferences from 8am to 5pm with a lunch break from 12 - 12:45. If you came to conferences in September you do not need to attend again unless you need to speak to us.

Have a great week!
Mrs. Anderson

Unit Test Information

After having a substitute for 3 days last week I decided to move our Moving Straight Ahead Unit Test to Wednesday, October 13th. This will give us more time in class for review. The study guide handed out last Tuesday will be due the day of the test and is 10% of the test grade. The students can use the study guide, their notes, and their books on the test. There are no corrections on unit tests.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Week of October 4th

I will be attending the NCTM Regional Conference in Denver the rest of this week. Mr. Blackburn will be my substitute. He has math experience and will go through 4.2 and 4.3 with the students.

The students have been given a study guide for our Unit Test on October 12th. They will have time to work in class on Friday on the study guide. On Monday when I return we will go over the study guide and any questions they have about the book Moving Straight Ahead. The study guide needs to be turned in on Tuesday with the Unit Test and will be 10% of the overall test grade.

If your son/daughter is struggling with solving equations I posted an answer key to help them practice. It is called Math Equations Key and is listed under the Math Homework section at the top of this page.

This Week

This week we are continuing to practice solving equations. Today we worked on problem 3.4 in Moving Straight Ahead - pg.53-54. The students did not have a homework assignment yesterday, but they do have an assignment for tomorrow that will be due Friday - pg.59 #14.

On Wednesday and Thursday we will work on problem 3.5. We will finish Investigation 3 on Thursday and have a short quiz on Friday to check their skills.

*****If you are helping them solve equations please remind them that I am looking for the steps required to find "x". The answer is not as important as the process.*****

On Friday I will give the students a worksheet similar to last Friday's to practice solving equations. This will be due on Monday, October 4th.

Have a great week!

UPDATE

This week we are learning how to solve equations. The students will receive a worksheet today that is developing the concept of plugging a variable into an equation to find the answer for another variable (we are using x and y). This practice is important as we learn how to solve linear equations.

I have posted the worksheet here if you need another copy.