Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Homework due 1/22/09

Hi Everyone!

We are making some excellent progress with fractions already! Today we discussed equivalent fractions and putting fractions in simplest form. Tonight's assignment was listed on my last blog, but for those of you who do not have it, please complete:

Pages 207-208 #'s 10-27 all, 29, 31, 35, 36

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Time for Fractions!

We have covered all the material on decimal operations. We'll continue to reinforce these concepts as we move forward in the class. This week's discussions will center around fractions. On Tuesday, we'll discuss greatest common factor. On Thursday, we'll use the GCF to simplify fractions. We'll also investigate equivalent fractions through a math mini-lab.

We will continue our mad minutes, so keep practicing your multiplication facts!!!

Homework by section and estimated days are as follows:

4-1: Greatest Common Factor (Tuesday)
* pp. 200-201 #'s 9-12 all, 13-21 odd, 45, 46

4-2: Simplifying Fractions (Thursday)
* pp. 207-208 #'s 10-27 all, 29, 31, 35, 36

Monday, January 5, 2009

Looking forward to a great new year in Math 6!

Hello everyone. It's great to be back -- I hope you all had a great vacation and are refreshed and ready to take on the new year.

We will continue to work on our "mad minutes" to reinforce the multiplication facts.

****If you have calculators, please bring them to class this week!!!*****

Since we have been away for so long, our first order of business will be to review decimal addition, subtraction & multiplication, and division with whole number divisors. From there we'll investigate number patterns with division and finally move to division by decimal divisors.

Homework assignments for this week are as follows:

Review of decimal operations: (Tuesday)
* Worksheet on decimal operations.

Dividing by Decimals: (Thursday)
* pp. 181-183 #'s 10, 13, 14, 18, 19 , 20, 21, 22, 27-33 odd, 42, 45
* Worksheet on decimal operations.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Homework for 12/2/08

In class today we briefly reviewed estimating decimal sums. Then we discussed finding decimal sums and differences. We then segued to an activity on "Grocery Store Decimal Math". We were unable to finish this activity in class so I assigned its completion for homework tonight (due 12/4/08).

*Optional Extra Work
Estimate what is would cost to purchase all the items necessary to make a Thanksgiving meal. Check your estimate by comparing actual costs on grocery store receipts.

Getting our minds back to Mathematics

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a relaxing break. I am going to wait to post my blog this week until after our first class today. I am not sure what was accomplished over the past 2 weeks and want to assess the situation before assigning any work. Stay tuned for an update later tonight or tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Topics & Assignments for 11/18/08

Our focus in Math 6 class has turned to working with decimals. Topics for this week include estimation strategies for adding & subtracting decimals, and then actually adding and subtracting decimal numbers. I had planned an in-class activity for practical use of these skills that we'll do when we return after Thanksgiving.

In the mean time I am asking that parents please keep your grocery store receipts for items you purchase for your Thanksgiving meal. Students will be asked to estimate and then calculate the cost of feeding their families for Thanksgiving (after we complete our in-class activity).

I have uploaded a packet to the Yahoo site that covers Section 3-4 (Estimating Sums & Differences) and Section 3-5 (Finding Decimal Sums & Differences). If you wish, you may also work out the odd numbered problems in your book and check the answers in the back. We will applying these skills in class so any work that can be done over our mini-break will be helpful!

You can find the packet here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theoneroomschoolhouse/files/Math%206/lessons_3-4_and_3-5.pdf

Finally, we are still working hard on multiplication, so please continue to work on the basic multiplication facts!

As I come across some interesting websites and resources for working with decimals, I'll pass them along under a separate blog entry.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Fun with Decimals

For a fun game that works on place value, try this site:
http://www.decimalsquares.com/dsGames/games/placevalue.html

Here's a game on decimal estimation:
http://www.decimalsquares.com/dsGames/games/darts.html

If you are interested in identifying decimals, check this one out:
http://www.decimalsquares.com/dsGames/games/beatclock.html

For comparing and ordering decimals, here is a good game:
http://www.interactivestuff.org/sums4fun/switch.html

If you are in need of more practice worksheets, there are some good, short ones here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/fractiondecimalpercentage/decimals/introductiontodecimals/worksheet.shtml