Friday September 30

Today is an early release day so classes will be a short 30 minutes each. We started some word problems yesterday and will do some group practice today. Below are the questions each team will work together to figure out. These are very similar to word problems they will see on the next exam

1.)     Jeff was told that he is allowed to check a maximum of “w” pounds of luggage on an airplane. If one bag weighs 55 pounds, write an expression to represent the amount of additional weight he can check.
                           answer:    w - 55

2.)     Vernon wants to buy 3 CDs and 2 DVDs. Write an expression that represents the amount of money Vernon needs if c is the cost of 1 CD and m is the cost of 1 DVD.
                          answer:      3c + 2m

If each CD costs $18 and each DVD costs $22, what will be the total cost?
                   answer:      3 (18) + 2 (22)
                                       54 + 44 = $98

 

3.)     Zara wants to buy her mother a birthday gift that costs $60. She has saved $45. Write and solve an equation to determine how much more money, m, Zara needs for the gift.
                          answer:     60 - 45 = m
                                           m = $15

4.)     The distance to the beach is 50 miles more than twice the distance to the mountains. If m represents the distance to the mountains, which expression represents the distance to the beach?

a.)      50m

b.)      2m + 50   <-------- correct answer

c.)       50m + 2

d.)      100m + 50

5.)     A triangle has two congruent sides that are x centimeters long. The third side measures 3 centimeters more than each of the congruent sides. Draw a picture and label each side of the triangle

                                   /\
                            x   /    \   x
                               /____\
                                 x+3

 

Write an expression that represents the perimeter of the triangle.
              answer:  3x + 3

If x = 5, what is the perimeter of the triangle?
             answer:   3 (15) + 3 = 48

           

6.)    The distance from home plate to first base is “p”. Write an expression to show the distance a player must run if they hit a home run.
                      answer:   4p

How many feet do they run if p = 90 feet?
                answer: 4 (90) = 360 feet

EOG questions

Here is a link to past EOG questions. Students will see VERY similar questions on their EOG this year. We will review these questions as we learn the material throughout the year, but I suggest printing a copy for your child to practice at home as well.

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/eog/sampleitems/newcurmath6

Thursday September 29th

Today in class we will introduce  word problems that involve simplifying expressions and then evaluating those simplified expressions by substituting numbers in for variables. Many EOG questions are in the form of word problems and for some reason, students are intimidated when they have to decipher a word problem, even though the actual math problem within is quite simple.

Below are my 7 steps that we will cover to solve word problems

1.) Read the question - look for key words and numbers

2.) Find what the question is asking - so we make sure we come up with an answer that makes sense

3.) Draw a picture or diagram -

4.) Label the picture or diagram -

5.) Re-read the entire problem

6.) Solve the problem -

7.) Check your answer - make sure it is answering what is being asked and makes sense


An example of the type of problem they will see on the EOG

Give a simplified expression to represent the perimeter of a triangle with
sides x + 5, x + 5, and 2x - 7

Now find the perimeter if x =22

Wednesday September 28th

I was very pleased with how well the students worked together during the partner activity yesterday! I told them there would be a participation grade and EVERY student was working hard to EVALUATE the EXPRESSIONS they were given. Nice job!

Today, we will once again work in groups. There will be 6 "stations" where they will spend 5 minutes at each and working different problems that they have seen so far this year (some review from last unit as well).
Concepts from previous units will continue to show up throughout the year so some review should be good!

Stations will look like this...

Simplify expressions (by combining like terms)
                 ex.      5p + 4p - p + 3 + 9

Evaluating expressions (by substituting number values in for variables)
                ex.     5g - 9     when g = 6

Converting REALLY REALLY big numbers into scientific notation/ standard form   
               ex.      2,390,000,000,000       and        1.98 x 10^7

Convert REALLY REALLY small numbers into scientific notation/ standard form
              ex.      0.0000983              and      1.25 x 10^-5  

Changing expontents to standard form and finding the value
              ex.      4^3    =    4 x 4 x 4 = 64

Order of operations
             ex.     3 + 4 x 6 - 15 + (4 + 3)

Tuesday September 27

Today in class I will be checking for completion of last nights "evaluate" homework. Students will receive a completion grade based on attempting to finish their homework. This is great news for those needing to raise their grade, but only if they completed the assignment!

We will quickly review the homework then pair up for a group activity to practice evaluating expressions. This seemed to be an easier concept for students so I expect that we can move forward after today's practice.

Notes and examples went well yesterday. I am seeing almost every students writing down important concepts. Some are still not putting their graded quizzes and homework with their notes in their homework. Parents, please check in with your child on keeping their binder organized.

TUTORING begins this Thursday! 3:30-4:30

Tutoring for my math students will be every Thursday from 3:30-4:30. I will have a sign up sheet in my room for students who would like to stay for tutoring. If you would like to sign your child up, you can also email me at nathan.culp@nhcs.net and I will add them to the list. As of now there is no transportation for tutoring which means students must arrange for their own ride home.

Tutoring is a great way for students to fill in any gaps on what they might have missed in class. It is NOT an alternative to paying attention in class. I have many students that are not taking notes or doing in class examples and have been asking me about tutoring. They are all welcome to come, but I will not be re-teaching what we did in class because they decided not to pay attention or take notes.

Monday Sept 26th

Last Friday we took our exit quiz on combining like terms (SIMPLIFY). I have graded all quizzes and scores were MUCH better than the first time around. I expect scores to continue to rise as students become familiar with note taking/ asking questions when they are unsure on a topic.
Many students have raised their class grade 4% from their progress report just by completing their homework assignments and doing well on their quiz this week. KEEP IT UP!!!

On Monday, I will be returning graded quizzes. All students should be keeping their graded quizzes in their binder next to their math notes on combining like terms. They will be seeing very similar questions on the unit test in a couple of weeks! These will be a great review for the exam.

Also on Monday we will introduce our second form of answering a problem - EVALUATE

Notes will be short, followed by some in class examples and practice.

There will be a short homework assignment which will be DUE Tuesday

Here are some examples on evaluating expressions
Evaluate the following

5h + 5 when h = 4     answer = 25

6p - 6 when p = 5     answer = 24

I LIKE BIG BINDERS....

Students will tell you that we spent the first couple of weeks in Mastery class talking about the importance of their binder. Unfortunately, the binder organization has been poor so far for many students. We as teachers will continue to remind students to keep their binders clean and organized, but it is up to the student to take the time and effort to make sure they are doing so. Everything that is graded and returned to students needs to make it back into their binder.

In my class, I ask students to keep their homework with their notes from the day. That way if they run into problems on the homework, they can simply flip the page to their notes where they should have vocabulary terms and example problems to refer to. I always hole punch homework assignments so they can clip into binders where they should stay until it is time to turn them in.

I would encourage parents to check binders at home as well to make sure graded papers are making it home. Students in my class will often see questions on quizzes and tests that came from homework and if they are throwing their homework away (I see it EVERY day), they will not have examples to study.

Any questions please email me at nathan.culp@nhcs.net

Today students are taking their first quiz covering combining like terms. Quiz questions came directly from the homework this week. We reviewed the homework in class so those that completed their homework and corrected their mistakes should have no problems with the quiz! Quizzes will be graded and returned to students to PUT IN THIER BINDER by Monday

Some example questions from the quiz include

Simplify

4x + 6x

18x +4x - 3x

2 ( 5k + 8) + 3 (d - 4)

Define SIMPLIFY:


Feel free to email me at nathan.culp@nhcs.net with any questions about math class

Mr. Culp's 6th Grade math class

Welcome to my 6th grade math class! I will keep students and parents updated on what we are doing in class through my blog. Important dates (homework due, quizzes, tests, etc) will ALL be posted here.

Many students were not pleased with their first progress reports. 6th grade is different from elementary school and some are beginning to realize that their note taking and study habits need improvement. I will spend more time checking notebooks to make sure all of the important terms and examples are making it into their notes. I strongly suggest that parents check binders as well so they realize how important their notes are.