Blue Ribbon Bosses

Each week in Study Island, it is a goal that each student receive one Blue Ribbon per subject. As we are drawing near the end of the year, you are working a lot more to complete Study Island and it's showing!

Every week, I take time to identify my  Blue Ribbon Bosses to help motivate and encourage you to continue to do your best the following week.

This week my 7th grade Blue Ribbon Bosses are...

What an awesome week for the 7th graders! Lots of bosses!

and this week, my 8th graders kind of let me down. I only had 1 Blue Ribbon Boss in 8th grade this week. Hope that will change for next week!

Check your Kmail where I will be sending your individual certificate!

P.S. If you are a teacher and would like a blank copy of this certificate as well as the individual certificates, please feel free to leave a comment and I will email those off to you! :)

Sweet Spring Break

Hope you are enjoying your Spring Break! That is if you are in my class. 

 If you are a fellow teacher, make sure to check out my Teacher Blog to see what else is going on!

Problem Solving in Pieces

Over the past several weeks, we have really been working with our Problem Solving Strategies. Taking time to work through each strategy will guarantee success!

If you haven't already downloaded the Problem Solving Strategies poster above, feel free to grab it here for FREE!

Remember, take your time and prove your answer through checking and you will do great!

Teachers: Are you looking for other themes, feel free to check out the Super Hero, Owl or Camping Problem Solving Posters that are also available in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Central Tendency (Mean, Median, Mode and Range) Captains!

We have been working hard on Central Tendency for the past week and a half! Understanding the vocabulary and what each word means is half the battle!

To start with we put together the anchor chart above so that we could have a reference of each of the terms and what they meant. I took time to make the "keywords" a bit different to pull their eye in on what to focus on when solving problems related to central tendency.

Next thing I brought in were my Middle School Teacher friend's, Miss Math Dork, St. Patty's Relay cards for Central Tendency!

These are beyond awesome! I had to alter them to work in our virtual setting and my students love working this way! One student even responded on his Exit Ticket to say, "This makes it so easy!"

Complete your math work sample in Study Island (5d) this week! Print out the anchor chart above and have it beside you as you work through the problems to earn that Blue Ribbon!

Fractions Are Fun!

Another day, another trip! Today's trip was down Fraction Street!

Fraction Street is full of many different adventures. Finding common denominators, adding fractions, comparing fractions, multiplying by reciprocals, finding common factors, simplifying... and the list goes on!

Our focus today was reviewing the steps to solve fraction problems with all four operations. We started with notes in a Flippable for our Interactive Notebooks (best resources EVER).

Quick review in the beginning to refresh our minds on what the various parts of a fraction were and what each part meant. Quick, easy and too the point!

 Each student got a copy of the blank Flippable above and was directed to have it ready as we went through notes for each operation. Our Flippables were soon filled with great amounts of notes and love!

Would you like a copy of the blank Flippable? Feel free to download it by clicking on the picture above! Leave me a comment if you plan on using it as well as I would love to see other interpretations of the Flippable!

And if using Flippables in class are your thing, then please take a look at my Flippable Template pack PACKED with 51 templates that you can edit and print for personal use!

**If you are interested in Commercial Use of my Flippable Templates, that is available as well.**

One Step Equations Anchor Chart

 This past week for Stumped in Pre-Algebra we covered One-Step Equations. As part of reviewing the process I created a mini anchor chart to put our Interactive Notebooks.

The chart started pretty simple with title and a sample problem for each of the four operations. Next, it was time to start working through the steps of each equation and take helpful notes as we went along.

First up was Addition! Pretty simple to find the missing addend in this problem. You have probably been doing this since Kindergarten and didn't know you were doing Algebra!

Time for some Subtraction! Again, just finding a missing value. Now a bit trickier with this one since it became a negative variable. Just remember, what you do to one side of the equation, you must do to the other!

Are you ready to Mulitply? Using those inverse operations is key! Don't forget to use another method to check your answer!

Last, but not least, it's time to Divide! Now, with division it was a bit trickier and you can see where we used our inverse operations to help us change up the problem before we checked it.

Simple as that but a great reference! Check back Monday for a Flippable on Multi-Step Equations! :)

Sample Spaces

 

Today we started our unit on Probability by reviewing Sample Spaces and Outcomes. Lil' Stinker was there to make sure we were on track.

 

 Yep, by the end of the Small Group lesson, you should be able to meet this learning goal! Need some extra help? Check out this probability video!

 Important vocabulary to remember- A sample space includes all of the possible outcomes.

Don't forget to take care of your assignments this week so you can be the next Blue Ribbon Boss! Small Group Recording is available in the OLS for you to watch. Send me a Kmail with the answer to what you learned today and I will respond so you can get attendance credit.

Stumped in Pre-Algebra is being moved on Monday. Check the OLS for the new time! This week we will cover One-Step Equations!

Just remember...

While you are working hard on getting benchmarks taken this week, just remember that I think You are The Bomb! You can do it and I know you will do great!

See you Thursday for Class Connect and Small Group! Let me know if you need a 1-on-1 Tutoring session!

Finding Nets to Construct 3D Shapes

Today in class we covered a multitude of concepts involving 3D Shapes and our Learning Goals prove that!

To review what we learned, here are 3 simple activities that you can do to show what you know!

First, can you look at a 3D shape and draw what the shape would look like from the top, side or bottom? These are called perspectives.

Next up, we talked about taking 3D shapes apart and flattening them to create a net. Why would this help us?

Time for you to problem solve! Click on the picture above to make it larger. Read the question and take time to leave a comment with your answer. Make sure you leave your name so I can give you credit!

Ready for a little challenge? I'd love to see what you create and share it with the rest of the 7th Graders on the blog! Search for me in Kmail and send me your pics!

And of course, I couldn't forget to share a video on 3D Shapes with you...

Transformations Small Group

 Yesterday's small group lesson after Class Connect was a review over the three different types of Transformations.

First up, we had to review our definitions. As we were reviewing them, we talked about different key words that could help us remember which type of transformation was which! On our next slides, we underlined those keywords and made examples of each type of transformation of an object about a 4 Quadrant graph.

And of course we had to do a bit of practice. For this assignment, I put it up on the whiteboard and we went through the triangle together. After that it was time for each student to get a turn and so I gave whiteboard privileges to all 17 students who showed up and we had a blast! 

 Now, if you are wondering what it should look like, here is an example of Mrs. S' copy that she printed out and worked along with you. This would be a great resource for you to put in your Math Notebook! You can download it for FREE here!

And of course, I couldn't leave you without a silly video! Don't forget to finish your Geometry Unit in Study Island by Friday, February 1st!

Multiplying and Dividing Exponents

What an awesome class we had today reviewing the rules of multiplying and dividing Exponents with the same base. Taking the time to work through our Flippable to add as a resource will definitely make the practice problems so much easier. Remember, it takes 28 days to make a habit so keep practicing.

 We started with a basic three flap Flippable with our Exponent Rule Names written on each flap.

Next up it was time to start adding the information! First up was Multiplying Exponents with the Same Base. We all know that means to add the exponents!

Next up was Dividing Exponents with the Same Base. Well, if we added for multiplying we must subtract for dividing! You can also see the extra examples we added in from favorite numbers of the class.

Then of course we couldn't leave the Zero Power out. Lonely zero powers that make the number equal to 1.

Wouldn't be a lesson with Mrs. S unless we had an Exit Ticket of sorts. I really tried to stump you on this one but so many of you had this down and got it right! Good job! Don't forget to Kmail yours in by Friday so I can give you your 1 hour attendance credit!

Of course I couldn't leave you without a video! Check out Super Exponent Guy!

Next week's Stumped in Pre-Algebra will be over One-Step Equations! Several of you asked about them this week so I really think it will help us out! :)

Teachers: If you are interested in this Flippable with the components and Exit Ticket, I have the available in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop as well as my Teachers Notebook shop. Enjoy!

Coordinates, Coordinates, Coordinates...

The big change from 6th grade to 7th grade is going from only reading a graph in Quadrant 1 where all numbers are positive and then moving into 4 Quadrants with positive and negative numbers both.

As we reviewed the various location of positive and negative numbers in each quadrant and the location of the x and y-axis and origin, feel free to use your Coordinate Plane Flippable (check your Kmail) as a reference when you are working on your practice problems in Study Island and beyond.

Also, feel free to enjoy Groundhog Graphing and send in your pictures if you use them at home! I'd love to see your work!

3D Prisms and Pyramids

Are you having trouble distinguishing between prisms and pyramids? They are quite tricky so I'm here to help you out as you work through your practice problems and determine the differences between prisms and pyramids.

Recently we went over determining what various 3D Shapes were based on their characteristics. Based on what we worked on in class, quite a few of my students were having difficulty determining between prisms and pyramids.

To help make that a little easier when you are working on your Study Island I have created an Anchor Chart that you can print out and use when you are doing your practice problems.

Don't forget to complete your Study Island Geometry Assignments by February 1st! I'm looking forward to seeing those Blue Ribbons all across the board!

Stumped in Pre-Algebra?

Please take a moment to fill out the form below so we will be able to target direct skills to teach during our Stumped sessions starting January 28, 2013 at 9 am.

Scientific Notation Got You Down?

Need a little refresher? Take a moment and watch Professor Von Schmohawk as he reviews Scientific Notation with you!


To help remember those crucial steps, this Flippable is perfect to hold the notes on how to work converting from Standard Notation to Scientific Notation as well as converting from Scientific Notation to Standard Notation.

Each of the flaps contain information to remember what to do when converting but also clues and examples!

The Scientific Notation Flippable is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store and includes Practice Problems to test your skills on converting back and forth between both notations.

**If you are one of my students (current or former) and would like to receive this Flippable and Practice, please feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email and I will send it right off to you!**

Inverse Operations Anchor Chart

Inverse Operations are fundamental when learning about expressions and equations. To help my students in remembering the operations that "undo" each other, I have created an Inverse Operations Chart to use as a resource.

You can simply click on the image above to download the chart for FREE! It's already filled in for you and ready to use as a resource. Now, if you are looking for blank charts to use in the classroom, feel free to check out my Inverse Operations and One Step Equations Anchor Charts and Practice Problems in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for only $2.00!

And if you need more practice on using Inverse Operation in Addition and Subtraction, here is a great video with examples that I found to share!