Math Is The New πnk!

One of the students brought these books to my attention and I wanted to mention them as a great 7th grade resource:

Math Doesn’t Suck and Kiss My Math by Danica McKellar

You may remember Danica McKellar from the great 80’s show, Wonder Years. Following that show, she attended UCLA where she majored in mathematics. She wrote these two books to specifically appeal to middle school girls. While I’m not wild about the titles or the over the top, stereotypical girl-related examples, the explanation of middle school math topics is clear and readable. Perfect companion to 7th grade math.

Here is a great math site with explanation followed by interactive practice. Check out “Skill in Arithmetic”, lessons 19 – 26 for practice with fractions.

http://www.themathpage.com/

We are about to start a unit on fractions…rational numbers. By 7th grade, students have been taught all operations with fractions, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with fractions and mixed numbers. In 7th grade we will delve more deeply into number theory and rational versus irrational numbers. We will also be computing with positive and negative fractions. So this unit is about fractions, but on a higher conceptual level with more complexity in the types of problems, including word problems. The concepts that provide the scaffold for the understanding of fractions, besides parts of a whole, are division (and divisibility tests), prime factorization, GCF, LCM, a/a = 1, and a x 1/a = 1. This in turn forms the basis of Algebra 1. It is my experience that students who have a solid grasp of the idea of fractions are able to easily navigate Algebra. I had a TDS student a few years back who thought of fractions as counting in different bases where the denominator represented the the base…lots of food for thought…  If you work on one thing outside of school this year, fraction concepts and number theory are a good choice. Here are some fraction related websites…let me know if you find any others that look interesting. (Fine print: I’m not responsible for any weird ads on these websites.)

http://www.jsommer.com/WoodMath/Fractions.html

http://www.mathwords.com/f/fraction_rules.htm

http://www.sosmath.com/algebra/fraction/frac8/frac8.html

http://www.mathsisfun.com/irrational-numbers.html

http://www.visualfractions.com/

http://www.math.com/homeworkhelp/PreAlgebra.html

http://www.magic-squares.net/primes.htm

I’m back from DC and almost caught up. Sorry for the brief hiatus. Don’t forget conferences (and the book faire) are coming up next week.

In case you missed the post from October 5, I want to revisit test corrections because very few students have taken advantage of this pretty easy way of raising their test grades. Students may complete test corrections following unit exams to receive 1/2 point back for every 1 point missed.

Test Correction Requirements:

1. Use the test correction form.  In the box on the left, copy the missed problem and solve it correctly. In the box on the right, analyze the mistake (tell what you did wrong). Click here to download the form: Test Correction Form

2. Staple the form to the test, which has been signed by a parent. (To receive credit, the test must be signed by a parent, not the correction form.) Hand in as soon as possible after the test.

Please check in with your child and encourage the completion of test corrections. Let me know if you have any questions.

I allow fairly free use of calculators in my class. In fact, I encourage students to have it out on their desks every day. I also balance calculator use with ongoing discussion about using mental math or memorization for simple computations. Knowing what to use, when, and quickly is an important skill. The down side of calculators on the desk is that I often find my students more interested in their calculators than my lesson for the day. Oh well…Check out the articles below for discussion about calculator use.

http://education.ti.com/sites/US/downloads/pdf/therole.pdf

http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr072.shtml

http://www.sedl.org/scimath/quicktakes/qt9803.html

I love number theory…the simplest kind that we teach in middle school; primes, composites, LCM, GCF, properties of numbers, the number line, rational and irrational numbers, etc., etc.  Some of the simplest arithmetic problems are the most complex. Like the fact that 1/3 = 0.3 recursive. You can break a candy bar into thirds, but what about into 0.3 recursive?? And if 1/9 = 0.1 recursive and 2/9 = 0.2 recursive, etc.,  does 9/9 = 0.9 recursive? I call these deep thoughts, masquerading as simple problems, Cosmic Math Experiences, or CME’s.

This last weekend, Radio Lab on NPR had a great show on Mathematics, called “Numbers”. Check it out here: RadioLab . Also, enjoy this short clip from RadioLab.

We wrapped up our study of probability with a unit test on Thursday, October 1. I am handing the test back today. I will be reminding the students to have the test signed by a parent. Please ask to see the test. After unit exams, I give the students the opportunity to complete test corrections to improve their grade. Test corrections must follow the format below in order to receive 1/2 point back for every 1 point missed.

Test Correction Requirements:

1. Use the test correction form.  In the box on the left, copy the missed problem and solve it correctly. In the box on the right, analyze the mistake (tell what you did wrong). Click here to download the form: Test Correction Form

2. Staple the form to the test, which has been signed by a parent. (To receive credit, the test must be signed by a parent, not the correction form.) Hand in as soon as possible after the test.

We are finishing up our study of probability this week and will be having our chapter test this Thursday. See the fourth and fifth period links above for the class specific information.

We continue with our study of probability this week and are looking ahead to a unit test on Thursday, October 1. The probability quiz from last Thursday was returned today after the long weekend. If  you have any questions, please contact me. I want to point out that you can access daily homework for each 7th grade math class by clicking the 4th or 5th period link on the menu on the top of this page.

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