Thurs Sept 9, 2010

In our continuing review of basic functions we tackled long division using decimals. There were many tired brains by the end of the period. For tomorrow students need to do one more example in full.

A review of long division using decimals can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0uuK7SQcA8&feature=related

Homework:

1. due Friday - Do one more complete example of a division on the "Hippo" sheet. Show your work!

2. due Monday - Make sure you have a geometry set (protractor, ruler and compas) in your locker.

3. due Monday - Yellow Book Pretest

Wed Sept 8th

Today we discussed ways to solve problems that don't involve numbers - in our case a problem involving a farmer wanting to transport a wolf, goat and vegetables across a river. There are many versions of this famous puzzle. An online version can be found at:
www.mathcats.com/explore/river/crossing.html

Class 8-8 decided that when solving a problem - DRAWING A DIAGRAM often helps. In this case, drawing arrows seemed to be a common trend.

Students received a brand spanking new orange duotang, and boldly attempted to do some more arithmetic - today's challenge - remembering long division.

HOMEWORK
For tomorrow: "Mental Math" worksheet.
For Monday Sept 13th: Finish "Yellow Book" Pretest worksheet.

P.S. A sweet new year to those celebrating Rosh Hashanah, and a joyful Eid to those celebrating the end of Ramadan.

Welcome Back Class 8-8!

A new year has begun!

Ms. Gesner was thrilled to see that 26 of her favourite students ended up in 8-8.


Today's class involved doing some warm-up calcul8ing - a review of basic addition and multiplication.

Students discussed how they add and discovered that they do it in different ways.

1) Some students are "memorizers" who have basic facts memorized.

2) Others are "topper-uppers" who do addition by figuring out how to make groups of ten. (They 'top-up' the first number to get ten, and see what's left over - 8+5 is 8 +2+3 = 10+3 = 13)

3) Others are "finger counters" - who are always wiggling their fingers as they calculate

4) Others are "visualizers" - who make pictures in their head.

So long as your method is ACCURATE and FAST, there's no need to change. However, in trying other methods you may find one that is faster. Experiment!


As members of class 8-8 didn't have agendas, Ms. Gesner made the radical decision not to assign homework. Apologies to all students who were disappointed.

Persuasive Speech.

By now you should have:
1) Chosen an interesting topic (Speech Planning Sheet #1)
2) Narrowed down your topic to one clear argument that you are trying to make. (Speech Planning Sheet #2)
3) Done an outline of your main points (Speech #3).

Now it is time to write you speech!

Due Monday June 7th at the latest.

Term 3 Vocab & Spelling Final TEST

The final test on lists #9-#13 will be WEDNESDAY MAY 19th, 10:25am EST

Answers for List #13

1) C. Obscure and recondite both mean unclear or difficult to understand. (I don't expect you to know the word recondite though)
2) A. Virtue and righteousness mean goodness. Mayhem, chaos, bedlam and pandemonium all mean disorder.
3) D. Furtively and covertly both mean secretly.
4) B. Ravenous and famished both mean hungry.
5) Disinclination is a synonym for antipathy in the same way that aversion and animosity are synonms
6) Chaos is the opposite of Order in the same way as evil is the opposite of rectitude (goodness)
7) Stealthily
8) Aversion

WEST SIDE STORY QUESTIONS DUE TOMORROW (Wed May 4th)
(also bring your pink sheets)