Wed Sept 15

Today we looked at a problem involving lockers. The scenario was:

1) Josh opens 200 lockers. (or in our case cupboards at the front of the class)

2) John comes along and closes every second locker.

3) Julia arrives and changes the position of every third locker (If the locker is open, she closes it, if closed, she opened it.)

4) Lucas changes the position of every fourth locker.

5) Ben changes every 5th...

6) Shai changes the 6th etc. etc. etc.

A pattern emerged! 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36 - THE PERFECT SQUARES!!

Homework:

Prime or composite sheet (front side only) - due Friday.

September 14

Today we continued discussing problem solving strategies.

Students were asked: "If June 1st is a Monday, how many days will pass before the first Monday in October?"

We finished correcting work from last week.

Homework:
1. Do "cat" problem with ruler
2. Read yesterday's post


posted by: mister awesome A.K.A (WYATT); tidied by Ms. Gesner

Monday Sept 13th.

Today:
1) We warmed up with mental math (a 1/2 sheet with addition on one side, multiplication on the other).

2) Ms. Gesner explained the "checks" motivation system for the class. (In short - do good things, get checks, redeem checks for good things, repeat).

3) Quick review of "Rainbow Factoring" versus "Tree Factoring"
Rainbow - Factors of 24 = 1,2,3,4,6,8,12,24 (use an arc to connect 1 and 24, 2 and 12, 3 and 8, 4 and 6 and you'll have a rainbow)
Tree - Used to get Prime factors. 48 will always be 2x2x2x2x3, no matter how you draw the tree.

4) We began the correction of Yellow Pretest.

HOMEWORK:
Finish Mental Math Halfsheet.
Find this website! Find the link below that shows an animal in a boat (see link to Crossing the River Problem)

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.