SOLs Covered: 6.CE.2 Fraction Operations
Math Unit: 06 Fraction Operations
Daily Agenda: October 28-31, 2024 & November 1, 2024
Upcoming Assessments: MP1 Math Benchmark Test (Tues. 10/29)
Good afternoon! Yet again I'm still not feeling 100% (whatever I've been fighting developed into a full blown sinus infection by the middle of the week), so between that, Halloween with a side of power outage, and post-Halloween sugared up children, I'm one very worn down teacher today and this will likely be another short update. We started the week with the polygons and congruence quiz, which is the second grade of the new quarter (the first being the review for said quiz). Students have been given as much time to complete during class hours as I can allot, so students are expected to complete during the ALEKS portion of class (the first 20 minutes) and will thus need to make up the ALEKS time at home or during FLEX. ALEKS is a school and county requirement, so please help me by encouraging the kids to work on this. As added incentive, the school is starting a competition (with prizes to both the top class as well as the top students), so extra time outside of school will have additional benefits.
The rest of the week has been devoted to fractions. This can be a difficult topic for students as fractions are very complex. For this reason, we started with just a basic review: GCF, LCM/LCD, equivalent fractions, simplifying, proper fractions vs improper fractions vs mixed numbers. We started reviewing adding and subtracting fractions today, but this is proving a bit more difficult, so it will carry over into next week before we start the brand new component, multiplying and dividing fractions. Again, fractions tend to be the biggest struggle for kids universally, so I'll be adding additional resources to the module for support, but I also want to remind everyone of the additional resources I have (class YouTube channel, class Portaportal, and the resource modules at the top of the class Canvas modules page). I also give the students extra papers and digital assignments than what is required for class; some we don't cover at all together, others we only do a few problems from, but they are encouraged to use them during their personal review/study time (the best way to study math is to DO math). I either provide answer keys (modules below the regular unit module) for these extra materials so they can check their own work or program the digital assignments to auto-check. If students (or their grownups) are ever unsure of what's required and what's not, they (or you) are more than welcome to check in (students can ask in class or anyone can email).
That should cover everything but as always, please feel free to email if you have any questions or concerns. Have a great weekend!