Week 22 - Unit Tests for 6th Grade and Pre-Algebra

Parent Portal Tip 

1. To find the grades for each class, click on Schedule.  
2. The second column, labeled SM2, is the summary of semester 2 courses.  
3. Click on the name of the course (MATH6GD or PREALG7), not the name of the teacher (clicking on the teacher name opens a window to send an email to the teacher).  
4. At the top of the page, you should see the overall grade for the class and if you scroll down, you can view the grades of each individual assignment in the class.

Math Help
If your child needs additional help, they can go to the Homework Center in the library on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays until 4:15pm or to the Math Lab on Wednesdays or Thursdays until 3:15pm.

6th Grade Announcements & Homework
This week we will finish the unit on percents and close with the unit test.  On Monday, we will be studying simple interest, which is the last new concept that will be covered on the test.  The unit test and the math journal check will both be on Thursday this week.  I will hand out the math journal checklist and study guide on Tuesday.  Homework is below:
Monday (1/30): WB 6-7 #12-17
Tuesday (2/1): Unit 5 Study Guide (#1-10)
Wednesday (2/2): Unit 5 Study Guide (#11-20)
Thursday (2/3): No HW (Unit 5 Test and Math Journal Check today)
Friday (2/4): Test Corrections

Pre-Algebra Announcements & Homework
This week we will be working on a group graphing project.  It will combine all of the skills and concepts of this unit and should help students prepare for the test, which will be on Friday. Homework is below.
Monday (1/30): TB Pg. 369 #9, 11, 12, 14, 20
Tuesday (2/1): Group Project
Wednesday (2/2): Group Project
Thursday (2/3): Practice Test Corrections
Friday (2/4): No HW (Unit 4 Test today)

Week 21 - Parent Portal Information

Parent Portal
You should have received the access code and url for the parent portal to check grades.  On Friday during class, we will go to the school library and show the students how to check their grades.

Thank you!
Thank you to the families and students for helping to cut out the algebra tiles and donate plastic bags.  Each Friday after the students finish their quiz, they are allowed to choose an algebra problem card and a set of algebra tiles to work on.  It's a fun puzzle that the students enjoy and thank you for making this possible.

6th Grade Announcements & Homework
This week we will be continuing our study of percents.  We will be seeing them in practice in discounts, sales tax, and tip.  Since the textbook does not cover these topic in depth, we will be supplementing with various worksheets.  Next  week we will cover simple interest and the unit test will be next Thursday.  Homework is below.

Monday (1/24): WB 6-5 #10-18
Tuesday (1/25): Discount & Sales Tax W.S.
Wednesday (1/26): Tip W.S.
Thursday (1/27): Quiz 11 Practice Problems
Friday (1/28): No HW (Quiz today)

Pre-Algebra Announcements & Homework
This week we will move past linear equations into other types of functions: quadratics, cubics, and scatter plots.  Homework is below.

Monday (1/24): WB 7-4 all
Tuesday (1/25): WB 7-5 all
Wednesday (1/26): WB 11-4 all
Thursday (1/27): Ch 7 Review W.S.
Friday (1/28): No HW (Quiz today)

Week 20 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

On Friday, the 6th grade students took their Unit 2 Test on Integers.  Our Big Goal was for each student to demonstrate at least 80% mastery of the objectives.  There were several outstanding performances from students that I would like to recognize.

There were no students with perfect scores.

There were 3 students who were near perfect, answering 19 out of 20 questions correctly: Mako Goldston, Adrianna Ng, and Anny Tran.

And the following 16 students also achieved the Big Goal of 80% mastery, answering at least 16 questions correctly:Karly Brooks, Gisselle Calderon, Matthew Canepa, Aidan Corral, Braden Dalit, Balsharan Dhillon, Rafael Diaz, Brendan Flores, Eliel Garcia Gonzalez, Angela Kurysh, Kristin Madruga, Danny Martinez Buenros, Nhu Nguyen, Catherine Salazar, Adin Sabanovic, and Roman Sanchez.

Congratulations to all of our hard-working students!

Below are some brief statistics by class period.

Period	# Students  who earned at least 80%	# Total  students	Average  score
1	6	23	70%
2	7	21	66%
6	8	28	66%

I will be returning the tests on Tuesday and students will have a chance to re-work the problems that they got wrong (as practice and review) and will be able to re-take the test (for full credit).  Students needing assistance can get help in the homework center and math lab.  The re-take will take place in the Math Lab on Wednesdays or by appointment.

New Parent Portal Access (replaces PIV)
Students should have received the new log-in information from their 6th period teacher today. The instructions each have the student's name and unique Activation Code at the bottom. Once you activate the code, you can create your own username and password that you will use from now on.

6th Grade Announcements & Homework
This week we will be beginning a new unit on percents.  It's a short unit (only 3 weeks long).  Actually, the next few units (percent, geometry, and probability) will be about three weeks each.  This week will be an introduction to percents and percent problems.  Homework is as follows:

Monday (1/17): No HW
Tuesday (1/18): WB 6-1 #1-7, #19-21
Wednesday (1/19): WB 6-2 odds
Thursday (1/20): WB 6-5 #1-9
Friday (1/21): No HW (Quiz today)

Pre-Algebra Announcements & Homework
This week we will build on the foundation of slope.  We will be looking at linear equations in slope-intercept form and identify the slope and y-intercept and learn to graph lines using that information.  The book does not have a lot of problems and information, so we will be supplementing with worksheets.  Homework is as follows:

Monday (1/17): No HW
Tuesday (1/18): Identifying Slope and Y-Intercept Worksheet
Wednesday (1/19): Graphing Slope and Y-Intercept Worksheet
Thursday (1/20): TB Pg. 355 # 5-10, #17-20
Friday (1/21): No HW (Unit 4 Quiz 3 today)

Week 19 - 6th Grade Unit Test

Paper Grade Checks
Since the PIV does not have second semester grades yet, I will be sending home grade checks on Monday.  A parent signature is required.

Links on the blog
I was playing around with the settings on the blog and found out how to post hard links on the right side.  You'll now see quick links to the John Muir website, PIV, and textbook resources.  Mrs. Young (another 6th grade math teacher) is also linked.

Extra Credit & Class Donation
There was a really good presenter at the math conference the math department attended in December. I used my own money to purchase her activity workbook and I'm in the process of making number tiles to go with it (each student will need their own set of number tiles). Students who want extra credit can help me cut out the paper tiles on Wednesday after school.  I also need the half (snack sized) ziplock bags to house each student's number tile set. If someone could donate a box (150 count), I would really appreciate it.

6th Grade Announcements & Homework
This week we will be learning the last skill of the unit:  converting customary measurements (e.g. inches, feet, quarts, gallons, etc.).  We will be reviewing for the test on Friday.  On the test day, I will also be grading math journals.  The checklist will be distributed on Tuesday and it is each student's responsibility to copy any missing notes from a peer.  Homework is below.

Monday (1/10): WB 5-5 odds
Tuesday (1/11): Unit 4 Study Guide # 1-10
Wednesday (1/12): Unit 4 Study Guide #11-20
Thursday (1/13): Practice Test corrections
Friday (1/14): No HW (Unit Test today)

Pre-Algebra Announcements & Homework
This week we will begin learning about slope: the constant rate of change.  We will study it first as rise over run and then learn to calculate the slope of a line given two points.  Homework is below.

Monday (1/10): WB 7-6 all
Tuesday (1/11): TB Pg. 347 #9-17 odd
Wednesday (1/12): WB 7-7 #1-9
Thursday (1/13): 7-7 Extra Practice W.S.
Friday (1/14): No HW (Unit 4 Quiz 2 today)

Week 18 - New Beginnings

Happy New Year!

Not only is this a new year, but this four day week eases us into the new semester.  Right now, all of the grades are reset and everyone has a brand new start.

WB Assignments
Remember, the workbook (WB) pages are listed as chapter-lesson, instead of the actual workbook page. For example, WB 4-9 means workbook chapter 4 lesson 9 and WB 7-2 means workbook chapter 7 lesson 2.

PIV Availability
The school district has implemented a new gradebook for the teachers to use.  Please be patient as we are learning this new system.  The PIV will not be available for approximately the first 3 weeks of second semester.  Also, the log-in information may change.

6th Grade Announcements & Homework
This week we will be continuing to study ratios, rates, and proportions.  We will begin by reviewing the material from the first part of the unit.  Next, we will work on converting between different metric measurements.  Next Thursday, will be our unit test.  Homework for this week is below.

**Update: Because of the assemblies on Friday, 6th period will have their quiz on Thursday instead of Friday and I have switched the lessons and homework for Wednesday and Thursday to the following.

Tuesday (1/4): Review W.S. Part 1
Wednesday (1/5): WB 4-9 #1-8, #14-15
Thursday (1/6): Review W.S. Part 2
Friday (1/7): No HW (Quiz today)

Pre-Algebra Announcements & Homework
This week we will be beginning our study of functions.  Homework is listed below.

Tuesday (1/4): Challenge 7-1 W.S.
Wednesday (1/5): WB 7-2 all
Thursday (1/6): WB 7-3 all
Friday (1/7): No HW (Quiz today)