7th Grade Update

Since my last update, the 7th graders did a unit on sequences and series, problem solving with repeating decimals, and modular arithmetic.  With respect to sequences and series, they covered arithmetic, geometric, square, cubic, and finally Fibonacci sequences.  Students worked through a booklet called Mathematics, A Human Endeavor.  Next, the 7th grade class looked at rational and irrational numbers and how they related to repeating and terminating decimals.  They discovered how you know if a fraction would terminate or repeat.  Finally they did a small unit on modular arithmetic and learned how it related to bar codes, credit cards, and ISBN numbers.  For the next 2 weeks, they 7th grade class will be learning about functions and their graphs out of their next Mathematics, A Human Endeavor booklet.

10-30 6th Grade Update

Hello Families,

Halloween is tomorrow and students will be getting into their costumes tomorrow at lunch, going through different stations, and walking through the haunted house created by the 8th grade class.  For the sake of all students, please make sure that there is no blood, gore, or weapons involved with their costume.  I will try to get some pictures up as soon as possible, however I will be spending my afternoon monitoring the haunted house.  If anyone is willing to stop by to get some pictures of the 6th grade class, I would greatly appreciate it.  

Math

Since our last update, the students created their model pyramids of the Great Pyramid of Giza.  Each student was able to pick the base length for their pyramid.  Then, using Pythagorean Theorem they calculated the height of each face for their pyramid.  Finally, they cut out all 4 faces and the base.  Once Steve finished with original works, we teamed up during art class to teach them how to decorate their pyramids.  Steve has continued to work with them in art class and I gave them a period during Social Studies class to continue working on their pyramids.  Each pyramid will be shown off during conferences in 2 weeks.

We also spent some time looking how length and width changes if you have a fixed area and perimeter for a rectangle.  This led us down an awesome path, introducing students to plotting, curves, lines, intersection of lines, and asymptotes.  This class loves a challenge.

Finally, we are working with circles, looking at radius, diameter, circumference, and pi.  We are going to derive the formula for the area of a circle tomorrow.  

Social Studies

On top of learning about hieroglyphs in art class, students have been working on a short (3-5 slides) PowerPoint presentation on their ancient Egyptian God.  I decided to use PowerPoint because students will be able to show different pictures when they are trying to convince the class about which god we should honor with a new temple.  Next, everyone wrote/is writing their presentation and used a recording device to record their speech by themselves.  Tomorrow, they will evaluate their own presentation and then present their information to the class.  Conferences will most likely be the completion of the Egyptian project.  

Today, October 30th is a parent meeting, if you are unable to make, then minutes will be sent out.  

Happy Halloween

Parent Volunteers

I am looking for 2 volunteers to help me out.
If you have nice hand writing then please send me an e-mail.
If you have any skills in putting an e-book together then please send me an e-mail.
Thank you,
Josh Herring

7th Grade Update

Hello 7th Grade Families,
I created this blog to help all of the families have a better idea of what we are working on in Math class.  I will also use these blog to post pictures from class.

For the first couple of weeks, we have covered a unit on forest fires in math class.  For this unit, we reviewed probability, created scatter plots, derived the formula for the area of trapezoids and parallelograms, used scale to estimate areas, calculated heights of objects using a percent too (pictures to the right) , and calculated percentage increase and decrease.  I like to start the year off with this project because students will be working with fire in science class and it is an excellent review of material we covered last year.

For the last week, we have been working on a unit in elections.  We looked at several different ways to run elections which led us into a unit on factorials, permutations and combinations.  We are also looking at the numbers behind the electoral college and why certain states receive more representatives then others.

This unit will lead us directly into linear equations.  Linear equations are a major part of the 7th grade curriculum and we will be moving in and out of it for a huge chunk of the rest of the year.  Within linear equations we will be working with collecting data, the Cartesian plane, manipulating and solving algebraic equations, number theory, and predicting the future.  Within this major unit, we will have lots of mini lessons depending on when I determine the students need them.

I will post updates when we switch between projects or simply to update families if it has been some time since my last post.

If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Josh Herring

First long update

6th Grade Blog
Hello Families,

Rather than sending out updates over e-mail, I am going to use this blog to let you know what is going on the 6th graders.  I like the idea of using a blog rather than e-mails because I am able to add videos, pictures, and polls without filling up your inbox with a massive e-mail.  I have set the settings of the blog so that it cannot be Googled and so I will send out the link to the blog whenever I update it.  I would also recommend sending this link to friends and family who may be interested in what your son/daughter is working on in school.

In Math class, the students have been working towards building their model pyramids.  I am planning on having them put their pyramids together tomorrow during Math and Social Studies.  Steve and I will be working with them on Thursday during their art time to decorate their pyramids.  In order to build their pyramids we have had to learn a lot of new concepts.  A couple of them are factoring, finding the geometric mean, finding square roots by hand and calculator, discovering Pythagorean's Theorem, applying Pythagorean Theorem, and calculating area in square meters and converting it to acres.  If you are not sure what any of these concepts mean, have your son/daughter pull out their notebook and see if they can explain it words to you.  If they are struggling then feel free to put a little note in their notebook for me to take a look at.  As I mentioned in the parent meeting, I am really trying to get students to put their thoughts into words in their notebooks and today was an excellent example.  Each student tried to come up with a definition of rates, ratios and proportions using only examples of each term.  We are now going to apply these terms to scaling down the Great Pyramid of Giza.  I will post pictures of them building their pyramids and decorating their pyramids.

In Social Studies class, we are starting to look at different problems in our Ancient Egyptian town.  Each student has a character with hobbies, families, a job,...., a house which they should be able to describe to you, and what a typical day would look like.  Now that they have their basics down we are looking at trade in Ancient Egypt.  Each character had to put a list together of what they would send to Punt and what they would like from Punt.  Next, we are going to look at religion, by having the students decide who our town's new temple should be dedicated to.  To get a good idea of how large the Great Pyramid of Giza truly was we walked what the base of the pyramid would be from the corner of Sussex campus. I posted a couple of pictures at the bottom of the post.

Finally, here is Jen's update,

In language arts, we are finishing up our poetry genre study.  We have read and discussed approximately thirty poems, using them as mentor texts.  Students have worked on writing about small moments as metaphors for larger themes in their lives; using strong “I” voices, effective use of line breaks and stanze breaks, punctuating like prose, beginning in the action, avoiding participles, action poems, and adopting personas.

To celebrate their writing so far this year, we would like to invite you to a poetry reading on October 17^th at 2:15, where students will each share two of their poems. 

We have completed a genre study on book reviews.  Students are currently writing book reviews and peer editing.  Book reviews are an entry into critical analysis of texts, and share many features of the crucial essays they will be writing later in middle school and in high school.

I am reading The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw aloud to the sixth grade.  It is an adventure/mystery set in Ancient Egypt.

Students should continue reading their books of choice every night for at least thirty minutes.