Practice Problems for Orders of Operations Test

Several students realized that they still are tricked by math problems that have multiple operations in them, as rather than using the Order of Operations rules, they revert to doing things from left to right. We talked about this, and tried to slow down to try and eliminate these types of errors.

Tonight's Homework: Complete the Order of Operations Four Step worksheet.

Reviewing for Friday's Quiz

Students practiced for Friday's quiz over the orders of operations by doing a series of problems. Some students shared their order of operations presentations.

Tonight's Homework: Finish the 17 problems you started in class today.

Putting the Finishing Touches on OOO Presentations

Students spent most of the period working on their Order of Operations presentations.

Tonight's Homework: Complete the worksheet. You may use a calculator to do the tough multiplication problems. Be sure to show the steps, and circle your answers.

Working on PEMDAS Presentations

Students chose to work with a partner or by themselves to create an original presentation to help them remember how to solve problems that involve the use of orders of operations. These projects should be completed by the end of the class period on Tuesday.

Tonight's Homework: Get your grade slip signed for extra credit. Complete the worksheet on orders of operations.

Funbrain.com was Fun!

Today, we looked at problems that involved using orders of operations in a different way. Students were given 3 numbers, 2 operations and a target number and were to arrange the digits in a way that the rules of orders of operations worked. After a few tries, students became very successful.

Tonight;s Homework: Complete the worksheet you received in class. Enjoy the weekend!

Parentheses and Order of Operations

It was obvious that students were confused about grouping symbols and what to do with them when simplifying expressions using order of operations. We revisited the coolmath.com website, talked about parentheses, and then worked more examples.

Tonight's Homework: Complete the circled problems on your gray worksheet and bring them in tomorrow.

More on Orders of Operations

Students reviewed homework problems with their classmates, and discovered which problems were difficult to complete. We reviewed the orders of operations, and then did several examples. We weren't able to visit the website today. Maybe tomorrow!

Tonight's Homework: Complete the nine problems that you started in class today. Don't forget to show your work.

Order of Operations

Students visited a website today (www.coolmath.com) to learn about order of operations. We then practiced how to use this order to simplify a series of expressions. The trick to remember is that you cannot just compute from left to right. You must check the entire expression, and then simplify in order, looking for grouping symbols and exponents first. Next, complete any multiplication and division, working left to right. Last, complete all addition and subtraction, working left to right.

Tonight's Homework: Complete both sides of the gray worksheet on Order of Operations.

Finishing Up Histograms and Data Collection

Students were given their first grade slip today. These need to be taken home and shared with parents tonight.

We spent the class period finishing up our data tables, tally charts and histograms. Many students turned in quite a few finished products.

Tonight's Homework Get your grade slip signed. If you have any graphs or charts to finish, please complete them tonight.

More on Frequency Tables

The sub reported that she had difficulties teaching yesterday's lesson, so we started over today. Students created frequency/tally tables about the reported on the blue sheet of paper.

Tonight's Homework: None unless I specifically asked you to finish something today.

Making a Histogram

Students used the information they tabled last night to create a histogram. Students were encourage to create these on grid paper, and include each of the following on the graph:
• meaningful title
• well-labeled vertical and horizontal axis
• equally spaced intervals
• ruled lines
Color is optional. Students had about 20 minutes of class time to get this assignment started.

Tonight's Homework: Finish the histogram and bring it to school on Friday!

Making a Tally/Frequency Table

Students learned how to make a tally and frequency table today. Time was given in class to start the table, and special attention was given to making sure everything was neatly constructed.

Tonight's Homework: Complete your tally/frequency table. Be sure to bring it and the blue sheet back to class on Thursday.

EasyCBM Testing Replaces Instruction Today

Today, all students took the district math test, designed to give us a snapshot of skill proficiency at the beginning of the school year. A similar test will be administered in late May, and hopefully, all students will show gains in their scores over the course of the school year.

Tonight's Homework: Be sure to have the "Math on the Spot" worksheet done and ready to turn in tomorrow.

Getting Ready to Solve a Problem

We took a few minutes today to learn how to leave the classroom when we have fire drills. We also assigned seats for the month.

Students worked on some computation problems for about 15 minutes. After that, students began working on the "Math on the Spot" problem. Many were able to come up with multiple solutions to the problem.

Tonight's Homework: Continue to work on the "Math on the Spot" problem. It is due at the beginning of the class period on Wednesday, September 15th.

It's Friday!

Students continued working on some review materials today in class. We reviewed how to round numbers, add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers, and use orders of operations today.

Tonight's Homework: None! Enjoy the weekend!

Welcome to the 2010-2011 School Year!

Today was the first day of school for 7th and 8th graders. Our pre-algebra class, though tiny, is filled with conscientious students who did a great job today. We talked about the importance of staying caught up, even if we miss a class. We then wrote a paper introducing ourselves to the teacher. The last thing we did today was a problem solving activity that used Venn diagrams.

Tonight's Homework: Read and sign the "Missed Pre-Algebra?" handout, and then share it with your parent. Bring this back to class on Friday, September 10th.