Solving Algebraic Problems

After correcting today's homework, which you guys KILLED by the way, we began working on some algebraic problems.  Students were placed in small groups to attempt rather difficult problems.  We will continue working on these problems and constructing our posters on Monday.  Take a look below to see how I solved my sample problem and the six problems that you worked on in class!  There's no homework, but have a great weekend and I will see you on Monday!

-Miss K  :)

Have an awesome weekend!

Solving Equations Part Two!

People did REALLY well on last night's homework and I am super pleased with your performance!  Today in class we corrected our homework from last night and I was amazed by how many papers went in the 100's box!  After correcting, we were able to create silly and strange word problems that could turn into equations.  You will see some of these problems again soon!

Tonight's homework is the big old packet on solving equations that I gave you today.  Now, before you get all grumpy about the big packet, one problem was already done, we did 4 in class (shown below if you forgot or were in Red class where got more work time but did less on the board) and there are only 24 problems in the packet...

My oh my, that sounds like it could turn into an equation...

1 + 4 + x = 24

x = 19  You only have 19 problems to do tonight.

Want another one?  There are 24 problems in the packet and there are z problems on each side of a page.  There are 4 sides in the packet total.

24/z = 4

z = 6  There are 6 problems on each page.

Here are the problems we completed in class!  Good luck with the homework tonight!

-Miss K  :)

Solving Equations

Tonight's homework is to complete the solving equations worksheet.  Use logic, mental math, whatever works to help you figure it out.  Take a look at some screen shots from class to help you with tonight's work!  We will continue to go over this topic again tomorrow!  Good luck!!!

And some examples from tonight's homework:

-Miss K  :)

More Expressions and Equations

Examples of Variables, Constants, Expressions and Equations:

Tonight's homework is to complete the Writing Expressions worksheet.  Good luck! 

-Miss K  :)

Expressions and Equations!

Today we were joined by Ms. Rao's classes as we learned about some algebra basics.

Constant:  A constant is a value that always remains the same value.  For example, 7 always means 7, there are always 60 minutes in an hour.

Variable:  A variable is a letter or symbol that represents an unknown value.  This value can change from problem to problem.

Operation:  An operation tells you what type of math you should be doing, addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.

Expression:  An expression is made of a constant, operation and variable.  For example, 7 + x is an expression.  An expression is like a formula and can be used to describe a situation like, I shared x bags of candy evenly among 3 friends.

Equation:  An equation includes an equal sign and answer after an expression.  For example, 8 - m = 3 is an equation.  Now, I know that most of you can quickly realize that m is equal to 5, but for right now, we AREN'T solving these equations, just writing them!  Make sure that the variable is part of the "problem" or expression part of the equation.

Words that indicate adding, subtracting, multiplying or dividing:

Examples of expressions from class:

Equations from class:

Since writing equations might be the most confusing, take a look at these pages for additional help, Math Goodies or Math.com.

Tonight's homework is to complete the expressions and equations worksheet.

-Miss K  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for all of your hard work in class today as we talked about Perseverance and Ed Gerety's four reminders:

• Be Kind
• Be Grateful
• Be Positive
• Be Respectful

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your friends and family!  Travel safe, rest up, have fun and think about how lucky we are to have the things we have!  If you can begin to prepare for adopt a family, please feel free to begin purchasing gifts and collecting money for gift cards!

Again, enjoy Thanksgiving!  I'm very Thankful that you are my students!

-Miss K  :)

Quiz Today!

Quiz Today, No Homework!

Enjoy your night!  I hope to post grades tomorrow!

-Miss K  :)

Quiz Tomorrow!

Tomorrow we have a quiz on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing with decimals.  Today in class we reviewed what would be on the quiz and completed some practice problems to help us prepare.  See below for the examples and information.


There are 18 questions on the quiz.

2 adding, 2 subtracting problems.  These are basic.  Just add or subtract after lining up the decimals.

2 multiplying problems.  Again, these are basic.  Ignore the decimals when you multiply then count space after the decimal to determine where to place the decimal

2 estimating word problems.

example 1:

example 2:

2 buying items problems.

example:

1 word problem with numbers written in word form.

example:

2 word problems.  The math is basic, but you need to determine if we should add, subtract, multiply or divide.

example 1:

example 2:

example 3:

1 logic problem.  You will need to determine if a decimal is in the right place, if an answer seems reasonable, what answer should be expected, etc.  I can't give too much information about this one, but if you think about how reasonable an answer should be and feel comfortable doing basic estimation with decimals, you can do this problem.

2 division problems.  Just like tonight's homework.  See examples way below.

2 division word problems.

example:

Tonight's homework is to complete the Division worksheet and study for the quiz.  Since I want to give you as much time as possible on the quiz tomorrow, I am including the answers to tonight's homework just below.  Please correct your work at home if possible so that you can begin right away in class tomorrow!

Number 12 is a bit tricky and somewhat confusing.  Normally when we round things down, like in addition and multiplication, it makes our estimate smaller and therefore less than the actual answer.  But with subtraction and division, when we round down, it doesn't always do the same thing.  In this problem, rounding the divisor down means that each group is going to be a bit bigger, but since we rounded the dividend down by quite a bit, we were actually starting with much less.  By doing the actual math out, as I did below, we can see that this estimate is actually larger than the actual answer.  (By the way, I didn't finish the actual answer, but we can see enough to know that the actual answer is smaller.)  Tomorrow's quiz will not have a question like this, so please don't worry about it.  You should be able to estimate for examples like the ones provided up top.

Good luck studying!

-Miss K  :)

Dividing Decimals

Today we were able to begin dividing decimal values.  Since we already have some practice with this topic, everyone seemed pretty comfortable dividing and solving these problems.

If you need a reminder check out the video below and take a look at the links to online notes.



Cool Math

Math is Fun

Tonight's homework is to complete the HW side of the paper I passed out it class.  I'm pretty sure that almost everyone finished during class!  If you want to keep practicing, please work on the opposite side of the paper and/or do the problems included on the note sheets passed out during class.

Best of luck and have a great weekend!  Remember, we will have a quiz on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals on Tuesday!

-Miss K  :)

More Multiplying Madness!

Excellent job multiplying in class today.  Our second shopping trip was a success and I was very pleased with your work.  Since there are so many ways to make mistakes on a big long multiplication problem, I am posting each of the answers from last night's homework below.  Please review them if you had trouble with the assignment!

Tonight's homework is to complete the multiplication sheet (both sides, 17 problems).  I am going to grade this assignment as check +, check or check - based on your performance, so do your best.  Take your time, make sure your answer makes sense and double check your math.  It's too easy to make a silly calculation error, so you need to be super careful!

-Miss K  :)