LCM (Least Common Multiple)

Alright, we've done the GCF (greatest common factor) and with the birthday cake method it was faster and not as many people struggled.  Some are still learning and we'll review a bunch on Thursday before Friday's test.

Today we introduced and practiced LCM (least common multiple) this is where you list a bunch of multiples of two or three different numbers and then find the smallest one.  Thanks to the same lady who did the birthday cake we have a faster way as well.  Here's the video:

Parent communication option: Ask your child how to find the LCM, and ask them to tell you the difference between GCF and LCM.

Family Game option: Make up two or three numbers and have members race and compare answers, if a  race is too competitive you can set a timer for an amount of time and then just compare answers and all right answers get points.  

Tomorrow we review addition of fractions and lead into multiplication and division of fractions next week.  

GCF (Greatest Common Factor)

Here's the upside down birthday cake method, listing all of the factors and finding the greatest one always works, but a way that works for big numbers a little faster.

Factors, Factor Trees, and Prime Factorization! Oh My!

Alright, oops, forgot to get on here last night, that's alright though because we talked about divisibility tricks, so it was just a small set up for today. 

Three things:
1. Factor Pairs - this is when you have a number like 20 and you find all of the ways you can multiply and get that number, so we'd go with:

1 x 20

2 x 10

4 x 5

2. Factor Trees - this is when you start with a number and find pairs, but not all, until you have nothing but prime numbers.  (Reminder: Prime numbers only have two factors, like 7 would only have 1 x 7)

20 (starting number)      

2 x 10 (here's a factor pair)

2 x 5 x 2 (Only primes are left)

3. Prime Factorization - this is when you do the tree and end up with only prime numbers so you order them and write them as exponents if you can, so 20 would be equal to 2 x 2 x 5 and you could write that with an exponent for two to the second power.  

Tomorrow is Greatest Common Factor or GCF, basically we're finding more factor pairs of two numbers and finding the biggest one. 

Quiz 1.3

Welcome back!

Alright, today we took our first quiz, it was on two standards:
1. Long Division
2. Exponents with Order of Operations

I really enjoyed class today.  The students took the quiz and when they completed theirs we did a mini-conference about their answers as they finished.  So, if they missed a few I gave them the opportunity to go fix them.  This helped to point out many little errors that should now be fixed and hopefully not made again.

Of course on the test I will not be able to point out these errors, but will correct what they've done.  Also, I shared with them that they have the responsibility of proving what they know by showing the steps and their work.  I have to be able to know that they know it and their work is proof of their thoughts on paper.

Coming up soon Greatest Common Factor and Least Common Multiple.  Brush up on those multiplication facts.

Assignment on Friday! Quiz on Monday!

So, I'll be gone on Friday for class as I am attending a workshop in Eau Claire.  However, Friday is a day of practicing what we learned today.  It should be pretty much review, but just proof that they understand Order of Operations.

Here are two images that might help you understand what we're doing in class:

The quiz on Monday is on the three big topics so far.

1.1 Long Division
1.2 Powers and Exponents
1.3 Order of Operations

I won't be posting on Friday, so see you Monday!

Powers and Exponents!

There's that old question about if you were hired and had a choice between $1,000 a day or starting with $0.01 and doubling the new amount each day which would you choose?

Of course you see that the person making $1,000 a day would still have a great living at over $350,000 a year (before taxes, we'll save that for percents and decimals), but the person who chooses the penny would be making this:

So, today we did two really big things:

1. Every student has a book that they can bring home so there is a resource that you can use at home.  It does not need to be brought back to class each day as we can see the book online using our Chromebooks.

2. Assignment 1.2
     From the book it is page 14

It will be due on Thursday and we'll be jumping into Order of Operations, there will not be a math lesson on Wednesday due to early release, but we will be do something math related, just not as a full class meeting.

Finally, someone asked about subscribing to the blog, I didn't see how to do that yet, but when I do, I'll post how to do it.  :)

Friday - Multi-digit division (Long Division)

Families,
     Remember those days when we were in school and got to do many, many long division problems.  It was awesome if you knew how, but if you didn't it was pretty miserable.  There are four steps you probably remember by heart, if not, here they are:

1. Divide
2. Multiply
3. Subtract
4. Bring Down

     We did this over and over in wait to see if there would be a remainder!  How much fun was that?  Well, today there were four of these on the board and each student had a chance to show if they knew/remembered how to do these.  Some did, some didn't, no problem. 

     I had a great time teaching the group that wanted the lesson and those who have already conquered the task had a challenge assignment and got to work on other math skills using the same division techniques.  It was great, behavior was awesome, people were on-task, and the best part, I'm sure each learner is more confident in dividing now.  I can only teach as well as the students learn, today was great, next week we have some order of operations to look forward to.  See you then! 

Activity 1.1

The entire focus of Thursday and Friday is for the students to be able to do two things:

1. Determine which mathematical operation to use on each problem
2. Be able to divide multi-digit numbers

Today we talked about a few bar graphs and how math books pose questions.  There was some vocabulary discussion and refreshing of terms.  Here are some to ask your child about:

- operation
- prime
- composite
- x axis
- y axis

Finally, the best part is that we handed out Record and Practice Journals today.  They have them and should be bringing them to each class day.  Tomorrow we will do a mini-quiz and some practice problems after the mini-lesson. 

Another math day of seeing what you know!

Today we continued and finished part two of the course assessment, so just a few questions left tomorrow.  Then we're off to start the book and have some group conversations about bar graphs and other math concepts. 

We also introduced a site called todaysmeet and talked about how and when we might be able to use it.  They were excited to have a chat place and that it showed up on the screen in front of the class.  Finally, I invite you to ask your child about the gradecam program we are going to use, it's pretty cool. 

Pre-Test for 6th Grade Math

Greetings,
Today we started #1-20 on the 6th grade assessment, this is to see what students already know and provide a benchmark for how much they learn by mid-year and also at the conclusion of the school year.  We are using a cool thing called gradecam to score them and it allows students to see how they did right away.  Also, we are using another online tool called ILearn and it allows us to really use the laptops in a way that makes it easy to see the tasks we are completing for that day. 

Here's the schedule for the week:
Monday #1-20
Tuesday #21-43
Wednesday #44-56
Thursday Activity 1.1
Friday Lesson 1.1 with assignment! 

Be sure to keep it cool as the air conditioning at the school is still not working properly, hopefully it will cool down a bit tomorrow!  See you then.  Mr. Flaten

Week One complete, day one of math!

We had our first day of math today.  We did three things:

1. Talked about classroom expectations and how the class will operate.
2. Talked about getting the practice books next week.
3. Chromebook computers to do some activities on ILearn

Most of us got on pretty quickly and some struggled, but almost everyone is on, we'll get 100% next week.  We are looking at a pre-course test (not graded) to get a baseline of where students are on the 6th grade material next week and also starting in the big ideas books with activity and lesson 1.1.

If you want to keep up or follow along the link to the book is:

http://www.bigideasmath.com/students/?level=7.00

Just find lesson 1.1 on the left hand side.

Have a great weekend, it's been fun getting to know your children this week.  Thanks for the hard work at home it shows in their character and manners here at school.

Day One, Open House

It was fun getting to meet all of my Cares students and many math students who will be learning in my classroom.  As we talked today Wednesday and Thursday will not follow the regular schedule, but we will focus more on procedures and how middle school operates.

Also, we'll be getting out the Chromebooks on Thursday to see how they function and start using them a little bit.  Looking forward to day two.