Ms. Walsh's 8th Grade Math

12-2E for all classes should be completed and 12-3B should be at least half to all done by tomorrow for all but 1st and 2nd periods.

1st and 2nd periods should have 12-2E finished by tomorrow. They were in a presentation during class today, so will catch up tomorrow on 12-3B.

$2 tickets on sale now in cafeteria during lunch for school play on May 18th. Also last day to check out school library books.
Next week is No Bullying/Homecoming Week
Monday May 21-Crazy socks day
Tuesday May 22-Twin Day
Wednesday May 23-Backwards Shirt Day
Thursday May 24-Team Sport Jersey Day (ALSO READING SEMESTER EXAMS)
Friday May 25-Pink shirt day

Semester Exams
May 29 Tuesday-Language Arts and Electives
May 30 Wednesday-Social Studies, Civics
May 31 Thursday- Math and Science

NOW-My students may begin returning their school math textbooks to media center at any time. Remember, you can access the textbook online at www.connected.mcgraw-hill.com if you need to see something in it. Username and password should be SOMSlast4or5digitsofstudentid56number. Try four digits first, then try 5 digits second, because some students had duplicate digits for the last four digits of their school id numbers.

Mr. Hibbard has arranged for our 8th graders to have a visit from Mr. Peter Feigl. He is a Holocaust survivor that will be coming this Monday, May 14th, at 10:00 in the cafeteria. We will be taking a collection through Social Studies classes to purchase a gift card for Peter to thank him for coming. If you receive a donation please pass it on to the Social Studies teachers. Also, please be sure to discuss with your students the importance of being respectful and quiet during this presentation.

NOTE from Ms. Walsh: I believe that Mr. Fiegl volunteers to come. However, this represents an expense to him in gas and time. Donations are used to help him offset these expenses. Also, most speakers ask for a fee. He is bringing an important message of history, and the need for tolerance and compassion for all. With the passing of time, the number of people who personally witnessed this atrocity, or worse lived through it in the worst, dehumanizing, and often fatal conditions, will continue to decrease. So we need to value these witnesses as important world resources, and thank them for being willing to share this.

Study for chapter 11 test tomorrow-all blocks. In green textbook-both end of chapter tests!
12-2 A and B should be completed by blocks 1/2 and 3/4
11-2 D should be completed, possibly 12-2A and B also.

11-2C Solve Multi-Step Equations

11-1B and 11-1D BOTH SIDES

Note: No student will have homework tonight if they utilized classtime effectively as plenty of time was given in class to complete the assigned work.

Next week, homework will resume.

This is just some information in answer to a parent question. I’m posting the answer here in case more parents and families need to know this information.

In 6th grade, the math class is called Course 1 Math
In 7th grade, the math class is called Course 2 Math
In 8th grade, the math class is called Course 3 Math OR schools/districts can also offer a different (but much the same course called Pre-Algebra).
Our district used to use a Pre-Algebra textbook from Glencoe. We went with the Glencoe adoption this 6 year period for middle school again, because it was by leaps and bounds the best. However, the state of Florida DID NOT approve Glencoe’s NEW Pre-Algebra textbook series for use in Florida schools. This might be why our district is using the coding on transcripts for Course 3, instead of the course coding for Pre-Algebra.
Another reason, we went with the Course 3 book and NOT the Pre-Algebra textbook from a different publisher is the Glencoe’s Course 3 book EXACTLY and PERFECTLY aligns to all of the required standards and benchmarks on the new curriculum and the new FCAT 2.0 test given to each 8th grade student. So it made perfect sense to go the Course 3 route.
Again, the information is basically the same.

So students currently in 8th grade who have Ms. Walsh, Mr. St. Rose, Mrs. Conti, Miss Gehrt, and some of Mr. Plowden’s (advanced) students, are in the Course 3 course (as are all SOMS students who are not in Algebra 1 or in Geometry. This means the students are right on target where they should be in the 8th grade curriculum. Not ahead, not behind.

IF YOUR STUDENT RECEIVED OR DOES RECEIVE a 1 or a 2 on the FCAT in 7th and/or in 8th grade, then they have failed to learn and master the material, so they are NOT PROFICIENT in math, even if they are taking Course 3, even if they receive all A’s on their report card.

In high school, the course order will be:

9th grade: Algebra 1 or Algebra 1 Honors
10th grade: Geometry or Geometry Honors
11th grade: Algebra 2 or Algebra 2 Honors
In 12th grade: students could have the option of taking another math course like Pre-Calculus, or Statistics or maybe another option even depending on the school.

The Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 course next 3 years is all online at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com username: 1student and password: student
So this is a huge help. Students could start working on studying for these courses at anytime. They have had this information since about Christmas of this year.

In Algebra 1, students will receive NO credit for the course unless they pass Florida’s Algebra 1 End of Course exam. This exam is computerized. The exam will probably be given about the same time next year which is about a week after the FCATs are given. The EOC exam will count as 30% of the student’s Algebra 1 grade and count toward their high school gpa. Something that the 9th and 10th grade old FCAT exams did not do. The same will be true for Geometry, and I would think by the time the student is in eleventh grade, for Algebra 2 also, quite possibly.

Also, students must pass all three end of course exams to graduate from high school for Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2. So if a student does not pass an exam, then the senior year of high school is sort of left open, as the student would have to repeat the failed course the following year, putting them a year behind, to graduate.

These changes are a direct result of the laws just made recently by the elected officials in Tallahassee. So they may change again, but this is what is in place at the moment.

http://www.stlucie.k12.fl.us/pdf/StudentProgressionPlan.pdf
The above link is CRUCIAL information. Regarding 8th grade students entering high school next year, especially look at page 51 and 53. This should help you a lot.

If you still have questions, write a comment, and I will try to address your question.

Remember, the laws have changed. Graduating from high school is now much harder than it has been in at least the last decade, maybe ever, in Florida. If your child has problems in high school math classes, take immediate action to find them help. Use the Pearson link for FREE given above. Go to www.youtube.com and enter the course name plus the name of the lesson your student is supposed to learn. MANY FREE 5 to 10 minutes lessons will appear. There is no need to pay for online tutoring. Plenty of free help is availble online. Comcast Esstentials is a program offering internet for $10 a month to families without the internet for 3 months whose children qualify for free or reduced lunch. They even allow you to get a computer on a payment plan. It is much more difficult for your child to succeed in high school without the internet, so make arrangements for your child to access the internet at home, a family member’s, a friend’s, or a public library, or on a mobile device if at all possible. Free tutoring is available through the education department at IRSC, must provide own transportation and sign up early in the school year and/or semester for help there. Paid tutoring is available through businesses like tutor.com or Sylvan or Huntington-these options are expensive.

Remember, it is your responsibility to make sure your child is succeeding in these high school math classes. If not, you will find your child is a senior and has not qualified to graduate, which means they would not receive a high school diploma. Forewarned is forearmed. Remember, these requirements were not made by the district office or by your student’s math teacher. These requirements are the current laws of the state of Florida.

We did 11-1A in class. 1/2 period should have completed the workbook page in class. 3/4 and 6/7 will complete 11-1A in class tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will learn 11-1B Distributive Property.

Each student has a homework practice due TOMORROW of FCAT 2.0 Test Item Specification questions.

This will be a test grade. Students may write in the packet and put answers on answer sheet.

On Friday, students will receive a sample test for the FCAT due on Monday. It has 14 questions I believe.