Ms. Walsh's 6th Grade Math

IRSC is offering free tutoring sessions each semester at their Fort Pierce campus for Middle and High School students.
For the remainder of the Fall Semester, space remains available for tutoring in reading. IRSC will have tutors available in math, reading, and science during the Spring term, which begins in January. Details and contact information below.

Indian River State College
Tutoring Lab

Who: Middle and high school students who are interested in strengthening their math, reading, and/or science skills

Where: Indian River State College Fort Pierce campus

When: Monday through Thursday 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. for 50 minute sessions

Cost: Free

Contact: Kelly Amatucci, Clinical Experience Coordinator, at 772-462-7713

For tutoring request brochure and form, click “Free Tutoring” on the page listed above at the top of this blog.

Tomorrow all students will finish the skills test mentioned in yesterday’s post.
Homework: Plenty of rest, and a breakfast tomorrow at home or school. Bring sharpened pencils to school.

Your child should strive to get, at minimum, one more question right than they got right on the pre-test.
One way they can do this is to review their test tomorrow during math class-it is a two-period test (90 minutes).
Count how many questions they are certain they got right.
If this is not equal to their goal number, they should find enough questions they are not completely sure about, but feel they just may be able to solve correctly and concentrate on getting those questions right.

The percentage your child received on the district administered pre-test benchmark in math is written on page 26 of their planner.
There is a number with QR after it. This means # of questions right out of 30 total questions.
The percentage is listed on the line.
The average % for this test district wide is NOT KNOWN by me at this time.
However, the average for the 127 students I do have a score for was 41.78%.
The top score among those 127 students was 80%.

Because the top known score was 80%, which is 20% less than 100%; I recommend adding 20% to your child’s score to get a more realistic grade.

Read more about the actual pre-test benchmark test on the post below.

The test given today and tomorrow is NOT a district wide benchmark test. However, it is being used by our school as a mini-assessment of skills.

Thursday and Friday, all math students will be taking a school-wide test by grade level which will help your child’s teacher monitor their progress and mastery of the math skills they are expected to learn this year. There are 30 questions total on this test.

Please make sure your child gets plenty of sleep Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and a good breakfast. They will need sharpened pencils for the test.

This was a last minute change of plans. We will resume working on fractions on Monday. There will be questions on the skills test that we have not gone over yet, but we will be learning much of the material during the second nine weeks.

On a different, but similar note:

The results of the pre-test benchmark which your child took at the beginning of the year were given to me today. These test scores are always low-year after year. They can not be fully judged without knowing what the district average was. This year, I have not been given that information yet. However, I will calculate the team average, and that should give you a strong indicator of how well your child did in comparison to other children who took the same test on the Talons team. This information will be placed on page 26 of your child’s planner. Give that page and the surrounding page a look, and revisit it throughout the year.

The Pre-Test Benchmark test given by the district to all students in 6th grade had 30 questions total. I can tell you that on our team, the highest score was an 80% in math. Two students achieved that score. This means, adding 20% onto your child’s score will give a more true indicator of their performance on the pre-test. Also, remember, that test is used to measure a beginning point before the material has been taught throughout the year, with the goal that your child will achieve a higher test score on the SAME test at the end of the year-which will then be called a post-test. Do NOT punish your child or be disappointed in your child for their performance on this test. The results do not appear on any report card ever. The test results do NOT help your child, nor do they hurt your child’s grade point average. I do have a lot of concerns about that particular test, which cause me to question its validity. That’s why I personally believe the district administered benchmark tests’ main value is in showing you how your child’s progress compares to other district sixth graders who have also taken the same test.

The test your child will take Thursday and Friday are in math only, during the math period, in the math classroom, and are school-wide only. They are not district-wide tests.
Correction: They will also be taking a reading test in reading class.

Period 1, 2, 4: 5-1 Greatest Common Factor
Period 5: 4-7 will be homework tomorrow night
Period 6, 7: 5-1 will be homework tomorrow night

Sorry this is so late. I just got home; however, I did update it before I left school earlier. It didn’t seem to publish though and remained unviewable. Thanks to someone who wrote me letting me know of that problem. Now, it’s fixed. Hope you aren’t too inconvenienced.

Homework All classes: Begin practicing for www.mathletics.com competition. Username and password is stapled inside front of planner.
The site is FREE for the next two weeks. Scroll down to learn more.
NOTE: This isn’t required if you don’t have access to the internet, BUT it is extra credit for those students who participate. If you do have the internet, see how you do. It should be fun. All ability levels are invited to participate, NOT JUST the students who excel in math easily.

Classwork: Period 1, 2, 4, 6, 7: Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 Test. If absent, print it from the blog and bring it in when well or returning. Next topic will be fractions.

Classwork: Period 5: Began 4-7, but didn’t get too far. Will be homework tomorrow night. Find the slope when given two points.

Don’t forget Destination Math. Keep plugging away at it.

For contest go here: http://www.mathletics.com/

More information about the contest can be found here:http://www.americanmathchallenge.com/

This is a FREE competition.
Your student does not need to have a fabulous math ability to play. ALL students may participate.

Your student should have received a username and password today. It will be stapled to the front cover of their planner. Some students do not have this yet. They may register on their own, or I will try to obtain the username and password for them again.

This week is a practice week.
Next week, the competition begins.

The three top schools will win a visit from the Human Calculator. More about the Human Calculator can be found in the Guiness Book of World Records.
Here’s a video of him on the Today show.
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/33291394#33291394

Here is Scott Flansburg’s website: http://scottflansburg.com/thc/

See him on the Oprah show here: http://scottflansburg.com/thc/media/video/Oprah2/

I’ll post more on this later from home.

This is the Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 test which Period 1, 2,4, 6, and 7 will take on Monday.
NOTE: NONE of these questions have been created by me. ALL questions are taken from state standardized tests released questions. Therefore, they should be very authentic in terms of what students should expect to see on the FCAT.
Another NOTE: Learn and grow. I realized that the chapter 1 test was far too taxing on the students who took it. Therefore, this test is much shorter. I hope this allows students to forego a feeling of being overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the task set before them and they can do their very best for each question.

Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 Test Course 1

If you have a grade that relates to edublogs that I missed entering, NOW is the time to let me know.
All grades are entered at this time.

Class Notes Functions and Linear Equations Final

I have worked for hours now to complete these notes and include a graph of the inverse variable equation. Notice it’s not here. However, I hope to add it in the future. I’m stymied by the lack of technology access wherever I go! That’s life, sometimes.

Tomorrow half day.
Friday, no school for students.

Period 1, 2, 4, 6, 7: Study for chapter 3 and 4 test on Monday.
Period 5: 4-6 Practice Skills