Math Homework

page 190 #3, 4, 7 from your text.
Answer in a comment on here for the following question:
Explain the difference between a census and a sample. When is a sample biased?

Reminders...

Tonight is OP parent info night. I'm hoping to make it over there too. (Emma is only 5 years away you know - you can never be too prepared:)

MacMillan orderforms and money are due tomorrow.
If you want to get one of the bracelets Mr Blanchard brought in, bring your $2 tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning is breakfast of champions - 8:15

We are making our candy cone trees so you need to bring in the small candies for your tree.

Math - pg 185, 186 #1 and 2 (remember if you have difficulty with math, you can always go online for math help)

Your class reaping data should be complete for tomorrow.

Weekly Homework

Exponent Review

Try the following for 5 minutes each and record your score in your agenda. Remember, I'm looking to see if you have at least 5 entries per week. Be sure to click on the explanation part of these sites when you answer a question incorrectly. It will give helpful advice to help you better understand.

Understanding Exponents

The . in the middle of the numbers is another way to show multiplying

Solving Exponents

Spelling Week 2

Some of your parents have asked for some resources to help you with improving your spelling and vocabulary. I`ve found a site that you can use at home to help you practice. You will have a list of words, and you can have the computer say the words aloud so that you can type them in to check your spelling. To get to the online resource, click on the following link: List 2 Scroll down to the bottom and click on ``Hear and Spell`` in the Learn category. Feel free to complete any of the activites in the green section with your words. Proceed on to the bottom section of that screen under Practice. Press the START button and you will hear the words read aloud and you can type them into the box provided (yes I know the words are at the top!) When you are comfortable with the words, go to the section labelled Practice and choose ``Hear and Spell`` ìn this new category. Now you will have the words read to you without seeing them on the screen. Each time you practice, record your scores in your agenda. Set a goal to practice four times each week.

When you are working on getting comfortable with the words, go to the following link to get activities to do with these words.
Vocabulary Activities
Read the definitions for each word at the top of the green page, then scroll down and click on the START button to practice with their definitions.


Aim for 5 minutes for each activity. If you are finding these words too difficult, please let me know and I will get you a different list.


Have fun!

Reminders for this week

Remember to finish up your MacMillan orders and return them to the school on Nov 30th so we can submit them on time.

Hunger Games Homework - complete the calculations for the Class Reaping and read the rest of chapter 8 and all of chapter 9 (try not to read any further than this).

Add at least 1 good question for discussion to our blog (remember to include your first name). Feel free to comment on the questions posed by your classmates (with your first name included). Here is one to get you started:
Primrose Everdeen has her name called even though she only has one slip of paper in the drawing. Do you think Prim's name was drawn intentionally at the Reaping? Why or why not?
What motivation would someone have to "rig" a drawing?

Choir is cancelled for tomorrow after school.

If you have a male sibling in grade 6 or 7, there is a KEWL new club that will be run after school on Tuesday's beginning tomorrow (3:15 - 4:30).

Breakfast of Champions is this Wednesday morning at 8:15. Looking forward to seeing many of you there.

Homework Club forms are due back ASAP. Sign up to get some extra help and have some fun on Monday and Wednesday nights.

Bring your small nut-free candies to decorate an ice cream cone tree. Smarties, rockets, small jube-jubes...

Materials and notes from today.

We are going to start putting together our crafts for sale at the Winter Festival. For tomorrow we need to bring in glue guns and sticks of glue to use in the glue guns to make our crafts.

Remember to finish your history homework for tomorrow, and do the online homework for math and language and record your results in your agendas for tomorrow.

It was an emotional day today. I know it was a tough day for many of the students in our class. We started some interesting conversations about how people deal with grief and being sad when we loose someone important to us. Some of you may want to talk more about it at home tonight with your family.

Yoga Mats

If you have a mat, bring it for Monday's gym class. Make sure you have a change of clothes and deodorant too! See you in the morning.

Spelling Week 1

Some of your parents have asked for some resources to help you with improving your spelling and vocabulary. I`ve found a site that you can use at home to help you practice. You will have a list of words, and you can have the computer say the words aloud so that you can type them in to check your spelling. To get to the online resource, click on the following link: Spelling List 1 Scroll down to the bottom and click on ``Hear and Spell`` in the Learn category. Feel free to complete any of the activites in the green section with your words. Proceed on to the bottom section of that screen under Practice. Press the START button and you will hear the words read aloud and you can type them into the box provided (yes I know the words are at the top!) When you are comfortable with the words, go to the section labelled Practice and choose ``Hear and Spell`` ìn this new category. Now you will have the words read to you without seeing them on the screen. Each time you practice, record your scores in your agenda. Set a goal to practice four times each week.

When you are working on getting comfortable with the words, go to the following link to get activities to do with these words.
Vocab Activities
Read the definitions for each word at the top of the green page, then scroll down and click on the START button to practice with their definitions.


Aim for 5 minutes for each activity. If you are finding these words too difficult, please let me know and I will get you a different list.


Have fun!

More Practice for Algebra and Algebra Tiles

Algebra Tiles

Here is a new way to help you understand the connection between a numeric equation and one written in words. Takes a little thinking, but an interesting way of thinking about it. Let me know if you find this way helpful.
Algebra in Pictures

Interviews

Grade 8's,
It was nice meeting with many of you and your parents over the last two days. I enjoyed talking about your accomplishments so far this year, and our plans to continue to get you ready for highschool. There were a few things that came up in several of the interviews that I want to address with you.
1 - Many of you still do not have a combination lock on your locker. I would like to make sure that you have one on it ASAP (for sure by January at the latest). I understand that some of you are taking all your books home each night as well. While I can appreciate that you may want to use them to review and study, and I know I've told you not to keep anything in your desks, I hope that you are able to keep the books that you won't be using at night in the top of your locker. Hopefully, this will make things a little easier on your back in the long run!

2 - Several parents were asking for more homework. I talked with many of them about the blog and that you are expected to check the blog each day and record answers to various problems that I post on it. Some of you are already GREAT at this, and some of you need to remember to post your name on the work so you can get credit for it. Others of you need to submit answers on a more consistent basis.
In addition, I will try and post some sites that you can visit to practice skills that you should have as part of your knowledge by the end of grade eight. (One thing that I have noticed after teaching grade eights for six or seven years is that some students tend to forget what they've learned as soon as we move on to a new topic - e.g. while we are working on algebra, it is still important to remember the formula for perimeter of a rectangle is twice the length and the width).

Symbolism Continued...

Symbolism continued from today's lesson.
Remember last week when Raees was sharing the story about how the father that was willing to sacrifice his son's life because God told him to? Then the sheep came along and he was able to sacrifice that instead. Well I was thinking that sheep are closely related to goats, and both were used in the past as sacrifices. Now I'm wondering if that goat cheese that Prim gave to her sister was a symbol of sacrifice. What do you think about that? SAY SOMETHING...

This is goat cheese. Yummy!

This is a goat! I don't think it is as yummy as the goat cheese.

(too hairy for my taste)

Homework

Remember to find information related to a political scandal/corruption in Canadian government.


Do you think the Mayors in each of the 12 Districts would have enough power to rig the voting system so that their own children would not have their names entered in the reaping process? Explain your thinking.
Do you think that this would be a necessary action when you consider how the tessare impacts the number of times that your name is entered?Explain why or why not.
If you were the Mayor of a District, would you try to have your child's name removed from the ones that get entered for the reaping? Explain why or why not.


Also, several of you have to finish your glog homework. Check that post on our blog to make sure you have included all of the requirements, and then make it public so that your classmates can see your work. Several of you also need to make your Father of Confederation glog public so that your classmates can see it too. Check out a few glogs that your classmates have made. What do you like about them? How could they be improved?

Math Pics with Algebra Tiles

Here are some pics of the algebra tiles that we've been working with. Hope they help.

Try to solve the following using tiles:
Use this online math tool to help you solve it (you do not need to use the large square shaped tiles, only the small squares and the rectangles). To get them, click on the arrow beside manipulatives and select algebra tiles. Or you can draw them out or use any other manipulative at home like pennies for unit tiles and paperclips for variable tiles. Feel free to take pics of your work to help you remember it.
4x - 1 = 2x + 8

Tomorrow's reminders

Remember to wear your tribe's colours tomorrow. We have Survivor in the morning with the grade 7's.
Last call for interview forms. I am still waiting to get several returned for parent interview time.
Reportcards go home with students tomorrow.
We will continue reading chapter 1 of the Hunger Games in class. (Autumn, we only read to pg. 7).
There is a tryout for those interested in the Flag Football tournament from OP. The tournament is scheduled for Dec. 7th. This is also the same day as the Winter Festival.

I would like you to complete a Glog displaying information about what you want to do when you have graduated from school (highschool, university, college,...). It must have at least 1 picture, a video or an audio clip and textual information. Be CREATIVE!
The link for glogster is http://edu.glogster.com/
I look forward to seeing your work.

Confederation

Our new topic for discovery is Confederation. You can find lots of valuable information at the following website.
Confederation site

I'm looking forward to having some fun learning about Canadian Confederation with you all!

On a side note, did you see that game today??

Fundraiser - MacMillan's

You can start selling your MacMillan's orders this week. Even if you are not going on the trip, you are still welcome to make some sales. They have VERY yummy cookies!!

Weekend Update...

What a great end to the school week.
The new 'ring the bell for attention in class' system seems to be working! Thanks for suggesting and working hard to make it work.

The poppy art looks fantastic! I posted it on my Facebook as my profile pic and got some very nice compliments on your work!
The Remembrance Day Assembly went very well. Several teachers commented on what a good job you all did. Thanks to our Tech Crew, choir members, presenters (of words and wreaths) and our excellent audience for putting your best effort forward for this important assembly. You made me proud.

Here is the anchor chart that we worked on today for math. It should help you with your math homework for the weekend. Remember if you are stuck, you can also access the homework help that is linked to the math section of this blog.






Remember as well that we need to have an idea for Monday for our 'craft' to sell for the Winter Festival on Dec. 7th.

Please remember to bring in your interview and Ottawa forms for Monday as well. I need to book in the times to meet with all of your parents.

Winter Festival is Fast Approaching!

Grade eights, I can't believe it, but the Winter Festival is only four weeks away! I am hoping that we will be able to have a table set up there to sell something as a fundraiser for graduation.


I am fresh out of ideas.

We need something that would have minimal cost to us to make, would be fairly simple for us to put together, and that Eastdale students would want to buy.

What can we make?

Tuedsday's Homework

Check out this link for an interesting article.
http://www.weday.com/learn/globalvoices/205

Your task to complete after you've read it is,

Start your post with your name.
Find out what the minimum age is for working in Ontario.
Are there any specific exceptions in Ontario (like farm labour)?
What is the minimum wage right now in Ontario?
Do you think you will have a job while you are in highschool or post-secondary school? What would you like it to be?
What job would you like to have later in life?

As an asside, if your parents ask you to do chores around the house, this is NOT an example of child labour:)

Science Test

Remember that you have a test tomorrow on cell membranes, diffusion, osmosis, and turgor pressure.

Homework and Reminder

Please begin your story ending with your name.
The Little Girl Who Did WHAT???
Write a conclusion to the story The Little Girl Who Did WHAT??? with a solution to the problem we outlined in class today.
Your solution should be reasonable and include some references to the characters that we have already met. Remember, we left off with her when the giant butterfly swooped down and lifted her into the air. The last line read,
'Then something very magical happened.'


On a side note, if you have access to a yoga mat, please bring it for gym class tomorrow. We will use our gym mats, but there are likely not enough for our combined class.

If you have access to a spare black button, please bring it in for an art project. We are going to make poppies and will use the button for the middle of the poppy. The button should be at least 2cm in diameter.

If you are on Tech crew, we need to set up the sound system tomorrow morning at 8:30 with the speakers (no mic or visual).

Math assessment

We will have a small quiz on circles tomorrow. It will cover circumference, diameter, radius and area of circles.
You can find resources to help you at Mathforum.org if you need them to review

Missing Millionare Donation Assignments

I am still waiting to get the 3 paragraphs from students with the #'s
1, 7, 12, 21, 30.
If you are one of these people (or one of them is your friend - message them to check this) please send me a post so I know you got this and make sure it is in and done for first thing tomorrow morning.

If you are a parent and are reading this, you can ask your child what their 'role call' number is in class;)

Smart Notebook software

You can download the Smart Notebook software for use at home for free. It does take a bit of time for your computer to download, but it will work (I think mine took more than 30 min.)

Google Smartnotebook Downloads (I think 10.7 is the most recent version) then follow the download instructions. You will need a product key. I will email it to the parent emails as well as your first class emails.

Let me know if you have questions.

This was one of the slides from how to solve an equation using the balance method.
Today we explored using algebra tiles to solve equations. Several students had 'aha' moments when they figured out that they were using the tiles to make zero pairs (just like we did in our study of integers) to isolate the variable.

Music Reminder

Tweet it, blog it, facebook status it - or go old-school and get on the phone and call your classmates to remind them that you have music homework for tomorrow for Mrs. H.
She says you have, "music notation worksheets and a music journal reflection due."

Math site for Manipulatives

This is the link for the balance pan and other manipulatives that we were using in class today.
http://glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html

What was the important thing (what might tend to trick OTHERS up) that you need to remember when solving for an unknown variable?

        a - 12 = 21 + 4
Solve the above example and use it to help you explain where OTHERS might get tripped up.

REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME IN YOUR COMMENT!!!

Want to win $3000?

Check out the link below for how you could win some cool cash!
http://www.4edu.ca/archives/email/AETN/AETN_0912.html