Mr. Stebbins' & Mrs. Martella's Blog

Short week due to field trips

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:59:14 GMT

We have a field trip scheduled for Thursday.

Both classes will begin a unit on Introduction to Geometry. We will also do a consumer reports popcorn lab this week.

Short school week.

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:24:50 GMT

We once again we have a short week at school. No school on Friday.

7/8 Math- Mrs. Martella's group is solving linear equations, and will be graphing lines on graphing calculators this week. This group is working hard to learn all they can about equations for a line and how to find all the solutions for the given equation. We will also begin solving systems of equations.

Mr. Stebbins group is learning about probablity and all the different combinations you can make with given groups.

Pre-Algebra - This class has finished working out of the Modeling book and will finish chapter eight in the Bridges book. The last section they will focus on is systems of equations: solving two equations with two unknowns. We will then move into our geometry unit.

We only have eight and a half weeks of school to finish the year. We will be learning new material so we need to make everyday count.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Welcome back!

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:25:28 GMT

Welcome back!!! We hope everyone had a great spring break. After reviewing the calendar we only meet with our kids about 32 more times. Help us make everyday count, there is so much to cover.

7/8 Math will continue to work in seperate groups. Mr Stebbins will continue to work on ratios and solving equations. Mrs Martella will remain on Chapter 8, we will continue to graph and solve equations using a coordinate plane.

Pre-Algebra is currently working in a different book Thinking with Mathematical Models. We are using lines to solve real world math problems.

Remember everyday counts and so does every assignment!!!

CLASS UPDATE

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:41:41 GMT

7/8 Math - Mrs. Martella's group is now in Chapter seven and we are working on estimate percentages, interest rates (compounding and annual) and percent changes. We are covering many different concepts and we will be working on this up until we begin our CSAP testing.

Mr. Stebbins' group is now working on manipulating fractions (adding, subtracting, common denominators, multiplying and dividing). They will also have homework packets to help them review concepts we learned earlier in the year.

Pre-Algebra - We have been focusing on slope-intercept form of an equation, the y-intercept, x-intercept, slope of a line and linear equations. We are spending time doing this manually rather than always using a graphing calculator so students will know how to solve problems on their own. We are also learning some new math vocabulary with this unit. This can be difficult to remember all the steps needed to solve these problems so we will be doing most of the work in class with small amounts of homework.

FEBRUARY

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:59:43 GMT

We finally have a full week of school. Both classes will be finishing up the chapters they are in and will have chapter tests this week.

As the CSAP are approaching we felt it would be beneficial to some of our students to review material they should already know. We will be sending home weekly packets with review math for them. They will continue learning new material in class and most work will be completed during class time so they won't be overloaded with math homework. We realize that math is easily forgotten if you aren't doing it daily and we are just trying to help them with fundamentals they haven't used for a while.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Martella and Mr. Stebbins

Three day math week

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:31:13 GMT

It was great meeting all of the parents at conferences and getting reacquainted with others.

We will be picking up where we left off last week and we will start Tuesday with reviews of what we were working on last week. For some it will be solving equations in chapter four, another group will be working on dividing equations with fractions (something that always is sure to confuse some) and the final class will be continuing chapter seven with finding a percent of a number and estimating percentages.

As many of you know Mr. Stebbins and myself are only here part of the day however we can be available to the students if they need extra help. Just let the kids know that all they need to do is ask us to stay at lunch or arrange another time that works.

Conference week

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:33:37 GMT

Please remember we have conferences this week. We will only meet with the kids for two days this week and three next week. We are trying to cover alot into each day. However, we know that the kids schedules are also busy so if they use their time wisely they should be able to complete all work in class. We are not assigning homework unless they don't finish the classwork and then they should complete it at home (and return it the following day). We will see some of you at conferences and kids are welcome.

New Year

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 15:31:36 GMT

Welcome back! We hope everyone is refreshed and ready to get back into the swing of math.

7/8 Math Groups will be moving on. Mrs. Martella's group will begin chapter 5 Rational Number. This is a very long and important section of the book and we will be working on it for most of January. Mr. Stebbins group recently began Chapter 4 and will continue to work on Solving Equations and doing many story problems.

Pre-Algebra will finish up Chapter 6 before conferences in mid-January. We will be doing some review work so we can remember what we learned right before the winter break. Please note that you can review grades and assignments at Powerschool.

Week before Winter Break

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:02:11 GMT

7/8 Math- This week Mrs. Martella's group will be finishing up chapter 4 - Solving Equations and the group will have a test on this subject on Thursday. They spent Friday and Monday reviewing the material that will be on the test, if the students did the classwork and the review they should all do great!!! Mr. Stebbins group finished up chapter 3 last week and began chapter 4, they will be working on this chapter after the break because of the importance of the material.

Pre-Algebra - We finally have the class in our own Powerschool program so Trimester 2 have some grades already entered. This group of kids has been working extremely hard and they are learning how much it pays off. I also wanted to update parents on homework for this class. We typically go over a new concept in class and then have an assignment that will follow however, if the work is not finished in class it is given as homework. They should not be spending more than 20-30 minutes a night on this, given that they have time in class to work on it. If you are seeing alot more time than that please e-mail or contact us to let us know.

Wishing everyone a safe and fun Winter Break!

Mrs. Martella & Mr. Stebbins

2 Week countdown

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:43:05 GMT

2nd Hour Math- Two weeks ago we divided this class into two indepent groups, both groups are still working out of the same book just at different paces. We are now able to give all student one-on-one assistance for most of the class hour. We are able to keep all the kids working at their level. We haven't had much homework since everyone has been able to complete their work in class, we are also having fewer zero's in the gradebook due to this new setup.

3rd Hour Math - WOW! This group of kids is really stepping up to the challenges we have given them in the last few weeks. We are working at a fast pace with everyone keeping up. We have been solving equations with a variable on both sides, solving inequalities and tons of story problems. On Tuesday, we will be learning about proportions and ratios. Since we will only meet with them seven more times until the break we will be covering alot of material so you should be seeing about 30 minutes of homework a night. Thanks!

Happy Holidays!