Day 33 - Sphero - Mrs. Tate - MSMS Grade 6

This post originally appeared on Mrs. Tate's Blog 

Several middle school students have been learning how to program Sphero during Activity Block on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Students have been working on writing a code for Sphero to complete several challenges including:

1. Stopping in a specific spot
2. Going in a straight line and stopping in a specific spot
3. Following the path of a “lightning bolt”
4. Completing a maze
5. Tracing the path around a table
6. Following a path through the library stacks

Some students have been successful with almost all of these challenges and are now coding their Sphero to complete a difficult obstacle course with ramps!  Here are some pictures and videos of these challenges.

Day 159 - Shadow Math - Mrs. Tate - MSMS Math Dept.

This post first appeared on Mrs. Tate's Blog

We have been taking advantage of this beautiful weather by doing our math lessons outdoors.  This past week sixth grade students learned how to set up proportions from similar triangles.  In order to set up our proportions we used the height of a person or object and then measured the shadow it produced.  We then selected another person or object to measure to create a proportion.  Sometimes we decided to calculate the height of the object and other times we chose to calculate the length of the shadow.  In some instances we were able to actually measure either the shadow’s length/object’s height to see how close our mathematics calculation got!  In some instances, the object we chose was too tall to measure- so hopefully our math was correct!   Students chose to work with proportions involving their bodies, a lamp post, street sign, trees, and trash can.  Here are some pictures of the students in action and their mathematics calculations.

Day 145 - Function Machines - Mrs. Tate - MSMS Math Dept.

This post first appeared on Mrs. Tate's Blog 

Some 6th-grade students have been learning how to represent real life situations algebraically.  We have learned that input-output tables, graphs, algebraic equations, and a written situation/problem can all represent the same thing.  Here are some pictures of students’ work showing one and two step algebraic equations to represent a scenario.

Day 47 - Algebraic Equations and Cup Stacking - Mrs. Tate - MSMS Math

This post first appeared on Mrs. Tate's Blog

This week students did some quick review with the distance formula and calculating simple unit rates.  We also began translating sentences into algebraic expressions and equations.   Students learned how to look for keywords to find out what operation to use within their mathematical sentences.  Here are some pictures of the students cup-stacking and their work to solve the one step algebraic equation they had to translate. 

Day 35 - Math Lessons for Grades 6-8 (YouTube Vidoes) - Mrs. Tate - MSMS Math Department

This post first appeared on Mrs. Tate's Blog

Click the link below for Mrs. Tate’s YouTube Channel. This channel is a resource for students and parents featuring mathematics videos for sixth through eighth grade students. The 7th and 8th grade videos will be added throughout the 2016-2017 school year. All of the videos are under ten minutes and a great tool for absent students, homework help, previewing material, and reviewing for upcoming tests and quizzes. If you select playlists you will see a better break down of the videos by grade and topic.

Mrs. Tate's YouTube Channel

Day 174 - Geometry Scavenger Hunts - Mrs. Tate - MSMS Grade 6 Math

This post first appeared on Mrs. Tate's Blog

6A students did an extraordinary job on their Geometry Scavenger Hunts. Students chose to use either the Book Creator or Explain Everything app for their presentation. All projects included geometric terms, pictures, and definitions. Students also calculated volume and surface area of three dimensional objects around the school as well as the area of either squares, rectangles, parallelograms, or trapezoids. Here are some samples of student Geometry Scavenger Hunts.

Day 103 - Annual Tennis Ball Tournament (In Math Class) - Mrs. Tate - MSMS 6th Grade Math

Today in class each student got to calculate their “tennis-ball” free throw percentage.  I rolled a dice to determine the number of shots each student got to take.  After creating the appropriate fraction students converted their score into a decimal and percent.  Each block had a mini playoffs to determine the best shooter in the class.  On Friday, the winners from each individual block will face off to determine the overall team winner.  Here are some pictures of our top contestants in each block.

A Block Playoffs

A Block Winner

B Block Playoffs (honorable mention- Mario with 100%)

B Block Winner: Justin 100% 

C Block Playoffs

C Block Winner- Caitlin

D Block Playoffs

D Block Winner- Max

Day 46 - Decimal Speed Stacking - Mrs. Tate, Marshall Simonds Middle School Sixth Grade

This post originally appeared on Mrs. Tate's Blog

Students have been working hard within our decimals unit.  We have been playing a fun game called speed stacking to practice decimal concepts such as place value, word form, standard form, expanded form, rounding and comparing decimals, placing decimals on number lines, and working with all four decimal operations.  After each student finishes stacking, a decimal time up to the hundredths place is presented.  I use this number, or slightly manipulate the number, to create a decimal problem for students to solve.   Here are some pictures and videos of some students cup stacking!

Day 25 - Area and Perimeter Scavenger Hunts - Jennifer Tate, Marshall Simonds Sixth Grade Math

This post first appeared on Mrs. Tate's Blog

During math class students were busy working on an area and perimeter scavenger hunt. Students needed to record the length and width of the objects in inches, calculate the area and perimeter using the rectangle and square formulas, and then use the correct label. Items in the scavenger hunt included student desks, tables, books, posters, etc. Here are some pictures of 6A students measuring different items during the scavenger hunt.