Weekly Class Summary: Nov. 22-25

SOLs Covered: SOL 6.11 Coordinate Plane
Math Dictionary Sections: (7) Coordinate Plane
Upcoming Assessments: Coordinate Geometry Quiz (Fri. 12/2); WWU Quiz 5 (Mon. 12/5)

This super short week (a whole two days!) found us wrapping up our coordinate plane unit.  Monday was spent reviewing for the the quiz, which included a review worksheet as well as looking at several web games they could play and practice at home, all of which can be found on the class Portaportal, listed under the following categories/subcategories: Middle School Math, Measurement & Geometry, Coordinate Plane.  More emphasis was placed on the location of ordered pairs (i.e. what quadrant or axis they are located), so we again looked at the notes and how we can use a clock to remind us the location of each quadrant and again refered to our X-men reference for the axes (see last week's class summary). We played through a round of Hoop Shoot as a class (boys vs. girls) to review this, which was highly enjoyed by all!

Coordinate Plane Hoop Shoot Game from  CRCTLessons.com

Most students finished the quiz (which should be graded and posted to Edline sometime over the break) fairly quickly on Tuesday, which gave them plenty of time to wrap up homework and classwork (if they hadn't finished it yet) as well as an opportunity to work on several worksheets/activities for extra Stingray Points.  Stingray Points (named since we're part of the 6th grade Stingray Team) is a class reward system I use that acts somewhat like class money.  Students can spend points on various things, such as turning homework in a day late (without loosing grade points), shopping in the class treasure chest for goodies, making a quiz open notes, and many more options.  I am in the process of updating the rewards list to get rid of some of the out-dated/obsolete choices and to add a few new ones that seem to interest the kids (such as the open notes option) and will post the updates in class and online once the changes are set.  Students have until Monday (11/28) to get in this first batch of "extra Stingray Points" work, but I plan to give more of these opportunities in the future, so be on the lookout for the next chance.

Students were also informed of their chance to win an iPod nano and/or a grade-level pizza party just for playing the new DimensionU web games five times by December 15 while a special preview is being offered to CCPS.  While it is not a guarantee they will win simply by playing, it is still a fun way to practice math and there will be more opportunities to win prizes in the future.  Both contests (iPod nano provided by DimensionU; pizza party thrown by CCPS) are open to all CCPS students in grades 3 through 10, provided they play at their grade level or higher (ex. Gr. 6 can play levels G+ and up in the software version and Gr6 in the web version), so siblings/cousins/etc can play as well (see flyer for further details).

In honor of the season, I'd like to take a moment to express my thanks for (and to!) the great group of kids (and parents!) I have this year.  You guys are such a happy, caring group of kids and you have made the year great thus far!  I hope everyone enjoys the five-day break and the holiday.  Please stay safe and have a...

Happy Thanksgiving!