Math Dictionary Sections: (32) Quadrilaterals; (33) Line & Angle Bisectors
Upcoming Assessments: Test 3.1 on PT, AR, & Quads (Tues. 2/12); Edmodo Quad Assignment (Fri. 2/15); Transformations Quiz (TBA)
This week started with the quiz that wrapped up our units on the Pythagorean theorem and angle relationships. From there we moved onto the classification of quadrilaterals. This is a familiar topic for students as they've covered it many times in the past few years, but seventh grade of course comes with a few "updates" on everything they've learned in the past. In addition to all the properties they've already learned, this year they are required to learn the properties pertaining to the diagonals of quadrilaterals. After reviewing their foundational knowledge Tuesday and Wednesday, on Thursday we used some of the shapes we'd cut out over those days to discover what happens with in a quadrilateral when lines (a.k.a. the diagonals) are drawn from one corner to the opposite (i.e. the angles at each corner and to the diagonals themselves). We used rulers and protractors to measure and found that if the side lengths are all congruent (rhombus and square), then the diagonals are perpendicular bisectors and if the angles are all 90° (rectangle and square), the diagonals are congruent and bisect each other.
Students are expected to further explore these relationships on their own through an Edmodo assignment they were given on Thursday. The full details for this assignment can be found by logging onto Edmodo, but the worksheet that goes with the assignment can also be found on Edline and here. There is also three short-answer questions they will need to submit on Edline. To give students plenty of time to access the internet and complete the assignment, it is not due until next Friday, February 15, however I encourage students to take care of it as early as possible since we are moving onto new content next week after Tuesday's test. The quiz for this section was completed today, but it will also be assessed on the comprehensive test next week that will also cover the other geometry concepts we've covered so far this term. After students completed the quiz, they worked on what we are calling their "Geometry Art Masterpieces," which contain various bits of the geometry we've covered this year and in the past. Most students have taken their art home for the weekend to finish up, but there were already quite a few interesting works from what I've seen thus far and I'm hoping to put a little slideshow together and post here sometime next week.
I've been busy (yet again) updating the Math Dictionary. Every time I think I've got it how I want it, I think of something else to tweak. This week alone I made several changes to our quadrilateral notes (the students should have replaced the original notes from earlier in the week with the one they were given on Thursday). I also rearranged the order of what will be the full eBook version about four times and I'm still not sure if I want to keep it the way it is. I've got one more "new" section to make for a unit coming up at the end of this term as well as a few modifications to other existing sections, but I'm hoping I'll have the full eBook version finalized in the next two weeks. Even after that, I'll still probably find things to tweak as students show a need for additional information, but it will at least give students and parents another resource for math class. I have decided that the full version will not match up completely to the hard copy version the students have been making all year. Some of the review sections (from my time teaching sixth grade), I feel will be better suited to the beginning as they cover the foundational skills I think the students need to have a solid grasp of in order to see higher success with the new seventh grade content. I'll continue to keep you posted on my progress.
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