Mrs. White's 6th Grade Math Blog: 2015

Friday, December 11, 2015

EQUIVALENT EXPRESSIONS ONLINE PRACTICE GAMES

Algebraic Expressions - Millionaire Game

Like Terms Invaders (aka Space Invaders)

Distributive Property Practice

Combining Like Terms and Distributive Property

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

MORE EQUIVALENT EXPRESSIONS

Students were given the following paper.

Round 1: Each student was handed an expression. They had to write it in the first box of the grid and simplify it.

Make a paper wad out of their paper and threw it in the middle of the room.
When I gave the direction they went into the pile and picked a new paper wad.

Round 2: The next expression (must have scratch paper) students had to use scratch paper to determine where they put the next expression.

If the expression is equivalent to the first, expression #2 must be written in the box beside expression #1.
If the expression is different than expression #1, then expression #2 must be written in the box below expression #1.
Make a paper wad and return to the middle.
Get a new paper.

Round 3 and so on: This continues until the grid if filled up. There are a total of 24 expressions.

If a student gets to the bottom of column 1 and thinks another expression must go there, he/she has made a mistake. There are only 6 different expressions used in this activity.
They will need to go back and check their work or have a peer or myself double check their work.
The distributive property has caused most of the problems. Please remember to multiply the number outside the parenthesis by each term inside the parenthesis.

Here is a quick demonstration of how everyone got their next problem to work.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Today we are working on creating equivalent expressions. In order to do this we must use everything we know about combining like terms and the distributive property. When determining if expressions are equivalent it is recommended that we simplify them all first in order to see if they are the same.

To start class some groups started with the matching game. Students were asked to match the equivalent expressions.

Other groups worked on a matching worksheet. The directions were very specific and told them that some expressions had more than 1 match.

To finish off class students were given 8 multiple choice questions and a short response question to complete for homework.

Monday, December 7, 2015

READING, WRITING, AND EVALUATING ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS

As a review, students were asked to read the phrase and turn it into an algebraic expression. Next they were asked to substitute the value for the variable and evaluate the expression.

Friday, December 4, 2015

WEEKLY RE-CAP and WHAT'S TO COME!

We have been busy this week combining like terms and now trying to write our own expressions. I realize now that I have done this is a very wonky order (I'll try to remember this next year). Many students became confused about writing down "10 added to a number" as m + 10, having the argument that it couldn't be done because they are not like terms. Golly that made my heart happy. I knew they had been listening to me.

Because I taught these out of order I had to convince them that this had nothing to do with combining like terms. I explained that we would turn around and substitute a value for the variable (which we have already studied)

Today in class students are taking a Moby Assessment on 6.EE.2 and then completing a crossword puzzle I created relating to translating word phrased into algebraic expressions.

Next week, we will be reviewing how to read, write, and evaluate an expression, how to simplify an expression and substitute for the variable, so we can move on to equations to finish off 2015.

TRANSLATING ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS CROSSWORD PUZZLE

TRANSLATING EXPRESSIONS HELPFUL TERMS

This was added to the math notebooks on page 35. Students are free to refer to this image at any time. It will be helpful on today on their crossword puzzle.

WRITING ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSIONS - HOMEWORK

TRANSLATING ALGEBRAIC PHRASES INTO EXPRESSIONS

To start class students were given one of these note cards. Students were asked:

What problem have you been given?
How do you know you need to add/subtract/multiply/divide?
Does what you think make sense?

They were then instructed to find another student in the classroom that had the same note card. I asked that they share their expression with each other. I then asked:

Did you have the expression?
What about the phrase made you think add/subtract/multiply/divide?
Are there certain words in the phrase that made you do specific things?

Students were then directed to find someone with a different card. I considered them the expert of their expression. They then taught their friend, answered questions, and offered assistance if needed.

COMBINING LIKE TERMS ASSESSMENT

All students were told to answer the first 4 questions. I then graded their paper. If they got at least 3 correct they were exempt from homework for the night. If they did not get at least 3 correct they had to complete their worksheet and turn in to me the next day.

COMBINING LIKE TERMS HOMEWORK

On this worksheets students had to simplify the algebraic expression, find their answer at the bottom to get the letter they needed for the message at the top.

COMBINING LIKE TERMS PRACTICE

This page was inserted on page 34 of the student math notebook. Together we made sure we could identify like terms before we tried combining. Lastly students made a note of what they learned in class today.

Other identifying like terms activities (these were both formative assessments)

COMBINING LIKE TERMS PRACTICE - A LIVING ALGEBRAIC EXPRESSION

Each student was given a note card then told to sort themselves. I gave them no directions. They found their like terms. I then asked how we could make the giant expression simpler. Each group discussed what they could do to simplify. A majority of the groups decided they could add the coefficients.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

KEEP CALM

Students are ready to use the commutative property and their knowledge of like terms to simplify algebraic expressions.

M&M's and LIKE TERMS

To help the kiddos truly understand like terms I used M&M's. All students were given a plate and a cup of M&M's. Students were told to sort their candy, some asked how and I did not give any advice. 99% of the kids sorted their candy by color. On the plate students were told to write about how they sorted the candy. This was also a practice in writing short response answers. Below is an example of the activity.