Come See Us!

Walton's 2nd EXPO Night is tomorrow, Thursday, November 18th from 6:30pm-7:30pm with a dinner fundraiser starting at 5:30. Come see what your student is doing and has done in math! We look forward to seeing you!

Putting the FUN into math!

This week we started our FUNctions unit!

Today we talked about functions as machines. Look at the things around you and you will see functions are everywhere! Soon we will talk about functions as other things too.

Algebra will be so much easier after you learn some of functions this year so pay attention.

Happy Everyone Has a 100% Day!

Think about this on Wednesday and see how long you can keep it by doing your do now and handing work in on time!

1st Quarter Almost Finished

This Friday, October 29th, is the last day of the quarter. Finish up strong and you'll be rewarded with 4 days off!

Nearing the End of Probability

We are beginning to approach the end of our Probability Unit. The students have been working hard to distinguish between each of the following:

1. "and"/"or" probability
2. theoretical/experimental probability
3. fair/unfair games
4. independent/dependent events

In addition, we've been talking about different ways to express sample spaces and how to predict the number of times a certain outcome would occur based on probability.

As we wrap up this unit, please consider the following questions as some dinner table conversation and see how much your student has learned so far this year!

1. Jon and Harry are playing a game with a number cube. Jon gets a point if the number cube lands on an odd number. Harry gets 3 points if the number cube lands on a 5. Is this a fair game?

2. Rachel flips a coin 12 times and gets heads 7 times and tails 5 times. What is the probability that she will land on heads the next time she flips?

3. What is the probability of flipping a head on a fair coin and rolling a 6 on a number cube?

4. What is the probability of flipping a head on a fair coin or rolling a 6 on a number cube?

5. You have a bag of 6 snickers, 12 milky way, and 2 almond joy candy bars. What is the probability that you would pick a snickers and then an almond joy?

6. There are 25 stink bugs and 10 ladybugs in Mrs. Critzer's sunroom. What would be the probability of a 4 stink bugs landing on her head, assuming once they land there they stay there?

Early next week we will begin to talk about combinations and permutations.

Have a great weekend!

Back-to-School Night

Thanks to all of those families who could make it to Back to School Night tonight. We enjoyed seeing you and sharing what we have been working on.

If you were unable to make it and have questions, please feel free to contact us.

Computer Lab Fridays

In case your child has not shared...

Each Friday, we travel to the computer lab. In the lab, students are given a checklist of things that they must complete. Activities include interactive activities that reinforce concepts that we have already learned about, pre-lesson activities that give students exposure to future lessons, online math practice, which they will need for the online SOL, and vocabulary activities.

While some students work on the computer, Ms. Hoffman, Ms. Burrows, or Mrs. Critzer pull small groups of kids for remediation. Each teacher analyzes data from assessments done in class and specifies areas of need for more exposure with a certain concepts or skill as well as those areas that will require a whole new approach. We are very specific in creating these groups, paying attention to both the complexity of the skill or concept and the size of the remediation group. During the remediation time, students are in small groups and have an opportunity to earn credit back toward their assessment.

We began Computer Lab Fridays about a two years ago and it has been a wonderful experience for both the students and the adults.

As an extra bonus, those students who are not missing any work get to play games on the "walton 8" portaportal site for the last 15-20 minutes. This is their reward for working hard during the week and getting all of their work in on time!

You can check out our portaportal sites at: http://http://www.portaportal.com/ In the guest access box, type "jcritzer" for practice websites or "walton8" for games.

Probability Unit Starts Monday!

We're very excited to start our Probability Unit on Monday!

Over the weekend, think about these questions in preparation:

1. Can the same number be written as a fraction, decimal and a percent?
2. What is probability?
3. What does it mean for a percent to be over 100? (example: 224%)
4. What does "equally likely" mean?
5. Can you think of an event that is "certain" to happen in the next 24 hours?

Have a great weekend!

1st Day Down!

It was such a pleasure meeting all of our students today! We hope they enjoyed their first day as official 8th graders! We're really looking forward to a great year!

Open House

We enjoyed meeting so many of you at the Open House last night. Thanks for stopping by. We look forward to meeting all of you on Wednesday. Enjoy the last days of the summer.

Welcome Back!

We are looking forward to an exciting school year! Be ready to work hard and have fun!

Ms. Burrows, Ms. Hoffman, Mrs. Critzer