Homework for Thursday, Dec. 17

Assignment:  Coordinate Picture and Directions
Today we went over how to turn your picture into a drawing on graph paper.
The guidelines are:
DRAWING
1) You must use 20 - 40 points.
  *A point is a point.  How many times you draw a line to or from a point is does not make it more than one point ... a point is a point and it can have many lines attaching to it.
2)  You may not place multiple points along a single straight line unless one needed to attach another line segment to it.
3) Your drawing must contain straight lines; create your own "curves" with multiple offset point.
DIRECTIONS
1) Your directions should contain the coordinate points in the order you want them plotted.
2)  Any lines you want drawn should be included in the directions.  This can happen by either
   a) Including the direction "connect this set of points as you go," or similar wording or
   b)  Numbering your points and saying, "Connect points 1 - 10," or similar wording.
3)  Any shading or coloring should be included in your directions too.
4) You may not give any clues to what your drawing should look like.  Nothing!
Due Friday (or after break if you prefer)

Homework for Wednesday, Dec. 16

Assignment:  Coordinate Grid Picture
*there is not an online set of these coordinate points
Today you received directions to follow for completing a picture using coordinate points.
Advice:  Follow the directions at the top of the page
Advice:  Only connect the points it tells you to correct.
Advice:  Use pencil so you can correct your errors.
You will be graded on the accuracy of your points and your ability to follow the directions accurately.  You may color it however you like (aside from the shading), but do that for your own pleasure, not because it's going to gain you any additional "credit."  ;-)
Refresher:  Go to the mountain (left or right, first coordinate number) before you climb it (up or down, second coordinate number).  Always begin at zero.
Tomorrow aka Thursday:  Have a possible "picture" in mind that you will create a set of directions for.  You may opt to copy a picture from somewhere or bring in a picture you have in a book, etc.  You may also simply create your own picture (you can sketch your ideas on the bottom of the graph paper), but you don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about what you are going to do in class.  We will work in class to translate the picture to a set of directions, so the better prepared you are with what you want to do, the more you will complete in class.
Due Thursday

Homework for Tuesday, December 15

Assignment:  Quiz Prep
Tonight's homework is all about you feeling relaxed and prepared for the quiz tomorrow on adding and subtracting negative integers.  Consequently you will want to get immediate feedback on how you are doing and there are essentially two ways you can do this tonight:
A) Quizlet - 
Sets to use:  Negative Add & Sub Basics or Negatives Addition and Subtraction
Both sets are good, but the basics problems are simpler for quicker checking
*Complete in "Learn" mode, "Test" mode (making sure to uncheck the multiple choice, matching, and true/false options), or "Gravity" - (commit at least 5 minutes to playing the game).
*Special note: Quizlet allows you to create flashcards from the set if you have a printer; you can use this option too.
If you have forgotten your password, they will email it to you.  I do not, believe it or not, know your password.
I'm good  with either you printing your page or having a parent sign-off that you have practiced a set.
B) Use a Partner
If you cannot access Quizlet for whatever reason, you can use this practice set of addition and subtraction problems.  It will require someone to read you the equations and you tell them the answers.  Please note, it is necessary that they KNOW the answers.  ;-)
As in the Quizlet option, have the parent/adult/older sibling sign off that they practiced the equations with you in this manner.
Due Wednesday

Homework for Monday, Dec. 14

Assignment:  Add & Sub Negatives - Mix up!
Today you will see both addition and subtraction on your worksheet.  The idea is that you are getting used to how equations look ... but how you think about them is your thing.
Are they cards?  Cowboys?  How is an subtraction sign like a negative?  Are they the same thing or different?  Always?  How do you rewrite the problem to make sense of it?
Practice, practice, practice.
Tonight you are responsible for 11 problems.
If you do more, you will receive credit for those that you do.  This is not "extra credit," it is an assignment with a higher point value, still based on the number you solve correctly.  We can talk about this percentage thing later, but for now just know that you get credit for your work.
If you only need 11 problems to prove that you know how to do them, so be it!  Your choice, your needs.
*By the way, it's the first 11 problems: Rows A, B, C, and D.
*If you do more problems, continue by completing the rows.
THIS is a copy of the first 11 problems.
Due Tuesday

Homework for Thursday, Dec. 10

Assignment:  Negatives Subtraction Choice
Please talk to yourself out loud while you do these problems. Seriously.  If you are distracted this will be extra difficult to do.  You will get the swing of these subtraction problems, but repetition will help considerably.
For homework your options are:
*Subtracting Negatives - Basics 2
*Subtracting Negatives - Big Numbers
*Subtracting Negatives - Decimals
Think of this as DUE FRIDAY, but since we don't have school you will turn it in on MONDAY ... and it won't be late.  ;-)

If you're interested, you may complete the GRAVITY set in Quizlet for Negatives - Add and Sub basics.  We haven't had a new champion since 8th grader Rizley set it, so go for it if you're feeling speedy!  I'd love to see that record beaten and you will get credit for spending time trying it this weekend.

Homework for Wednesday, Dec. 9

Assignment: Negative Subtraction - the basics
(name of the assignment is a copy of the worksheet)
Today in class I did not teach you how to subtract, did I?
You already know how to subtract, so you taught your neighbor ... hopefully.
The key to learning the subtraction when negatives are involved is not to memoriza a set of rules, but to think about what you are doing ... what do you know?
So let's see how this worksheet shakes out for you.  I kept the problems in their "set" types; I'm not actually trying to confuse you yet.  (haha)
Hopefully you thought to keep your notes you created in class today so you can use them as review, but if not I do have a link on the "Mo Help" tab to give you other ways to think about subtraction.  I would LIKE you to just give it your best shot though and see what you remember.
Good luck!  I have confidence you can do it.
Due Thursday

Homework for Tuesday, December 8

Assignment:  Real Life Negatives - C
There are two parts of this assignment that are to be completed exactly as we went over in class today.  Please read on:
1) You must write the original equations.  (1 point)
All are to be written as addition problems, no subtraction.
*Problem 6b includes a division element using the answer from 6a.  Write it as a division problem.
*Problem 6c is an ordered list using the negatives as negatives and positives as positives.

2) You must have the correct answers with labels. (1 point)
How you solve the problems once you have written the equations is up to you.  I want you to get use to seeing equations and then rewriting them in ways that make sense to you.  We learned this backwards, yes?  You wrote them down in ways that made sense first!
*The title (name) of this assignment is a link to a copy.
Due Wednesday

Homework for Monday, December 7

Assignment:  Negative Addition Choice #1
Lots of options here!  
We are just ADDING, so you know what to "do." 
Black cards?  Red cards?  How many more?  What is the total?
Temperature, money, elevation, it doesn't matter what your unit is, it is the same idea. 
Downloadable Options:
Adding Negatives - BIG Numbers
Adding Negatives - Loooong Equations
Adding Negatives - Decimals
*yes, you can do more than one, but you are only accountable for one
Due Tuesday!  

Homework for Thursday, Dec. 3

Assignment: Adding Negative - basics
*HERE is a copy of this worksheet
This is what negatives look like in an addition equation.  Please think simply!
- Are you going up or down? Left or right? Backwards or forwards?
- And when you add those things together, where are you?
- If you are thinking in terms of the card game we played today, which of the numbers is bigger?  What happens when you add those two cards together?
Adding is that simple and you DO know what to do because we've been "doing it" all week.
These problems should not take long, so be accurate.  Where you go from here will depend on how well you've got this step down!
Due Friday

Homework for Weds, December 2

Assignment:  Real Life Negatives B

Here we go again!

I'm still not concerned with equations, but I am interested in how you are thinking about these problems.  Please "show" how you are solving them.

Do continue to think about "collecting" (associating) negatives with negatives and positive with positives.

Here is an example of what an equation would look like:  You went up 2 stairs, down 5 stairs, up 10 stairs, down 25 stairs, up 13 stairs, down 5 stairs, up 67 stairs ... where are you?  

* 2 - 5 = -3 + 10 = +7 - 25 = -18 + 13 = -5 - 5 = -10 + 67 = 57

Do you see why this could be tedious to solve and have the potential for multiple errors?  

Now look at it in color ...  with association (we'll use red and black here):

You went up 2 stairs, down 5 stairs, up 10 stairs, down 25 stairs, up 13 stairs, down 5stairs, up 67 stairs ... where are you?  

*Let's see ... I went up 2, 10, 13, and 67 steps for a total of 92 steps up.

    I went down 5, 25, and 5 steps for a total of 35 steps down.

It looks to me like I will end up above where I started, eh?  92 - 35 = 57 steps higher than where I started.

This is just one way of thinking about these problems and, seriously, the method I always use.  If you haven't tried it, I encourage you to try it for at least one of these problems tonight.

Keep thinking!

Due Thursday

Assignment for Tuesday, December 1

Assignment: Real Life Negatives A
Welcome to the "real" world (as real as it gets in these examples) of negative integers.  Today you are to focus on what you are doing not how you write it.  
Mo's advice:
*Think about what the numbers represent.  Draw pictures on the page or in your mind, but use your imagination to think about the story behind the question.
*Associate!  These numbers all have values that go in a direction:  towards zero or away from zero. So if you go down the steps at Hogwarts, all of those downward steps represent going DOWN (aka a negative number, fyi) and all of the times you go UP get you higher (a positive direction).  Again, picture the story.
*HOW you solve these problems should be common sense.  I'm not at all concerned how you represent it mathematically, I want to know where you end up: behind the starting point?  above sea level?  above zero?  with less money?  How can you collect the values of the numbers and use them to come up with an answer?   Think about what you know is true then figure out how to get to that point.
EXAMPLES:  all with different answers, yet essentially the same numbers ...
A) If your horse is 7 miles away from Olympia, and runs for 5 miiles towards Olympia, rests, then runs 4 more miles in the same direction, he endes up 2 miles PAST Olympia, right?  Right!
B) If your horse is 7 miles away from Olympia, and begins running to Olympia for 5 miles, but realized he forgot his baby horse, so he runs backwards for 4 miles, he is now  6 miles away from (before) Olympia, right?  Ugh, a little confusing.  Try drawing that scenario.
*The rest of it is up to you.  I strongly, strongly recommend drawing yourself a simple scenario and figuring out what is is you want to know.  Don't worry about the negatives or positives, just think about what they represent in the story.  I keep saying this because it is key to your "aha" moment!
*And yes, labels are VERY important ... you MUST label your answers (either with words or a negative sign) to get full credit.
* I do have a copy of this assignment and here it is!
Due Wednesday - try to enjoy it.  ;-)