A New Unit!

The IAA classes are now all done with Unit 2. They completed their tests on Friday and Monday, and grades should now appear in ParentConnect (unless your child was absent). Today started the third unit: Geometry! This is a nice break for many students. We will put much of the algebraic skills away for a while and work with rules about the definitions and relationships among 2-dimensional shapes (mostly triangles and quadrilaterals). However, because the final exam in December (a short 5 weeks away!) is comprehensive for the whole semester, students should be sure to the get help that they need to understand the previous 13 weeks of algebra concepts & information. To finish out Unit 2, we had a notebook check today. Students are now encouraged to take all unit 2 material out of their notebooks and set it aside in a folder (to be used later in preparation for the final exam).

Today's introduction to geometry had absolutely NOTHING to do with shapes. The classes were told that math isn't about numbers and shapes. Math is about the logic and rules that show we can work with numbers and shapes and their relationships. So, our handouts were about logic. There are two types of logic: Deductive Reasoning and Inductive Reasoning. Deductive reasoning uses rules, definitions, laws, and properties to make a logical argument (think of the television shows like CSI, NCSI, or NUMB3RS). Inductive Reasoning looks at patterns and draws a conclusion from them (think of shows like Criminal Minds or Lie To Me). We did two riddle-type logic questions and then looked at a larger logic problem that uses a grid to organize the information and answers. Students are to finish the logic problem for homework.

Also, the unit 3 vocabulary was passed out today. Students are to definite the 27 terms by next Wednesday, November 18th.

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