For the week of February 22- 26 We will be finishing up chapter 8.
Students need to make sure that they are able to graph linear equations that were the focus of chapter 6. In Chapter 6 section 4 was the most pivotal component of the chapter as the focus was getting an equation in the slope/y intercept form that is one of the linear equation forms that are easy for the student to visualize and graph. That equation is Y=MX + B M is the slope of the line or how "slanted" it is and B is the point on the Y axis that the line will intersect. A positive M indicates that the line is rising from left to right and a negative M indicates that the graphed equation will be a line that drops from left to right.
Chapter 8 focuses on systems of linear equations. For each section the student should have read the introduction, taken notes, defined vocabulary and worked through the examples as if they were actually trying to do the problem with the "help" of the example. This is not a copying exercise. Students need to self-learners, which is the number one complaint of College Professors when freshmen students arrive in their classes: the student is unable to prepare and learn a sufficient amount of material independent of the teacher, so that when they step into the lecture hall they are already well on their way to understanding the material. The teacher becomes a facilitator of learning and "fills in" the gaps for the student.
8.1 focuses on finding the solution for two equations by graphing. There are these possible outcomes when two linear equations are graphed. 1- they will intersect at one point and will therefore only have one (x,y) solution that will solve both equations. 2- the lines will be parallel and this will be indicated by a common slope or M value. These lines will never intersect and therefore there is no (x,y) solution that will solve both equations. The last possibility is that the two equations are graphed, they end up being the same line and therefore have an infinite number of solutions.
8.2 focuses on being able to solve equations by substitution. This section along with the above section were finished last week and will be reviewed on Monday.
8.3 Will be covered on Monday and Tuesday and the method used to find solutions for systems of equations is Elimination.
8.4 Will be covered by Thursday and 8.5 as well and a Test on Chapter 8 will be given on Friday.
Check student Binders for a study guide, practice sheet and notes from each section. 4 Quizzes should be in the binder and each binder should have about 50 sheets of white lined paper, a ruler, a pouch with 5 pencils and an eraser. Staying organized and having supplies is vital to a student's success. Also, preparing ahead, reading the textbook helps the student to "expect" answers to the difficult areas. The idea that a student knows what he doesn't know is extemely important.
Please contact me at any time if you are concerned about your child's work load or if you sense that they are not doing homework. Every student has homework every night.
