Thank you!

A big THANK YOU to my wonderful students and their parents! The Christmas gifts were so generous and overwhelming, I am so blessed to work at such a wonderful school and be a part of that community.

I wanted to share with you that I spent some of my Christmas money on a "flip" video recorder and I love it! I wanted to have that before Christmas so I could record all the fun of that day. I also plan to use this at school in our classes, and can't wait to show it to you.

Again, many thanks, and I hope your Christmas is full of joy.

Love,
Mrs. Serpas

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope that everyone has a wonderful two weeks off with their family...and I don't want you to think about math, I don't want to either! :) Enjoy two weeks off of homework, tests, spirals and exams.

I am so proud of my 7th graders who did a fantastic job on their exams. Way to go! I expect those grades on your tests from now on.... :)

Merry Christmas and I'll see you in 2010!

Love,
Mrs. Serpas

:)

Thanks to all the 7th graders AND their parents who braved the rain and in general yuckiness to stay for the math session today. Everyone worked hard, and I hope it will pay off! Tomorrow we will continue working on exam-type problems in preparation for the exam a.k.a. "big December test" that is Wednesday morning. Make sure you mark any problems that you are still unsure of (two-step equations, inequalities, fractions, etc.) so we can cover those in class tomorrow.

6th graders-I will return your tests tomorrow, hopefully you did well! Sitting down to grade now that I have dried off some. :)

See you tomorrow!

Mrs. Serpas

Last school week of 2009!!!

Hello all,

How about those Saints! WHO DAT!

Now that I have that out of my system, just a few notes about the week.

6th grade-last test (and grade of the nine weeks) is tomorrow! The test will cover adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions and mixed numbers. Use the handouts for review. You are welcome to come up early (1:30 or later) to ask questions or work problems.

7th grade- You will receive grade verification forms tomorrow, all grades are in. Review session is tomorrow afternoon, after school in the Media Center. You will need to be picked up at 4:30 in middle school carpool. If you lost the parent permission form, please have your parents sign a piece of paper giving their permission for you to atten dthe session, and list their cell and/or work number. If you need to leave early your parent will need to pick you up from the Media Center. Remember, this is an optional session! You are welcome to bring a drink or snack.

Have a great week and good luck on exams! Your math exam is the first one on Wednesday morning.

Have a blessed Christmas and enjoy your family time and the time away from school.

Love,
Mrs. Serpas

Monday, Dec. 7th

Hi everyone,

I think my heart is just starting to beat again after that crazy Saints game---what a fantastic ending!!! I hope that you all had a great weekend.

Just a few reminders as we are heading into the home-stretch before Christmas: homework is always checked for completion (and is always checked), and work must be shown on EVERY assignment (including study guides! Read the directions!).

7th grade has their final "test" of the nine weeks this Wednesday, it will cover Chapter 5 Sections 1-3 which is addition, subtraction and multiplication of fractions and mixed numbers. This will be counted as a participation grade only (all student will earn the full amount possible if they are attentive and follow directions) and will be checked in class. The last spiral of the nine weeks is due tomorrow (Tuesday 12/8) and Study Guide part III is due Wed. 12/9.

6th grade will have a test next Monday 12/14 on Chapter 5 Sections 1-4 .

As always, please let me know if you have questions or concerns.

Thanks and have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Serpas

Thursday, 12/3

Hi everyone,

7th grade math study guides went home yesterday. Please let me know if you have any questions about the study guide or exam. The exam is an identical format of the study guide format, and is about half the length of the study guide. I have changed the first due date, originally set for Friday, 12/4, to Monday 12/7. Both part I and part II are now due Monday 12/7. I made this change due to Louisiana Day tomorrow. Also, students will have the opportunity to work on their math study guides during math class on Friday morning before the speaker comes. The last spiral of the nine weeks is due on Tuesday 12/8.

6th graders received their quizzes yesterday. They took these quizzes on Thursday before Thanksgiving break, and I marked wrong answers and returned them (ungraded) on Friday for them to correct any errors. I went over three common mistakes on the test: renaming fractions to subtract, renaming mixed numbers with improper fractions, and naming fractions such as 4/4 = 1. Each item on the quiz was worth 3 points for a total of 36 points. The students were given classtime on Friday to rework any missed problems, and were provided with the correct answers. If the students correctly worked a missed problem, I deducted 1.5 points instead of 3 points. If they did not rework the missed problem correctly they missed the full 3 points. All quizzes must be signed and returned by Friday. Students may not work test corrections for extra credit for this quiz as they were already given an opportunity to improve their scores.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

Mrs. Serpas

Sunday, November 29th

Hello all,

I hope that you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! It has certainly flown by for me.

We will have a very busy next three weeks, especially 7th grade. Both 6th and 7th grade will be continuing in Chapter 5 over the next week, which covers fractions. 6th graders could all use extra practice adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. 6th grade we will begin multiplying and dividing fractions and mixed numbers this week. Both classes will receive spirals on Tuesday, December 1st which will be due Tuesday, December 8th.

7th grade will receive study guides on Wednesday, December 2nd. There are three different due dates for the study guide which is broken into three sections. You are welcome to complete these ahead of time. Answers will be given on Wednesday December 9th.

Have a wonderful week!

Mrs. Serpas

Week of 11/02-09- 11/06/09

Hello all,

I hope you have enjoyed this weekend!

A quick note about the upcoming week. I will not be at school on Tuesday; I will be attending a professional development conference at the Diocese. Spirals will still be collected at the BEGINNING of class on Tuesday, so don't forget to turn yours in.

6th grade did a great job last week helping Ms. Guelfo's class with their scarecrow glyphs. I will post more information and some pictures this week. One of the sixth graders left their reading glasses in Ms. Guelfo's classroom on Thursday, let me know if you are missing your pair.

6th & 7th grade-we are continuing work in Chapter 4.

6th grade- Chapter 4 Test Wednesday, November 11th.

7th grade- Chapter 4 Test is Wednesday, November 11th.

Reminder-keep up with your homework and spirals! Many of you are starting to slip a little bit in this area, and this will hurt your grade. To help you get back on track, I will be sending home a note for every missed homework/spiral rather than waiting on you to miss three missed assignments. I hope that this will help you get back in the routine of getting work turned in.

Have a great week and let me know if you have any questions!

Some general information:
*All school mass this Friday, parents are welcome to attend.
*Parish fair is this weekend!!!
*Progress reports go out next week! (Yes, already!)

Week of 10/26-10/30

Hello all,

I hope you have spent a lot of time outside on this beautiful weekend! Friday is the first treat day and pep rally of the school year! Also, Halloween accessories may be worn this week.

Just a reminder of what is coming up this week. 6th grade - no quizzes or tests, spirals are due Tuesday. We are continuing work in Chapter 4, will cover sections 5 - 7 this week. Chapter 4 test next week, date TBA.

7th grade-Quiz this Thursday on Ch. 4 Sections 1-4, review sheets will go home Monday. We will then cover sections 5 and 6 the remainder of the week.

Have a fantastic Sunday, and cheer for the Saints at 3:15!!!

Mrs. Serpas :)

6th grade quiz moved to Friday

Hello all,

I decided to move the 6th grade Ch. 4 quiz to this Friday. We started Least Common Multiple (LCM) today and there were several confused faces in the room-this is what we will be spending most of our time covering the next few days. I also handed out a notecard sheet today, there are several vocabulary words on this quiz and all students should review these several nights in advance!

7th grade has a quiz next Thursday, 10/29 on Ch. 4 Sections 1-4.

Have a great rest of the week!

Week of 10/19 - 10/23

Hello to all,

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather! What a fantastic weekend, and no math homework either! :)

I will not be at school on Monday, but you will have plenty to work on in class. 6th grade students will receive their quiz review sheet on Monday, quiz is this Thursday. 7th grade you will work on Simplifying Fractions (4.3), then we will go back to 4.2 (GCF) on Tuesday. No tests for 7th grade this week. Both grades are continuing work in Chapter 4 this week.

Spirals will be passed out on Tuesday, due the following Tuesday.

I enjoyed talking with all of the parents at conferences, thanks so much for coming to meet with us. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Have a wonderful weekend and week!

Mrs. Serpas

Week of 10/12 - 10/16

Hi everyone,

Hope you had a great weekend, LSU's loss aside.

We have a different schedule this week due to conferences. Regular schedule Monday and Tuesday (no buses on Monday!) , half-day on Wednesday due to conferences, dismissal at 12:30, and no school on Thursday due to conferences. We go back to a normal schedule on Friday.

6th grade- we will continue working in Chapter 4, quiz next week.

7th grade- quiz on Wednesday, solving and graphing one-step inequalities

All classes-spirals are due this Tuesday, 10/13

Have a great week!

Mrs. Serpas

6th grade & Ms. Guelfo's Kindergarten classes

Our 6th grade class visited Ms. Guelfo's class on Friday to "interview" and make line graphs based on these questions. Both classes seemed to enjoy themselves, the 6th graders did such a great job at talking with the kindergartners and enlisting their help in coloring in their graphs. Each 6th grader drew two graphs, Halloween costumes, and then Household pets.

The 6th graders surveyed 10 children to ask them 1) what they wanted to dress up as for Halloween and 2) how many pets/types of pets they had in their house. There were some very interesting answers! As they did this, I drew a sample bar graph on the board and asked the kindergartners if they could tell which houses had the most of which type of pet. Almost all of the kindergartners knew the answer was cat, when I asked why, they said it was because "that bar is the tallest." Pretty smart cookies!

Both classes hard at work.

Some brotherly love.

We had a great time and hope to partner with Ms. Guelfo's class in the future.

Week of 10/5 - 10/9

Hi all,

I hope that everyone had a great weekend in spite of this nasty weather! Lots of great football to watch, Go Tigers and Go Saints!!!! I was able to spend lots of time grading and all classes will get spirals, quizzes and tests back today. 7th graders did very well on their two-step equation tests, I am so proud of all of their hard work.

We are moving on to new sections/chapters this week.

6th grade we are starting Chapter 4- Number patterns and Fractions. We will cover all sections, I will give a quiz on the first few sections sometime next week, followed by a chapter test in the next couple of weeks. Spirals will go home on Tuesday, due the following Tuesday.

7th grade we are continuing with Solving and Graphing Inequalities this week (Ch. 3 sections 6 & 7) , quiz next week on this information. We will then move on to Chapter 4- Factors, Fractions and Exponents. We will cover all sections in this chapter.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Serpas

Week of 9/28-10/2

I hope that everyone has had a great weekend!

Just a reminder, the nine weeks are already winding down, 7th grade your last big test grades are this week (Tuesday & Wednesday).

6th grade: We are starting Chapter 3 this week, but will not cover every section. We will start section 1 tomorrow, mean, median, mode and range. You will be tested on this section only, date TBA. You will have a graphing project based on this chapter that will count as a separate test grade, I will tell you more about that this week.

7th grade: Test both Tuesday & Wednesday! I want to spread the test out over two days because it covers a lot of information. Remember, calculators will not be allowed for either portion of the test, and treat these as two separate tests (you will take Tuesday's test and turn it in Tuesday, you may not go back over it on Wednesday). The review sheet for this test was passed out last week, bright gold paper, please refer to that for more details.
Tuesday's test will cover sections 1.6, 2.6, 2.7, 3.1, 3.2
Wednesday's test will cover 3.3 & 3.4 Two step equations. You will need to
solve AND show your check.

Have a great week!

7th grade Unit 2 Test Tuesday 9/29

7th graders have a major test covering Unit 2 on Tuesday September 29th. Review sheets are being passed out today, they are printed on bright gold pieces of paper. Please refer to these sheets for test information. This test will include types of problems that were on the quiz that was passed back Monday. This may be the last big grade of the nine weeks, so make it count!

How can you/your student prepare for the test? Work problems! The notes, textbook, workbook and website are great resources for these.

6th grade Ch. 2 Test this Friday

6th grade has a test this Friday, 9/25 on Chapter 2, all sections. The review is on a bright gold piece of paper that was passed out several days ago. The test format includes one problem each: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of decimals as well as rounding several decimals. These topics were covered on the quiz that was passed back on Monday.

New information includes Scientific notation-students must write numbers in both standard form and scientific notation, metric system- choosing the best metric unit of measurement (multiple choice) and converting metric measurements. Please see the handout for more information.

How can you/your child prepare for the test? Work problems! Homework problems, problems from the workbook, website, or parent-made problems are all great.

Got bonus?

In need of bonus points???

REMINDER---test corrections are the only form of bonus points! Students may earn up to two bonus points (to be added at the end of the nine weeks) per test. To earn these points you must do the following:

• Re-work all missed problems, regardless of mistake (for example, if you missed a problem because of a sign error, you still need to rework the entire problem).
• All work must be written in pencil only.
• Work should be written on loose-leaf paper and stapled to the back of the test.
• Test corrections are due two school days after the test was passed back.

Tests were passed back in both 6th and 7th grade today; test corrections are due Wednesday.

REMINDER- All math tests, regardless of grade, must be signed and returned within two school days. The tests may be kept by the students after I have checked the parent signature.

Link to textbooks

Link to textbook used in 6th grade:www.classzone.com

Link to textbook used in 7th grade: www.classzone.com

This is an excellent resource! You will find tutorials, puzzles, online presentations, animations, practice problems and quizzes.

September 20, 2009

Hello everyone,

Please check this site for upcoming test dates and important class information. This page is for both my 6th and 7th grade classes; I will post general information that applies to everyone, and specific test dates for all classes as well.

Some reminders:

*Homework is VERY important! Homework allows you to work on problems at home that we have covered in class. Remember that the answers to the odd problems are in the back of your textbook and should be checked before you come to class each day.

*No partial credit for homework-either every problem is worked, in proper format (see homework handout that was passed out in the beginning of the nine weeks) earning a 3/3, or a 0/3 is earned for incomplete or no homework.

*Every student gets one "freebie" a nine weeks-this is a homework pass that may be used at any time. Remember, it is good for homework only, not spirals, and they "expire" at the end of the nine weeks and can't be "rolled over" to the next nine weeks.

*Spirals are usually handed out weekly-they will go home on Tuesday and are due back at school the following Tuesday. I check these for accuracy (correct answers), so take your time with these, you may use a calculator to check and/or have a parent check these problems. Spirals are worth a total of five points and are not accepted late (except in case of an excused absence).

*The only form of bonus I give is test corrections. Students may earn up to two bonus points for re-working all missed test problems. These should be re-worked in pencil, on looseleaf and stapled to the back of the test.


6th grade Math: week of 9/21- We are continuing work on the second half of Chapter 2, scientific notation and metric system. Students will have a Chapter 2 test covering all sections on Friday, September 25th.

7th grade Math: week of 9/21- We are continuing work on the second half of unit 2. Students will write and solve two-step equations, Chapter 3 sections 3 & 4. They will have a major Unit 2 Test on Tuesday, September 29th. This may be the last major grade of the nine weeks, so do well on this test!

As always, if you have questions or concerns, please email me, lserpas@aloysius.org.

Have a great week!

Mrs. Serpas