There will be NO MATHCOUNTS CLASS on Nov. 15. That day is set aside for kids taking the AMC 8 Math test. Geometry students will be taking the test during their class period. All other students, grades 6/7/8, will be taking the exam BEFORE school (exact time and place to be determined). Many of the mathcounts kids are involved in this (yeah!!) and will be taking the exam instead, so you may still be driving them to school early that day.

Today we passed out folders which the kids are to keep and bring back every Wednesday. These folders have 3 holes punched so they are ready to go into ANY binder used in classes from periods 2/4/6 since those classes meet on Wednesdays. We've been passing out mini-lessons as part of our Wake Up the Brain session first thing in the morning, and we want the kids to refer to these lessons on future problems so these folders serve the purpose of a handy way of keeping everything together. It wouldn't hurt to check that your son/daughter has this folder in the backpack on Wednesday mornings.

Some skills we've covered:

* using a formula to sum the numbers from a to b
* using a formula to count up all the factors of a number
* learning the difference between probability and odds
* surface area and volume
* stem & leaf plots

Yes, we still have over 40 students. Glad to see that they are returning every week, eager for more challenges.

Regards,
Julia Olkin and Sue Williams

Dr. Julia Olkin -- olkin@comcast.net (510) 727-0714
Sue Williams -- suewill@cv.k12.ca.us

The National Organization for MathCounts