What's Going On? December 16th through December 20th

Polygons and Quadrilaterals

During this last week before winter break we will be finishing up our study of polygons and quadrilaterals.  We will talk about how we can address polygons on the coordinate plane (graph).
Early in the week we will also spend some time reviewing.  The consensus of the class was that we would like to spend our review day working on our review questions individually and then go over any major trouble spots as a class.  We will decided on our test date as a class at then end of our review.

Please note that if you are going to be absent from class on the test date, please make sure you take the test BEFORE winter break.  You will do much better on the assessment if the material is fresh.  Also, all tests must be completed before winter break.  If you need additional time to finish the test, please make arrangements with Mrs. Kamenar to finish it before school, after school, or during lunch.

Since we will be finishing Unit 6 before break, students will have a break free from Geometry homework.  Enjoy your break! :)

What's Going On? December 9th through December 13th

Polygons and Quadrilaterals

This week we will continue our study of polygons and quadrilaterals.  On Monday we will have a
shortened schedule due to Academic Excellence.  On this day we will also talk about the properties of special parallelograms.  We will refer to the hierarchy of quadrilaterals while we talk about the relationships between these figures.  We'll also test our knowledge of the properties of quadrilaterals by doing our "cootie catcher" review activity.

We will then have a short formative assessment that covers how to find the measures of interior and exterior angles of a polygon, properties of parallelograms and special parallelograms, and how to apply a two column proof to classify a quadrilateral.

At the end of the week we will learn about the special characteristics of trapezoids and kites.  We will then combine the worlds of Algebra and Geometry when we take a look at quadrilaterals on the coordinate plane.

When we look at figures on the coordinate we will need to apply some of our previous knowledge.  We'll calculate measurements using the distance formula, the midpoint formula, and the slope formula.

We are looking to wrap up this unit right before we leave for winter break.  If students know that they will be absent from school during the days prior to break, it would probably be a good idea to make arrangements to take our summative *before* winter break.

What's Going On? December 3rd through December 6th

Unit 6: Polygons and Quadrilaterals

Welcome Back!  I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Break!  Now that we're back to school, we're going to spend the next couple of weeks looking at Polygons and Quadrilaterals.

This week we'll first take a look at how we can find the measures of interior and exterior angles in polygons.  We already looked at this a little bit in our previous unit when we talked about how the angles in a pentagon always add up to 540 degrees.  We'll make some discoveries about how to find the measures of a figure with any number of sides.

After we talk about interior and exterior angles, we will talk about different types of quadrilaterals.  During class we'll talk about the characteristics of parallelograms, trapezoids, kites, rhombuses, rectangles and squares.  We'll also talk about the relationships between these figures.  This week will lay out the groundwork for next week when we start to write two column proofs about quadrilaterals.

What's Going On? November 25th and 26th

It's going to be a short week this week with only two days of school.  We will have a "Monday" schedule on both days, so we'll be seeing all of our classes.

We will be continuing our study about the points of concurrency in a triangle.  We'll look more a the incenter, circumcenter, centroid and orthocenter.  We'll also talk about the Euler Line.  We'll be using the Geometry Construction Lite App on our iPads to construct some of these points of concurrency.  We'll also do an hands-on activity while we find the centroid of a triangle.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Break.  Take some time to enjoy your families and reflect on what you're thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving!

What's Going On? November 18th through November 22nd

Wrapping Up Unit 5: Triangles

This week in Honors Geometry we will be wrapping up our fifth unit on triangles.  During Monday's short class (we will have Academic Excellence on Monday) we will talk about proving two overlapping triangles congruent.  We'll need to make sure that we remember the reflexive property for this, which states that something equals itself.  We will then spend a day on reviewing the material for the unit and take our Unit 5 Summative Assessment (90%).

Our test will cover the following items:

• Triangle Sum (angles = 180 degrees)
• Properties of an Isosceles Triangle
• Triangle Inequality (can we always make a triangle with the given side lengths?)
• Midsegments
• Triangle Congruence Shortcuts (SSS, SAS, ASA, SAA, and HL)
• Proving Triangles Congruent

If you would like some extra help, be sure to come see me!  I am available on most days before and after school.  Just let me know when I can expect you!

At the end of the week, we will transition into our next unit where we will talk about points of concurrency in a triangle.  If you have not downloaded the "Geometry Construction Lite" app, yet make sure that you have it by the end of the week!

What's Going On? November 11th through November 15th

Unit 5: Triangle Congruence

At the end of last week we took a short formative on the properties of triangles which covered the following topics:

• Angles of a triangle equal 180 degrees
• Properties of isosceles triangles
• Isosceles triangles have two congruent sides and two congruent angles
• Triangle Inequality
• The sum of any two sides of a triangle must be greater than the third side
• Midsegments of Triangles
• A midsegment of a triangle connects the midpoints of two sides of a triangle
• A midsegment of a triangle is equal to half the length of the third side and is parallel to the third side.

If you have any questions about the first formative please see me ASAP.  We want to make sure that we get the basics down before we start to apply the properties in our proofs.

This week we will continue our study of triangle congruence shortcuts.  We will learn about the "good" conjectures which prove that two triangles are congruent.  We will also learn about the "bad" conjectures that are not sufficient for proving triangles congruent.

Our "good" conjectures are:

• SSS
• SAS
• ASA
• SAA/AAS
• HL Right Triangle Congruence

Our "bad" conjectures are:

• AAA
• SSA (think of it backwards!)

We will have a short formative about the different triangle congruence shortcuts before we move into proofs.  We will continue our study of two column proofs to prove that two triangles are congruent.

Next week we will have our summative assessment on the properties of triangles and proving triangles congruent.

What's Going On? November 4th through November 8th

Unit 5: Triangle Congruence

This will be kind of a strange week.  We have our sophomore students participating in WKCE testing Tuesday through Friday from 7:20-10:00am.  That means that our regular school day will start at 10:05 and we will have a different schedule.  This week we will meet with each class three times.  Click here to view the schedule for the week.

This week we'll be looking at the properties of midsegments of triangles and we'll determine if we can always make a triangle with given side lengths.  We'll see a very short formative assessment on
properties of triangles to make sure that we're ready to move on to the triangle congruence shortcuts. If everything goes well with our short formative assessment, we'll start talking about shortcuts to show that triangles are congruent.  This is laying the ground work for what's coming later in the chapter: writing two column proofs to show that two triangles are congruent.

What's Going On? October 28th through November 1st

Unit 4: Properties of Parallel Lines

This week we will be finishing up our study on the properties of parallel lines.  On Monday we will play with Play-Doh to experiment with "spherical geometry".  This is an extension topic from the Common Core Standards that we will take a look at.  We will talk about it, but it's not a topic of emphasis.

We will also be reviewing for our Unit 4 Summative Assessment.  We will check out the review assignment on BlackBoard and break up into pairs.  Each pair will be responsible for becoming an "expert" on one type of problem.  The "expert" group will create a video through "Explain Everything" on their iPads to talk through the problem.  The problem explanations will then be shared with the class.  The videos can then be viewed by other students who get stuck on a problem.

At the end of the week we will begin Unit 5, where we start talking about triangles.  We will review the triangle sum theorem.  We already know a lot about this already---the sum of the angles in a triangle is 180 degrees.  We will also talk about the triangle inequality theorem---we'll decide if we can always make a triangle with given side lengths.

What's Going On? October 21th through October 23th

Unit 4: Properties of Parallel Lines

During this short week we will continue our study on the properties of parallel lines.  Since it is a shortened week, we will have a "Monday"-style schedule for all three days.

On Monday we will be reviewing some Algebra topics: writing equations for parallel and perpendicular lines.  We will review this so we can apply our knowledge to proofs involving coordinate Geometry.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we will practice writing more two column proofs.  We will be applying our knowledge of parallel and perpendicular lines and the coordinate plane.

Please remember that all retakes for the Unit 3 Summative must be completed by Wednesday.  This means that all test corrections, extra practice and the retake must be completed by this day.  Please DO NOT wait to do this all on the last day!  Give yourself some time to absorb the material and ask questions.  Whatever score you earn on your retake is the grade that will appear in Standard Score---so make sure you're ready for the retake!

What's Going On? October 14th through October 18th

The End of Unit 3: Reasoning and Proofs

This week we will be finishing up our work with Unit 3: Reasoning and Proofs.  Our 5th and 6th period class will have our summative assessment on Tuesday.  Our 4th period class will have our BlackBoard class website.  It seems like our biggest struggles come from two-column proofs.  I have found a video on YouTube that talks about proofs.  It is pretty long (30+ minutes).  The first half of the video talks about the background of proofs and the properties and the second half of the video goes through some examples.

summative assessment on Wednesday.  Please make sure that you are up to date with all of our homework assignments before you take the summative.  This is the ONLY way to make sure that you are entitled to a retake if things don't go well on the summative.  You can find all of our notes and homework assignments on our

The Start of Unit 4: Properties of Parallel Lines

We will also be staring our study of the properties of parallel lines.  To prepare for our first day of study students will need to view the video, Properties of Parallel Lines, found in the Unit 4 folder.  This video goes through some of the important vocabulary terms that we will be applying in class.  We will also be using the two-column proof structure to prove things about line and angle relationships.

I don't get it! How can I get extra help?

If you are having trouble with the content we're talking about in Honors Geometry, I am here to help!  I am available before school everyday from 7:00am-7:20am.  You can find me in my classroom in room 807.  I currently coach the women's cross country team, so I am not available for extra help after school.  Once the season ends in a couple of weeks, I would be more than happy to help you after school as well!  Please let me know when I can expect you.

Welcome to the Official Blog of Mrs. Kamenar's Honors Geometry Class!

In this blog you will find information about what's going on in Mrs. Kamenar's Honors Geometry class.  Please contact Mrs. Kamenar if you have any questions!