MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I just wanted to take this time to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Enjoy the holiday season and may 2008 be very, very good to you!!!

Mr. Yerington

Student Teacher — January and February

Parents, Guardians and Students:

This is just a note to let you all know that beginning January 7, 2008 and going until February 29, 2008, we will have a student teacher in my room.  She will actually be in two other classrooms in the morning and will be with me 7th and 9th block.  I would like to take a minute to tell you a little about her from her letter of introduction:

Mrs. Griggs was born into a farm family in Washington, Iowa where she lived until she was ten.  Her family then bought a larger farm outside of Letts, Iowa.  She attended Muscatine Schools, first at Mulberry, then West Middle School, and graduated from Muscatine High School.  After graduation Mrs. Griggs attended Muscatine Community College for one year before transferring to Kirwood and entering the Medical Assistant program.  She found that the medical field was not for her, and went to work managing a fast food restaurant until she married in 1986.

Mrs. Griggs has two daughters, one attending Muscatine Community College and one a senior in high school.  She ran her own day care business for ten years.  In 2000 she gave up her day care business and went to work for Muscatine Schools as a classroom aide.  She found she enjoyed working with the upper level special needs students very much.  In January 2003 she went back to MCC to earn her Associate of Arts degree.  After securing her Associate of Arts she enrolled in Adult learner program at Iowa Wesleyan College (Mr. Yerington’s alma matter by the way )

Mrs. Griggs has worked for the Muscatine Schools for six years as a para-educator with special needs students.  She will graduate from Iowa Wesleyan College in May of 2008 with an Bachelor of Arts in elementary education and an emphasis in special education.  She hopes to continue her education and earn endorsements in level I and level II special education as well as a Masters degree.

I am excited about having Mrs. Griggs in the room and look forward to having her teaching with me.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Levers and Pulleys Unit Test

Hello parents, guardians and students,

We are quickly coming to the end of our Levers and Pulleys Unit.    I think it was a lot of fun!  I am planning on the final unit test being next THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20.  There are items below to study.  Also, this time I did take the time to make an online test which you can find here.  Hope all of this will help!

Now, on to the study guide:

VOCABULARY

• lever
• load
• fulcrum
• effort
• Newton
• diagram
• advantage
• pulley
• simple machine

OTHER

• Be prepared to correctly read a spring scale
• Be prepared to correctly diagram one or more lever systems (using the proper symbols)
• Be able to correctly label several real-world levers with the load, fulcrum and effort symbols and direction of force
• Be able to tell which pulley systems WILL and WILL NOT provide the user with an advantage by reducing the effort
• Be able to calculate the effort needed to lift a load in a particular pulley system
• Know how far one must pull the rope in order to move the load specified distance
• Be able to identify pulley systems that WILL and WILL NOT work properly
• Explain how to load a large boulder into a truck using a lever and a pulley

The test will be 49 points.  If students have questions about any of the following I encourage them to see me BEFORE the test day for help!

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Response Sheet: Pulleys at Work

Due to the ice storm, the response sheet that was on my assignment page for yesterday will actually be assigned TODAY.  This will be the last response sheet in this unit!

I will be making a post later today (hopefully) about what students need to study for the upcoming test.  The test will be sometime next week before Winter Break.

Thanks

Mr.  Yerington

Response Sheet: Pulleys

Today’s assignment was to complete the response sheet over pulleys.  Again, writing in COMPLETE sentences and being very thorough in answering the question insures that your students will get the maximum points. 

If students did not finish the front side of this paper called Pulley Diagrams they will also need to complete all of that side.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

December Box Tops Contest

We are once again having a box tops for education contest in sixth grade. It will run from “now” until the week of winter break. Each child that brings in 10 box tops gets a candy cane, and the winning homeroom gets a popcorn and pop party. See this link for more details, including a link to the boxtops for education web site with a list of products that contain box tops!!

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

3-2-1 Write Assigned Today

Students were assigned a 3-2-1 write today.  This is due tomorrow.  The instructions are to write in complete sentences:

• 3 things you learned (about levers)
• 2 things you still wonder about (about levers)
• 1 question you have for Mr. Yerington

I will try to answer some of the questions at a later date. 

Thanks

Mr. Yerington