Change in lesson plans for Thursday, Nov. 12

Hello everyone,

If you have been following my lesson plans on my web site you will be expecting your child to have some homework today, but they will NOT.  I have changed my lesson plans.  We didn’t quite get as far as I thought we would yesterday so today we are going to finish up discussing yesterday’s lab, put page numbers in our notebooks (and take out the pages I will not be using) and hand out some papers that I need to give back.  We will also be discussing goggles for Mixtures and Solutions and some other issues that students need to be aware of.  So, bottom line – no homework today!!

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Worksheet for Today

Hello,

Students in ALL classes today will have a worksheet titled “Mixtures and Solutions.”   This will be due tomorrow, November 11.  We read the story in class today that goes with the assignment.  Tomorrow we will actually begin the labs in our mixtures and solutions kit!

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Welcome to a New School Year

Hello Parents, Guardians and Students,

Welcome to a brand new school year.  Hopefully everyone is settling in and getting used to the routines here at West Middle School.

I am writing this post mostly to discuss the first assignment that will actually have points assigned to it!!  Today or tomorrow your student will be recieving their ScienceSaurus book.  This book needs to have a cover on it by FRIDAY, AUGUST 28.  If they have their cover on by that day, they get five points!  Easy, right?  I do have one thing to request.  I DO NOT want students to use the stretchy fabric book covers.  These have been known to bend the corners of the covers, and since my books are only a year old I would like to keep them nice. 

The book cover can be made from a paper bag, or West currently has book covers in the office that are free!  If you need directions on how to make a paper bag book cover, try this link:  Paper Bag Book Cover. 

Thanks!

Mr. Yerington

Moon Logs

Attention Parents and Guardians:

For the next month or so students in my science class will have a long-term assignment.  They will be observing the moon every night.  They must do this each evening, even on the weekends!  I have suggested that they leave the actual moon log at school in their notebooks and draw the moon on a separate sheet of paper because they will NOT be given an extra moon log if they loose theirs. 

Please allow your child to either go outside each evening or look out the window and view the moon.  If there is a cloudy day or a day that they do not have time to observe we will be keeping a class log as well. 

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Mid-Summative Exam #3 Tomorrow – Daily Science Quiz Wednesday

Attention Parents, Guardians and Students:

I have been forgetting to update my blog!  Shame on me.  Anyway, we will be taking Mid-Summative Exam #3 tomorrow.  We are reviewing today, and here is a list of things to study:

• Be able to identify luminous items in the solar system
• Know which direction Earth rotates on it’s axis
• Be able to draw how light leaves a luminous object and illuminates and opaque sphere
• Be able to calculate local noon (sun transit) when given sunrise and sunset times (see my previous post for a web site that will help practice this)
• Be able to explain how it can be on time on the west coast and a different time on the east coast
• Be able to calculate what time it is on one coast given the time on another

Also, Wednesday we will take Daily Science Quiz #12 and students should have noted which questions will be on that quiz

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences

Hello Parent’s and Guardians:

Our spring parent/teacher conferences will take place next week.  I would love to visit with as many of  you as I can.  The conferences will take place on Tuesday, March 10 and Thursday, May 12 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. both evenings.  They will be in the large gym (like fall conferences), however, this time there will be NO APPOINTMENTS.  They will be drop in only, so be aware you may have some wait time if teachers you want to see are busy.  We will do our best to accommodate everyone.  If you are unable to get in to see a certain teacher you may also schedule an alternate time to see them.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Response Sheet: Pulleys Assigned Today

Attention Parents and Guardians:

Students will be receiving the assignment titled Response Sheet: Pulleys today.  They need to completely answer the question (using complete sentences).  This assignment will be due tomorrow.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Web Site Updates

Hello everyone,

Last night I spent a little time (well, actually a LOT of time) with my web site and made some updates.  Here is  a  summary of the changes:

• updated the upcoming events list since some of them were OVER!!
• added a “Tests” page so that all my online tests will be grouped together (although I may make the links for the completed tests inactive…)
• thought about updating the top 10 list, but ran out of time :-(  I will try to get to that soon!

Check out the changes right here.  If you have any feedback on the updates you can leave a comment or e-mail me!

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

Mealworm Test Online

The online mealworm test is ready!  There is one thing that students need to be aware of.  One question asks them to draw (on their own piece of paper) the life cycle of a mealworm.  Then, when they have the test graded they will need to compare their picture to the one that comes up online.   I also mentioned to them that if they don’t type SOMETHING in the answer box that the computer will tell them they didn’t answer one question.  This won’t affect their score, but if they want to avoid that they can just type anything they want in the box. 

The online test can be reached right here.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington

One More Mealworm Update

OK, I have decided to DROP the last mealworm experiment this year.  I  have to make sure we have time to get done with the Levers and Pulleys kit so I felt that was the best thing to do.  So, on my last post disreguard the students bringing supplies for their own experiments.

Thanks

Mr. Yerington