Mr. A's Homeroom End of the Year Party

Weathering, Erosion and Deposition - Afternoon Class Video

The classes demonstrated Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition by using sidewalk chalk.

Memories Video Has Been Posted!

Here is the Memories Video that is on the DVD. I will post the other videos as well as some content that I was not able to post on the video later.

Parent Homework - Thanksgiving

Dear Parents:

By now, you have probably, hopefully, heard that I have sent home "Parent Homework" again!

The response was so encouraging and exciting from the last time. I will post some of your incredible answers from the last time on the web site during the course of this week. Studies have shown that retention increases up to 90% when a student teaches the information that they are required to learn. Your child will be teaching you throughout the week and will be giving you a four question 'test' which they will make up on, or about, Thursday.

The assignment for this week is for your child to teach you about Math and Science! You and your child will have a choice of which class to test from. In Science, your child will be teaching about Matter and it's states. In Math, they will be teaching you about Median, Mode, Mean, and Range. In this letter, I will be giving you an outline of what you can expect to learn as well as some links to information to suppliment your child's teaching.

Math Vocabulary

• median - The middle value of an ordered set of values.


• mode - In a set of numbers, the one that occurs the most.


• range - The difference between the largest and smallest numbers in a set of data.


• mean - the average number in a range of values


• Dividend The number to be divided


• Divisor The number used to divide another number


• Quotient The answer to a division problem


• Divisible A number is divisible by another number if the remainder is 0 after dividing


• Remainder The number that is left after dividing


• Division Sharing equally, making or finding equal groups from a single group.
  

Science Vocabulary

• matter anything that has mass and takes up space


• solid the state of matter that has a definite shape and definite volume


• liquid the state of matter that has a definite volume but no definite shape


• gas the state of matter that has no definite volume or shape


• mass amount of matter in an object


• volume the amount of space an object takes up


• density concentration of matter in an object


• weight measure of the pull of gravity on an object


• melting/ freezing point the temperature at which a substance changes from a solid to a liquid or a liquid to a solid


• boiling point the temperature at which a substance changes from a liquid to a gas


• mixture - combination of two or more different kinds of matter, each of which maintains its own physical properties


• solubility ability of a substance to be dissolved


• solution a type of mixture in which one substance dissolves in another

classify matter based on its physical properties including magnetism, physical state, and the ability to conduct or insulate heat, electricity, and sound;

• Including: Physical Properties - Color, Shape, Texture, Mass, Weight, Volume, Density (relate to buoyancy - does it float?)

Here are some examples of questions that your student may use:

• What did you serve on Thanksgiving that was a solid, became a liquid, and gave off gas?


• Was there a part of dinner that had the most volume inside?


• Is weight and mass the same?


• What was soluble? Explain.


• Was anything served that was 0 Celsius?


• Was anything served that was 100 Celcius?


• Did anything served start at 0 Celcius and go to 100 Celcius?


• What solids were combined with Liquids?


• What did it make?


• What Mixtures were served?


• How were ingredients measured?


• 
  
  Did you measure Mass, Volume, or weight?

Here are some ideas for Math problems:

• How many people came to the Thanksgiving celebration of your family? What was the Range of their ages? What was the Median age? What was the Mean age? What was the Mode?


• How far did they travel? What was the Range of the distance traveled? What was the Median? the Mode? the Mean??

I hope that helps. The idea of this exercise is for you and your child to enjoy each other's company. I know that the children really enjoy the "Parent Homework" and it has the added benefit of helping them to learn the material and enjoy learning it! I hope that this exercise will be something that helps you enjoy this holiday break even more.

From my family to yours, Have a wonderful break and Thanksgiving Holiday! Your child is a big part of why I am so thankful this Thanksgiving!

Mr. J.A. Arroyo

5th Grade Math and Science
Trinity Meadows Intermediate School

Toy Drive

I would like to pass this information along about our 'competition' between classes:

Students and Teachers,
TMI Student Council and the Leadership Squad are holding a Toy Drive at our school to help families in Keller who may struggle to have a nice holiday otherwise. We are looking for new, unwrapped toys, specifically ones that our age level would like if possible. Any new and unwrapped toys will be accepted.
Okay....let the competition begin.....the class who brings the most toys will earn a pizza party in their class on the day before we get out for our Winter Holidays! Start bringing in those toys! We want everyone to be able to celebrate the gift of the season with joy! You can make a difference!

We have been given so many blessings and there are those around us that suffer for lack of those blessings we take for granted. If you have the means, please try to provide something for a child that may, otherwise, not have anything under their tree this Holiday season.

Mr. A

Habitat Projects are finally in

Well, the Habitat Projects are in and they ranged from the incredible to the "Hot Dawg!". There was some misunderstandings on the how to's and the "Was I supposed to actually READ the Instructions?" Yes, always a good idea to read the instructions!

The 9 weeks are over and final scores are in for the Quarter. Hopefully, with this 9 weeks on the way, we will fill in a lot of the holes and get many on track for those CBA's in Jan of 2008!

I hope that all of the kids had a safe and fun Halloween and we will be doing some more projects in both Math and Science in the weeks to come!

Question of the week:

What is the average weight of the boys in your class?

What is the Average height of the boys in your class?

and, how about the girls in your class?

Have a great weekend, enjoy the slide show....

Mr. A

Pumpkins!

Here is a slide show of Tuesday's Pumpkin lab. Wednesday will be working with the numbers and observations.

October Newsletter

In your child's agenda is a note which they will be more than happy to explain to you. In that off chance that you are not quite understanding what they are telling you, I will give a short explanation:

We are coming up on the holiday season and Pumpkins are a big part of that season. I have a lab/math exercise which will use some pumpkins! I am asking for some donations of medium sized pumpkins to do a few lab activities with the students. My goal is to have 25 pumpkins so that I can have 1 per team of 2 students by next Tuesday.

The lab will include some math and science, weighing and documenting their observations, counting seeds, measuring the pumpkins and estimating. It should be a couple of messy and fun days in the lab.

That also brings me to another need which we have, Clorox disinfectant wipes are also needed as well as Germ X for the classroom. All donations are welcome.

I know that some are not able to donate, some of you have donated to Mrs. Schwartz's class project of decorating pumpkins. Hopefully, with a few extra here and there, we will have enough for this project.

Send an email by this Friday if you are able to donate, that will help me keep track. I do need to be able to gage if the lab will be able to be done or not.

Remember, Tuesday is the day I need the pumpkins in hand so that we can do the lab.

On another note, the projects have been a lot of fun and very interesting. I still have a few students that did not turn theirs in, if your student has not, you will receive an email from me on that. We discovered a lot of stuff about a lot of animals which was really cool. These are a fine bunch of students and I am learning more and more everyday!

We have been working on some decimals the past couple of weeks. Ask your child to figure out the tip the next time you are out, maybe they can do it better than us old fogies do! Whether it is percent or money, these guys have got this money thing down!

Well, that is enough for now, I do appreciate your support and keeping in touch. Email me if you need anything or have a question about your child. I look forward to meeting with quite a few of you next week for conferences. If you are not signed up for Grade speed, please sign up as soon as possible, it is very helpful for keeping up to speed on your child's grades.

Until next time .....

Mr. A