Weekly Update #12

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Team Updates

Exemplary Badger: 

Grade Book:  Grades close for Trimester 1 the week we get back from break!  All missing or make up work must be turned in ASAP. It's your job to keep track of your grades. Any student with two D's or one F at the close of grades will have an alternative assignment for the Raider's Reward day. 

Field Trip Information: Badger students will be traveling to The Palace Theatre on Friday, December 16th for a live adaptation of A Christmas Carol.  Please be sure to send in permission slips and payment if you haven't already!  Thanks in advance.

Class Updates

Social Studies: What is culture? That is a question that we tackled this week in class. We are now focusing in on Ancient Greek Culture and how it influences our culture today. This upcoming week will be short due to Thanksgiving Break however we will be covering the early Olympics in Ancient Greece along with discussing the true history of Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has an enjoyable Thanksgiving Break with their families!

Science: This week in science we are learning about the cell theory.  We will focus on the work of five different scientists who contributed to the cell theory.  Students will make sketches of microscopic plants, animal cells, cork, living cells and bacteria.  Students will complete a timeline to show their microscope work and the work of these five scientists.  The cell timeline will be due on Monday, December 5th for an assessment grade.

Literacy: In addition to beginning work on Latin root unit 5, we began to discuss, in depth, what we eat!  We learned to navigate the nutrition labels on snacks,interpret the information provided, Students  then compared different versions of the same sort of snack to determine if one was better than another, and for what reasons.  We all decided that Oreo Thins and Twizzlers are good even if they're not good for us, and why it's not a really good idea to eat a whole large bucket of popcorn at the movies!  The next Latin root test is scheduled for Tuesday, November 29th.  Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family.  I'm so thankful that both of my children will be home!

English: Students went on a WebQuest this past week in English and will continue their journey next week.  Through the "stops" on their quest, students were able to gain better understanding of the Victorian Age, as well as gather more information about the life of Charles Dickens. As we begin reading A Christmas Carol, we will make connections to Dickens' life and upbringing and how it influenced his writings.  Lastly, I hope all of you enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!  Spend time with your family and friends!

Math: Students have been assigned a How-to Book on rational numbers in replacement of a test . The books will be due Tuesday, November 29th, make sure to work on your book throughout the Thanksgiving break. Go Figures are due Wednesday, November 30th, it's a busy week!

School Updates

Food Pantry: The school is collecting the following items: pasta, canned sauces, peanut butter, cereal, canned fruits and vegetables (or any other non-perishable items). Donation bins are located in the main office and guidance. Please consider making a regular donation to support our community!

Weekly Update #11

Team Updates

Exemplary Badger: Congratulations to Andrew B.  for being selected as our Exemplary Badger for next week! To be selected as the Exemplary Badger means that the recognized student is upholding all of the high standards to which the Badger students agreed at the beginning of the year! It means that their behavior is respectful; that they are responsible for their work and their grades; that they are kind!

Grade Book:  It's your job to keep track of your grades. Be sure to check weekly!  

Field Trip Information: Badger students will be traveling to The Palace Theatre on Friday, December 16th for a live adaptation of A Christmas Carol.  Please be sure to send in permission slips and payment if you haven't already!  Thanks in advance.

Class Updates

Social Studies: Despite such a short week, we accomplished a lot in class! Not only did we learn about the Peloponnesian War but we covered quite the historic presidential election. This week we will wrap up our coverage of the Persian War and Peloponnesian War with a Mastery Assessment this Wednesday. Make sure that you're studying and reviewing your notes and materials on Google Classroom!

Science: This week in science we will have a quiz on the levels of life.  Study!  We will start learning how to use the microscope this week.  Students will need to learn the parts of the microscope and their functions.  They will practice getting prepared slides of plants and microorganisms into focus.  It should be a fun week!

Literacy:  A Numeracy note from Literacy:  we've completed 33% of the Latin root units already!  Students have learned fifty-one Latin and Greek roots!  It's amazing!  Unit 5 will be presented next week and students will build the first few slides of their Omnictionaries!   We'll also discuss some of Michael Pollan's Food Rules, and devour the first few chapters of The Omnivore's Dilemma!  

English: Students finished their first performance task this week with narrative writing.  Nice job tackling this project, Badgers!  Next week we'll begin our classic literature unit!  This unit starts with A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens -- but before we dive into the novel, we'll first gain a better understanding of the time period in which it was written.

Math: We are still working through our rational numbers chapter.  It's a rough chapter, but we're almost done! Just a reminder that November's Go Figure is due on the 30th.  We have another big project coming up so it would be nice to have it done early.

School Updates

Food Pantry: The school is collecting the following items: pasta, canned sauces, peanut butter, cereal, canned fruits and vegetables (or any other non-perishable items). Donation bins are located in the main office and guidance. Please consider making a regular donation to support our community!

Weekly Update #10

Team Updates

Exemplary Badger: Congratulations to Jona V.  for being selected as our Exemplary Badger for next week! To be selected as the Exemplary Badger means that student is upholding all of the high standards to which the Badger students agreed at the beginning of the year! It means that their behavior is respectful; that they are responsible for their work and their grades; that they are kind!

Grade Book:  It's your job to keep track of your grades. Be sure to check weekly!  

Field Trip Information: Thank you to everyone who submitted field trip permission slips and payments this past week!  Unfortunately, we are still missing MANY.  Students, please check in with your parents and get these turned in as soon as possible!!  We need to reserve our seats at the Palace Theatre and pay our deposit.  Thank you in advance!

Class Updates

Social Studies: This past week the students did a great job creating slideshows on the Greco-Persian Wars and Athenian culture along with mapping the Persian Empire. This upcoming week we will focus heavily on the election! Make sure that you're following the news! Question to think about: What is the most important thing that you've learned throughout the 2016 Presidential Election?

Science:  This week in science we used giant microbes to learn about different bacterial diseases.  We also learned how bacteria are very important to us.  Next week we will start our next major unit:
CELLS!

Literacy:  We've used chrome books in Literacy this week, to peruse online resources to build lists of words associated with the Latin and Greek roots in Unit 4.  The students have been teaching the class the fruits of their labor!  Next week we will have a couple of practice activities, and then the Mastery Test for Unit for On Thursday, November 10th.  All students should be using their resources to study for the test!

English: Students were busy typing their narrative performance tasks on the Chrome books this week!  They also submitted their Greek god and goddess projects on Google Drive - and they look fantastic so far!  Next week we will finish our performance tasks and add them to our 7th grade district writing folder.  Students, please come prepared with your rough drafts on Monday!

Math: We are continuing to work on rational numbers, make sure to study your adding and subtracting integer rules. There is a quiz on Wednesday. November's Go Figure went home last week, it's due on the 30th. Be sure to work on it throughout the month.

School Updates

No School: November 8th for Election Day or November 11th for Veteran's Day.

Food Pantry: The school is collecting the following items: pasta, canned sauces, peanut butter, cereal, canned fruits and vegetables (or any other non-perishable items). Donation bins are located in the main office and guidance. Please consider making a regular donation to support our community!

Pennichuck Sports: Tryouts are this week!