Weekly Update: Week of December 10th.

Report Cards:  Grades are closed!!! Report cards are going home on Tuesday.

Team Donations: Our team supply of tissues and hand sanitizer seems to be dwindling, especially as we approach flu season.  If you would like to donate these items, please send them to school with your child.  Thank you to the families who have donated supplies thus far!  We are most appreciative!

OUR FIELD TRIP IS THIS WEEK!!  This is just a reminder we will be traveling to The Palace Theatre on Wednesday, December 12th to experience a live adaptation of A Christmas Carol.  Students are reminded to dress appropriately.  We can't wait!


Class Updates: 

Social Studies: We spent this past week researching and discussing Ancient Greek culture which included reading Greek fables, learning about Greek drama, and even learning about the original Olympic Games. Students took a test on Thursday in which they read The Boy Who Cried Wolf and answered a few questions about it. We will start the topic of philosophy on Monday!

Science:  We are so close to answering our phenomenon question.  Students have figured out how our digestive system works and are starting to understand the role of diffusion in our bodies.  Next week we will continue our investigations.  Ask your students this week about what we are doing with cucumbers, onions and celery.

Literacy:     If your student has not yet completed the Atlas Obscura recording, he or she should plan to stay after school in the computer lab with me and Mrs. Kauffman on Monday for assistance!  Latin Unit 6 is under way, and the test is scheduled for Friday, December 14th.  

English:  Students chose their December independent reading projects this week and will be creating playlists for the books they have chosen.  Songs must be school-appropriate and should relate directly to the book's plot, theme, or characters.  An example has been posted to Google Classroom. Just a reminder, students should be reading 30 minutes each night!

We have also begun reading A Christmas Carol in class and are in the middle of chapter two, which is when Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past.  Check out the giant web we created in class about Scrooge's character!

Math: This week we are going to continue working on combining like terms and review the distributive property.  Students will have a quiz on Thursday, December 13th.  

Weekly Update: December 3rd

Report Cards: The end of the trimester is quickly approaching.  Grades close Monday, December 3rd.  Students, please check the grade book and ensure your work is submitted. 

Team Donations: Our team supply of tissues and hand sanitizer seems to be dwindling, especially as we approach flu season.  If you would like to donate these items, please send them to school with your child.  Thank you to the families who have donated supplies thus far!  We are most appreciative!

Holiday Book Orders: Mrs. McGuire is collecting book orders next week to ensure they arrive in time for the holiday break!  Parents and guardians, if you would like to order books "secretly" for your student as a gift, please email me and we can make this happen!  Book orders are due no later than Wednesday, December 5th! 

SPIRIT WEEK is this week!!!  Students are encouraged to participate to show their school spirit!!  ALL OUTFITS MUST BE SCHOOL APPROPRIATE!

Monday: Advisory Day - dress similarly with your advisory
Tuesday: Vine Day - work with your advisory to create a six-word positive saying 
Wednesday: Character Day - dress up like your favorite character
Thursday: Pajama Day - wear your comfiest PJs
Friday: Color Wars - grade 7 is BLUE!

Food Drive: Grade 7 donations should be LUNCH items only.  Please bring in donations to advisory.  Thank you for your cooperation!

Class Updates: 

Social Studies: Students question stormed about the Peloponnesian War on Monday, tied it all together Tuesday, prepared for an assessment on Wednesday, and then were assessed on the last three major topics that we've studied on Thursday. Please review that assessment with your child as grades are closing soon! Friday we spent class catching students up and allowing other students to go deeper into various topics. We will start Greek culture on Monday!

Science:  If you ate A LOT of carrots..... Would you turn orange?  There has been a lot of disagreement among the badger students.  Many think they will, many think they won't.  This week we will follow the carrot through the digestive system to figure out if it is even possible.  Check out the science blog here.

Literacy: It's been an exciting week in the computer lab with Mrs. Kauffman, learning fantastic, new technology tools!  The kids completed the research of their Atlas Obscura, and learned the best way to write their narration script notes. The most exciting moments were when they actually used either the headset microphone, or the fancy Snowball microphone to record the narration of their slide shows.  I'm incredibly proud of their hard work, but mostly of their desire to improve, and produce the best possible finished product.  The final submissions are due by Monday evening.  I suspect there will be many kids staying after school on Monday!  

English:  We started our character change unit this week!  It was an exciting week learning new background information relating to our unit.  Students also spent time in the library choosing their new December IRP books and working on contextual vocabulary.  Next week, we will begin reading A Christmas Carol.  We will focus primarily on the character change in which Scrooge shows throughout the novel.

Math: We are wrapping up our mini unit on writing and solving equations this week.  Students will be tested on Thursday.  Study guide will go out on Monday.