Full moon yesterday…While walking my dog in the morning, gawking at the moon, I contemplated how crazy it is that there is this whole other side of the moon that we have never seen here on Earth…ever! This “dark side” of the moon is not visible to us due to a phenomenon known as Tidal Locking. The Moon and Earth have altered their orbits through their gravitational interactions over millions of years. Because the Earth is much larger than the Moon, the Moon’s rotation has slowed to a balance point. The time for the Moon to have a full rotation around its axis is the same time for the Moon to fully orbit around the Earth. WILD…RIGHT?!
Many people use the phrase “the dark side of the moon” to describe things that are unknown and mysterious. With Franci leaving, Merle stepping up as the interim Head of School, and starting the 2025-2026 school year with Jason, there’s a lot of unknowns. We all know that change is inevitable. Maybe instead of thinking about the unknown side of the moon as the “dark side,” we could consider it as the “far side.” It’s there, we know it, but we just don’t know what it looks like.
-LD
Math:
This week, we kicked off unit 3 by creating tables for linear relationships and using them to make a graph. Next week, we’ll explore balancing equations to help us solve different types of one and two step equations.
ELA:
7th grade writers began a literary genre writing unit this week – they selected a favorite novel on which they would like to write a book where they present an essay, dissect the genre it belongs to, and add their own fan fiction inspired by it! We began crafting potential essay thesis statements based on our expert knowledge of our texts. We also dove back into grammar, studying parts of speech.
Next week, writers will draft and revise literary essays around their thesis and practice “speaking aloud” our essay ideas to pursue greater clarity! 7th grade will have a grammar test next week on 10/24.
Social Studies:
Seventh grade has their test that was scheduled for Friday the 17th moved to Tuesday, the 22nd. I felt with the short week and only one class together before Friday it was unfair to the students coming off break to have the test then. We will use our time together to review as well as prepare for Tuesday. Once we are done with these culture groups we will be moving onto European colonization and their impacts on the “new world.”
Science:
This week, seventh graders worked hard on completing and polishing up their Ted Talks. They practiced for each other, conferenced for feedback, presented to the class, and made changes. Next week, they will present their work to the middle school and then to parents. They are not only learning about Space Exploration through this project, but also determination, motivation, and creativity. They will be presenting in the library on Wednesday 10/23.
Important Dates:
October 22: Picture Day
October 28: LeAnn Gardner Parent Presentation (5:30)
October 31: Halloween Carnival (11:30 Dismissal)
November 1: Teacher Work Day (No Students)
November 11&12: Parent Teacher Conferences
November 22: Harvest Feast
November 25-29: Thanksgiving Break
