Going into this first newsletter I am writing this year, I look back to the summer and realize just how far we have already come in this school year! It has been a wonderful start so far and I know we as a staff are looking forward to building off of that going forward. It is important to look back and reflect on not only school, but life in general. In order to grow, I have myself been working on this to try and become the best version of myself I can be. That led me over the summer to come up with an overarching theme for school this year and that led me to think of the word perspective. It is important to learn not only about your own perspective but also others not only in this country, but around the world. I began the year by showing each class a great video of students from a school in London trying southern barbeque for the first time (ask them about it!) They enjoyed watching the students’ faces as they had brisket, mac and cheese and corn bread for the first time and realizing that things we take for granted are new and unusual to others, just as things may be new and scary to them. I hope going forward to continue to show them that not only do we grow as people by reflecting on our own personal experiences, but also through the perspective of others!
ELA-7th grade writers worked on their school improvement proposals this week, moving into first drafts backed by well-organized research. We discussed how to make impactful revisions with rhetorical devices that appeal to ethos and pathos. We also started our grammar study – diving into prepositions and sentence parts review.
Next week, we have a grammar test on 9/11. Be sure to study. Proposal essays are due 9/12 (note: this due date was moved to give writers more time!).
Science- This week in science 7th grade explored seasons by looking at solar angles and how the concentration of light changes by time and location. We also explored changes in daylight hours using data from the 21st day of each month to find trends throughout the year. Next week students will take a closer look at the moon to discover what is visible on the moon and the scale of the Earth and the moon.
Social Studies- Seventh grade is continuing to work on their Native American projects and also learning about the geographical and environmental impacts those people had on the land. This will show them how many cultures and humans tied themselves to nature and tried to live in harmony with it. Once we finish this unit we will be getting ready for our test on early humans and cultures of North America.
Math- This week in math, 7th graders took a short assessment over rigid transformation on Tuesday before they began studying and exploring angle relationships (undeniably my favorite thing to teach in math), by using complementary, supplementary, and alternate interior angles to write conjectures about triangles and other polygons.
Next week, 7th graders will finish their exploration of angle relationships by building different polygons and testing angle compatibility to make different shapes. On Thursday, they’ll be assessed over their mastery of rigid transformation and angle relationships before we use this knowledge in unit 2 to build a definition and understanding of slope. They received a study guide for their test this week, and we’ll review it and do some other test prep on Tuesday!
