The giant push for my little ELA department of one every year is Spread the Word. This year presented a new opportunity to create distinct poetry focuses for each grade that were meant to align with both their grade level standards and developmental interests! It was such a gift to find the heart and humor in 5th grade illustrated poetry, find the bridge between art and words in ekphrastic poetry with 6th, find ourselves in 7th grade identity poetry, and find meaning in rhythm in 8th grade sonnets. No matter what each grade studied, a common thread in Spread the Word is always the golden opportunity to see into the minds of middle schoolers. They are creatures often accused of being unknowable, but I would argue they are longing to be known and offering to be known all the time if we just make the space for it. Adolescent vulnerability can sometimes be veiled in awkward gestures, generational trends, jokes, moodiness, and more, but sometimes it comes sailing profoundly towards us in the form of a middle school poetry share. I was personally reminded of the joy, pain, perfection, peace, chaos, beauty, and fun of being “in the middle.” Thank you for supporting the thoughts, feelings, and imaginations of this tender age simply by showing up and listening.
-Ms. Maggie
Upcoming Dates:
- May 14th – Pass It On at 5:00PM (11:30am Dismissal)
ELA: This week in 7th grade, readers discussed themes about leadership, society, and nature as they were explored in Watership Down. Students added to their nature journals, illustrating and coloring in previous observations. We thought about how our naturalist findings could connect to or symbolize thematic elements of the story. 7th grade also began their final vocab unit of the year!
Next week, readers continue their novels and naturalist journal entries. Students will take their vocabulary test on 4/30.
Science: This week in Science, 7th graders reviewed how particles behave in different states of matter, strengthening their understanding of how substances change and interact. Students also analyzed the data from their Science Fair experiments and created graphs to clearly represent their findings, practicing how scientists communicate results through visual data.
Next week, students will design and create their Science Fair boards in preparation for the May 8th Science Fair, bringing together their research, data, and conclusions into a final presentation of their work.
Social Studies: Seventh grade has been doing a fantastic job on the Civil War. This week we focused on the Emancipation Proclamation and the battle at Gettysburg. These two significant moments changed American history forever and they really did a great job with these topics. We also began working on our end of year research papers. This year is a cause and effect paper relating to a unit of study from this year. I am looking forward to seeing their growth as a writer from last year to now!
Math: This week in math, the 7th graders wrapped up unit 7 by reviewing for and taking their end of unit assessment. This assessment tested their mastery of exponents, laws, of exponents, and how we can use exponents in scientific notation to represent really large and really small numbers. Next week, we’ll dive into our final unit of study which introduces the Pythagorean Theorem, how we can use it, and where it’s derived from.
