Spring Break has come and gone. It felt like a little taste of summer break. Students came back talking about sleeping in, sun burns, vacations, and sleepovers. The needed respite provided us, teachers included, the energy and space to persevere through the rest of the school year. However, this is probably my favorite part of the year. It’s the time we get to celebrate what we have accomplished. We all get together at Pass It On and Spread the Word. We take our annual class trips, celebrate at the dance, play at Field Day, and believe it or not, even enjoy ERB testing. It’s a time of tradition, reference to the past, and time for reflection. As we get ready to start a new tradition, graduation from Middle School, I look forward to this special time of the year and relishing in the hard work up until now.
Cheers to seven more weeks!
LD

Here’s a look at what is happening in each of the classes:


What’s happening in Science?
Seventh graders studied metamorphic rocks and the impact plate boundaries pose on the Earth. They modeled the process of heat and pressure metamorphosing igneous and sedimentary rocks with the “candy crusher lab.” They put candy (minerals) into a pressure vessel which they applied direct pressure to and direct heat. They observed the changes of the candy, which changed into a completely different candy (or rock). They considered how the same conditions occur in the earth and how rocks change with heat and pressure occur over time. They were able to identify source rocks that change into metamorphic rocks. They will conclude their earth history study next week with an essay quiz. We will then begin our last unit of the year…everyone’s favorite…chemistry!

What’s up in Math?

This week, seventh graders have completed their “crash course”. I can see improved confidence and knowledge in the skills and standards covered up until this point. We are now moving into formulas of 3D figures. We have been doing a lot of algebra, so this will be a bit of a mindset shift. I’m excited to start discovering formulas and teaching students how to use them on different three-dimensional figures.

What’s happening in ELA?
Seventh graders are editing and revising their research papers. They have also begun a new unit titled “Historical Fiction Book Clubs.” We are reading and discussing Patrol by Walter Dean Myers together.

Finally, we are working on grammar week 15 and learning about prefixes (a- and be-)/suffixes (-ent and -ant).


What’s going on in Social Studies?
Students dove right back into the Civil War upon returning from Spring Break. Students created interviews to ask either Ulysses S. Grant or Robert E. Lee about their experiences in the war. Students then began to close out the war by completing a study guide.

Students will be assessed on the Civil War before moving into our next unit; the Reconstruction Era. Students will be challenged to debate over which Reconstruction Plan would be the best to implement after war concluded.

Important Dates:

April 22- TCS Spring Auction
April 27- Holocaust Survivor Speaker
May 4- 11:30 Dismissal
May 5 – Middle School Dance