November is Nascent, Nippy, and Noteworthy

November is nascent, because it has just started; nippy because we are seeing more jackets and sweaters; noteworthy because middle schoolers have completed their first three months of school…nice!

The middle schoolers handled themselves as experienced carnival hosts and a fun time was had by all during our Fall Carnival. Parents, you would have been so proud to see your children in action. The costumes were very creative!

Here is some information you may find newsworthy: 

The Center for Disease Control has approved COVID-19 vaccine for five to 11-year olds!

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on the afternoon of November 8th-9th. We will have early dismissal on those days. Please do not forget to sign up for a time to conference with your child’s advisory teacher.

I recently read the following in an online article, “Curiosity is the ability to seek and acquire new knowledge, skills, and ways of understanding the world. It is at the heart of what motivates young people to learn and what keeps them learning throughout their lives. Research shows that curiosity is one of eight core abilities that drive successful kids (Price-Mitchell, 2018).”  Families, let us keep the flames of curiosity and learning alive for the rest of our lives!

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

What’s happening in Social Studies:

Seventh graders compared renewable and non-renewable resources, then took a test to calculate their carbon footprint! You can take the quiz yourself at https://calc.zerofootprint.net/. After the quiz, they all decided to make signs to put up around the school to encourage MORE COMPOSTING!

In American History this week, historians contemplated if they would break a law they thought was unjust. Their discussion was followed by studying the John Brown Case in 1859. They also contemplated and discussed the conditions (if any) that would make them feel that they needed weapons to defend themselves. This segwayed into learning about Malcom X’s impact on civil rights. They also wrote beautiful essays describing how ‘We” in “We the people” has evolved through our nation’s history. Each essay is very moving. I encourage you to read your daughter’s work!

What’s up in Math?

Mathematicians have a solid understanding of similar figures and what that means about their angle measures and side lengths. Through an analysis of similar triangles, the students have conceptualized that the slope of a line is equal to the vertical distance divided by the horizontal distance. By the end of the week, students were working with the slope formula in order to find the slope of a line using only two ordered pairs from the line. We are building up to writing equations of lines, which will give them a great foundation for Algebra 1! As always, working with these girls is a dream and I am so proud of them. 

What’s happening in ELA:

Your students have been revising and editing their final narrative this week on their individual laptops. The grading rubric for their writing was placed on the seventh grade Google Classroom platform and also emailed to parents. We will publish the students’ writing on 11/05/21. Hopefully you have enjoyed reading their narratives and helping them edit and revise their writing.

Seventh graders will start reading Boy, Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl next week. Please make sure you ask your kids to share thoughts about Boy, Tales of Childhood. They will have a final book report project at the completion of the novel.

Important Dates:

November 8-9: Parent/Teacher Conferences (11:30 dismissal)

November 19: Harvest Festival

November 22-26: Thanksgiving Break