It was so lovely to see families in the building this week as your students conducted their Self-Assessment Conferences. I know they are super proud of their work and their growth. I also know they are relieved they have made it through the conferences with you all! Thank you for showing support and encouragement. It makes a huge impact on them and their attitudes and performance in school! 

We are all excited to be back into the swing of things. As you all know that we have been deep in the editing and publishing process of self-assessments, so it has been very nice to teach our content areas again! I am hopeful that the students are happy to learn new content as well. 

With Trimester 3 at its start, we are going into a lot of changes. We have piloted a new advisory program this week in which all advisory classes are now mixed grades. We have introduced new Learning Lab groups and Trimester 3 Electives that will start today. Students are excited for hip-hop, watercolor art, and jazz band! 

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

What’s happening in Science:

Seventh Grade began their mini-unit on the relationship between Ukraine and Russia this week. To launch the unit, they first had to study the pros and cons of different forms of government. They did not get to choose their topic or stance, but had to pull from a hat and research the pros or cons of democracy, socialism, monarchy, or communism. Of course, they all put their own creative flare into their presentations, which were creative and informational…as usual! They also dug into the types of government Ukraine and Russia have currently. Next week, we will discuss the evolving governments of Russia and Ukraine over the past few 30 years, as well as both of their relations with the United States.

What’s up in Math?

We have jumped back into our linear equations unit eagerly! We have discussed ‘rate of change’ this week. How to find it using a real-life example, what it means in each context, and how it translates to a linear equation and its graph. We have used ‘rate of change’ in order to find the most cost effective option given two companies and their rates shown on both a table and a graph. Students are reasoning with how to create a graph, independent and dependent variables, and how the rate of change shows up on a graph. I am excited to make it through the rest of the curriculum in Trimester 3! 

What’s happening in ELA:

Parents, I hope you were impressed with what your Seventh Graders were able to accomplish in their second trimester of ELA class. 

They have begun their new unit in reading and I hope they are as intrigued as I am. Your Seventh Graders have begun with their Historical Fiction Book Clubs unit. History was not always beautiful, but we learn from the experiences of others. Many historical fiction books that your students will be reading may be based on a real event. We just read a book about a young American soldier’s experience during the Vietnam War. Please be prepared to discuss with your students the stories they are reading. We will also start a new vocabulary lesson next week.

Important Dates:

March 28-April 1: Spring Break