7th Grade Team February Newsletter

Staying connected to our families is important to our teachers. In addition to the front page of our Canvas courses, we are excited to share this monthly newsletter with our families to keep you aware of upcoming events, activities, lessons, units, and materials from our classes! The 7th Grade Team has compiled this newsletter to share some of the upcoming experiences your student will be having with us. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child's teachers!

We have begun Phase 1 of learning small ensemble music together. Our next step is to break into small groups to collaborate and rehearse 3 part music within those groups, which will be student-led. We are also learning new full-band music to perform for our Spring Concert.

We have been preparing our music for the upcoming February 24th concert. 7th grade has been hard at work putting their talents toward Popular styles. We have been journeying into the 70s with “Ease On Down the Road” from the Wiz, exploring film music through “We Don't Talk About Bruno” from Encanto, and lastly, experiencing modern Rock with the 2017 hit by Portugal the Man, “Feel It Still.”

Students did great work in both our spaghetti tower and k’nex projects to begin the new semester. We are now starting our first unit, which is on types of engineers.

This month in physical education students will be participating in frisbee games, soccer, and volleyball. In health class we will be setting goals related to school and related to their own interests.

7th grade students are currently working on video editing projects. They're creating a commercial for the Junior High and will eventually be transferring these skills to a cumulative project where they create a music video! Later in the month, they’ll be working with learning new skills in Google Slides!

Mrs. Danner's and Mrs. Kline's Classes:

Students are busy finishing their argument essays. We’ve seen significant improvement and willingness to work hard in this unit. This week also starts our transition into Historical Fiction, where students will be traveling to different time periods and historical events through book clubs (books to be determined by a group activity and interest survey). Our in-class read-aloud/teaching text will be Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson, with significant support from the nonfiction text An American Plague by Jim Murphy. Recordings and passages from these texts will be available on our class Canvas page in Modules. Parents are welcome to listen/read along with our classroom adventure.

Mrs. Heinig's Classes

We are ready to start the most charged unit of the year--our Debate and Argument Unit #4. We will:

• perform research using online sources to make and support claims

• develop organization in an argumentative essay

• think critically about the topic

• trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text

• follow rules for collegial discussions, track progress toward specific goals, and define individual roles.

• present claims and findings in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions

• delineate a speaker’s argument, evaluating the soundness of the reasoning and the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

In other words, we will learn that it is important to have an opinion, be able to support your opinion with facts, and express your opinion in a manner that allows for civil discourse, be a good listener, and produce excellent writing.

Students in Math 7 just wrapped up our module titled “Geometric Figures.” Students learned about angle relationships, triangle properties, scale model, and the cross sections formed when slicing three-dimensional figures. In our newest module titled “Measure Figures”, students will build an understanding of the parts of a circle and learn to measure circles. They will also build their understanding of volume and surface area and extend that knowledge to composite figures. Our next module assessment is planned for Friday, February 24.

Accelerated Math

Mrs. Garner’s math accelerated students just finished our 8th Module titled “Linear Relationships and Slope.” This module covered 8th grade algebra standards on graphing equations in slope-intercept form. We start a new module on Monday which is titled “Probability.” In this module, students will develop an understanding of the probability of simple and compound events. They will use this understanding to develop fluency in finding likelihoods and relative frequencies and determining the sample space for compound events. They will also compare probabilities and design simulations. Our next module is planned for Friday, February 17th.

In science, students are studying water on earth. Students completed a performance assessment lab where they created a functioning water cycle out of four basic materials. They also built watershed models. Soon the students will be demonstrating the relationship between salinity and density as we explore ocean currents. February will also have our first extra credit project.

In social studies class, students are beginning their argumentative essays, which focus on the fall of the Roman Empire. We are studying this topic while reviewing key 7th grade language arts standards. In the next few weeks, we will be crafting our arguments, researching supportive evidence, and developing our reasoning/ analysis skills as we write our essays. When we have finished, students will be working in groups to create an operational aqueduct as part of a STEM competition. Soon we will be moving to our unit on China!

Common Sense Media is an online tool that can help parents and students make informed decisions regarding media use. This tool can be used for many types of media, including books, movies, video games, and apps. Additionally, the “Parent Tips and FAQ” section can provide families with valuable support on facilitating social media, cell phone, and screen time use with their child.