Welcome to Team 7A!
August 29th, 2025
UPCOMING DATES:
September 1 No School- Labor Day
September 3 Curriculum Night 5:30-7:00pm
September 6 Tiger Trot 5k
September 8 Picture Day
September 9 FastBridge Testing- ELA
September 10 FastBridge Testing- MATH
THIS WEEK ON TEAM 7A!
ELA- Dyokas
Core: Welcome, and thank you for taking the time to read this week’s newsletter.
This past week in ELA, we began by reading the short story "Seventh Grade" by Gary Soto. Our instructional focus has been on analyzing how various story elements influence the development of the plot and characters. Students completed a formative quiz to assess their understanding, and as a class, we collaborated on writing an impact paragraph. This model paragraph will serve as a mentor text to guide students as they craft their own impact paragraphs throughout the quarter.
Looking ahead, we will begin reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Students will receive a guided reading packet designed to help them stay engaged and focused as they navigate the novel.
Test or Project Dates: Friday, September 5th students should be prepared to take a formative assessment that covers the elements of plot.
ELA- McKay
Honors/Core: This week and last week, we spent time building our class community with established routines and class procedures. On Friday, we practiced teamwork and collaboration with a blind-leading-the blind puzzle making activity. All classes have organized their binders and are ready for a successful year!
Honors: This week in honors ELA, we launched our one book, one grade level novel The Outsiders by S.E Hinton. Students have already started annotating and sign-posting chapters 1-3. Our goal is to finish the novel in the next couple of weeks, so you should see your student reading nearly every night.
Core: This past week in core ELA, we began by reading the short story "Seventh Grade" by Gary Soto. Students completed a literary term pre-test (no grade) to guide their differentiated study needs for the literary assessment that will be next week. We will also start The Outsiders. Core students will receive a guided reading packet designed to help them stay engaged and focused as they navigate the novel.
Test or Project Dates: Fastbridge testing for all ELA classes will be on September 9, 2025. Students will need to bring their headphones for the test.
ELA- Doman
Welcome to an exciting new school year at Hickory Creek! This week, we focused on getting to know each other and reviewing important 7th grade ELA expectations. Students began exploring our first text, Seventh Grade, and practiced key skills like understanding plot, literary terms, and annotating texts.
Next week, we will start our Quarter 1 novel, The Outsiders, which promises to be a great adventure in reading and discussion.
Thank you for your support as we set the stage for a successful year!
Math- DeHaan
Core: Welcome to 7th Grade Math!!! I am very excited to have your child in my math class. We have already begun our first unit on Circles! We will be using a variety of resources, most of which can be found in One Note. Packet pages, notes, answer keys, and textbook pages will all be uploaded in One Note for students to reference or use at home.
We will be doing a weekly “Delta Math” assignment. This is assigned on Monday and due on Friday... students will have plenty of time to get this completed in class during PLT (personal learning time = the first 15 minutes of every class!)
We will also be using iXL, and most students are familiar with this from last year. I assign iXLs throughout the unit and they are always due on the day of the test. Students can work on iXL during PLT, or during other independent work time. They may also need to complete some of their iXLs at home if needed.
Test or Project Dates: Circle test – exact dateTBD (mid September)
Math- Faulkner
We have been busy in math class! Students participated in some activities promoting good teamwork, and practiced our multiplication facts with a "headband" game. We have already started our first unit on circles. This past week we discovered why pi is approximately 3.14 and how to find the circumference of a circle. We wrapped up the week with a circumference skills check. Next week we will learn how to find the area.
Each week, a DeltaMath assignment will be given on Monday and due by Friday. Students will be given class time to complete this and should only have to finish at home if they are absent.
In addition to DeltaMath practice, IXL lessons will be given. Z13 (parts of a circle) and BB5 (circumference) should be complete.
Please make sure your child has a calculator. Thank you! I'm looking forward to a great year!
Math- Stein
It hast been a great first week in math class. The students have learned the needed routines, organizational tasks and class expectations for this school year. We started with circles focusing on radius, diameter, circumference, pi and area. These are the main vocabulary and concepts we will be using this unit. A few quick formative checks in the next few days, but no test next week.
Social Studies- Gatsios
This week in S.S. is off to a great start. Students are inquiring about the physical and human geography of a region. Students will be assigned a state next way to investigate about while focusing on physical and human geography.
Test or Project Dates: Independent State project (will be completed in class)
Science- Mahoney
To begin the week, students learned about their teacher(s) by playing a “Get to Know Mahoney” game, or “Mahoney or Didier?” for those in a co-taught class period. On Tuesday, students learned the classroom procedures, expectations, and lab safety rules to follow while being in science class. We will complete the lab safety contract in class, which will need to be completed by each student prior to the first lab in order to participate. On Wednesday, students completed an “Express Yourself” activity that allows me to get to know the students, and their preferences for learning, hobbies, etc. We finished up the week with a CER pre-assessment and a lab safety Kahoot! Looking forward to a great year!!
PE/Encore
BULLERI & BARTOLOMEO SPANISH This week the students started their first Spanish unit – Para Empezar. They are learning how to have short conversations in Spanish, days and dates and weather phrases. They wil have a formative quiz for this unit.
Next week, the students will be Chapter 3A – La Comida. They will learn how to talk about their food preferences for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
CARUSO STEM The first week of school has been a wonderful success! Students have made connections with one another and have learned how to think like an engineer. The students finished the week by beginning to build a bridge made from spaghetti.
This upcoming week, we will learn to write SMART Goals that will drive our projects throughout this quarter.
ROGERS ART 7th Grade Artists are off to a great start! After setting a positive mindset with a drawing challenge inspired by ISH by Peter Reynolds, students are exploring ways to express emotion in art.
Next, they will design and build a mask out of clay that expresses an emotion.
WALTON
ART
Everyone created a symmetrical mosaic tile that we are combining with 5 different classes to make a collaborative artwork!
Students are examining examples of masks, analyzing the qualities of each example and determining how emotions are expressed in art
Students have started their first sketch assignment to prepare for their upcoming ceramics project
ZITO/WONDER MUSIC This past week has been a fantastic start as we focused on learning the procedures and diving into the wonderful world of rhythm!
Students began learning the importance of tempo and the B.P.M. of music and how to analyze songs to identify instruments/moods being used.
In the upcoming week, we will be expanding our musical knowledge by reading, writing, and playing rhythms of various difficulty.
All Classes PE
HCMS PE is off to a great start. Students have been settled into their lockers and procedures in the locker room. Students will begin their first PE units next week. Mr. Ford will be doing frisbee golf/ultimate frisbee. Mrs. Rodgers, Troka, and Breen will be doing the heart rate monitors and fitness room unit. Mr. Purpura will begin Tennis and Mr. Connolly will start off with Soccer. All these units will be in the rotation of 1st quarter. Each unit will approximately last 2 weeks.
EVERY UNIT WILL HAVE A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT ALONG WITH A SUMMATIVE TEST AT THE END OF THE UNIT.
Our male PE teachers are Mr. Ford, Mr. Connolly, and Mr. Purpura
Our female PE teachers are Mrs. Rodgers, Mrs. Breen, and Mrs. Troka
TEAM 7A TEACHERS
ELA- Laura Dyokas ldyokas@fsd157c.org
ELA- Rachel McKay rmckay@fsd157c.org
Math- Jane DeHaan jdehaan@fsd157c.org
Math- Cyndi Faulkner cfaulkner@fsd157c.org
Science- Jaclyn Mahoney jmahoney@fsd157c.org
Social Studies- Tonia Gatsios tgatsios@fsd157c.org
Resource- Mitch Stein mstein@fsd157c.org
Resource- Lauren Doman ldoman@fsd157c.org
Resource- Bridgett Didier bdidier@fsd157c.org