7th Grade 1st Quarter Newsletter

This quarter, 7th grade engineering students will be exploring the following topics and projects:

• We begin the year with spaghetti tower builds, where students learn about iterative processes, engineering trade-offs, and structural integrity. There is a reflection assignment to conclude this project.
  
• Our next project involves building with K’Nex and creating instructional packets to recreate our designs. This emphasizes the importance of good written communication skills and informative sketching. There is a reflection assignment to conclude this project.
  
• We will then complete a unit learning about a dozen different types of engineers. Students will pick two they are the most interested in to learn more about. This unit will conclude with an assessment.
  
• After that unit, we do another K’nex project, this time building towers… on a budget! Students learn about the importance of a Bill of Materials and earning profit, as well as highlighting the vital importance of defining your problem. There is a reflection assignment to conclude this project.
  
• Next, we will dive into our second tested unit: the design process. Students will learn a step-by-step method to create sound designs. This unit also ends with an assessment.
  
• Finally, to end this half of the class, we will apply what we’ve learned to an egg drop projects, where we’ll learn lots of new physics concepts about things like gravity, acceleration, force, potential & kinetic energy, mass, and velocity. There is a reflection assignment to conclude this project.
  

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

In ELA 7, we are beginning the year focusing on learning about durable skills as a learner such as learning preferences, email etiquette, and resume writing. Then, we will be diving into our Realistic Fiction unit with our read-aloud Ghost by Jason Reynolds. Students will also begin their first independent reading fiction novels. We encourage families to talk about our reading texts at home and even check out our classroom Canvas class for the opportunity to listen to Ghost. We are excited to work through our first texts and even jump into Greek and Latin roots to expand our vocabulary. Please encourage your student to share new learning and read at home!

Once we complete our work with realistic fiction, we will venture into the world of classic literature with some poems and short stories by Edgar Allan Poe. By comparing our modern realistic fiction to Poe’s classic work, students will learn the importance of language to create mood and tone in any type of story. Also, by the end of this unit, students will understand that all literature has universal themes regardless of the genre or time period in which it is written.

Mrs. Heinig's Enriched ELA Classes:

During the first week of Mrs. Heinig’s Enriched ELA 7, we focused on building community and getting to know one another. We’ve discussed extensively the importance of respect and integrity as the foundation for life, much like reading and writing are the foundations for all school subjects. We’ve also worked in our class to establish habits of good readers and writers and improve our organizational skills as a foundation for continued learning. We’ve started the year with our Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir/Realistic Fiction Unit for reading and writing. We have chosen people who give us hope, help us find our way, and show us what real GRIT looks like. After we have read to be inspired by someone else's life, we will write our own memoirs. Please talk with your students about their book choices and encourage them to continue reading at home for at least 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Your kids will be finding independent RF novels of their own choosing. We will take a deep dive into characterization, plot analysis, and elements of story--learning to read it and write it. In addition, we are becoming Word Wizards who enjoy learning new words through Greek and Latin roots and figurative language. We will also begin to delve into Project-Based Learning methods that will launch us into a year of Wander and Wonder.