Cluster 3
It's where you wanna be!
September Update
To Parents, Guardians, and Caretakers,
We are off to such an amazing start here in cluster 3! It was very nice being able to meet those of you who could attend open house.
This newsletter will be sent out monthly to give you updates from teachers on how classes are going. It will also share with you information on important announcements and dates.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out!
Thanks!
Cluster 3
Important Dates/Announcements
10/2-10/3 iReady beginning of year ELA and Math diagnostic
10/9 Indigenous Peoples Day NO SCHOOL
10/19 and 10/24 Conferences (more information will be sent out in the coming weeks)
Math with Mr. Casciano
Hello Cluster 3 Families!
Over the next 10 months I will be working with your child as they attempt to master the 7th grade math curriculum.
7th grade math centers on understanding and applying proportional relationships. Students start by studying scale drawings in Unit 1, which sets up the introduction of proportional relationships in Unit 2. In Unit 3, students apply proportional relationships to understand the circumference and area of circles. Unit 4 invites students to use proportional relationships to solve problems involving fractional quantities and percent change. In Unit 5, students extend what they learned in Math 6 to add, subtract, multiply, and divide positive and negative numbers, which leads into work on expressions, equations, and inequalities in Unit 6. The year ends with geometry, probability, and statistics as students study angles, triangles, and prisms in Unit 7 and probability and sampling in Unit 8.
We are currently finishing up Unit 1: Scale Drawings with a test next week on Wednesday. Students have done a great job so far this unit and we look to keep up the great work going into the test next week. At the end of next week we will begin Unit 2: Intro to Proportional Relationships.
Here is a link to our Family Resource Information Sheet which will give you a brief rundown of every single unit we will be covering this year.
Progress and Grading:
25% Practice: Homework and Classwork
75% Assessment: Quizzes, Tests and Projects
All tests/quizzes/projects/homework can be made up to 85%.
Power School will be updated live every week (starting 10/3).
We will be using the following platforms for this year:
Google Classroom - Daily Communication
Power School - Online Grading
Desmos - Online Mathematics Curriculum
IXL - Math Practice and Independent Learning
Delta Math - Math Practice and Independent Learning
Jamboard - Group Activities
Zearn - Reteaching and Independent Learning
iReady - Growth and Assessment
Social Studies with Mr. Kirkaldy
Learning Targets:
- I can identify short-term, intermediate, and long-term causes of an event.
- I can test claims using intuition, logic, evidence, and authority
In history, we are learning and practicing good historical thinking skills, including making inferences supported by observations, asking good questions, looking at multiple sources, identifying multiple causes of events, and testing claims using our four claim testers: intuition, logic, authority, and evidence. We'll be wrapping up this unit on "Thinking Like a Historian" by reading, interpreting, and creating timelines. Then, it's on to our first Investigating History unit on Central and South Asia.
Check out our School Friends' Smores
EDL & PHONICS CLASSROOMS - https://www.smore.com/1a8k7
Specialists Classrooms - https://www.smore.com/7szae-the-specialists-update
ELA with Ms. Fitanides
ELA
English classes have just started our first major unit, the Where I am From poem. We are analyzing George Ella Lyon's poem for content, formatting and writer's craft/skills. Students will then use what we have learned from our mentor author to try and emulate her work as we write our own Where I am From poem. If you came to Back to School Night, I mentioned kids might need a little help in generating some of the ideas for their brainstorms, especially the categories on beliefs, values, special family objects or heirlooms & family traditions.
Objectives:
I can read and mark up a text with my own ideas
I can share my ideas in discussion and back them up with evidence
I can listen and take notes on others' ideas during discussion
I can emulate an author's style, format and content in my own writing
Science with Ms. Smith
SCIENCE with Ms. Smith
Welcome to 7th grade science! We will be working on some big ideas in science this year, including complex body systems, chemistry, and energy. We are in our biology unit right now and are distinguishing between living and non-living things, discussing what makes something living, and reviewing the basic unit of life: the cell. As we continue, we will look at how cells build up into tissues, organs, and organ systems and make up the entire complex organism.
Students are off to a productive start to the year. We have already had our first quiz and several assignments. Please note that students and parents may check progress in PowerSchool (available beginning 10/3). This is helpful to find out missing assignments, which can be made up and will count for credit. Students may retake quizzes if needed during term 1 (this policy becomes more rigid as the year progresses). Students have time to connect with teachers and makeup work during WIN on Fridays, which is dubbed FLEX FRIDAY to accommodate students’ needs.
I am available after school every day except Wednesdays. Please encourage your students to be proactive with retaking any assessments that they feel they can do better on.
Biology standards
6.MS-LS1-3. Construct an argument supported by evidence that the body systems interact to carry out essential functions of life.
8.MS-LS1-7. Use informational text to describe that food molecules, including carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, are broken down and rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support cell growth and/or release of energy.