AMMS 7th Grade Gazette
August 23, 2019 Volume I
Welcome Back!
GET TO KNOW THE STAFF!!!!
Dr. Mimi Gamel - 7th Grade Assistant Principal
Josh Williams - 7th Grade Counselor
Natalie Cowart - AMMS Graduation Coach
ACADEMIC UPDATES
Math
70/7A
We started off the year reviewing the 4 quadrant coordinate plane to get us ready for integer operations. Unit 1 focuses on Rational Number operations. This week we have been adding and subtracting integers with chips, number lines, and using integer rules (MGSE7.NS.1). Ask your child to sing you “Integer Rules” song! We will also be solving real-life integer word problems. Our first quiz is planned for Friday August 30th. A quiz review is scheduled to come home next Tuesday and we will review in class on Thursday. Next, we will be multiplying and dividing integers and extending our knowledge of positive and negative numbers to all operations with fractions and decimals (MGSE7.NS.2)8A Math
The 7th grade math teachers are excited about the new year! We have started the year with a fun graphing assignment to get students familiar with the four quadrants, preparing them for our first unit: Transformations. Students will be transforming (moving) figures through reflections, rotations, translations and dilations. Our first quiz is Tuesday, August 27th on only reflections and rotations. Helps sessions are daily at 8am.
Science
Welcome back! We are off to a great year in science! If you have not already done so, please consider responding to our introductory science emails with some information about your child.
Our science quiz and test dates will be Tuesdays and Thursdays this year. Our help sessions are on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 8-8:30am. Students will be picked up promptly at 8am from the cafeteria.
We have been reviewing lab safety and practicing Argument Driven Inquiry (ADI)/Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER). This method encourages students to answer questions by researching and supporting their claims with proper data and justification.
We will begin our classification/diversity of life unit next week.
Students will have a workbook that they leave in the science classroom. The workbook is accessible for their iPads for studying at home.
Steps to access workbook:
- Login to the Classlink App on iPad
- Select HMHEd
- Select HMH Georgia Science Grade 7 from drop down
Thanks! Ms. Johnson, Ms. Kane, Ms. Moore, Ms. Chereck, and Ms. Villiume
Social Studies
Thanks so much for all the supplies you’ve sent in! If you have not had chance to do so yet, we would so appreciate black expo markers and index cards. We will have a map and vocab quiz on Friday, 8/30. It will cover parts of each map (Middle East, Asia, Africa physical/political/regions) and map-based vocabulary. As we approach Patriot Day (9/11), be on the lookout for your student to come home with a parent/adult interview so that they might learn about your memories of that day. We will have a test on Environmental Issues in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East on Friday, 9/13. Please check your child’s agenda for any additional homework assignments in Social Studies. We are enjoying getting to know your children!
Reading
7th Grade Reading has had an awesome first few weeks! Kids have been reading choice books and making reading goals for the year. Please ask your child to tell you what they’ve chosen for their reading challenge goal which will wrap up in May, 2020. While your kids share their reading challenge goals with you, what a great statement it would be if you share your own reading challenge goal with them. It’s a huge encouragement to our students when they see the adults in their lives reading for pleasure! Your students have met with the teachers one-on-one already to help the teachers understand individual strengths and weaknesses as well as to set their challenge.
Students have also been building our classroom community by making one-pagers to introduce themselves to the class. I hope you’ll find your student’s assignment on display when we meet again for Curriculum Night in September. Next week, we will have minilessons to help students recognize specific skills within texts presented to them as well as within their chosen books.
What we’re reading:
Mrs. Brill: The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
Ms. Matthews: Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Ms. Smith: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Language Arts
Welcome back to AMMS from the 7th grade ELA team! We are so excited to get this year off to a great start.
After reviewing classroom procedures and protocol, including setting up our composition notebooks, we have begun our work in Unit 1. We are currently using brainstorming and drafting techniques to help us craft our first poem of the year. Through the writing of this poem, we will explore concepts such as descriptive details and sensory language, symbolism, metaphors, similes, and theme. Soon we will begin a study of short stories in which we further develop our understanding of these concepts.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Patel, Mrs. Barksdale, Ms. Irvin, Mrs. Barnes, and Mrs. Matthews
Spanish
¡Hola a todos!
As we begin the year in Spanish 1, we are starting with a review of concepts previously learned in 6th grade; such as the days of the week, weather and seasons, alphabet, as well as basic classroom vocabulary. This is a great time for students who are new to Spanish to learn these concepts for the first time and establish a strong foundation from the start. In the weeks that follow, our first unit will cover the themes of early conversational skills such as greetings, farewells and introductions. Students will learn grammatical structures including nouns, articles, numbers, and basic sentence structures. Please have your child study vocabulary and notes at least 20 minutes per day. We encourage all students who want extra help to attend our help sessions. We hold sessions on Tuesdays from 8-8:30am. In addition, 8th grade is offering help sessions on Thursdays from 8-8:30am that are open to 7th grade students with general Spanish questions. Study and practice resources can be found on Google Classroom and our website component, VHL Central. Students may also check out their own copy of the textbook in the media center. Thank you for your support from home as we kick off a great year en español!
Muchas gracias,
Srta. Brown; Sra. Clark; Srta. Underwood
French
Bonjour parents!
French7 is the first part of high school French Level 1. The course starts from ground 0 as though no one has had French before, but compared to last year this course will go at a quicker pace with more in-depth vocab and culture. The first two weeks, we were talking about understanding language proficiency levels and goals, how the course works, what online tools we’ll be using in addition to our textbook, French phrases to use in the French classroom, and just laying down class policies and procedures. Students have heard basic class commands, the date, and basic greetings in French, but we are ready to get into official French lessons in week 3- Greetings, Lesson 1A.0 (pages 2-3).
Lesson 1A will last the first quarter (pages 1-30); 1B in quarter 2; 2A and 2B next semester. Within each of these four lessons are 3 essential grammar lessons, in addition to culture and pronunciation lessons, and more. Per lesson, there will be about 2 quizzes, a test, classwork and mini presentations over the four skills of Speaking, Reading, Writing, Listening and then 4 PBAs, which are major speaking and writing assessments.
More info to come at Curriculum Night and in emails from the French teacher. Please always email if you have questions!
Mesdames Sudu and Blackburn want you to know that we are here for your child ! We care about instilling great character and a passion for French.
Merci!
Latin
This week: Students are focusing on learning vocabulary for the first unit of the year. These words will be used to read and create simple sentences in Latin. We will also focus on Roman houses and the role of our main character, Caecilius.
Upcoming: next week, we will review the previous week’s topics in order to prepare for a summative on Wednesday.
UPCOMING EVENTS
- 9/2 Monday - Labor Day, Schools closed
- 9/4 Wednesday - 7th Grade Curriculum night 6PM
Autrey Mill Middle School
Website: ammslions.org
Location: 4110 Old Alabama Road, Johns Creek, GA, USA