Welcome Back!
7th Grade August Newsletter
WE ARE OFF TO A GREAT START!!!
Dear CMS Families:
I am delighted to be working with your child this year as their grade level administrator. We have been super busy the last few weeks as students have adjusted to new schedules, one way hallways, and the expectations of being a 7th grade student. With that said, I am extremely pleased by the work ethic, behaviors, and attitudes I've observed from our student body as a whole. Our teachers are excited, the students are eager to learn, and with the roll out of our new devices, our students have much to look forward to in the days ahead!
Please know that as the Assistant Principal, I am here to help support your child as he/she navigates through the "middle" year of their middle school experience. While part of my role is to oversee discipline matters and, at times, to implement appropriate consequences, please also know that my ultimate goal is to teach all students to learn how to make good choices and to learn and grow from mistakes that may be made.
In addition, I want each of you to always feel free to reach out to me any time throughout the course of the school year. Working together we can help ensure that your child will have the best possible experience in 2018-2019. Thank you for your parental support and I look forward to meeting you all at "Curriculum Night" on September 6th!
Warm Regards,
Mrs. Ginger Psalmonds, Assistant Principal
7th Grade Administrator
A few "Nuggets" from the Content Areas
Social Studies
Welcome to 7th grade as we take a journey through Africa and Asia. We began the school year with a review of major foundational terms and focusing on the fundamentals of Social Studies: geography, history, government, and economics. August 17th began our study of Africa as we focus on our geography unit. Students are focusing on locations, environmental issues, cultural groups, and population density. All teachers are available by email when needed, and please do not forget to check websites frequently to know what is going on in class! 2018-2019 will be a great year!
Ms. Suggs, Mr. Campbell, Ms. Militana, Ms. Hayes
Math
Seventh grade math students have started off strong! They are active, engaged and prepared. WE LOVE IT! Currently, Math 7 students are exploring integer rules and Math 8 students are exploring exponent rules and scientific notation. Please check teacher websites for more information.
Mr. Sarris, Ms. King, Ms. Howell, Ms. McMahon
Language Arts (ELA)
In 7th Grade Language Arts, the students are working on analyzing primary and secondary sources in order to write an argument essay on whether building the Grand Coulee Dam did more harm than good or good than harm. Students are also reading their independent reading novels in class and at home. The expectation is that students should be reading over two hours per week. Parents be sure to ask your child about the book that they are reading!
Mr. Mendelson, Ms. Gentry, Ms. Wade, Ms. Malta
Science
For the first two weeks of school, our 7th graders participated in a Georgia Tech "Amp it up" module. This module was based on the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil spill. The students built models of an oil spill and came up with procedures to clean it up. Finally, they wrote a letter of recommendation to Georgia Tech's research team based on their data results. This week we are starting our unit on the classification of living things. In this unit, students will investigate the six characteristics of living things, they will develop their own classification system of living organisms, they will practice using dichotomous keys while identifying Harry Potter wands, and then they will create their own dichotomous keys for living organisms.
Mr. Shaw, Ms. Nolan, Ms. Stonestreet
World Language
German students are off to a great start of the year. They have been practicing conversational German and are doing speaking and writing assessments about their free-time activities. The first major topic of the curriculum is family and friends. Students will focus on reading, writing, and speaking about different aspects of this theme. Students should be studying vocabulary 20 minutes per night. Frau Davy is looking forward to a fantastic year with this amazing group of students!
Frau Davy
French 1B has had a very busy first two weeks! Students have participated in “Getting to know you” activities, discussed rules and expectations, and played vocabulary review games. We have revisited well-known places in and around Paris, and have read the short stories “Rufus, l’éléphant rose” and “Jacques et les frites”, on which students will be presenting a short skit to demonstrate comprehension. Presently we are practicing classroom commands through TPR and the game “Simon dit” (Simon says).
Madame Proctor
Welcome Back! In Spanish 1B we completed a review over the course of the first week over concepts learned from the beginning of Lección 3 last Spring. We have now begun our studies in earnest with ER and IR verbs within Lección 3 la familia. Last week we had our first quiz over definitions and demonstrated that we know how to use those verbs. This week we will have our quiz over conjugating ER/IR verbs. On a daily basis we are singing, speaking and reading in Spanish. We plan to read articles and shorts authentic texts and/or a novel throughout the year to compliment CMS literacy goals. We expect to have a project on our topic of la familia and of course get back into the swing with upcoming PBA's (dates TBD). We are having a great time getting to know your students and to share in the rich culture and language of el mundo de español.
Ms. Sandreuter, Ms. Pujals
PBIS
As part of our school wide initiative to support and encourage positive behaviors, all teachers are utilizing the PBIS points system to track student progress per class period.
Students earn points for exemplifying the 3 B's:
Be Prepared
Be Engaged
Be Respectful
Earning points throughout the year will enable students to earn rewards and incentives to recognize them for their effort and diligence. Additional details about upcoming PBIS events and planned activities will be provided in the September newsletter.
Please encourage your child to always do his/her BEST and to adhere to our school wide tardy and cell phone policies.
New This Year! Friday Fun Time!!!
LOCKER DECORATION INFO!!!
WE ALL LOVE CELEBRATING OTHERS!
For some students, decorating lockers is a middle school tradition and we want to provide guidelines to ensure that we can continue this practice.
Please be aware of the following if your child is planning to DECORATE A LOCKER this school year in recognition of a friend's birthday:
1) Lockers may only be decorated before or after school.
2) Students must be supervised by a parent at all times.
3) No balloons are permitted on/in the lockers.
4) The area must be left clean and trash free after the locker is decorated.
5) Decorations should only remain on the locker for 2 weeks.
Kits are available for purchase in the HUSKY HUT for $2.00. Kits contain paper, bows, and other supplies that are designed to "fit" our lockers.
The HUT is open Tuesday through Friday of each week!
Thank you so much for adhering to the expectations for locker decorating!
A FRIENDLY NOTE FROM YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL COUNSELOR!
Hi Parents! My name is Gina Severino and I am your student’s school counselor. I am excited to be following your children into their 7th grade year. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me either via email or by phone. My email address is severinogc@fultonschools.org and my direct line is 470-254-8335. I hope everyone has a wonderful school year!
IMPORTANT LUNCH CARD/CAFE INFO!
All students are now using a printed "lunch card" for all purchases in our cafeteria. These cards are to be kept at school in the homeroom teacher's classroom. Any lost cards should be immediately reported to their 5th period (homeroom) teacher.
Also, please be sure that if your child is planning to purchase lunch or snacks in the café, he/she has money available on their individual lunch account. The café does not permit students to charge items.
Finally, please continue to encourage your 7th grader to adhere to the expectations for café behavior. Thus far, they have done a wonderful job of entering/exiting orderly, maintaining an appropriate level of noise, and keeping their areas free of trash. In the spirit of continuing to encourage these positive behaviors, a homeroom "competition" is being implemented to offer homeroom classes the opportunity to earn a pizza party for meeting the expectations and being a "role" model class for their peer group.
That said, the homeroom who earns the most positive behavior behaviors for this semester, will participate in a "Pizza Party" in December to recognize them for their effort in this endeavor. May the "BEST" homeroom win!!!!