December 2017
This month and year has flown by....
English-
We’ve wrapped up the novel, The Call of the Wild! All of the students have finished their tests and will be turning in their essays into www.turnitin.com by the end of the week.
Charles Dickens’ Day is going to be a blast on Thursday. The kids will be going back in time, in all their classes, and seeing how life was like for Mr. Charles Dickens’. Please ask your child what activities they did throughout the day.
Coming up in the New Year, we’ll be focusing on grammar, short stories, along with our vocab lessons and much more. Be sure to keep checking what’s for homework on Google Classroom.
I wish you the happiest of holidays and a very happy and healthy New Year!
Reading-
Who said, “ I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”
Ebeneezer Scrooge. Not to be confused with the Grinch!
We are plugging away on the play version of the classic tale. The students are doing a great job and having fun while practicing their fluency and comprehension skills. Students will continue to work hard on completing the higher order thinking questions. We will have two vocabulary quizzes and the words are on Google Classroom. I also attached the story there as well.
Remember to check out Google Classroom for updates and announcements.
Happy Holidays to you and yours. See you next year!
Math-
Hard to believe we’re almost halfway done with the year. We finished our first section of equations with our 3rd test of the year in December. The grades seemed to go up on this last test. The test covered everything we learned this year. We will continue to have after school help most days after school with Mrs. Perrault (kperrault@wbridgewater.com) being after school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and here during Powerblock on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays. In January, we’ll continue with equations and start to focus on expressions. We’ll have one more test before term 2 ends.
TenMarks is new to 7th grade this year, and it gives the students some higher level problems to practice. Every class on TenMarks has an average over 70%. IXL seems to be going well, and the students have completed over 17,000 problems and spent over 200 hours working on IXL. A few students are not completing the IXL & TenMarks assignment each week, but most of the students are working hard since IXL and TenMarks is worth 20% of their grade. Grades are updated weekly on Aspen and any classwork, videos, IXL assignments, or class information is posted on Google Classroom. Please contact me with any questions or concerns (mhyde@wbridgewater.com).
Social Studies-
We just finished our mini unit on the Ancient Israelites, we were History Detectives and students were asked to analyze primary and secondary sources. Throughout the unit we worked on our writing by creating Dear Abby inspired letters and the students excelled at this! We ended with a “Quest” a shorter test than normal and after break we will be starting Ancient Egypt. This will be a great way to start the new year! Check Aspen to make up any zeros, I will always accept late or redone work! Enjoy the break! :)
Science-
We have had an extremely busy December in Science Class discussing human impact on the Earth. Students have discussed how humans impact the Earth as well as the negative effects that pollution can have on Earth’s systems. Weekly research has returned, and students have been able to discover new information about the internet, the atomic bomb, and the Amur Leopard. Weekly Research will be paused after the week of 12/18, and will start up again after the holiday break.
In the new year, we will begin our Life Science portion of 7th Grade Science. We will begin by exploring types of reproduction and how this genetically influences organisms. We will review animal development and growth, plant structures, and ecosystems. We will study predator-prey dynamics as well as food webs and changes in ecosystems. I just wanted to thank everyone for your continued support. Have a warm and relaxing holiday season! Let it snow!
Talent Show (for students only)
Wednesday, Dec 20, 2017, 12:30 PM
West Bridgewater Middle-Senior High School, West Center Street, West Bridgewater, MA, United States
Charles Dickens Day
Thursday, Dec 21, 2017, 07:30 AM
West Bridgewater Middle-Senior High School, West Center Street, West Bridgewater, MA, United States
Academic Bowl and Half Day
The day ends at 11 AM!