Cluster 4
Update 4.8.2022
Math with Mr. Martin
In this unit, students extend what they learned in Grade 6 about solving one-step equations to solve equations of the form `px+q=r` and `p(x+q)=r`, and equations that include expanding, factoring, or adding terms. Students also solve inequalities and graph their solutions on a number line.
Lesson 1 builds on students’ understanding of proportional relationships from Unit 2 as they determine unknown values in the relationship between a shape and the number of toothpicks and tiles that border it. This lesson introduces students to relationships that are predictable but not proportional.Lesson 2 invites students to use tape diagrams to make sense of the types of relationships from Lesson 1 and to determine unknown values in the context of smudged receipts.Lesson 3 connects tape diagrams to equations of the form `px+q=r` and `p(x+q)=r` as students connect both of these representations to descriptions of situations in context.Lesson 4 is an opportunity for students to put together everything they have learned in this section, focusing on the structure of situations, equations, and tape diagrams. This understanding of structure will support students as they solve equations more formally in Section 2.
Next, students will learn how to solve equations of the form `px+q=r` and `p(x+q)=r` in and out of context. They also rewrite expressions using fewer terms by adding, expanding, and factoring, which can help make complex equations look more familiar before solving. This section builds on work from Grade 6 with solving one-step equations, which will support students when solving equations with variables on both sides in Grade 8.Lesson 5 begins the section by introducing students to a new representation, the balanced hanger. Students will explore moves that keep a hanger balanced.Lesson 6 connects the moves on a hanger diagram in Lesson 5 to moves used to solve an equation. This is the first lesson where students take more formal solving steps to determine an unknown value in an equation.Lesson 7 is an opportunity for students to practice solving equations with and without hangers and to attend to features of an equation that make it more or less difficult to solve.Lesson 8 is the start of a series of lessons that support students in making sense of more complex equations. This lesson connects the equations students have been exploring (`px+q=r` and `p(x+q)=r`) to expanding and factoring from Grade 6. Students solve equations of the form `p(x+q)=r` by dividing first or by expanding first.Lesson 9 continues the work of Lesson 8 as students apply properties of operations to factor, expand, and reorder terms. Students use always-equal machines to determine if two expressions are equivalent. This will support students in later lessons as they write equations like `24-4x=60` in more familiar forms like `-4x+24=60` or `-4(x-6)=60`.Lesson 10 builds on students’ work in Grade 6 and in Lessons 8 and 9 as students write complex expressions like `5x+3(2x-4)` using fewer terms. These strategies will support students with writing equations like `5x+3(2x-4)=50` in more familiar forms, like `6x-12=50`. Lesson 11 asks students to use the tools they have been developing for writing equivalent expressions in Lessons 8–10 to solve more complex equations, like `24-4x=60` and `5x+3(2x-4)=50`.Lesson 12 is an opportunity for students to use everything they have learned in Sections 1 and 2 to create visual representations and equations based on stories about a Community Day and use those representations to answer a question about each story.
Science with Ms. MacAulay
We continue to investigate energy in science class. Students have made the connection between kinetic energy and temperature as well as distinguished between heat, thermal energy and temperature. Ask your student about the different temperature scales we use in science! We will continue to explore energy transformations and students will conduct a simulation converting one form of energy into another. As we do so, students will learn about the Law of Conservation of Energy and the idea that energy is cycled through both living and nonliving systems continuously.
ESL with Ms. Schoenbeck
Entering ELD Our class keeps growing! The students are becoming excellent at welcoming each other and new guests and forging a warm environment in the classroom. This week, part of our class finished their oral presentations, where they compared and contrasted two characters in a movie of their choice. The other group compared members of their families and will present next week. Emerging ELD This week we started learning about conjugating verbs in the regular past tense. We have been sharing some stories about our lives that have happened in the past and are enjoying learning more about each other. This week we will learn about conjugating irregular verbs in the past which will require lots of practice. We also prepared last week and will prepare this week for the ELA MCAS by practicing using bilingual dictionaries. Developing ELD We have been talking about human rights this week. We also have been preparing to take the MCAS next week. Students have been practicing to use guide words in dictionaries to find translations of unknown words. Expanding ELD Students worked on skills and strategies to prepare for the ELA MCAS. For example, they worked on dictionary skills, writing claims and finding evidence, making outlines and webs for writing drafts, and strategies for eliminating incorrect answers on multiple choice questions. All Expanding ELD students will take the ELA MCAS on Monday April 11 and Wednesday, April 13.
Phonics 7th & 8th Grade This week we have been practicing differentiating between long and short vowel sounds. Lots of this is practice and is a reminder that long vowel sounds say the names of the letters, for example, long i would sound like the letter name i, and short vowels have different sounds. We will continue with this through next week, with our focus on decoding words in text with long and short vowels.
English with Ms. Sullivan
What makes a good argument? Is there a difference between evidence and opinion? Students are at the beginning stages of argumentative writing, and all have claimed to be great debaters! By comparing the pros and cons of a subject (competitive sports) students are organizing journal notes by investigating the articles for specific evidence and reasoning from reliable, credible sources. The color-coding technique gives students associate colors with different components of reading and writing. As the unit continues, students will establish a stance on an issue providing evidence and reasoning to support their claim. Greek and Latin root study continues as the class unlocks new vocabulary based on both learned and new roots.
What glad, mad fools we are in spring! ~John Robinson Jeffers, "Last Spring"
ELA with Ms. McDonagh
In ELA we have begun our argument writing unit. To kick off, students did impromptu debates on light topics like whether cats or dogs make better pets. It was a lively, fun way to start. Next we explored the topic of competitive sports, researching pros and cons of the effect of sports on kids.
Student spent the week gathering evidence through research, drafting an argument essay and revising to add more relevant evidence. Ms. Cole came to our classes to show how to make a “Works Cited” page to give credit to the sources from which students are gathering their information. Students also learned how to paraphrase a quote and are practicing balancing direct quotes with paraphrasing. Next up, we will bolster our writing with analysis and finalize our work on competitive sports. After break, students will be researching different topics for another round of essay writing.
As always, students are reading independently in books of their choosing. By reading 15-20 minutes per day at home, students are building endurance as readers and by this point in the year have a wide repertoire of books completed.
Social Studies with Ms. Lorigan
Social Studies students are wrapping up their fourth thematic unit of study focused on the question, “How do we get what we need or want when we don’t have it?” In this unit, students are studying trade and travel in the ancient and modern worlds. To practice reading, writing, and speaking skills, students are reading multiple primary and secondary sources, extracting key historical details, and writing many drafts of first-person fictitious accounts of their journeys along the Silk Road. Students also created short video diaries to add to their electronic journals. Final projects were due last Friday with revisions encouraged this week and due today.
The Silk Road Learning Targets
I can analyze (close read and annotate) a variety of documents about the Silk Road.
I can cite evidence from a historical source to support my ideas/thinking.
Using the historical texts for inspiration, I can write in the voice of a fictitious person traveling the Silk Road.
I can explain how humans exchanged goods and ideas in the Eastern Hemisphere via the Silk Road trade.
I can explain how trade and travel influenced the ancient world.