December Newsletter
We wish you the merriest of holidays!
English-
We are wrapping up the novel, The Call of the Wild ! All students will be taking a test on the novel and turning their essays into turnitin.com this week.
Charles Dickens’ Days will be a blast this week. 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 will 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!
Social Studies-
We just finished our mini unit on the Ancient Israelites! We ended with a “Quest” a shorter test than normal. Check Aspen to make up any zeros. I will always accept late or redone work. We have started our unit on Ancient Egypt which has been going fabulously! We have played The Nile River Twister Game, played a couple rounds of Bowling inspired by the inventions of the Egyptians, did a Map quiz and watched an episode of our favorite Journal Videos in class. We have done so much so far and the fun will continue after break! Right before break we will be learning about the ancient origins of the Holiday season and finish off with Dickens Day! Enjoy the break! :)
Reading-
Students did a great job reading Robin Hood. Our final exam consisted of fill-in and short answers.
Up next: 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 will be plugging away on the play version of this classic tale. Students will listen to the play and follow along while practicing their fluency and comprehension skills. We will discuss the changes in Scrooge throughout the play as well as the significance of the spirits. Students will answer higher order thinking questions while we read.
Happy Holidays to you and yours. Enjoy the break!
Science-
We have had an extremely busy December in Science Class finishing up our work on earthquakes and volcanoes, as well as starting to look at energy resources on Earth. We took Exam # 2 - and many students were very successful with this test! Students have started to learn about the types of renewable and non-renewable resources and been able to identify differences between these two groups. Our focus will soon shift to conserving some of these energy resources, as well as a lot of discussion about how humans impact the Earth - and what effects our actions have on resources and the environment. Weekly research has returned, and students have been able to discover new information about Jupiter, Cancer, Pangaea, and the Lungs and Respiratory System. Weekly Research will be paused after the week of 12/17, and will start up again after the holiday break. Please review old weekly research with your student after it has been graded to see my comments and suggestions for improvement!
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!
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 were good for some and not so good for some. The test covered everything we learned this year. Please keep in mind that all tests can be found on Edulastic using the student’s Google accounts. We will have another test before the term ends in January so there is still time to get the grades up before report cards. 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 look at geometry with a focus on expressions.
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).