7 White
Fall 2015
Welcome to 7 White!
Accelerated Reader
Welcome to 7 White! Although we all teach different subjects, all teachers on the team enjoy reading as a hobby and understand how important it is for students to experience different genres of literature. Over the past few years it has become a tradition on 7 white to read a book together each term as a unit. This year we are excited to introduce the Accelerated Reader program to the unit to encourage positive independent reading habits.
With the AR program, students will earn points for each book they read. As they accumulate points they will earn prizes and work together to reach a team goal at the end of the year. We have a great reward planned if they meet this goal!
Students are required to read at least two books a term and are encouraged to read more. Students are required to take at least two AR quizzes by the end of the term, and the average of all AR quizzes will be factored into their Social Studies grade.
Teachers are doing it too! Our personal book choices are posted for students to see and we’re taking the quizzes right along with the kids! So far Mrs. Gonet is ahead!
Wind Rider (10 AR points)
How can a 12 year old student connect to the prehistoric age? Wind Rider by Susan Williams does just that for 7White students. Students are listening to a chapter of this piece of well researched historical fiction daily, providing them with vocabulary that’s native to Kazakhstan but becomes part of daily conversation on the unit. Terms like b’ahut, ahne, and tsiast will work their way into written reflections in Social Studies and English classes.
Wind Rider is the story of Fern and her family, who are struggling to survive in prehistoric Kazakhstan during an era known as the Middle Stone Age. Humans are still nomadic, using stone tools, and have yet to discover farming. Even though Fern is just a young woman, and therefore not considered to be as valuable to her community as her brother, she will alter the course of human history.
When we finish the book, we will celebrate!
7 White Students are Reading Ninjas
Team Read Aloud
Wind Rider Day!
Wind Rider day is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, October 22. Five interdisciplinary activities are being developed to celebrate Fern’s culture and to reward the students for their attention and enthusiasm. Students will step back in time to experience the hardships of a Hunter and Gatherer lifestyle, recreate scenes from the book, complete the AR quiz, and create and lasting souvenir.
Teachers are reading NInjas too!
Meet the Teachers
Mrs. Gonet - Social Studies, Team Leader
Mrs. Crandall - English
Mrs. Damian Crandall was born and raised in the Catskill Mountains in New York State. She is a graduate of Monticello High School and went on to study at SUNY Cortland in the scenic snow-belt of upstate New York. She continued to pursue her post-graduate work at SUNY New Paltz in the lovely Shawongunk Mountain Range. Soon after, Mrs. Crandall moved to New England where she became a die-hard Patriots fan, despite being a New Yorker. She has lived in Cambridge, South Boston, Brighton, Arlington, Sharon, and is now a Norton resident. As a result, she now uses words like “wicked,” “Dunkies,” “bubbler,” and “No suh!” and has proudly learned how to properly drive in a rotary. She also learned how to save a parking spot while living in Southie.
Mrs. Crandall began teaching English at the Norton Middle School in 2000. She has been involved in many extra-curricular activities over the years. She advised several clubs, such as the newspaper, the drama club, the yearbook, and student council, and she is presently the Peer Leaders advisor. Clearly she enjoys working with kids both in and out of school. In addition, Mrs. Crandall was a Pop Warner cheer coach for several years; coincidentally, she pulled a muscle while attempting to demonstrate how to do a cartwheel, and the squad banned her from using poms as she could not use them responsibly.
When not in school, Mrs. Crandall loves spending time with her family, especially her daughter Haley. She enjoys walking her dog Bella, and she is an avid fan of shopping for everything and anything. Her favorite “eatery” is Orange Leaf, as one can never have too much frozen yogurt. She loves to talk (just ask her; she’ll tell you), and she truly enjoys reading to students the 7 White “team reads,” as she enjoys using dialects and being dramatic. She LOVES blonde jokes (although she doesn’t always “get” them) and all Kevin Costner movies, and, if you ask her, she will tell you that Billy Joel is the greatest entertainer that ever lived (you can take the girl out of New York, but you can’t take the New York out of the girl). She loves to travel, but she hates to fly; she is afraid of snakes, spiders, and the Oompa Loompas from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Her favorite novel has always been Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Most importantly, she enjoys working with children, especially middle school kids, and she supports using both humor and compassion in the classroom.
Mrs. Crandall’s future goals are to travel everywhere (preferably by teleporting so she won’t have to take a plane), to land a role in a Kevin Costner movie, to initiate brunette jokes, to create a new fro-yo flavor, and to always stay in touch with her students. GO PATS!
Mr. Manske - Math
Raised in Potsdam, which is about as north as you can go in New York State, Mike Manske studied computer science at Potsdam State. Upon graduating, Mike moved to the Boston area where he landed a job with an IT consulting firm. After 14 years with the same company, Mike changed employers and careers when he accepted a call to become the youth pastor at his church in Medway. That calling ended just over a decade later leading Mike to begin yet again, this time in public education. Mike’s public school career launched in Medfield where he worked as a one-to-one aide before coming
to Norton in 2012. This year begins Mike’s third year as a 7 White team math teacher.
Married for 22 years, Mike and Nancy have two daughters (Sarah 15 yrs. and Carly 14 yrs.). Nancy is also in education having worked at a private special education facility for 20 years before landing as a team chair in the Dudley-Charlton school district. Sarah and Carly are both musical and also appreciate reading and watching TV. The Manske’s enjoy camping in the summertime, walking/hiking, trying new recipes, watching movies, and visiting with friends. The entire family is active in their church where Mike sings in the choir, Nancy serves as an usher, and the girls are active in the youth ministry program.
Fun facts about Mike include: He has been skydiving twice. He used to sing barbershop
harmony (lead and tenor) in a chorus and several quartets. He has led over 10 youth mission trips to various places including Guatemala, Barbados, Bonaire, New Brunswick, and Dorchester. He is an avid Red Sox and Miami Dolphins fan. Mike, who is 6’2”, is the shortest of four brothers, the tallest being listed at 6 feet 9 inches tall!
Mr. Murphy - Math
My name is David Murphy and I have been teaching 7th grade math at Norton Middle School for 5 years. Prior to entering the field of education, I worked in the investment industry for many years. The last 5 years teaching has been the most rewarding experience in my professional career. I graduated from Suffolk University with a BSBA, majoring in Finance and am currently completing my Masters in Education. In my free time I enjoy playing golf, skiing and reading spy/mystery novels.
Math Department
Currently students are learning to represent unknown quantities with variables and to write and simplify numerical and variable expressions. Students are also learning to represent, graph, and order integers, as well as find absolute values. They are simplifying expressions containing integers using all four mathematical operations. Students are also learning to find patterns and then use inductive reasoning to solve problems.
Up next: Solving One-Step Equations and Inequalities
Mrs. Dalzell - Science
Aside from being a busy mom of 4, I also find myself donning the "hockey mom" persona as all three of my boys play hockey while my daughter follows in her mother's footsteps and is a basketball player. I love watching my children play sports and am always pleased to bump into current and former students at various sporting events! I like to read, run and garden in my spare time.
Science - Properties of Matter
Mrs. Dalzell
Email: julidalzell@norton.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/7white
Location: 215 W Main Street, Norton, MA
Phone: 508-285-0140
Twitter: @MrsDalzellNMS
Miss Mack - Learning Specialist
I graduated from UMASS Dartmouth with a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in Literature and Criticism. Following this I graduated from Endicott College with a Master of Education in Special Needs - Moderate Disabilities K-8. I hold a teaching license in Moderate Special Needs for grades K-8. Before coming to Norton I was a long-term substitute in a Language Based Classroom (grades 3-5) at Mary K. Goode School in Middleboro. Before working in Middleboro I was a paraprofessional for Brockton Public Schools for 4 years. I also worked as an administrative assistant before I began a career in education for a highway contracting company.I am the new Learning Specialist for Team 7 White at Norton Middle School. Outside of school, I enjoy taking trips to the cape where I like to kayak and fish. When I am not teaching, I am busy working on several home improvement projects on a home I bought this past winter in Middleboro.
Mrs. Cannata - Learning Specialist
Mrs. Cannata is the learning specialist for 7 white and 7 purple. This will be her 26th year of teaching with 19 of those years in the Norton Middle School working with students with disabilities.
She has her bachelors in Moderate Special Needs from Bridgewater State University and her Masters in the same area with American International College. She loves to read, take trips, kayak, sing and is an avid amateur photographer. She is going to become a grandmother for the first time in January. She is looking forward to the new year working with all the teachers and her students.