7th Grade Panther Press
January 8th Newsletter
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday, January 12 - School-wide spelling bee in the cafeteria at 2:00
- Thursday, January 14 - Student Senate presentations in the library at 11:45 and 12:25
- Monday, January 18 - Martin Luther King Day/ Staff Development & School Board Meeting
- Friday, January 22 - STAR card iPod in advisory
Shout Out!
In November, several 7th graders entered the Rick Riordan Writing Contest sponsored by Scholastic. We found out on Tuesday there were over 10,000 entries nationwide AND one of our students, Alli Cholette, placed in the Top Ten...WOW! Congratulations Alli!!!
Reading News
On Tuesday we all made Reading Resolutions to read as many books as possible before summer. Each student set their own goal, and we now have a 7th grade goal of 1,060 books! Please have your child reading every spare moment to ensure we meet our goal before summer! We visited the library on Tuesday, so every student has a book to be reading.
This week we have also been introduced to Literature Circles. What this will look like in my classroom is 4-6 groups reading different novels. On Wednesday, each student received a menu and had to choose what they wanted to "eat" based on which part of the meal they were (Appetizer, Soups & Salads, Create Your Own, Classic Recipes, Dinner, or Dessert), and had to persuade me to choose them for their top choice. I was very impressed with their persuasive skills!
Each member of the group will have two roles they must fulfill weekly and will be a major part of their grade this 3rd Quarter. The first round of Literature Circles will be finished the first week of February. These books will not come home, so if you child isn't able to read the required chapters set by their groups, they are always available to come before and after school to finish up.
Also, I have asked each student to bring a package of Post-It notes so we are able to make notes throughout the novels we are reading. They get 10 bonus points if they are brought on Monday!
The students seem eager and excited to have chosen their books and to be given the freedom to make some major decisions for their group. Thank you all in advance for your encouragement and support in making this the best it can be!
ELA News
Happy New Year!!!
I am incredibly impressed with your child's success last semester. We covered a lot of rigorous ground and achieved incredible results!!!
For this quarter, our focus is going to be on expository writing. With the English Language Arts STAAR right around the corner, we will be working on polishing our composition skills along with editing and revision. We are also going to be spending time on higher order thinking and improving our interpersonal communication skills.
We continue to utilize our Twitter accounts for educational purposes. Mrs. Flores has now jumped on board and will be allowing the students to Tweet for her class as well! I know that social media can be terrifying, but it has proven to be an invaluable resource. We signed Social Media Contracts right before Thanksgiving Break and I am holding every single student accountable for positive digital citizenship. I look forward to continuing with this great, FREE resource!
We just elected new team names for each class period. They are very creative! If you are not familiar with our gaming system, just ask your child. They earn points daily, as a class, and results are posted at the end of the day each Friday. The top teams for each quarter are rewarded with a party. First quarter, our winners were treated to a movie, popcorn, and candy in my room during lunch. The second quarter winners enjoyed a hot chocolate bar and yummy cookies:-) I am so proud of them!
I want to thank you for entrusting me with your most precious possession!!! I promise to continue to do my best. Thank you for your patience, kindness, and all of the support you provide at home.
Make it a GREAT Week!
Mrs. Schroeder
Texas History News
Math News
Linear Relationships is our newest unit of study. Students will be identifying, matching and creating equations, tables, and graphs that have linear relationships. Our test over linear relationships is scheduled for Friday, January 15th. We will continue to practice our skills from last semester with our Weekly Skills assignments. These are handed out each Friday and due the next week. These are take home quiz grades which students can get help on as long as work is shown to defend answers. Students will be assigned a Study Island assignment weekly. Students have an advisory period to work on the computer for Study Island, but it is homework if they do not complete it. Study Island is the best rigorous practice that we use. Students who struggle should come in for help. Math tutoring is offered morning and afternoon on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
Science News
7th grade science has started out the new year classifying organisms. Students created dichotomous keys identifying a variety of alien species.
Next week we will be discovering the wonders of animal adaptations. .