Cluster 3
If you know, you know!
April 14th Update
To Parents, Guardians, and Care Takers,
Below you will find information on the current curriculum of all subjects and classes. As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate on reaching out to any of the cluster teachers.
We hope you all enjoy your April Vacation!
Thanks!
Cluster 3
FENWAY FIELD TRIP!!!!
DECADES DAY!
Math with Mr. Casciano
Hello Cluster 3 Families!
We have just finished up the first half of Unit 6. When we get back from break, students will have a review/practice day before taking the mid-unit quiz. After this quiz, we will finish up the unit working with inequalities followed by the end of the unit test.
During 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.
Section 1: Equations and Tape Diagrams (Lessons 1–4)
Students use tape diagrams to represent equations and situations in context and to determine unknown values. This builds on students’ work with tape diagrams in Grade 7, Unit 4 and with determining unknown values in equations in Grade 7, Unit 5.
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.
Section 2: Solving Equations (Lessons 5–11)
Students 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`.
**Mid-Unit Quiz**
Section 3: Inequalities (Lessons 13–16)
Students use what they have learned about solving equations to solve inequalities that represent situations in and out of context. They also create graphs that represent solutions to inequalities, including those with > or <. Students’ work in this section will support them in making sense of inequalities in the coordinate plane in high school.
Lesson 13 builds on students’ Grade 6 work with inequalities of the form `x>c` and `x<c`. Students explore the symbols > and <, and graph simple inequalities on the number line.
Lesson 14 returns to the hangers context from Lessons 5 and 6. Students use imbalanced hangers to determine the solutions to inequalities that use only positive numbers.
Lesson 15 invites students to use their intuition and their work with solving equations in Section 2 to write and solve inequalities about situations related to budgeting. This is the first time that students solve an inequality with a negative number and consider the direction of the solution of the inequality.
Lesson 16 asks students to solve inequalities with increasing complexity to help a fictional sheep eat grass without falling in the water. This is also the first lesson where students solve inequalities with negative numbers out of context.
**End of Unit Test**
Social Studies with Mr. Kirkaldy
Learning Targets
- I can identify examples of divine intervention in The Adventures of Ulysses.
- I can determine if diving intervention does more to help or to hinder Ulysses's journey home.
In Social Studies, students finished reading The Adventures of Ulysses, a young adult version of The Odyssey. As we read, we watched several scenes from the 1997 mini-series, noting the similarities and differences between the book and the movie. There were also lots of comments about the cheesy acting. As students read the novel, they kept track of divine intervention and whether it helped or hindered Ulysses. Most recently, they have been using their notes to write a five-paragraph essay on this topic. After break, students will be researching words and phrases we use today that trace their origins back to Greek myths. They'll then be creating Instagram-style carousel posts to inform others about what they've learned.
Check out our School Friends' Smores
EDL & PHONICS CLASSROOMS - https://www.smore.com/1a8k7
SPECIALIST'S CLASSROOM - The Specialist S'more
READING CLASSROOMS - https://www.smore.com/5r0sb-reading-classes
MS. SORENSON'S CLASSROOM - https://www.smore.com/enhsa
ELA with Ms. Fitanides
ELA classes are well on our way to becoming better at arguing a position. We are working together as a class to learn the skills needed to write a strong five paragraph essay, leaning on each other for support as we take on the topic of competitive sports. Soon, kids will be asked to conduct their own research, collect their own evidence, and craft their own essay.
Standards:
I can:
- collect strong evidence to support a position
-correctly paraphrase or quote material and cite my sources
- write a persuasive and well developed five paragraph essay
Science with Ms. Smith
In Science, we have begun our investigation and exploration into ENERGY! Students are calculating Gravitational Potential Energy using a triangular formula involving Mass, Gravity, Height, and Energy. After the break, we will begin finding Kinetic Energy.
Learning Targets:
I can compare and contrast potential & kinetic energy.
7.MS-PS3-1. Construct and interpret data and graphs to describe the relationships among kinetic energy, mass, and speed of an object.
7.MS-PS3-2. Develop a model to describe the relationship between the relative position of objects interacting at a distance and their relative potential energy in the system. Present evidence to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.