GKMS 7th Grade Weekly Newsletter
Week of September 12th, 2022
Mrs. Ewald’s and Mrs. Fowler’s Reading and Language Arts
In ELA class next week, we will be continuing Unit 1 ¨Generations¨ reading “from An Invisible Thread” and answering the essential question. Along with this story, we will be practicing the use of adverbs, vocabulary, comprehension questions and determining the qualities of a hero. Analyzing the text with point of view will take place along with writing our own point of view toast, like the story.
Mrs. Boyer's Reading Advancement Program
We had a great week using our reading program, Achieve 3000. Next week, we are going to continue to read articles on the need for thrill. We will review synonyms and antonyms and move onto the skill of sequencing. Students now have their initial Lexile levels from Achieve 3000, so all the articles they read will be at their own independent reading level. They are working hard to analyze the texts we read, and I look forward to seeing their levels grow!
MATH
This past week we wrapped up the first third of Topic 1 on Rational Numbers. At the end of next week we will have our first CFA (Quiz) on the first five lessons of Topic 1. The five lessons include Integers and Their Opposites, Converting Fractions into Decimals, Adding/Subtracting Integers, and Adding/Subtracting Rational Numbers. Students can use their notes on all assessments, so those are the topics that should be included in their notes.
One other thing we added this week is the expectation for each student to be completing three 15-minute sessions of SuccessMaker outside of regular math class. SuccessMaker is our personalized math program that allows students to work on targeted areas at their own pace. These sessions can be done in one sitting, or split over several days. Please reach out if you have any questions about this addition to our weekly routine.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Students have been learning about European Explorers this week. We learned about the Spanish conquistadors, as well as some French Explorers. Next week, we will continue with English and Dutch Explorers. We will focus mainly on early settlements, such as Roanoke and Jamestown. We will be taking a quiz (CFA) on Chapter 2 towards the end of the week. We will watch America: The Story of Us episode 1 at the end of the week, to wrap up the Chapter.
On Monday September 12, we are going to take a break from our curriculum and learn about the events of September 11, 2001. We will be watching an interview of a retired NYC Firefighter, and discuss what it means to be a hero. We are asking students to wear Red, White, and Blue on Monday to show respect for those who were lost in the tragedy.
SCIENCE
Students have been learning all about fecal transplants and how they can help cure patients of potentially deadly bacterial infections. Ask them about it! Next week we will be finishing up this unit by writing final arguments explaining how these transplants can help keep people healthy using evidence from readings and other data we have analyzed. At the end of the week we will begin reviewing for our first summative which will be on Tuesday, September 20.