Who is Richard Parker & Orange Juice?

Hello 7th Grade Families!
     
     We are in the middle of another exciting week!  The class and I finally started reading Life of Pi yesterday.  The class had lots of questions as we read and made lots of great predictions of what they think will happen.  Many wonder how Pi survived the boat ride with a Bengal tiger and many predicted that Pi will kill the tiger.  They received a character chart graphic organizer and wondered who is Richard Parker and Orange Juice?  Questions and predictions are a great discussion tool as students read any book.  As your child reads his or her own book at home each week, as them what questions they have and to make 1 -2 predictions of what will happen next.

     Looking Ahead:
Unfortunately, I will be out the rest of this week (Wednesday - Friday) to attend a funeral in Texas.  Our team will be in great hands with Tiffany.  She will be subbing for me and is a co-teacher at our school and helps out at all grade levels.

     Writing - Students began writing their first book review on their DEAR book.  They were given a template of topics to include and have time each day this week to work on their first drafts.  The first draft will be due this Friday.  This is a great time to take a look at their writing and give them some feedback.  I encourage students to read other book reviews on Amazon to see both good and bad models of book reviews.

     Vocabulary Charades & Quiz - Students have been reviewing their vocabulary words all week.  We did a crossword puzzle and will play charades today to review.  Quiz on the first five terms will be this Friday:  abiding, credible, compulsion, discernment, and exemplary.  There will also be a few questions on Life of Pi.

     Social Studies - Students are in groups and have been researching different topics that relate to Life of Pi, such as Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, India, Canada, etc.  The groups are becoming experts in their topic and creating posters to present to the class early next week.

Other exciting news:

Its Zero Waste Lunch week!  Students have taken inventory in two grades so far and saw a HUGE improvement in the amount of trash produced.  Teachers and students were very impressed with our team's assembly on Zero Waste last Friday.  Maybe we'll take our show on the road!

 Some of our Zero Waste Superheroes greeting students after our assembly last Friday.

Zero Waste Superheroes having lunch with the lower grades this week.

7th grade bake sale - We're having a bake sale Tuesday - Thursday this week from 3:30 -4:15.  Thank you to all the families that have already donated some delicious baked goods and beautiful jewelry to sell.  We're hoping to raise enough money for future field trips to Suzie's Farms and museums at Balboa Park. 

Class Buddies - Below are a few pictures of when some of the team met with their buddies in first grade.  They'll meet with them again this Friday and will continue every other Friday.  

I will have access to my email, so if you have any questions, feel free to email me.  Thanks and have a great week!

This Week in Humanities

Monday, October 29 - Friday, November 2

This week in Language Arts we are preparing to read Life of Pi.  We are
discussing components of fiction:  setting, symbols, character profiles, and different
types of narration.  We also are working on new vocabulary words for the week, which
include:

Abiding
Credible
Compulsion
Discernment
Exemplary
Illustrious
Incessant
Ludicrous
Obscure

Besides defining each word, students are writing meaningful sentences, listing a synonym and antonym for each, and listing the parts of speech - all on an index card for each word.

Help your child familiarize themselves with their vocabulary words by including them in your daily conversations.

This week in Social Studies we are discussing India, Pacific Ocean, Canada, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, & Christianity.  All of these topics are discussed in Life of Pi and the class is sharing what they know about these topics.

Other things happening in Humanities include our big Zero Waste Assembly.  The entire 7th grade team is putting on an All School Meeting this Friday at 11:00 AM.  They will present their findings from our lunch inventories, present a skit on Zero Waste Lunches, and many more exciting things they've been working on.

Due Dates - 
Vocabulary Words are due at the end of this week.  

DEAR - Students have to finish their 1st DEAR book by next Monday, 11/5.  All students will be expected to write a book review for their blog, which will be due Tuesday, 11/13.

Student Led Conferences

Hello IA Families!

Upcoming Dates
10/23 - Vocabulary Quiz

10/23 - 10/25 - Student Led Conferences

10/23 - 10/26 - Minimum Days, dismissal is at 12 PM

10/26 - Makeup/Retake Quiz Day
             Halloween Dance hosted by 7th grade team  - 5:00 - 8:00, cost is $7, costumes are welcome, cost      includes entrance, pizza, drinks, and snacks.  We still need about 5 chaperones, please contact me if you're interested.
             Yearbook Club for 5th - 8th graders 12:15 - 1:15  sign up sheet in Main Office for those interested.

Important info from the PA

1.  The IA Parent Association has created a Facebook page that will provide updates and reminders about upcoming events.  Go to http://www.facebook.com/IAParents and "like" the page to ensure that you see our updates in your News Feed.

2.  "Spook-a-Grams" will be on sale at IA starting Tuesday, October 23.  "Spook-a-Grams" are a holiday gram which also includes a treat attached.  You can send a fun, holiday message to your child, your children can send some to their friends, or you can order for an entire classroom.  Print out the attached form or pick one up in the office.  Fill it in and cut into four "Spook-a-Grams."  A sales table will be set up outside the office during student-led conferences.  The cost is 50 cents for each gram and they will be delivered to students in their classrooms on Wednesday, October 31.  The Parents Fundraising Group is hosting this event to raise funds for IA.

What's happening in Humanities . . .

Language Arts - Students finished up their Socratic Seminar on who is responsible for Kevin's death early this week.  The blame was pointed at many different groups including:  Kevin's mother, the meat packing factory, government, and the farmers who feed cows corn.  Students took their vocabulary quiz today on their 10 terms from last week and turned in their vocabulary definitions, sentences and drawings.  We continue to work on journal writing, reading our own personal books, and grammar.  

Social Studies - This week we had class discussions on the upcoming presidential election.  Many students have very strong opinions on who they'd like to see win.  A great sight to see was students not arguing about their political views, but listening and respecting everyone's different opinions.  Students also learned about the presidential election and what a popular vote is over an electoral vote.  

Things students can do at home to reinforce reading and writing:  

• Have your child read for 20 - 30 minutes at home, 5 days a week.  Maybe you can do a book club with your child and you read and discuss together.  Reading fluency, comprehension, and writing all improve tremendously when we read daily.
• Journal writing - students can journal daily before going to bed for a short period of time.  Journal writing helps students understand themselves and helps develop student thinking.  A challenge could be to include a certain number of vocabulary words in each entry.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

As you all know, our school has an agreement that we do not assign meaningless homework.  However, students are expected to complete their unfinished classwork at home or on campus outside of class time.  Students should be bringing their binders home daily and checking to make sure everything is complete.  If you have any questions about this, please speak to me during our SLCs.

Thank you for reading my blog and I hope to see you this week at your child's conference.

Jennie

Exciting things are happening in Humanities

Hello Families!

Hope you are doing well and enjoying the cooler weather!

Some amazing things are happening in Humanities the past two weeks.  The team had their first Socratic Seminar in class today.  The topic was:  should more split classes by gender?  We watched a few news clips of schools around the country that are doing this and read an article on the topic as well.  It was surprising to see that there were students who supported same gender classes as long as they had opportunities throughout the day to be with the other gender.  The Socratic Seminars gave all kids the chance to talk, even the quieter ones and helped students that talk more usually, talk less to give others a chance.  Tomorrow's Socratic Seminar will be about a boy named Kevin who died from e coli and the question will be:  Whose to blame for Kevin's death?  Ask your child tonight, who he/she thinks is at fault and why?

We are continuing to work on grammar, capitalization, spelling, and vocabulary.  Students were given 10 new vocabulary words to define yesterday.  They had to write meaningful sentences and draw pictures that will help them remember each word.  They will be quizzed on the weekly vocabulary every Friday.  Ask your child about these words and encourage him/her to use these terms in their daily conversations.

Important Announcements:

This Thursday's field trip is to Sea World.  The cost of the trip is $6.00 for both students, teachers, and chaperones.  Anyone that has a Sea World pass can enter free.  If you're interested in joining us, please let us know.  We'll be leaving promptly at 9AM and pick up is at 1:30PM.  Students will be eating lunch there, so please pack a lunch or students can buy lunch at Sea World.  Parking is free!

SLCs - Student Led Conferences will be held next Tuesday - Thursday.  Here is a link to sign up.  https://docs.google.com/a/innovationsacademy.org/document/d/1HxKoq05xOs2QoibuP8dTDeVlW2g6I_9JmiLCoLhrAb4/edit

Minimum Days - Due to SLCs, next week students will be dismissed at 12:00 Tuesday - Friday.

DEAR - several students are coming in to class without a book to read.  Students are welcome to pick a book from my class library, but there are several that aren't interested in those books.  Please check with your child and make sure they have a book they are reading for class that they enjoy.

There will be no field trip next Thursday, October 25th, due to SLCs.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions at jennie@innovationsacademy.org

Did Indians use elephants to fight in wars?

Hello Friends & Families,

Thanks so much for all of those that attended our Back To School Night last Thursday.  It was wonderful talking to each and everyone one of you and sharing what great things our students are working on.  Please know that my door is always open and you can come by anytime after school to see what your child is working on or share celebrations and/or concerns.


Where I'm From
This week students finished editing their Where I'm From poems and self assessed them using a writing rubric.  We'll be framing the final copies this week and they will be displayed throughout the room.  Students will continue to work on charcoaling their sketch for our team mural.  Ask your child what did they sketch?  How does their sketch define who they are and where they are from?

Zero Waste Project
Students have started to take a photographic inventory of different classrooms on campus and will do a data analysis in Wes' room.  In humanities, teams will make posters on what to recycle and what to compost for their assigned classroom.  Looking ahead, students will come up with a plan to educate and help their assigned classroom reduce their waste.

India & Life of Pi
We are gearing up to start Life of Pi in a few weeks.  This week, we had discussions on tigers and why they are considered such vicious animals.  We read the poem "Tiger" by William Blake and analyzed it.  Also, we are discussing India, since the beginning of the book takes place there.  The kids filled in a KWL chart on India and came up with great questions of what they want to know.  One being my title:  were elephants used to fight in wars?  We'll use these questions to guide us as we learn more about the country.  Looking ahead, kids will be in groups researching different topics of India and presenting their findings to the class.

Vocabulary 
-brawl      -illiterate     -patronize     -docile     -aspire    
-indifferent     -pristine     -export     -import    -duped

Students will be assessed on the ten words above this Friday.  They'll be expected to know the meaning and write a meaningful sentence.

Announcements
Field trip to Birch Aquarium is this Thursday from 9 - 12PM.
No school for students on Monday, 10/8

Where Our Team Is From . . .

The team is revising their individual Where I'm From poems this week and adding  images that symbolize parts of their poems.  
Here's an excerpt of one of our student's poems. 

Where I'm From

I’m from beaten-up Ghostbusters posters, peeling off the walls.

From Nerd memorabilia and Geeky T-shirts.

I’m from Long-lost friends on a Thanksgiving morning, Fall breeze soft and cold.

From Gathering around a barbecue for warmth, mouths watering over the food.

I’m from a sunlit playground, seen through a classroom window.

From absent-minded doodling in the margins of a math quiz.

I’m from Airport layovers in a Starbucks at midnight.

From departures and arrivals, people and places.

I’m from whispers passing in cupped hands,

From a best friend, who moved to Georgia or Florida, someplace far away.

I’m from home cooking, eating Raman noodles every night.

From shooting for the stars, but needing a Spaceship.

I’m from reading a blank book, inventing chapters as you go.
From Picking up a pen, and starting your adventure.

This week's goal is to finish revisions and make edits (proofread and check for grammar, spelling, and capitalization errors) to their poems.  With the help of our school's art teacher, Monique, we are adding an art component to our project.  We will be creating a team mural that represents where we each are from.  Each student choose an image online that symbolizes a component of their poem and draw the image.  With the help of Monique, they will charcoal their drawings.  We'll assemble all the drawings together to create our team mural.  Above are some examples of what we're hoping our mural will look like.  Ask your child to read their poem when you get a chance.  It's amazing to see what childhood memories we hold onto!

We are continuing to work on building our vocabulary in Humanities.  Our words for September include:  pristine, duped, import, export, and indifferent.  Students have been playing a game called Vocab Showdown in class, where two students come to the board and have a showdown of who can write a more meaningful sentence using one of our vocabulary words.  It's a fun game that can definitely be played at home   with your family.

Last Friday, the team went on a field trip to the Miramar/Scripps Ranch Library.  Several students signed up for library cards and they learned how to use the library's resources for future projects in our class.  A big thank you to parents who assisted in driving and chaperoning that day.  Also, a huge thank you and high fives to two parents who bought a ton of books for our class library.  The entire team appreciates it and already started reading many of the books during DEAR time this week.

Important Dates:
Thursday - Field trip to Los Penasquitos Canyon Reserve to explore the plants and wildlife.
Thursday Evening is Back to School Night -
• 5:00-6:00 visit classrooms to see student work and meet with teachers

• 6:00-7:00 all parent meeting in the MPR, hear important information about Innovations Academy (note: classrooms will be locked and teachers will be in the MPR as well during this time).

• 7:00-8:00 more classroom time.

Friday - Vocabulary Showdown

Weekly Newsletter 9/10 - 9/14

     Another great week down with my amazing seventh grade team!  We had two successful field trips happen this week that were all organized by students.  I want to thank all the parents that gave up their time to drive and/or chaperon  Both trips went smoothly and this couldn't have happened without the help of our dedicated parents.  The first trip took place on Tuesday, which was an all middle school field trip.  The kids had tons of fun in the beach, playing volleyball, grilling vegetables.  Our team brought in quite an array of food for our potluck.   We also had a short field trip to Torrey Pines and spent the morning there.  The purpose was for the kids to see what a pristine beach looks like.  Pristine is one of our vocabulary words for the month of September.  When we cam back from the trip, we discussed what made that beach pristine compared to others the team has visited.
     We continued creating and discussing our team agreements.  Small groups will be presenting their agreements with the class this upcoming week.  We also kicked off DEAR (Drop Everything & Read).  We will dedicate 30 minutes 3 days a week to just reading.  Students are expected to bring their own book from home or pick a book from our class library.  They'll read the entire time and when they are finished reading the entire book, they'll get to write a book review/critique on Amazon or Barnes & Nobles.  Here's a link to suggested books for 7th graders in case your child needs some helping finding a book he/she will like.  http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/read-in-7th-grade
     Most of the team finished up the first step, brainstorming, of the Where I'm From poems.  The purpose of the Where I'm From poems is for our team to know a little more about each other on a deeper level.  We'll learn what memories and events have helped shape each of us so far.  Here is a link to the original "Where I'm From" poem, written by George Ella Lyon.  http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html  We will go through a mini version of Writers Workshop with our poems.  The steps include:  brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.  This upcoming week, we will draft our poems and then give and receive feedback from our peers.  The final piece will be there published poems and individual collages of images that represent where we each are from.

 Small groups presenting their posters on their class agreements and getting feedback from the team.

 Above are our subtopics for our class agreements.  Each small group is focusing on one of the subtopics.

Team agreements on what DEAR will look like in class.

Announcements:

• Brainstorm packet "Where I'm From"  was due last Friday, 9/14.  
• DEAR will take place on Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday from 1:15-1:45.  Please remind your child to bring in a book.
• We are also looking for families who are interested in Suzie's Farm Raiser boxes ($25 for a box full of local organic fruits and vegetables). If you would like to sign up please email Beth Foster at beth@innovationsacademy.org or sign up in the front office.
• If you have any used books that you'd like to donate for our class library, we'd greatly appreciate it. 

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at jennie@innovationsacademy.org