Tomorrow is our seventh grade bbq!

BBQ - We are having a bbq tomorrow during lunch over by the grassy area near the basketball court.  Please check in with your child to see what item he or she will be bringing for our bbq.

The Outsiders - Thanks again to our families who have donated copies of The Outsiders.  We now have a class set and will begin reading tomorrow!

Readers Theater will take place on Monday and Tuesday.  The skits cover Marco Polo, the bubonic plague, Leonardo da Vinci, and Hernando Cortez.

Student Led Conferences - sign up for your child's SLC here SLC Schedule

Kings River Camping Trip - Wes and I will be having a parent info night on our camping trip on Thursday, March 21st at 5:00 PM.  We will be providing info on our itinerary, activities, cost, etc.  We hope you can attend!

Balboa Park field trip - We are planning a field trip to the museums at Balboa Park on Tuesday, March 19th.  We are in need of parent drivers and chaperones, please email us if you are available.

Thanks for reading!

Tomorrow is the STAR Writing Test

Hello Families,

In case you didn't hear Christine's weekly message, the 4th and 7th grade classes will be taking the STAR Writing Test tomorrow.  The 7th graders will be taking their test at 10 AM.  Please make sure your child has a healthy breakfast before school and packs a snack during testing.  Also, all electronics cannot be brought into the testing room.

If you are looking for some more info on the writing test, check out the link below.  Feel free to email me any questions you may have.

Take Care,

Jennie


7th Grade State Writing Test

This week in Humanities , , ,

Hello Families!

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the spring weather!

Announcements -

Report Cards are here!  Please come by my room anytime during the day to pick up your child's report cards.

Parents' Night Out - A big thank you to parents and student volunteers who helped coordinate Parents' Night Out last Friday.  It was a big success and we raised over $200!  The seventh grade is planning to organize another one in April.


Field Trip to Balboa Park - March 21, 2013  We are looking for 4 - 5 parent drivers and chaperones.  We'll be visiting Museum of Man and Museum of Modern Art.  Please contact Wes or me if you are interested.


This week in Humanities:

Weekly Vocabulary - our weekly vocabulary was assigned last Monday and due Tuesday at the end of the day.  Our words are:  barbaric, compel, compensation, divine, desolate, galling, judicious, mesmerize, reconcile, and transient.  We've played vocabulary charades and will play vocab showdown to practice our words.


Writers Workshop - we kicked off writers workshop this week.  Each students has a writers workshop notebook that is kept in the classroom.  Students were introduced to the elements of fiction and will be applying each element to their stories they'll be writing in writers workshop.  The elements of fiction include:  setting, characters, plot, conflict, theme, and point of view.  Students are very excited to start  writing and sharing their creative stories.  We'll be spending 3-4 days each week on writers workshop.

Readers Theater - RT is a drama performance done in class with groups of students.  The students practice their oral reading skills, creative expression, and learn about important historical events.  We'll be looking at The Travels of Marco Polo, The Bubonic Plague, Leonardo da Vinci, and The Conquistadores.  Performances will take place next Wednesday and Thursday, we'd love for you to be a part of our audience.

DEAR - Drop Everything & Read takes place in both classes every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  Please check in with your child to make sure they have a book to read for DEAR.  Students are expected to bring their own DEAR book to class and read a book at or above grade level.  Book reviews will be written by students each month beginning in March.

Class Novel - We'll be reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton starting next week.  A big thank you to Sara Brana and Mrs. Barnhill for purchasing books for our class to read!  The kids are excited to read about the Socs and the Greasers!


46 Cents Projects - We sent our persuasive letters today and look forward to getting some responses soon.

 Using some of the money we raised during Parents' Night Out, Mariah bought stamps for the team's 46 Cents Project.

 Bobby putting a stamp on his persuasive letter to Apple.

The team took a walk over to the mailbox in our neighborhood to mail out their letters.

Feel free to email me at jennie@innovationsacademy.org or stop by my room if you have any questions.

Take Care,
Jennie

POLs

POLs kick off tomorrow!!!
The groups presenting tomorrow have been working diligently on their POLs.
Below, I included a few sentence starters for students' captions.  Captions should be about
a paragraph long.  Students should proofread their work and be sure to check for spelling, capitalization, and grammar.

• In this subject, we learned ____________, __________, and _________.

Example, In Social Studies, we learned about India, religions, and the fall of the Roman Empire.

• This picture is an example of when we learned ______________.  Describe the picture, video, or artifact.  

Example, this picture is of my world map where I learned about the continents and major oceans.

• A challenge for me in Social Studies was _________________.  A goal for me next semester in Social Studies is ____________________.  

Example:  A challenge for me in Social Studies was taking neat and organized notes in class.  A goal for next semester in Social Studies is to take better notes in class and make a copy of a friend’s notes in case I missed anything in class.

Pick one of the 3 sentences below to answer in your captions.

• In Social Studies, I enjoyed _______________.
• In Social Studies, I’m most proud ___________________.
• A big success that I had in Social Studies was __________________.

More Semester Pictures

This Week in Humanities

January 14th - 18th

Hello 7th Grade Families,

Sorry for the delay in my posts.  I hope you're all doing well and staying warm in this chilly weather.

Overview Of This Week . . .
POLs
We are preparing for POLs that will take place next week.  The purpose of presentations of learning (POL) is for students to reflect on what they've learned this semester, their struggles and successes. The 7th graders will be creating a photo gallery on their blog that represents all their learning this semester.  Here is a link of the POL prep packet they received yesterday.  POL Prep Packet

POL's will take place Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week.  Students will be presenting their POLs to a small group and also be a panel member and ask questions to other presenters.  We encourage that you be present for your child's POL.  They've been working hard this semester and want to share the exciting skills they've learned in and outside of the classroom.  Here is a link to schedule your child's POL.  Thursday, January 24th POL Sign UP  or Week 2 POL Sign Up.

Vocabulary
The team took their vocabulary quiz today.  The words included:  authentic, canny, figment, melancholy, robust, trivial, majestic, excellence, toxic, and consult.  Students always can retake any of their quizzes on Fridays if they want to do better.
Challenge - use all 10 words in conversation over dinner!

Social Studies
This week we are looking at the Medieval Era in Europe.  We will be watching a documentary on this next week.

Writing
Students are practicing how to show, not tell in their writing.  In other words, students are practicing writing with more details.  Instead of writing I had a good dinner last night, students are using words like juicy, mouthwatering, zesty, bitter, golden brown, buttery, etc.  to describe their dinner.

Reading
We kicked off DEAR (drop everything and read) again.  All students must bring a book from home or library to school on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays for the next month.  It should be a book that they haven't read yet.


I hope you all have a great week and feel free to email me any questions or concerns.
Remember next Monday the school will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.

Semester Photos

More photos