The seventh graders have participated in a number of service projects to help those in need-food drive, decorations for Senior Living Facility in North Olmsted Religion, and cards for the military. The students enjoyed helping those in need and brightening the holidays for the seniors. They are looking forward to projects in the third quarter. The students created their own Advent calendar about what Christmas means to them, they did an awesome job. They also enjoyed visiting the Chapel for monthly prayer services. The students completed different webquests to learn about saints, Mary, Christmas, and Epiphany. The webquests gives the students an opportunity to use the internet to find information about different topics and watch interesting videos. The students learned about Pope Benedict and how he influenced the Catholic Church during his lifetime. They will continue to learn about Jesus, saints, the special feast days, and Holy Days.
The focus in Reading has been on applying various reading skills to an assortment of activities and different types of literature. We have used escape rooms to apply these skills to get through tasks. The students have read informational texts on the history of Christmas, real vs. artificial Christmas trees, the science behind snowflakes and most recently they explored New Year traditions around the world. Looking ahead we will be reading about Martin Luther King Jr., Valentine's Day, and more!
In math class, the students completed a unit on circles. They were able to find the area and circumference of a circle plus solve word problems about circles. They also completed a unit on proportional relationships. They used ratios, scale factors, unit rates, and proportional relationships to solve problems. The unit also included working with fractions, decimals, and percents. The students figured out how many presents and how much it would cost
to give all the gifts for the Twelve Days of Christmas. Surprised by how many gifts and the cost! Students are looking forward to more fun activities and learning!
Seventh grade students have been perfecting their writing skills by frequently composing responses to journal questions. In addition to improving on writing skills, they are also using their critical thinking skills to respond to these journal entries. Students are also working on grammatical and punctuation through Daily Oral Language. They are in the process of completing the short novel The Little Prince. The seventh graders also learned that the American author Henry David Thoreau was not always an excellent writer. They read an essay he wrote when he was twelve years of age about the seasons of the year. Students highlighted his many errors and responded to questions about his essay. They did not feel it was well written or deserving of a high grade.
In Social Studies our seventh graders spent much of the second quarter learning about Classical Rome and its many influences on our own society today. Rome influenced many things that affect our lives today, including our own system of government, and its various systems of checks and balances, as well as architecture, and even our calendar. Looking forward into the third quarter we will learn about the great trading civilizations that flourished in West Africa.
Students are learning about the moon. How it was first created, and what it's like compared to that of the earth and sun. They were fascinated to learn about the space race and the Cold War that took place between the United States and the Soviet Union. They are currently tracking the changes in the moon each night and recording their findings on a moon chart organizer. They will culminate this unit by carving out the eight phases of the moon, by using Oreo cookies.
Safety ~ Ownership ~ Achievement ~ Respect