7-O Newsletter December 8th, 2017

Those cold temperatures have definitely arrived so students have been advised what to wear if they want to be able to go outside once the temperature drops down.  If they do not want to go outside, they can stay in the cafeteria or go to the library.  There are also a few lunch time clubs they can be a part of:  GSA, Gamer Club, or Chess Club.

We have spirit days coming up.  Next Friday it is PJ day all day and the 22nd is Holiday Sweater Day.  There are also a lot of projects and quizzes next week, just a heads up.

Holiday Connections Challenge:

Next week (December 11-15) the OMS Student Council will be running our 7th Annual Holiday Connections Challenge.  This drive is a simple money collection where we have the Connections classes compete to see who can bring in the most money to donate to our own little "charity" from which we buy gifts for families in need over the holiday season.  Last year we raised just over $5,100 as a school and, while we would love to reach that number and even surpass it, we know that last year was an exceptional year and our goal this year is $3,000.

What Happens With the Money?
On Friday, December 15th, around twenty-five members of the OMS Student Council will go to the Janesville Mall for the afternoon and will shop with the money earned for gifts for those in need during this holiday season.

ALL of the money is used to help purchase gifts for people and families in the OMS community.  We have over 50 students on our list for whom we are planning to buy gifts this year.  This is a large shopping list so we are hoping to get your support as we raise money to make these holiday wishes possible for students in our own OMS family.  For many of these families, without this program they may not have gifts for the holidays.

Our primary goal through this fundraiser is to create and promote a sense of community in our own school and we will also be awarding the top 3 finishing Connections classes with parties to celebrate their success with this fundraiser.

For those wishing to donate we prefer cash (it makes the shopping easier) but are also more than happy to receive checks, please make the checks payable to Oregon Middle School.

Thank you for your support with this and all of our school activities at the Oregon Middle School.  If you have any questions, please contact our student council advisor, Kevin Gasner at kag@oregonsd.net  

English (Bures/Ripp)

Lit Studies:

Tentative draft of short story due the 14th (Ripp)

Questions to ask:

What are you reading?

What are you writing about?

What do you need to work on as a writer?

Info Studies:

Mini debates are wrapping up, we are gearing up for our big debates which will take place after break.

Questions to ask:

How did your team do in your debate?

Did you have a good match up?

What do you need to work on for the next debate?

Orchestra:

Barnes and Nobel Book Fair to Benefit the Oregon Friends of the OrchestraSaturday, December 9
2:00 to 3:30 p.m., Students who are performing should arrive at 1:45 p.m. (optional student performance)
Barnes and Nobel West Side Behind West Town Mall
20% of Proceeds when using the voucher or mentioning "Oregon Orchestras" goes towards FOTO
FOTO provides scholarships for further study, guest artists, and field trips.

Art:

Ask your student how their ceramic containers are progressing, and what symbols and designs they have added to it.

Science:

Arm and leg bone quiz 12/11

Axial bone quiz 12/12

Unknown animal skeleton quiz 12/15

Math 8 (Poch): 

Ask your child how the Looking for Pythagorean Summative went. Ask your student what their favorite and least favorite part of the unit was. Ask what the next Unit is that they are going to be starting.

Spanish (Jensen)-

The students completed the unit 2 project this past week.  They wrote a pen pal letter in Spanish to their teacher to tell her about their school day (classes they have, times/class hours, supplies, favorite teachers/classes, etc.)  The students will earn a grade for content/vocabulary and accuracy/grammar.  If they choose to do a retake, they'll complete a practice page first, and then will need to do their retake by Friday, December 22nd (both black and orange day classes).

-We will be focusing on our Culture Standard from now up until Winter Break.  The students will be watching a movie to help develop empathy and understand what discrimination/prejudice are and how to keep an open mind about others.

CHOIR:  Reminder that the Pampered Chef fundraiser is due on Monday, Dec. 11.    

The district solo and ensemble festival will be held on March 3 at Oregon High School.  If your student is interested in participating in the festival, please make sure they have their form turned in to Mrs. Rattmann before Winter Break.

Geography (Stoller): 

Students have a map quiz on Monday where they must use the Asia maps they created to answer questions.  Have them pull out their maps and ask:

*What three countries are archipelagos?
*What country is west of the Philippines?
*What is the latitude and longitude of Tokyo?
*What is the latitude and longitude of Mt Everest?

They are also exploring India and have an activity called 5 Themes of India.  That will be due Wednesday.  Ask your learner:
*What are some human and physical characteristics of India?
*What are some culinary regions of India?  What is each region known for?

And finally, we will begin our Religions of the World unit next week.  We focus on 5 world religions and give a very brief overview of what each is and how they are related or not related to one another.  Our goal is to have a basic understanding of each as we study various places of the world and we also use it as background information to explain conflict in parts of the world.  If you'd like to see the resources we use, they are on the class webpage under '2nd quarter'.

Band:

The first concert is next Tuesday, December 12th. Students need to arrive to the OHS band room by 6:15 p.m. that night for warm up and tuning, and the concert begins at 7 p.m. It will last about 50-60 minutes. Concert attire is black dress clothes and shoes. If students do not have black, dark colored dress clothes or any clothes they feel like they are presenting themselves as a young professional in are just fine. Concert black is just a guideline to shoot for. Please contact me if any assistance is needed, or if you have any questions. 

If you can avoid scheduling appointments for the morning of the 12th during their dress rehearsal, please do- this is the only time that both large groups of 7th graders will meet together before their concert that night. There are a lot of logistics that change when all of the kids are together at once in a completely different performance space. Thanks! We look forward to seeing you at the concert that evening at 7:00 p.m. in the PAC.

Ask your student which piece of music they are most excited to present to you.

Math 7 (Gratzl): 

Deadlines:  -Stretching and Shrinking Test Corrections are Due Friday, December 22nd.

Questions:

-Do you need to do corrections on the Stretching and Shrinking Test you took on Tuesday?
-How do you turn 2/8 into a percent?  (2 divided by 8 times 100 equals 25%)

Resources:
-Comparing and Scaling:   https://docs.google.com/document/d/15EognF5tryjhFf...

English 8 (Westrich):

As we continue to read, analyze, and discuss short stories, learners will be thinking about perspectives and experiences different from their own.  Please ask your child about this experience!