Newsletter September 21st

Work is getting assigned in class and also as homework.  Now would be a great time to check Infinite Campus with your learner to see if they have any missing work and also if they need to do any re-takes for their summative work.  

Thank you to all who have volunteered for Urban Challenge, we will gladly take more people with us on October 11th.   This is our only field trip where we need chaperones for the year.  So if you are interested, please contact Mrs. Ripp
Date:  October 11th and morning of October 12th (optional if you were with us for the 11th)
Time:  October 11th: 7:45 AM to 3:15 PM, if you can join us on Oct 12th it is from 7:55 to about 8:30 AM
What:  Supervise a team of 7-O students as they navigate Madison.
Note:  You will not be placed with your own learner as this can affect the team.

English - Ripp and Bures
Deadlines:
Character Analysis summative re-takes due October 3rd.  (Bures)
Character Analysis summative re-takes due October 5th. (Ripp)
Note on the first summative.  Standard 1 - Determine/analyze development of central ideas, or themes, or story elements in a text, is the hardest standard for most 7th graders to grasp.  While they have done critical thinking before, we really push their skills within this, which means that many students start out with a “2” or less.  This standard is assessed throughout the year, so unless your child is at a “1” you should not be worried. We are working on how to do this in class and it can get frustrating for kids because it is hard.
Questions to ask:
-  How do you explain your evidence in 7th grade?
-  Did you meet your page goal for reading?
-  What is the structure of a memoir?
-  What is your memoir about?

Science- Spaeth
Deadlines:
Old Wives tale experiment setup 9/26
Nature of science Test- 9/28
Questions to ask:
How do you set up an experiment?
What are you doing to prepare yourself for the science test?

Geography (Stoller) - 

Students have a current event due sometime this quarter.  Every student has a different date. There is a hyper doc that they can use to help complete the assignment.  We have gone through the entire process together for practice; now students need to do one on their own. Ask your learner:
* When is your current event due?
* Show me the hyper doc.  How does it work?
* How long before your due date should you start?  (About a week.)
* What happens if you miss your presentation date?  (Can still turn in written portion but presentation portion would be IE.)

English - Westrich
Deadlines:  WWW List 13: Word Work due 9/28; Assessment 10/1
Questions to ask:
-  What are you reading now?  What are you planning to read next?
-  What are you writing your final narrative piece about?

Orchestra - Black
Small Group Learning started this week. Please be sure to attend or schedule a make up before Friday.

Parents can ask their seventh graders what they learned about Scott Joplin this week.
Why is he famous or what is he famous for?
What is a strong component of the structure of "rag" music?
What were the accomplishments he made?
Why were these accomplishments so important in furthering the rights of Black Americans?

Spanish - Landsverk
For 7th grade Spanish the students have a vocabulary quiz on the 24/25. Students should be studying every night on Quizlet (link on Google Classroom). Students should also be checking for any missing work in IC.

Brudos German- 
How many of the unit 1 vocabulary words could you recognize and give the English for?

Band- Jaeger
Small Group learning has now begun! We are finalizing the rotation schedule and will send the information for all of the times for the rest of quarter 1 to families and students by Friday, 9/21. Small Group learning is an integral part of our curriculum in band, where students grow in skill and technique specific to their instrument.
Questions to ask:
What are the steps you take when you sightread?
What is the difference between a major and a minor key signature?

Math - Gratzl

Deadlines:
Shapes and Designs Math Test Tuesday, October 2nd
Shapes and Designs quiz corrections are due Friday, October 5th

Questions to ask your child:
-How do you think you did on Friday's math quiz?
-What is the sum of all of the exterior angles of any convex polygon?
-What do all the angles in a triangle always add up to?  In a quadrilateral?

Bauer/Jensen Spanish
Unit 1 has been introduced.  We reviewed the alphabet and have practiced dictation with letters in Spanish. The vocabulary theme for this unit is "a little bit of everything" and is related to greetings with the goal of being able to have a short dialog.  The first vocabulary test will be Oct 8th or Oct 9th (depending on whether student has Spanish on a black day or an orange day). Unit packet has website info to practice vocabulary.