Seventh Grade Blog

Humanities In English/Language Arts, students read a variety of short stories and analyzed them for literary elements like plot and characterization. Students spent time freewriting in preparation for brainstorming and writing their own short stories next week! In social studies, students critically analyzed the History Channel documentary “The Dark Ages,” and then were tasked with created their own “trailer” for a section of chapter 17 (The Early Middle Ages). Some Greek/Latin roots to be on the look out for: Sic transit gloria mundi. Thus passes away the glory of this world – Thomas A Kempis Trans (across) Eo/Ire/Ivi/Itum (to go)... Read More

Advisory Students participated in a workshop about being allies in the midst of bullying behaviors, situations, and language. Students thought about people’s identities and how to communicate effectively, even in the midst of a disagreement or shift in perspective.   Hebrew K This week we continued to review the topic of the “Tzabar” Israeli. We talked about traits and characteristics and focused on the term “Hutzpa”. We discussed the positive ad negative aspects of the word, watched a video on the topic and debated a few examples , deciding if they are positive or negative. Hebrew J This week we... Read More

Humanities  In ELA, we’ve been diving into the rhetorical triangle – ethos, logos, and pathos. What are the mechanics used to persuade someone? How do we persuade someone in ethical ways? In the coming week, we’ll be researching a position and beginning to craft arguments that are well-researched and logical. We are in the midst of our second unit of vocabulary study, vacillating between Wordly Wise words and Greek and Latin roots. The most recent roots you should look out for are: Ars, Artis (art) Aoide (song) Canto/Cantare (to sing) Pingo/Pingere/Pinxi/Pictum (to paint, to embroider) In social studies, we are... Read More

Humanities In ELA, students have been working diligently on a theme project for Beowulf: A New Telling. Students needed to identify a theme and then find three passages in the book that demonstrate that theme! Students could identify their own or choose from a list brainstormed by both classes: the role of loyalty and generosity in successful societies envy and jealousy of others to conquer evil, one must acknowledge it within the self identity is complex and multi-dimensional creativity in battle is an asset appearance is not indicative of internal characteristics I have loved seeing their posters with text evidence!... Read More

Humanities  In English/Language Arts, students have been reading Beowulf: A New Telling and exploring how the author uses symbolism and imagery in the text. In social studies, we are concluding a chapter about early African civilizations (500-1500). After gaining a sense of world events in the period after the fall of Rome, we’ll transition to the medieval period of European history. We are starting a new unit of vocabulary, and I’m excited to continue to help students build their writing skills.   Hebrew J It was great seeing your kids after the break! Since returning from the break we used the time... Read More

Math The 7th grade is still busy working on algebraic expressions. They are learning about applications of the Distributive Law and other algebraic manipulations. After the break they will move onto algebraic equations, where they will be learning about solving linear equations in one variable and creating linear equations as well. See you in 2019!   Humanities  Wow! An amazing couple of weeks. We accomplished a lot: our first formal literary analysis essay, our second independent reading assignment, a visit to Brooklyn Landmark Elementary School for our Social Action Project, our Julius Caesar Open Mic…a long list! Today, we finish... Read More

Humanities The 7th grade has been busy selecting passages to perform for a Julius Caesar Open Mic, as well as writing about the characters, ideas, and language of the play. Our cumulative vocabulary test will be on Friday, December 14th. I loved playing with words this past Wednesday! Ask your child to see their videos and pictures – they are posted in Google Classroom under the Vocabulary section of classwork. I’m challenging 7th graders to find more balance in their work: repetition is only ONE strategy for learning new ideas, words, and concepts. Memorizing an exact definition by heart won’t... Read More

Math  The 7th grade has moved steadily through the world of Real Numbers. Next stop on the math train is an Introduction to Algebra where the students will learn to take everyday situations and produce algebraic expressions and equations from the data.  Believe it or not, people use algebraic expressions and equations in their daily life without realizing they are doing so. When you are buying things at the store and figuring out how much you can spend based on how much money you have, how much change you will receive when you spend money, how much time you need to... Read More

Humanities The past two weeks in Humanities classes have been filled with Julius Caesar, historical research writing, and lots of vocabulary! We practiced a variety of class structures while reading Julius Caesar: listening to an audiotape, reading out loud as a whole class, and reading in small groups. I loved watching students have exposure to the play in these ways. I am impressed with the progress of their social studies essays so far – the first outline, the first draft, the first big essay can be a little confusing and a little daunting. All of my students were challenged to... Read More

Math  With a new month comes a new unit and the 7th grade is moving on to Unit 2 of their math books; Real Numbers. If you’re curious, and/or don’t remember your high school math classes, imaginary numbers do exist but are not introduced until Algebra II. Until then, we’ll stick to real numbers and its subsets. These numbers make the whole world go round, whether we’re aware of them or not. No worries, it’s only natural to forget how much math is involved in our daily lives. When we cook or bake, make or spend money, travel distances, find out the temperature, or... Read More