Decimals/Thanksgiving/Fractions

The 7th graders just took their unit three test on decimals and algebra today and they will finish the test tomorrow.  After Thanksgiving break we will begin our next unit on fractions, negative and positive exponents, and scientific notation.

Reformation

Thanks to everyone who attending last week's Renaissance Festival.  The kids worked really hard to create a great event!  This week, the students are learning about how the Renaissance's new ideas and inventions led to major changes in Christianity in Europe.  Today, they acted out the Protestant Reformation.  Now, they are working on menu items to demonstrate their knowledge of the topic. Next week, students will take their Renaissance and Reformation test on Friday.

Hour of Code Is Coming!

The Middle School students will participate in their Hour of Code experience during Service time on Thursday, 12/11/14 from 1:10-1:50. The experience will take place in small groups with a mix of 6th-8th graders.  The 7th graders will have the opportunity to continue the experience during Study Hall on Wednesday, 12/17/14 at 9:50. We would love to have your help in facilitating these experiences for the 7th graders. No tech skills are required. If you are able to help, go to SignUp Genius and sign up. Thanks!

Meet Ms. Long!

Hi, I'm Carol Long and I have been Student Teaching with Mrs. LaGorio since the end of October. I also did my Mini-Teaching last semester here at North Park Elementary. This past month has taught me a lot about teaching and has also been a joy as I worked with the students in music and band. Winter showcase is fast approaching and I am excited for the pieces that each class has been preparing for the show! It should be a great night and I am happy to be a part of it as well as a part of teaching music to the students here. I know that it will be hard to leave but I am happy to have had the opportunity to work with the students and staff at NPES. 

7th Grade Language Arts: Science Fiction Book Clubs

Students will have their last book club meeting on Tuesday.  The concluding assessment projects for the unit will be completed in December.  Students will create a book review individually and work as a group to develop a tour presentation of the book events and settings.

Ender’s Game

Cinder

Everlost

Life As We Knew It

Decimal equations and the metric system

The 7th graders having been working with decimals and algebra for the last two weeks.  This week we have been reviewing the metric system and converting metric units and solving algebra equations with multiplication and division.  For the rest of the week we will be doing some problem solving and multi-step algebra problems with decimals.

Upcoming Assignments:

Tomorrow Wed. Nov 19 Quiz on sections 3.5-3.7
Thursday Nov. 20 Problem of the week Back to School Shopping Due
Tuesday Nov. 25 Alternative Assessment due
Tuesday Nov. 25 Unit 2 Test

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The 7th graders are spending this week preparing for Renaissance festival.  We are looking forward to the event.  Miss Andrews has been working with the class to add a drama component to the event.  Here is a sneak peek of the class practicing an excerpt from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that the class will be performing.  Half the class will do the Shakespearean version, and the other half will perform it in modern language.  See you on Friday!

Renaissance Festival is Friday!!

The 7th graders just finished their illuminated letters in art in preparation for the Renaissance Festival. They are busy in social studies and music preparing presentations and songs and dances. We are going to try to squeeze in making egg temperas on Friday in time for the parents to get to use them. Here are some samples of the lovely golden illuminated letters.

7th Grade Language Arts: Narrative Paper Final Draft

The final draft of the Personal Narrative Paper is due Wednesday.  During the past few weeks students worked hard interviewing relatives, organizing information, drafting, revising, and editing.

Many of the seventh grade students set goals this quarter to put more effort into the revision and editing process.  Encourage your child to spend some time at home going over their paper at least one more time before the due date to make any final revisions or edits.  Students should double check the rubric to make sure they have met all of the expectations.

Some helpful revision tips include:
Scanning for boring/bland word choice and replacing words with more vivid word choice.
Making sure topic sentences are clear and concise.
Making sure to vary the words used to start sentences.
Expanding on simple, short, or incomplete sentences or paragraphs with additional information.
Breaking up run-on sentences into multiple sentences.
Using the editing checklist provided in the Writing Workshop LiveBinder

Winter Showcase is Coming!

The kids are working hard, learning their music, and getting ready for Winter Showcase! This year's Winter Showcase is December 3, 2014 at 7pm at Northside College Prep (5501 N Kedzie Ave, Chicago, IL 60625). Please have your child to NCP by 6:30pm.  

Winter Showcase is an all-school production where the students from Kindergarten through 8th grade, including our band program, showcase what they have been learning in music class.  We aren't able to include every activity and song, but we  perform a few of the students' favorites.  Also, families are able to see the progression of their child's music education by seeing older classes perform.

Attire is dressy, but comfortable enough to dance in for classroom performances. Band students are required to wear concert attire (black pants/skirts/socks/shoes and ALL white tops... no colorful designs). Please refer to the band syllabus if you have questions about band attire. The showcase begins at 7pm sharp and is about 90 minutes long.   If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. LaGorio at LaGorio@npeschool.org

Thank you advance for bringing your child and for enjoying all of our NPES students performances.

"PE Shorts" Tuesday 11/11/2014

Happy Veteran's Day!

The first quarter and our football unit have finished. We had a lot of fun playing football out on the playlot. With the beginning of the 2nd quarter we have started learning about golf. We have been doing a lot of different putting games like Tic-Tac-Toe and Pizza Golf. Next we will learn about chipping and pitching a golf ball. Since we are doing golf inside we are using oversized clubs and soft tennis ball like balls. Mr. T has also come in to give some advice and demonstrations on putting.

-Mr. Hirsch

Week 12 Seventh Grade Science: Project Fair

Week: 12

Topic: Project Fair

Dear Parents,

This past weekend (11/8) the kids should have purchased their materials and begun doing their pre-experiment.  You should plan with your child to have their experiment completed by this weekend.   The kids have completed their rough drafts for their data tables and graphs.  This will allow them to record and plot their data.  Because this is a short week I suggest they work and complete their 2 page research paper.  My goal is to have the experiments and paper work completed by Thanksgiving, enjoy the holiday, use the remainder of the time to create the project board, and their presentation.

I will not be in school next week due to a long distance wedding in Key West.  Please monitor your child ’s project progress.  A useful source is Science Buddies which is an on-line project guide.

Sincerely,

Mr. T

Week 11: 7th Grade Science

Week: 11

Topic: Project Fair

Dear Parents,

By this time your son or daughter has identified their variables, completed their hypothesis, project title, question, and problem question.  This week they are working on their rough drafts for their material list, procedure, tables, and graphs.  By this weekend (11/8) they should have purchased their materials and begun doing their pre-experiment.  I will keep you posted each week of their progress.  My goal is to have the experiments completed by Thanksgiving, enjoy the holiday, use the remainder of the time to create the project board, and their presentation.

Sincerely,

Mr. T

Decimal computation and estimating

Hello 7th grade parents.  This is Mr. Hotaling again and I am back teaching your children.  This week in math we are learning how to multiply and divide decimals.  I am teaching them how to multiply and divide the way that we learned and not allowing them to do the Everyday Math way.  I feel the way that most of us learned is quicker and more efficient, so all students will be expected to switch.  We will then be working on comparing and order decimals from least to greatest and finish up with estimating.

Halloween Party

The Halloween party was a smashing success.  Thanks to all of the room parents that contributed!

Renaissance Research

This week, the 7th graders are researching either an important person or city from the Renaissance.  They will represent this person or place at the Renaissance Festival.  Each student is researching their topic and then each will choose a different project to complete.  Students have a choice of 9 different options for how they will share their biographical information at the Festival.

Questions for your 7th grader:

What city or person are you researching?
What menu item choice are you planning on creating?

7th Grade Language Arts: New Book Clubs

This week 7th graders started their new book club groups.  This quarter the genre is science fiction books.  The books being read this quarter include Ender’s Game, Everlost, Cinder, and Life As We Knew It.  Students received their books last week and met with their group members to develop the reading schedule and set goals and ground rules for the meetings.  Each book club group will meet for eight discussion sessions throughout the month of November.  During each meeting, students discuss reading log reflections, literary elements, opinions, frustrations, interesting quotes, predictions, etc.  The concluding assessment projects will be completed in December.  Students will create a book review individually and work as a group to develop a tour presentation of the books events and settings.

Upcoming Due Dates:

Personal Narrative Paper:

1st Draft due: Tuesday, November 11, 2014

2nd Draft due: Monday, November 17, 2014

Final Draft due: Wednesday, November 19, 2014