Clay faces and artistic places.

Things have been busy in the art room since the holiday break and the time has flown but I will gladly say good-bye to January! The kids have been finishing up auction projects and we welcomed my student teacher Ms. Zapata from North Park University who will be with us for the next several months.  So far she has been a great addition to the North Park community and I really appreciate having another artist to collaborate with.

The seventh graders have been working with clay for the last several weeks. They made gorgeous clay Picasso faces that are on display in the glass case on the first floor. 

Then made really cool clay texture squares that were grouped together for the auction piece. Here are a couple of examples of some additional squares that some students were inspired to make after they finished their first one. 

This week we started to work on a one-point perspective project that involves drawing a city from a birds eye view. Students were assigned a famous artist to research and they have to represent that artist in their cities. They can use the artists paintings and they can make their buildings in shapes that might represent the work of a the artist.  It is a great project that covers a lot of learning objectives.   

"PE Shorts" 1/29/2015

Happy Winter!

To shake off the cold in PE we have been spending some time playing Just Dance as a class.  The kids have been loving it and keeping warm while its been cold outside. Our volleyball unit ended in the beginning of January so now we are in a basketball unit spending our time focusing on dribbling, passing, and shooting.

Mr. Hirsch

Week 21: 7th Grade Science

Week: 21

Topic:  Blood and Lymph

Objectives: 

Describe the components of blood.

Explain what determines the type of blood that a person can receive in a transfusion.

Name the structure and functions of the lymphatic system.

Essential Question:

How are blood cells like automobiles?

Key Terms:

plasma

red & white blood cells

hemoglobin

platelets

lymphatic system

lymph

lymph nodes

This week the kids will compare the difference between blood and lymph.  They will look at the make-up of blood and the many functions it carries out.  Our lab in this unit will simulate blood typing according to antigens located on the surface of the red blood cell.  Finally, we will look at how the circulatory and lymphatic systems work in conjunction with each other. 

Differentiation:

Observing

Using the microscope

Creating data tables

Identifying

Data analysis

Upcoming:  Respiration and an Anti-Smoking Campaign ad

Test and Fibonacci and a Final

This week in 7th grade math we are finishing up unit 5 on fractions and algebra.  We will be taking our test on Unit 5 on Thursday Jan. 29th and the alternative assessment is due on the same day.  Then on Friday and Monday we will start my favorite unit and thing to teach, Fibonacci.  We will begin by looking at the Fibonacci Sequence and where it comes from.  We will also discover the ratio that is created by the Fibonacci Sequence called phi.  The reason that we learn about Fibonacci at this time is because our next unit is on Ratios, Proportions, and Percents and the Fibonacci Sequence is really about ratios.  On Tuesday of next week we will have a 50 question multiple choice Mid-year Final that covers everything we have learned during the first 5 units of the year.

Test on Thursday Jan. 29th
Alternative Assessment due Jan. 29th
Mid Year Final Feb. 3

I look forward to seeing those of you attending tonight at "Math Mania".

Beginning next week please start asking your child about what they have learned about Fibonacci.

French Revolution

The 7th graders have been very busy in Social Studies lately.  This week, they are working on their Enlightenment persuasive essays.  Yesterday, they peer-edited each other's essays and discussed constructive ways to improve their writing.  Tomorrow, I will meet with each student to discuss their rough drafts. Today, the students had fun acting out the events of the French Revolution as I narrated.  After they experienced the event for themselves, they began to work on menu choices to demonstrate their knowledge about the topic.  Students will use class time later in the week to work on their final draft essays, their French Revolution menus, and study guides for their test next week.  Next week, we will start the Constitution unit.

Questions for your 7th grader:

• What part did you play in the French Revolution simulation?
• What is your most persuasive argument from your essay about Enlightenment ideas?
• What French Revolution menu item are you working on?

Upcoming Dates:

• Friday, January 30
• Final draft of essay due 
• French Revolution menu due

• Monday, February 2
• Enlightenment and Revolution test
• Study guide due

Peer editing essays

King Louis XVI and the nobles party at Versailles.

The peasants are working in the fields and paying high taxes.

Thora (can you find her?) is a prisoner at the Bastille.

University of Chicago Eating and Weight Disorders Program - Guest Speakers

Today,  Advisory groups were paired together to create three small groups, and each group was facilitated by a guest leader that is a professional in the treatment of eating disorders from the University of Chicago. Each of the leaders shared information about the prevalence of eating disorders in the adolescent population, what causes a vulnerability in this population, and the different types of eating disorders. A common myth regarding eating disorders is that it is a choice and not an illness. Students had the opportunity to discuss this myth and arm themselves with ways to be helpful should they suspect a friend is struggling with an eating disorder. 

We encourage you to talk to your student about the information that was shared and the subsequent group discussion. As with any sensitive topic such as this, it is very important that you listen to what your student learned and has to say about the topic of eating disorders. The speakers provided this helpful list of resources, as well. Included in the resources, you will find contact information for the University of Chicago Eating and Weight Disorders Program and our guest speakers. Should you have any questions or need further guidance with regards to eating and weight disorders, please don't hesitate to contact the University of Chicago program. Check here for an outline for the presentation.

On Wednesday, during Advisory, groups will again be divided in to small gender-based groups in order to further the discussion from today and address any additional questions or concerns. 

Baroque Period: Duets and "Spring"

In music, we are exploring the Baroque period.  The first part of the unit, the students were to compose a homophonic duet for recorder that they could play for the class.  Students worked in groups of 2 or 3 in order to compose their own piece on the iPad app Notion.  They could not just just any set of notes, but they were given a I-IV-V chord progression that they had to create from.  The video below is their compositions:

To continue with our study of the Baroque period, we studied the red-headed priest and famous composer Antonio Vivaldi.  Vivaldi's most famous piece is "The Four Seasons" which he also wrote a sonnet for each season he represented in music.  Our class looked at "Spring".  The sonnet reads:

Springtime is upon us.

The birds celebrate her return with festive song, 

and murmuring streams are softly caressed by the breezes.

Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle over heaven.

Then they die away to silence, and the birds take up their charming songs once more.  

Vivaldi would tell a story with his music and sonnets.  In our class, the students then put the sonnet and the music to life by pantomiming the storyline of a spring day at the park.  Below is their final performance:

And of course, a class picture:

"The Changing Moods of Adolescence: What's Normal, What's Not & How to Manage" webinar

ISACS recently hosted a webinar with Peggy Kubert titled, "The Changing Moods of Adolescence: What's Normal, What's Not, & How to Manage."

To view the webinar:

Follow this link.

In the drop down box, scroll down to the bottom and select, "1/14/15 – The Changing Moods of Adolescence: What's Normal, What's Not & How to Manage” with Peggy Kubert and use the password “lacrosse”. 

Click “Login”. 

On the next screen select "Click here replay this seminar". 

The recording will be available until 4 pm Central on February 16, 2015.

Week 20: 7th Grade Science

Week: 20

Topic:  A Closer Look at Blood Vessels

Objectives: 

Describe the structures and functions of the CVS vessels?

Explain what causes blood pressure?

Understanding the process of diffusion.

Essential Question:

How are blood vessels related to physical science?

Key Terms:

coronary artery

pulse

diffusion

blood pressure

This week the kids will compare and contrast the structure and function of blood vessels.  They will do a lab to see diffusion/osmosis in action and finally use data interpretation to see how blood pressure works in different blood vessels.  To understand the complete system they will write a story about “Buddy the Blood Cell” and his travels through the CVS system.  

Differentiation:

Identifying

Compare and Contrast

Inferring

Data analysis

Upcoming:  Looking at blood and lymph. 

Enlightenment Persuasive Essay

This week, the 7th graders will be working on a formal essay for social studies.  They will be writing persuasive pieces that will try to convince their reader to believe their opinion about Enlightenment ideas.  Today, we began the brainstorming phase.  The students worked in groups to review the Enlightenment philosophers that they have learned about and their ideas.  Tomorrow, they will choose three arguments that they want to defend in their essay.  Then, we will discuss persuasion techniques.  The rough draft of this essay will be due on Monday, January 26.

Questions for you 7th grader:

Which Enlightenment thinker do you believe had the best idea?
What Enlightenment ideas will you defend in your essay?

Spring Parent/Teacher Conference Sign-Up

It's time for Spring Parent/Teacher Conference sign up. In an effort to keep you better informed regarding your child's progress, we have chosen to make spring conferences mandatory for grades K-7th. Eighth grade conferences are optional. All conferences, including grades 3-7, will be with the parent and teacher only instead of student-led as they were in the fall. 

Visit the link below to sign up for a conference with your child's teacher. We are using the same system we used in the fall, so you be able to see schedules for all of your necessary classes (if you have more than 1 child) side-by-side. If you are having trouble signing up, please visit this page for more detailed instructions. If you would like to conference with a co-curricular teacher, contact that teacher directly via email to schedule a conference for Friday (2/20) afternoon.

When scheduling, especially for multiple teachers, please keep in mind how long you have for the conference itself and how long it will take you to move to other locations in the school. The time allotted for each conference is as follows:

MS - 8 minute conferences for each content teacher (sign up for all 4 teachers); K-5 - 10 minute conferences. 

Contact your child's teacher if you are unable to make any of these scheduled times. Contact Kim Smith with questions pertaining to the sign up system.

Fractions and algebra

This week in 7th grade math we are continuing to work on our unit fractions and algebra.  We spent last week reviewing all operations with fractions and this week we will work on applying these skills to solving algebra equations.  We will then be going over real world situations where we might use these skills and practice writing algebra equations for word problems.

Important dates:
Quiz 5.4-5.8 on Friday Jan. 23
Problem of the Week At least a Mile due Friday Jan. 23

Reminder:  Please RSVP to next Tuesday the 27th Math Night.  It is an hour long from 6 to 7 and we will be playing games and doing some activities.  If you have any questions please let me know.

L.A. blog-Just Keep Swimming!

I'm a sucker for Pixar movies, but I've always had a special place in my heart for Finding Nemo. When life gets you down, or when things feel really challenging, "just keep swimming"!

And of course, anything Ellen DeGeneres does is awesome.

It can be hard to "keep swimming" after winter break, when Spring Break seems so far away, and we're still in the middle of winter. But, the students are doing a great job of turning in assignments, working on their research reports, and starting Shakespeare

This week, we will begin reading A Midsummer Night's Dream. The students have selected roles and will be reading the play aloud as a class! The students are also currently working on completing their 20 fact cards for Monday, January 26th.

Upcoming due dates:

Strategic Reading #1 due Friday, January 23rd
Spell word skill #13 due Monday, Jan 26th 

Fact Cards due Monday, Jan 26th

Have a wonderful week!

L.A. Blog-Welcome Back!

Good afternoon, parents! We are already in our second week of January, and the students are already starting several projects.
The students will be writing a research project on a topic of their choice. The topic needs to be able to be researched, so I gave the example that Taylor Swift isn't a good topic for research.

Unfortunately, Lorde isn't a good topic either.
Some of the students' topics include Hurricane Katrina, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Ohio State football. This week, the students have to write three source cards telling me that they've found reliable and in-depth sources for their project.

We have also begun our Shakespeare unit! The students are going to read A Midsummer Night's Dream in class and on their own. We will also be diving into Shakespeare's language, the complexity of his characters, and analysis of one of the best comedic plays of all time.

Next week, we have four days of school, and the students will continue researching their topics and preparing to write their reports. They will also move forward with Shakespeare and further our analysis.

Have a great week!
Ms. Daly

The Enlightenment

The 7th graders are currently in the middle of the Enlightenment unit in Social Studies.  They are learning about many "new" ideas that changed the way people viewed society and government in Europe during the 18th century.  The students have been discussing many big questions, such as "How do humans achieve knowledge, freedom, and happiness?", "Is there value in censorship?", and "Should all people have a say in government?".  The students have studied primary sources and discussed these questions based on their own experiences.  Last week, students held a socratic seminar "salon" to discuss what Mary Wollstonecraft and Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote about women's rights.  Later this week, they will be debating how much of a role people should play in the government.

Questions for your 7th grader:
-What did Wollstonecraft and Rousseau say about women's rights?
-What position are you defending for the government debate?

Advisory Update

Advisory Update;

The middle school students have continued to learn about food and food related issues.  Before the holidays we all worked together to pack 120 lunches for the Common Pantry.  (Parents, thank you for your donations.)  Students also prepared their Food Footprints Projects which continue to be on display in the library.

Today the middle schoolers had the privilege of hearing guest speaker Peter Klein of Seedling, Inc., talk about his farm.  Pete is an alumni dad and many of our kids have actually been to his farm in Michigan and have all benefitted from the fruit peaches and apples that used to be donated to the school for snacks.  Today they enjoyed hearing about the growing process; what fruits and vegetables they choose to plant, the timetable for planting, pruning, and selling, etc.  As a special treat, students were able to sample Seedling apple cider.  This experience was a great follow up to the field trip that was taken in October to Green City Market.

Week 19: 7th Grade Science

Week: 19

Topic:  The Circulatory System

Objectives: 

Describe the structure and function of the heart.

Sequence the path taken by the blood the the CVS.

Essential Question:

How is our cardiovascular system like a transportation system?  

Key Terms:

CVS

atrium

ventricle

valve

septum

pacemaker

artery

capillary

vein

This week the kids will sequence the flow of blood to and from the heart.  Using a stethoscope the kids will listen to their heat beats (lub-dub) to hear the relaxing and contracting of the heart’s muscles.

Differentiation:

Sequencing

Upcoming:  Looking at the heart’s 2 loop system and the role of arteries, capillaries and veins.

Fractions, fractions, and more fractions

This week in 7th grade math we continue to be working with fractions.  This is our second unit on fractions and this one is about using fractions in algebra.  This week we have been reviewing how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions.  After reviewing these skills we will move into how to use these skills when solving equations that have fractions in them.  We will also be using our fraction understanding to review the U.S. Customary Unit of measurement and learn about dimensional analysis.

Upcoming assignments:

Wednesday Jan. 14 Quiz on sections 5.1-5.3
Friday Jan. POW Counting Chicken Wings due

Week 18: 7th Grade Science

Week: 18

Topic:  The Circulatory System

Objectives: 

Explain the function of the cardiovascular system.

Describe the structure and function of the heart.

Sequence the path taken by the blood troughe the CVS.

Essential Question:

How is our cardiovascular system like a transportation system?  

Key Terms:

CVS

atrium

ventricle

valve

septum

pacemaker

artery

capillary

vein

This week the kids will see how special an organ the heart is and how hard it works.  They will understand that the heart is virtually a pump in a closed loop system.  They will learn how to calculate their pulse rate at rest and see how exercise affects their pulse rate.  Lastly, they will sequence the flow of blood to and from the heart.  

Differentiation:

Inferring

Calculating

Data Interpretation

Sequencing

Fractions

In 7th grade math this week we started our next unit on fractions and algebra.  We began with shooting baskets in class, which we will use to learn about least common multiple, that we will then use to compare fractions.  We will then review how to convert fractions to decimals and decimals to fractions.  Next, we will then learn how to convert any repeating decimal into a fraction using algebra.  Lastly, we will review how to add and subtract fractions, but will be including variables.

We will have a quiz on next Wednesday Jan. 14th on sections 5.1-5.3