Fibonacci/ratios

This week in 7th grade math the class will continue to learn about Fibonacci and we will then start our next unit (unit 6) on ratios/proportions/percents.  Yesterday we looked at number patterns inside of the Fibonacci sequence and discovered the connection between the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio.  Today we measured our faces and our bodies and discovered the the golden ration is all over our bodies (see pictures below).  I then placed the students into one of the five Fibonacci groups: nature, art/beauty, architecture, music, and history.  They will then be responsible to make a keynote presentation and a product of some sort related to their topic.  We will also be learning about ratios, unit rates, and proportions this week.

Ask your child about Fibonacci?  What group are they in?  Why did they chose their group?  Where does the golden ratio come from?

L.A. Blog-Research and Shakespeare!

Good afternoon, parents! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

This week, the students are very busy working on two different projects: one, their research paper, which is moving along quite quickly, and the other, finishing Shakespeare and the subsequent work. After receiving their grades outlines and works cited pages, the students know where to begin on their first draft. We also had a lesson on how to create in-text citations and when it's appropriate to add these in.

Shakespeare has been a blast! We are going to finish the play this week and the students will be introduced to their upcoming group project and a Shakespeare test later this week. I have no doubt the students will do amazingly well on both.

We are using class time this week to work on both projects, as well as a couple of spelling sheets and Writer's Notebooks.

Here are this week's/next week's due dates:

Rough Draft of Research Report: Due Tuesday, February 17th
Shakespeare Test: Thursday, February 19th

Have a great three-day weekend coming up!

Happy Presidents' Day!

What would Van Gogh's city look like?

The 7th graders finished up their clay work and started a perspective project. They were each assigned a famous artist to research and then required to design and draw a city that represents the work of that artist. They learned how to draw in one-point perspective from a birds eye view to make their cities look realistic and they had to design at least one building in a shape that represents their artist. Here are few example of works in progress.

We should be able to finish next week and then we will have a class critique.  

L.A. Blog-Happy February!

It's hard to believe we're already into February, and we had our first official Snow Day! I hope everyone had a good three day weekend because of it.

This month, we are wrapping up some big projects. The seventh graders are working hard on A Midsummer Night's Dream and just wrapped up Act III. We've had some very exciting and informative discussions, and everyone seems to understand the play pretty well! Hopefully, we will be finishing the play by the end of next week or early into the third week of February.
The students will have a project based on the play, but I won't be introducing it until we are done reading.

Next, the students are working hard on their research papers. They just turned in their outlines and works cited page, both of which are essential to the final draft. Any errors they make on these should be corrected for the final paper. The final paper is due Tuesday, February 24th.

The most important thing to remember for this month is that the students need to balance their time between doing work in class and at home. I often give them a lot of class time, so they should be using it wisely!

Wrap Up:
Final Paper due Tuesday, 2/24

Have a wonderful week!

Constitution

Today, the 7th graders began their Constitution unit.  We began the unit by brainstorming how the ideas from the Enlightenment might have inspired parts of our government.  Students moved around the room in groups to write down their knowledge and predictions about each of the Enlightenment ideas that are found in the Constitution.  These ideas will form the basis for the rest of the unit.  The famous Constitution test will be taken the week before the students go to Washington D.C.  In the meantime, students will learn about the basics of our government while they debate and discuss the ideas in the Constitution.

Question for your 7th Grader:

• What do you already know about how the United States government works?
• Can you see any Enlightenment ideas in our modern government?

Fibonacci and Ratios

This week in 7th grade the class is preparing for the Mid Year Final and continuing to learn about Fibonacci.  Today I handed back the unit 5 test (which needs to be signed by Friday) and we went over the entire test and used it to review some concepts for the Mid Year Final that has been moved to this coming Thursday.  On Friday and Monday we will continue to learn about the Fibonacci sequence and its connection to the golden ratio.

Mid year Final on Thursday the Feb. 5

Week 22: 7th Grade Science

Week: 22

Nothing much to report on.  Completed our CVS section on vessels in our body, beginning our section on blood and preparing for our Respiratory project on smoking.