Saturday, December 17, 2016

Winter Break!!!

Wow! What a crazy last two weeks before winter break. I'm so sorry that I didn't get a chance to wish you all a happy winter break. I hope that everyone made it home safely without getting stuck in too much traffic from school Wednesday!

The most important thing for you to do over winter break is to enjoy, appreciate, and celebrate your family and friends.

In addition, over winter break you should be reading daily!!! I expect you all to finish one book during your time away from school. I will be asking you about your reading experience over winter break your first day back.

If you are having a hard time finding a Just Right book, check out some of these options that I put together. I had planned on sharing much of these books with you as well as having others give recommendations about books, but alas, we had two straight snow days!

Books Middle Schoolers Should Read

Because there was no school Thursday and Friday many of you did not get a chance to turn in late work. I will accept late work until Thursday, January 5th. A link to view the updated grades is below.

Term 2 Grades - Updated 12/13/16

As a reminder, I will not be at school the first two day backs. I am very excited that Daniel Murphy-Cairns will be there as the substitute. You all met him in class on Tuesday and many of you know him from when he student taught for Abby when you were in 1st/2nd grade!

Tuesday, January 3rd will be a Riparian Festival Curriculum Open House. Because the festival was cancelled twice, the event will not be a major festival like we had planned and have known in the past. However, your work is way to amazing to not share! That is why Tuesday there will be an open house after school from 3:30 - 7:00. I won't be there, but all our work will still be set up and on display. Bring a family member into the room that afternoon/evening and show off all that we did this fall!

Enjoy your break, read daily, and be prepared to be awesome those first two days back with Daniel. I look forward to seeing you all on Thursday, January 5th!!!!


The Riparian Festival - Explained (from the SES Messenger)

[CHANGE IN DATE] Tuesday, January 3, 3:30-7pm: SES Riparian festival


After much deliberation and some phone calls back and forth with PPS, the Riparian Festival was again postponed due to December snow and storms.

The event has been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 3; however, the event will be an open house curriculum showcase, from 3:30-7pm. The 3rd through 8th grade rooms and the science lab will be open, student work will be on full display and your children will help tour you around the school.

We will not have a meal or any of the other accompanying activities that we had planned for the original event, but we will be offering an evening event dedicated to Standing Rock Solidarity and Action later in January. More to come once we have finalized information and a date.

Thank you for your flexibility; the weather simply has not been on our side this month. Please feel free to email Alexa at apearson@pps.net if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

12/13

HW due Wednesday:

Tomorrow is the Riparian Festival from 5:30 - 8:00 !!!

Make sure your How Our Earth Works Interactive Individual project is ready to be set up with the Project Write Up and Connections Web in the classroom tomorrow.

SERVICE?!?!?! Are you going to sign up for class or community service tomorrow during the Riparian Festival?

Secret Snowflake --- Come with a secret snowflake gift (spend no more than $5 total this week) for your secret snowflake. Place it in their cubby in the morning. We can all check our cubbies at the end of the day.

Late Work --- Progress Reports are being sent home Thursday. No more late work can be turned in after Friday, December 16th.

Be awesome with your sub tomorrow while I am at my district training

Monday, December 12, 2016

12/12

Welcome back from Snow Day living everybody! And happy birthday today to Kai and happy belated birthdays to Samuel and Sean!!!!!!!!

We are going to have a hectic last week of school because of all the schedule changes. Here are some things to be mindful of...

Due Tuesday (tomorrow):
1. How Our Earth Works Individual Interactive Project
...Bring your project into class along with your Project Write Up and Connections Web


Riparian Festival is Wednesday, December 14th from 5:30 - 8:30
...Be thinking if you can sign up for community service or school service in the classroom tomorrow for the festival
...Know that tomorrow is going to be a huge work day. Be thinking about what you can do to help support our class in making it as geologically awesome as possible for Wednesday

Secret Snowflake - Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - $5 maximum!!!


Friday - No more late work from term 2 accepted (grades will be updated tomorrow)
Friday - Be prepared to tell me what book you will be reading over winter break and how you will get your hands on it. Be thinking about this all week!

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

12/7

IT IS A SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW DAY!!!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sUwnda1FUs


HW due Thursday:

1. How Our Earth Works Individual Interactive Project!!!!!!
...Include Connections Web --- How Our Earth Works Connection Web
...Include Project Write Up ---How Our Earth Works - Individual Interactive Project Write Up

Unless we have had a previous conversation, bring everything for your project into school tomorrow

Friday = Riparian Festival

Consider if you want to sign up to earn service by helping in the community areas (that giant yellow sign up sheet that was in our room today) or in our classroom as tour guides.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

12/6

HW due Wednesday:

***CHANGE OF PLANS ---- How Our World Works Individual Interactive Project due THURSDAY, December 7th***

Use this extra time to work on your project in a non-rushed way!

Make sure the Connections Web and Project Write Up are completed by Thursday as well

How Our Earth Works - Individual Interactive Project Write Up

How Our Earth Works Connection Web

How Our Earth Works - Individual Interactive Project Write Up

Monday, December 5, 2016

12/5

HW due Tuesday:

1. How Our Earth Works individual interactive project

...Focus on completing your connections web tonight. This is what we went over in class and spent much of the afternoon working on. Check the rubric/handout below
...Including the connections web, in total, spend 30 minutes working on your project tonight
...We will get another hour tomorrow afternoon to work on our project. I will specifically go over the project write-up then.

How Our Earth Works Connection Web

7th Grade Service Project - Organization Brainstorm



7th Grade Service Project - Organization Brainstorm

Add 1 organization, their mission statement, and contact info to this sheet. Leave your name next to your organization

  1. Find at least three different service organizations you could connect into


  1. For each service project write the following in your Spanish Journal:
    1. Organization Name
    2. Why I am interested in this organization?!?!
    3. Organization mission statement → What is this organization all about? How is it helping create positive impact or change in the community?
    4. Organization contact information

Friday, December 2, 2016

12/2

Happy weekend everyone!

Next week is a big week!

Monday PM - Individual project work time - project write up + connections web
Tuesday AM - Class Geology Mural Work Time
Tuesday PM - Individual project work time
Thursday ALL DAY - Finish getting ready for the Riparian Curriculum Festival so we can show off and celebrate all our learning this fall!!!

Wednesday = How Our Earth Works Individual Interactive Project due
Friday = Riparian Curriculum Festival!!!

HW due Monday:

1. Work on How Our Earth Works Individual Interactive Project
... We will work on the project write up and connections web in class on Monday. This weekend you should spend 1 hour on your project. It is your only HW from me this weekend. First your focus should be on making sure you can respond to the following questions that we worked on in class today:


  1. What geologic concept am I focusing on? What is my research question?
  2. Do I have enough information about my project? What sources have I used for my information? What more do I need to know?
  3. How will my project answer my question and show what I learned? What big ideas/learning/information am I going to be sharing in my project?
  4. How am I going to complete my project? How will it be interactive?
Once you can answer these questions, it is time to work on your project! You should put in an hour of work this weekend. Expect an hour of class time Monday for the project write up and connections web and an hour of class time if needed to put the finishing touches on your project. Use your time wisely this weekend so that you don't have to panic at the last second next week.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

12/1

HW due Friday:

1. How Our Earth Works - 3D Interactive Project

How Our Earth Works 3D Interactive Project

You should spend 30 minutes on your project tonight. Your goal should be to complete Steps 1 and 2 of the yellow project handout (also linked above). By completing steps 1 and 2 you should know your research question, list your background info, extend your learning through more research, and think about your plan for your project.

Essentially, you should be able to answer these questions out loud if asked:



  1. What is my research question?
  2. How will this question and my answer (which is the entire project!) extend my learning?
  3. How am I going to show my thinking? What will I create for my project? How will it be interactive????
  4. What materials do I need for research and to make it?

We will be working on this project for an hour tomorrow. Chromebooks will be available. If you are ready to begin showing your learning and creating your project, bring in any resources you want to make that hour effective.