Our team has created a "Team Store" through Advisory.  Students will be able to purchase pens, pencils, highlighters, and other schools supplies each day after homeroom announcements.  Hopefully this will help alleviate the problem of students coming to class without the basic tools necessary to have a successful school day. 

**Tomorrow, 12/11, is the last day for Adopt-a-Family gifts to be handed in.  If you have purchased an item, or plan to make a donation, please send it in tomorrow so we can make sure it gets to our family.  Thank you to all those who have helped our team create a happy holiday for a family who is less fortunate.

Report cards due to go home on Thursday, 12/13.

Great job to all of the students on their StudenTales project.  I think most of you will be very impressed with your child's work when you see the finished product.  The kits are being mailed to the publisher on Monday, December 3rd.  We expect them to be back in about 2 to 3 weeks. 

We will finish up our Mystery Unit this week with a Mystery Mansion role play game.   Each student will have a small part in the game as we work together to solve the mystery.  I anticipate that this will take us two class periods this week to complete it. 

Students are learning the "Quote Sandwich" formula for writing.  They will have a response to literature in the form of a quote sandwich due next Tuesday, December 11th.   Students are expected to complete the book they are reading by next Monday, December 10th.

In addition to the quote sandwich writing, we will begin reading myths and legends (specifically King Arthur) before we start the novel of Freak the Mighty.  More information on the novel will follow.  Once I am done with grades, I will update my web page with web quests about King Arthur and other links related to the literature being read in class.

Reading Response Folders and composition notebooks will be sent home this week.  Please review it with your child and sign the personal reflection on their work. 

Reminder that we have a Food Drive going on until December 7th as well as our Adopt-a-Family program until the 10th.  This year we have adopted a family with 2 little girls ages 7 & 8 and a mom.  Any donation on behalf of your child will be greatly appreciated.  A copy of the informational letter can also be found on our web page. 

We also have a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art in Boston.  The cost of the trip is $20.00.  Permission slips must be turned in by December 3rd.  If payment for this trip is a problem, please send in a note with your child, and we will find funds to assist you.

Have a great week everyone!

Mrs. Tefft

I would like to welcome Ms. Kozun to the classroom!  She will be teaching with me until the holiday break.

Week of 12/3

Over the past two weeks, students performed  an investigation that demonstrates what happens to two air masses when they meet.  They analyzed the movement of two converging air masses with different temperature and humidity conditions.  They have written a conclusion on this and have had a quiz.

This week we will spend time going over any misconceptions the students may have about convection currents, sea breezes and land breezes.  Students will read two articles entitled Weather Fronts and Trouble in Tornado Alley.  They will also view a powerpoint presentation on conduction, convection and radiation.  Homework for week includes finishing a graphic organizer on weather fronts, reviewing vocabulary words in their composition notebook and making flash cards, organizing their notebook and studying for a vocabulary quiz scheduled on Wednesday for A period Thursday for  D, E, and F period.

 Classes will not meet on Friday due to the field trip to the MFA.

Science Page

We are in the midst of studying Ancient Egypt. Students began their study of Egypt by researching topics related to the Nile River and its importance to the development of Egyptian Civilization. Working in pairs, students selected topics related to the physical geography of the river, religion, daily life of the Egyptian people, famous Pharaohs, temples, the Pyramids, etc. This comprhensive approach includes:

• Learning to create an attractive, effective Power Point presentation, citing a variety of print and web resources, and developing a topical question to focus their inquiry. (= 2 Quiz grades)
• Oral presentation of their Power Point to classmates (= 1 Quiz grade)
• Writing a 200-word "quote sandwich" citing  evidence from their research that supports the Focus statement, based on the topical question. Example: "How did the Nile's annual flooding affect the development of Egyptian civilization?" (= 2 Test grades)
• Students will create their own Egyptian name "cartouche" from  heiroglyphics using an on-line site.   (= 1 Quiz grade)
• Mr. Mitchell and I will put all the Power Point slides onto the school website via weblinks. Students will be given (6) over-arching topical questions.  to answer. Working in their assigned Social Studies groups, students will navigate through the Nile Power Point Study, looking for websites and texts in the bibliographies, to help them comprehensively answer the (6) questions. (=Test grade)
• Please make sure your child is going over Chapter 3 - Egypt in the Ancient World textbook. Review vocabulary, key facts, Pharaohs, contributions of the Egyptians. Know difference between the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom.
• Students will be creating an Egyptian Journal after reviewing multiple facets of Egyptian life. They will be writing from the perspective of a Hittite spy, recommending the best way to invade and conquer their Egyptian enemies. (=Test grade)

Remainder of 7th Grade year - Ancient China and Ancient Greece.

(Parent FYI) - We spent an entire class  re-organizing all Social Studies binders. They should be set up in four (4) sections as follows: