Category: Term 1

Clay Skulls: Our Socials and ADST Project

Our Grade 7s have been hard at work learning about early humans with Ms. Ramen in Socials class! We invited a artist in residence to come in and teach us how to sculpt a human skull out of clay. After sculpting, they were fired in the kiln. Then, we glazed the skulls and they will be fired a final time. We can’t wait to see the final product soon!

Some questions we suggest parents/guardians can discuss at home:

  1. What features did you include in your skull model? What species of hominin did you choose to create?
  2. How does your model skull look similar or different from our own (real) skulls?
  3. How old do you imagine your skull is? What conditions was it in (ex: desert, water)?

Self-Editing Checklist: Making Our Writing More Powerful

Our class has been working on using self-editing strategies in order to make our writing more powerful, formal, and clear! Ms. Lee helped us learn about the difference between formal and informal writing. We might use formal writing when submitting an essay, sending an e-mail to an employer, or writing a letter to a government official. Informal writing is what we use when we text a friend, when we write in a journal, or if we are writing a quick write.

Based on these conversations, we created a checklist that will help us with our editing! Find our checklist below:

Self-Editing Checklist: 

Using the checklist below, read through your paper fully. You can make any corrections using a pen. Check off the list as you go. 

Formatting: 

  •  Is there a title? Is it bolded? Centered?
  • Is your name underneath (By: Your Name)? 
  • Is your paragraph indented using the TAB? 
  • Is the font easy to read (ex: Arial, Times New Roman)? 
  • Did you use size 12-14 font? 
  • Is your work double-spaced? 

Content:

  •  Did you use a catchy or interesting opening sentence?
  • Did you clearly introduce your topic/thesis? 
  • Did you use at least 3 reasons or pieces of evidence? 
  • Did you use a conclusion sentence and have a strong ending? 
  • Were you persuasive? 

Grammar and Formality:

  •  Is the beginning of each sentence capitalized? 
  • Are names of people and places capitalized (ex: Wirt, Pottsfield)? 
  • Is there a period, question mark, or exclamation mark at the end of each sentence? 
  • Did you check for slang (ex: cool, yeah) and remove it? 
  • Did you remove contractions (ex: don’t, won’t)? 
  • Did you remove short forms (ex, ur, irl)? 
  • Did you rephrase your sentences to remove “I” and “we”?

 

Bystanders vs. Allies: A Historical Example

Today, our class discussed what it means to be a bystander to injustice. We discussed how, sometimes, people may not feel empowered to speak out if they witness something wrong. Sometimes, people might not speak up to help others if they are worried about their own safety. We learned that being an ally means that you use your voice to advocate for others. In history, we examine the friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Ella Fitzgerald by reading the book Making Their Voices Heard.

During the 1950s, both Ella and Marilyn faced oppression because of their gender. However, Ella also faced discrimination because of her race; many music venues would not hire her to sing there because of segregation and racism. After hearing this, Marilyn stood up as an ally and used her power and privilege to demand that Ella be hired. She had always admired Ella for her talent and her perseverance. We brainstormed ways that we can use our voices in powerful ways when we witness injustice, bullying, etc.

Check out one of Ella Fitzgerald’s most famous songs below:

 

Our First Read-Aloud: The Nest by Kenneth Oppel

Be careful what you wish for! Our class completed our first read-aloud,  the horror novel The Nest by Kenneth Oppel. In this story, a boy named Steven makes a wish to heal his baby brother’s illness. However, his wish costs him much more than he anticipated when he realizes the ‘angels’ he has been talking to are really a hive of supernatural wasps!

We thought this novel had many twists, turns, and suspenseful moments. The dark, creepy illustrations added to the experience. While some of us weren’t entirely satisfied with the ending, this was a great first read-aloud to kick off our school year!

In 2020, the authour Kenneth Oppel shared that The Nest could potentially be made into a film one day! Here is a sketch of the concept art:

Some questions to discuss at home:

  1. Would you watch a film adaptation of this novel? Why or why not?
  2. Who might you cast in the role of Steven, the Queen, and Mr. Nobody? Why?
  3. What songs/soundtrack would you want to include in this movie?

 

Performing a (Mock) Dissection:

Have you ever performed a dissection? We learned that dissections were (and are) a tool that scientists use to learn more about the biology and anatomy of plants, animals, and even people. We performed a ‘mock’ dissection using Twinkies! Our students needed to practice their precision, observation, and patience when taking samples, making incisions, and removing ‘organs’ (filling) from their ‘test subjects’.

Over the Garden Wall: Creating Our Theories

Our analysis of Cartoon Network’s mini-series Over the Garden Wall has come to an end! Throughout this month, we have been exploring: important characters, clues and symbols, changes in settings, and key plot events. We also began analyzing the musical soundtrack for different tones, themes, and lyrics. Now, our classes are crafting our own theories about some unanswered questions within the show!

 

Marketable Skills: Baking Pumpkin Pies!

Our Grade 7s put their baking skills into practice this week by creating mini pumpkin pies! Students had to read through the recipe, measure accurately, work collaboratively, and clean-up afterwards. We learned about the origins of pumpkin spice (which usually includes a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice). For some of us, this was our first time trying this seasonal dessert! If you want to make the recipe at home, click the link below:

Pumpkin pie recipe

Marketable Skills: Baking Bootcamp!

What skills does it take to make the perfect chocolate chip cookies? How is baking similar to science? Why is it important to read recipes thoroughly? We began learning about key baking skills this week! Our Grade 7s went through ‘Baking Bootcamp’, where we learned about: when and how to wash our hands, how to keep our materials and workspace sanitary, why accuracy is important, how to use a funnel, how to stir effectively, and how to measure dry and wet ingredients.

While baking may seem like a stress-free activity, it requires many different skills such as: reading comprehension, math (measurement, conversion), cooperation and communication, etc. It also requires a lot of scientific knowledge to make a successful baked good! Feel free to watch the video below to learn how some common mistakes can impact the success of a cookie recipe, and stay tuned for more updates!