Rough Drafts

Make sure that you've turned in your rough drafts of the Bold Actions essay so that I may give you feedback over break!  I hope everyone enjoys their winter vacation!  I will see everyone next year!

Opinion Commentaries about Bold Actions

Students are working on their end of the unit essay assignment about bold actions.  This paper will be due before Christmas break.  We are breaking it down and working on the different types of paragraphs in a persuasive essay.  Students are doing really well with recalling information from last year!

MyAccess.com

Students Bold Actions Narrative will be due turned in by Wednesday, so that I may add the grades in for their progress reports.  Expect reports home by Friday.

Week of Nov. 29th

After reading several stories and articles about characters and people taking bold actions, now it is time for students to take a turn.  This week students will be working on a MyAccess.com assignment.  They will be writing their own narrative (fiction or nonfiction) about a character who chooses to take a bold action.  The final grades will be taken next Monday, so students can work on their stories during the week and weekends if they would like.

Square 1 Art Fundraiser

Orders are due by November 30th so everything can be delivered before Christmas!!!

Week of Nov. 14th, 2016

Students will be working on group presentations this week that cite evidence to defend arguments.
Later on this week students will be reading about the start of woman in the field of aviation.  Thursday night students will have vocab homework; students are to write two sentences with context clues for each of the 4 vocab words found within the article titled Women in Aviation.

Scary Stories

This week we will be working on our scary stories in MyAccess!  I will keep the prompt open through the weekend in case anyone is feeling ambitions.  I take final grades next Monday!

Flight of Icarus

Homework/tests/quizzes


Tues:  2 sentences with  context clues for each vocab word
Wed:  Memes for vocab
Thurs: Vocab Quiz
Friday Story Test

Big Things Come in Small Packages

Students will be working in their Close Reader this week.  This paper back workbook allows us to annotate right in the book.  We will practice close reading techniques as well as work on our MyAccess stories.  And I must add, students are doing a wonderful job this year participating in class discussions and focusing on their work!  I'm very impressed with this years 7th grade.  It's been quite a pleasure so far.

Rogue Wave

We'll be finishing up Rogue Wave and trying our hands at the first online test this week!  I'm eager to see how everyone does on their test!  Next we will be working on a Myaccess prompt where students will get an opportunity to explore the world within The Pedestrian from someone else's perspective.

Absent students!

If you've been absent, I've posted a document on GoogleClassroom that will guide you through the parts of Rogue Wave that we've read so far.  Compare your notes with a classmate and you will be up to speed!

Story Test Pushed Back

Looks like our story test will be pushed back to next week!  This will work out well as there have been a few absences this week, so that'll provide folks time to catch up.

Collections 1: Bold Actions

This week we will begin reading our textbooks and our first story is titled Rogue Wave.  We will follow Scoot and Sully during this harrowing tale.

Tuesday:  Complete 2 sentences for each of the 5 vocabulary words.  Make sure the sentences give context clues to the various words' meanings.

Wednesday: Stickpeople cartoons -- draw a cartoon that helps illustrate the meaning of each of the vocab words

Thursday:  Vocab Quiz for Rogue Wave vocabulary

Friday: Story Test for Rogue Wave

Week 2: Solidifying Mashed Potato Brains Stage 1

This week we will be reading the challenging short story, The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury.  Students will use questioning techniques to break apart the text and examine the implicit meanings the author is trying to convey.

Welcome Back, Class of 2018!!!!

It's been a wonderful week getting to know this knew group of students!  I'm truly looking forward to working with all of you this coming year!  We practiced a lot of classroom routines this week and started to get back in the groove of classroom learning.  We are well on our way to solidifying those pesky mashed potato brains that plague us after a long summer break!

Everyone already returned their classroom contracts (very impressive!).  Just make sure that if you have not brought in a book cover, you should do so by next week.  You are welcome to bring the book home if you'd prefer to make your own from newspaper/paperbag/wallpaper etc.  rather than use a booksock.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and I will see you all bright and early Monday!

The last full week!

During this last week we will be wrapping up our Safety VS Freedom unit with Utopia presentations and Save a Memory projects.  I'm looking forward to seeing what these groups produce as I've received many compliments from other teachers about how hard they were working on these projects!

Thursday is the last full day of school.  Friday is field day.  Tuesday students get awards and it is the last day of school.

Finally... a Utopia!!!

Welcome back from a wonderful class trip 7th Graders!

Unfortunately, I'll be out with the 8th graders for their trip when we get back from Memorial Day weekend.  Students will continue to work on their Utopias in the lab along with a few other projects if they happen to finish up their Utopia presentations.

Other projects include:

Saving a Memory-- Students will choose a memory from childhood to describe in the first person point of view using plenty of sensory details.  The idea is to capture a moment that The Giver has taught us that we should not take for granted

A Day in the Life of Your Utopia -- Students will write a story of a character having an eye opening moment in their utopias that they have created.  Students must look critically at their communities and identify major weaknesses despite their attempt to create a perfect world for this narrative.

Deep Sea Haiku -- Students will write a Haiku about the deep sea creature they drew for Ms. Stocker's math class.

Wrapping up The Giver!

Tuesday:  Make up Vocab Quiz for absent students
Wednesday: Student will get their final chance to bring up their MyAccess grade for the assignment given at the beginning of the year.
Thursday:  Watch the movie version of The Giver.  Students will compare the movie with the book.
Friday:  Breech of spoiler contract papers due.

The final week of our novel

We will be finishing up The Giver this week.  Wednesday will be our last vocabulary quiz and due date for the final packet of facts and questions for the book.


The Spring Concert is scheduled for May 19th and it starts at 6:00 pm. Students need to be at school to prepare at 5:30.

Chapters 11-17

Thursday:  Vocab quiz

This week we will  be discovering many things Jonas' society does not have, things that we take for granted in our world.

Week 2 in The Giver

We are going to be reading Chapters 5-13!  We learn a lot about Jonas' community and his new assignment this week.  Make sure Chapter 1-4  and Chapters 5-8 packets are both completed and handed in before the end of this week.

Freedom Vs Safety

Now that we've finally got PARCC out of the way.  We can focus on our Freedom VS Safety unit.  Here we will explore what makes up a "perfect society."  We will decide which is more important: freedom or safety?  How do we balance the two in one society?  We will be reading dystopian fiction by Ray Bradbury as well as reading the novel, The Giver.

Week of March 7th

Ethos, Logos, and Pathos!

Students are learning all about persuasive techniques this week.  Then they will use their new knowledge to create advertisements selling a new invention.  This is a project I look forward to every year as the students' creativity really shines.

1st Week of March!

The year is just flying by, folks!  This week students will be receiving one on one conferences to discuss their drafts of their Trustworthiness Quotes assignments.  Students will get to work on their final drafts in the lab on Thursday.  Their finals are to be handed in the beginning of the period on Friday.  I've noticed many have chosen some intriguing quotes and I'm looking forward to reading their interpretations.

Week of Feb. 22nd

This week students will practice completing a research paper.  They will be searching for a famous person's quote about "trustworthiness" (which is our grade level's assigned C.O.R.R.E.C.T. trait).  They will research information on the quote's author, make inferences about how the quote relates to that author's experiences, and connect the quote to their own lives.

7D Tricky Tray Basket

Dear Parents of homeroom 7D:

It’s that time again to ask for your support in our biggest fundraiser event of the year!  The 12^th Annual OCS Bright Beginnings Tricky Tray is scheduled for Saturday, April 23, 2016.  We hope you will come out and join us for this fun evening.  All money raised from this event goes directly to support our students and school. 

Every year, families of the students in each classroom/homeroom donate items related to a theme, thus making up a classroom basket.  These classroom baskets are then raffled off among the other prizes at the tricky tray.  This year, I have volunteered to be the Classroom Coordinator for our class.  I will be gathering the items donated and making up the basket for the Tricky Tray.

The PTA greatly appreciates all of the effort and generosity that goes into these baskets.  At last year’s event, the classroom baskets combined earned the PTA an outstanding $8,000 in ticket sales!  Not only are these baskets “money makers,” but a reflection of our school pride and sense of community.

The PTA will reward the top three baskets that generate the most ticket sales!

This year, our classroom voted on the basket theme which is: __ipad/kindle basket

Here are some ideas for items to be sent in:

Gift cards for i-tunes

eBook gift cards

Monetary donations to purchase either an ipad or kindle

If anyone is short on time, a monetary donation may be made and I will shop for your child’s class donation.

 

Also, please consider making an individual family or group (friends/neighbors/club) basket.  All baskets are valued at $25.00 and up. This is a great way to show your support of our school!

Also, if you work for a corporation that makes tax-deductible donations or if your employer would like to contribute, please forward our TIN # 20-3778677.  Too shy to ask? A Tricky Tray committee member can make the call; just forward the information to us.  We are also looking for door prizes that we can give away and advertise any businesses (i.e. pens, stationery items, plastic bags, totes, etc.).

Thank you and please feel free to contact me or the Tricky Tray Committee with any questions.

PLEASE SEND IN YOUR DONATIONS BY Friday, April 1, 2016 directly to our classroom or to me.  All items should be new and unused.

Please e-mail me at cybermomof4@gmail.com or call me at 908 453-4389 with any questions.  You can also speak to Ms. Dean directly at cdean@oxfordcentral.org

Thank you,

Kiki Frasca  

Classroom Coordinator

Week of February 8th

Students will be comparing last week's drama version of the story Sorry, Wrong Number to a movie version.  They will need to identify and explain which is more suspenseful and effective at telling the story.

We will also be reading some Scope magazine articles and learning a little about the poet Langston Hughes in honor of Black History Month.

Tricky Tray Basket News

7D will be doing an iPad/Kindle themed basket.  Please read through the flyer that was sent home or you may email me with any questions you have regarding the basket.  Monetary donations would be much appreciated.  Depending on whether or not we decide on a Kindle or iPad -- iTunes or eBooks gift cards could also be an option.  Thank you so much for your time!

This week!

We will be reading and discussing a drama called "Sorry, Wrong Number" this week.  Students will learn a little history on how phone lines used to work as well as learning about the elements of drama.

See below for a link to a radio play version of the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uDmNc8j9gA

Public Art

Students will be exploring the world of Julian Beever, a street chalk artist who specializes in anamorphic drawings.  We will be discussing the benefits of art as a tool to raise awareness in public settings.

Another Place, Another Time

Wednesday: Vocab sentences
Thursday: Vocab Quiz
Friday:  Another Place, Another Time Story Test

Magic and the Brain

This week we will be reading an article that talks about how magicians use weaknesses in our brains and eyes to fool us!  Students will not only get a lesson in neuroscience, but they will also be analyzing the structures of the article to help them become critical readers.

Events for this week:

Tuesday:  Vocab sentences for homework; two sentences with context clues for each word
Wednesday: Vocab Quiz
Thurs: Magic and the Brain Test

First week of 2016

This week students will be working on memoirs as well as analyzing some winter themed poems!  We will be practicing working on stretching out short moments in their writing.  Student's will use plenty of sensory details to pull their readers into their moment.