Dear guardians and parents of St. John 7th graders,
I hope you have enjoyed a restful weekend.
While last week was short, we still covered a lot! It was wonderful to attend mass (even virtually) and read your children’s reflections on Fr. Crispin’s homily. Each student thought about what gifts God wants them to share with the world and how they might begin to do that. We look forward to building on those ideas and helping your children embrace and share their gifts for the common good.
Check out the information below, remember to sign-up for a conference with your child’s homeroom teacher, and please reach out with any questions.
News, Events, and Expectations:
- Monday, October 25, and Friday, October 30 – Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences
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- When the sign-up genius is available, please sign up for a meeting with your child’s homeroom teacher.
- If you want to meet with additional subject teachers, please reach out and set up a time during daily office hours.
Tips, Tricks, and Tools:
- Teach your child to embrace failure! (Bear with me, I promise this makes sense – the title is the educational equivalent of click-bait 😎)
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- No one is perfect, but many 7th graders forget this simple fact and feel crushed by their mistakes, big and small. They see every misstep and mess up as ‘failure’, the ultimate f-word, something of which to be ashamed or to hide. To a 7th grader, failure = bad.
- In an effort to avoid what they see as damage and the uncomfortable feelings it brings, 7th graders often shut down, refusing to take part in any process where they might be wrong or make a mistake.
- What they don’t realize is that they are missing out on powerful learning opportunities.
- You can help your child by illustrating the connection between failure and learning. When you show them that failure is the greatest teacher, you give them the confidence to try new things, to flex their educational muscles, and get the most out of every experience.
- Here’s one way to help your 7th grader understand –
- During meal times, or whenever you regularly see and talk with your child(ren), try asking the following questions:
- When were you/did you feel successful today?
- When did you fail today?
- What did you/can you learn from your failure?
- Have everyone, yourself included, think about and share their answers to the questions. You might be surprised how quickly your child’s attitude shifts.
- During meal times, or whenever you regularly see and talk with your child(ren), try asking the following questions:
Curriculum Preview:
- Science
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- In science this week, students will be introduced to the laws of motion, which is more or less the main idea in classical physics; if students don’t have a firm grasp of this, they will struggle in the next few weeks. Additionally, we will begin using mathematical models to describe and predict the motion of objects. Students often struggle with this at the beginning; if your child has difficulty in mastering this math-oriented skill, please encourage them to contact Mr. Tice. His office hours are 2:30-3:00 Monday-Thursday, and 9:25-9:50 on Friday.
- Social Studies
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- In 7th Grade Social Studies we will continue to explore the continent and civilizations of Africa. Last week we touched on the Bantu Migrations and completed a physical map of Africa. This week we’ll review sub-Saharan Africa and also learn about the kingdoms of West Africa including Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. We’ll discuss the king who many argue was the richest man to ever live, Mansa Musa, and how he helped foster the great tradition of literature and learning in the ancient city of Timbuktu. Students will also complete a political map of contemporary Africa.
- Language Arts
- Almost all students have chosen books for their first trimester book talk. Presentations begin on November 3rd. Please talk to your child(ren) about their books, and reach out if you need help finding a copy.
- 7th graders will work on name poems this week. This gives them the opportunity to share a part of who they are and learn about their classmates, an integral part of community building. In addition, students will review a variety of poetic devices and practice narrative writing styles.
- Students have a quiz on their Greek root (phone/phono – sound) on Wednesday, October 21st. They should be reviewing their vocabulary 5-10 minutes a day.
- Math
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- Regular – 7th graders have practiced subtracting rational numbers (negative and positive fractions, decimals, and whole numbers). By rewriting the subtraction problem as an addition problem (add the opposite of the second number) they then follow the addition rules – ask your child what the rules are! We will continue to review this challenging concept and introduce multiplying and dividing this week too.
- Zero Period – Zero Period continues to solve equations. We will move into the 8th grade common core standards this week by solving equations with one variable on both sides of the equation.
- Community / Religion
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This week students will continue to discuss Chapter 9 from The Catholic Faith Handbook. We will take a look at what it means to participate in bringing about the “Kingdom of God” here on earth using Jesus and His ministry to the marginalized as our guide and example. We will begin to look at the 7 Catholic Social Justice Principles, Pope Francis’s recent Encyclical, and read chapter 24 from The Catholic Faith Handbook entitled “Social Justice”.
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Also, an important note regarding progress report grades for religion/community class: This class will not be assessed on a percentage grading system. Unfortunately, when progress reports were processed, the percentage column was included, and showed up as a “0%” for every student. Please disregard this section of the progress report and look only at the “M/P/I” grade column. If your student received an “I” or “P” grade there is a corresponding comment explaining how they can improve this grade throughout the rest of the trimester. My apologies for any confusion this caused as you read through your students’ progress reports- feel free to reach out with any questions- Mrs. Mansfield
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As always, please reach out if you have any questions, and have splendiferous Sunday afternoon!