Week of November 28, 2016

Purple Curriculum Updates

Pre-Algebra I with MaryAnn:

This week we worked on dividing fractions and solving fraction equations with multiplication. Overall the students are doing quite well but, could use extra practice with word problems. The coming week we will work on the US Customary Unit and conversions. Our part 2 Unit 6 test will be Friday, December 9th.

Pre-Algebra II with Jared:

We began the week by reviewing rates and ratios, and looking again at unit price. We then spent a few days working on reviewing the different types of word problems that we've encountered so far this year. On Thursday we took a short quiz on the first three units, before working online with practice about how to check to see if something is proportional.

Pre-Algebra III with Andrew:

This week, we finished up chapter 4 with a look at the Pythagorean Theorem.  We used it to solve algebraic equations involving right triangles, which tied into what we learned earlier about square root functions.  In the middle of the week, we reviewed what we had learned throughout the chapter, and we took our chapter test on Friday.  Next week, we will begin learning about ratios and proportions.

Algebra I with Molly:

This week we began chapter 5, which is focused on graphs and functions. Students learned to test whether a relation is a function and had a fun time labeling and interpreting graphs. They graphed functions, including non-linear functions with absolute values and square roots. We went on to writing function rules from a set of data and to determine whether a function is a direction variation. 

Geometry with Clare:

This past week we spent time on some fascinating attributes of triangles - finding and constructing circumcenters, incenters, centroids, orthocenters, and their associated circles, where appropriate.  Quite a lot of new vocabulary and theorems! We reviewed the Ch. 4 tests taken just before the Thanksgiving break, and the students took a quiz on the first three lessons of Ch. 5 on Friday. They have also completed some rather splendid posters on the aforementioned triangle attributes.

Language Arts with Jared:

We began the week by learning about formal letter writing. Tying in the lesson to the civics curriculum, students worked on writing a respectful and tactful (vocab word!) letter to either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Then they learned how to address an envelope before we put them in the mail. We ended the week by learning about allegories and starting our first novel, Animal Farm by George Orwell. Students also took a quiz on helping verbs and worked on their new vocabulary unit.

World Studies & Civics with Andrew:

This week in Civics, we practiced reviewing our whole unit on the American colonies through the development of the Constitution.  We made our own practice quiz questions, which we then turned into a kahoot review game.  We also watched a video about the background of the Constitution, and 7th grade got to act out a play about the Constitutional Convention.  At the end of the week, each class had a special class taught by Emily, who helped us learn more about the Federalist Papers and their impact on ratifying the Constitution in the early U.S.

Physical Science with Molly:

This week we continued our focus on properties of fluids. Students were introduced to several key scientists and their discoveries about fluids, namely Archimedes, Boyle, Charles, and Pascal. The students were given my apologies for not returning their science tests sooner. I’ve been very busy with reports, conferences, and giving science fair feedback. They should continue working on their science fair projects and reports.

Spanish with Corinne:

Morning Spanish

Sunshine A

This week in Spanish we reviewed colors, numbers, date, and time before continuing with Chapter 1B, describing yourself. We are working on sentence agreement.

Sunshine B

This week in Spanish we continued with Chapter 6B, talking about items in a room. We practiced making comparisons, and learned special comparative forms to say “better than”, “worse than”, “older than”, and “younger than”.

Spanish B

This week in Spanish we started Chapter 6B, rooms in a house and chores. The students are practicing building sentences to talk about the chores done in specific rooms. We also began learning about positive informal commands.

Spanish C

This week in Spanish we reviewed for and took a quiz on the first part of Chapter 2A.

Spanish D

This week we began Chapter 7B, having a barbeque. We completed activities from the textbook and pages from the workbook, and also caught up on the video series “En busca de la verdad”.

Art with Patti:

Purple room artists are working on all types of clay projects. They are continuing to rotate by pairs to experience throwing on the wheel. Students are also coming up with hand building clay project ideas with the prompt of “pairs”. Many have started building.

Life Skills / Sex Ed with Molly:

Students read through a list of social and academic skills we work on with all middle school students. They chose 5-10 skills they believe they do well, writing an explanation for each. They were then asked to choose 5-10 skills they think they need to work on and wrote a plan for how to achieve each skill.

Thank you from, 
The Purple Team