Friday, August 28, 2015

Welcome!

Welcome 7th Grade Families! I am so excited to have you in my homeroom this year! We've already had a great time getting to know each other, creating a classroom culture of respect and team work, sharing pictures and art work, and a myriad of other fun things. If they haven't been filling you in, ask about all the happenings of the week. It's been awesome!
This blog will be one point of communication that we have this year. If there's an announcement or assignment that pertains to the whole middle school, you'll see it on the main Middle School page. If it's specific to 7th grade, it'll be on the 7th Grade page. Be sure to check both pages periodically.
As always, if you have any questions you are always welcome to email me or any of the middle school teachers.
Here's to the beginning of a great year!

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Subject Update: Geography - 8/27

As an introduction to Geography, today we took a look at the importance of good map making.  To accomplish this, we took a virtual trip to snowy Siberia in search of gold.  Half the class entered the classroom as cartographers, mapping out the location of different gold deposits located around the classroom while the rest of the class were designated as geologists, waiting in the common area for their maps to be made to find their treasure.
(some of the maps our 7th graders drew)

When the geologists entered, they saw a very different classroom than the cartographers had mapped, as a "snowstorm" had blown through Siberia, covering up where the gold deposits were and moving much of the classroom furniture.  They had to rely on their maps to find where the gold was located.  Some were more successful than others, but it definitely proved the point of how important good maps are to navigation.
Ask your 7th graders about this activity and how successful they were at finding the gold!

With the Chromebooks being handed out today, tomorrow we will start to work with our online Geography textbook.  Our book is provided through TCI (the link is posted here and also available under the "Quick Links" tab).  This weekend, your 7th grader should be able to show you all the many features this online book provides.