It is a great time to check pencil status - many students are coming to class with no pencils but still need them.
Cold season is in full effect, if you want to donate Kleenexes to us, we would greatly appreciate it! Thank you to those who have donated. English - Ripp and Bures Questions to ask: How did reading Refugee change your worldview? Which book did you choose for your book club group? How do you need to plan for success in book groups?
What are the rules of your dystopian world?
Geography- (Kreklow/Stoller) Homework: Middle East Political and Physical Map, 2nd Quarter Current Event Questions to ask: What countries are in the middle east? What are the 5 themes of Geography? Landsverk -7th grade Spanish: This week on Thursday and Friday we have our vocabulary quiz. Retakes are due within a week of the testing date. Students who need to retake must fill out the "retake request form" and provide evidence of studying. The unit summative will be a written essay about school. These will be for December 16th and 17th. Students should be studying their verbs and vocab to prepare for the summative. Orchestra: Nearly every student has chosen a piece to focus on for the recital unit. Many of these pieces will take time outside of school to learn. Please, encourage 40-60 minutes of practice per week at home (even 10 min/day can make a huge difference). Questions to ask: What technical aspects of my piece do I understand (key, accidentals, rhythms, fingerings, bowing, articulation)? What technical aspects of my piece do I not understand? What should I ask for guidance on at my next small group? When is my next small group? STEAM - Fischer Questions to ask: How did you engineer your mousetrap? What were the constraints and criteria? Were you successful in catching the mouse? Do you still need 2-liter bottles? Yes, the answer should be yes. CHOIR:
Reminder: Choir Summative Concert Assessment (Winter concert) is on Dec. 6. Students arrive at 6:30. Concert at 7:00 PM at OHS. Please check for tan pants/skirt and black shoes. If you are in need of assistance to find these items, please email Mrs. Rattmann at her@oregonsd.net before this weekend.
Questions to ask: What is a syncopa? What is an ordinal number and how do you use it in music? Band - Jaeger The first concert of the year is on Tuesday, December 11th. Students need to arrive to the OHS band room by 6:15 p.m. that night for warm up and tuning, and the concert begins at 7 p.m. It will last about 50-60 minutes. Concert attire is black dress clothes and shoes. If students do not have black, dark colored dress clothes or any clothes they feel like they are presenting themselves as a young professional in are just fine. Concert black is just a guideline to shoot for. Please contact me if any assistance is needed, or if you have any questions. If you can avoid scheduling appointments for the morning of the 11th during their dress rehearsal (9am-11:15am), please do. This is the only time that all three large groups of 7th graders will meet together before their concert that night. There are a lot of logistics that change when all of the kids are together at once in a completely different performance space. Thanks! We look forward to seeing you at the concert that evening at 7:00 p.m. in the PAC. Ask your student what is the most important thing they learned from their clinic on Friday with composer Mike Forbes. Science- Spaeth
Deadlines:
Protist project due 12/4 Protist and levels of organization quiz 12/4 |
Friday, November 30, 2018
Newsletter November 30th, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
Book Order for November
Hello,
With the holidays approaching, books make a terrific gift idea. We have new Scholastic book catalogs come in and there are some amazing books in them. You are also more than welcome to order for younger siblings.
Due date: Friday, November 2nd, 2018.
How to place your order:
You can place your order by sending in a check made out to Scholastic Book Club or by ordering online.
To shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: GXJ8R
Recommended Books:
- Louisianne's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
- The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag
- Lu by Jason Reynolds
- The Way to Bea by Kat Yeh
- Doctor Who: The Handbook (updated with the new doctor!)
- Pride by Ibi Zoboi (PG13)
- Minecraft - The Crash by Tracey Baptiste
- Ms. Marvel
- Ban this Book by ALan Gratz
- The Crimes of Grindelwald by J.K. Rowling
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds (PG13)
- Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
- Miles Morales Spiderman by Bendix, Pichelli, Ponsoir
And so many more!
Best,
Pernille Ripp
Friday, October 19, 2018
Guided Inquiry Refugee Project - Our Informational Speech
Guided Inquiry Refugee Project Hyperdoc
Learning targets:
- Students can create an inquiry question to guide their research
- Students can synthesize their research
- Students can create a presentation using information that is understandable to those who have not researched their topic
- Students can evaluate whose perspective is missing to create further research questions
- Students can present using poise, voice, life, eye contact, gestures and speed.
Instructions for the project can be found here - Includes a timeline, standards assessed and other information.
Questions we have:
Resources:
Rubrics:
Speech Rubric can be found here
Project content rubric can be found here
Note-taking:
Graphic organizer for your notes can be found here
Thursday, October 4, 2018
First Speech of the Year
1st Quarter Speech: 1-2 Minute Speech
Goal: To create a one to two-minute speech to be presented in front of the class. Topics could be:
- An object that represents you in some way (7th-grade show and tell!)
- Introduction of yourself
- Discussing what type of superhero you would be
- Or invent your own topic
Summative Standards Assessed:
Standard 7: Present focused claims using poise, voice, life, eye contact, gestures, and speed.
Timeline & Due date: Time will be given in class to work on this Wednesday, October 3rd and Thursday, October 4th.
All speeches need to be ready by October 5th where it will be given in front of your classmates.
Detailed description:
Students will write and perform a 1-2 minute speech on a self-chosen topic.
If you are introducing yourself here are suggestions for things to include:
- What does your name mean or how did you get your name?
- Where were you born?
- What are things you are great at?
- What are things you are passionate about?
- What is your family like?
If you are doing the superhero here are suggestions for things to include:
- How would you become a superhero?
- What would your superpowers be?
- What would your name be?
- What would you look like?
- What would your main purpose be?
- Would you be good superheroes or villains? Why would you choose that?
- What would your superhero gadgets be?
- Where would your lair (hideout) be and what would it look like?
Students should:
- Use your time wisely in class so you do not have to work on it at home.
- Time your speech to make sure it is right around 1-2 minute, not too short and not too long. It may not be less than a minute and it cannot be longer than two.
- Practice your speech to make sure you feel comfortable.
- Have a way of supporting themselves through your speech, meaning you can use notecards or a manuscript, however, you may not read your speech but need to deliver it as best as you can.
- Content does not get assessed, only speaking skills.
- You may use visuals if you would like.
Monday, October 1, 2018
A Note on Assessments and Retakes
Good morning,
As I am finishing up assessing the students' first summative writing assignment, the memoir, I thought it would be helpful to share a few things with you about assessment in 7-O English.
Standards:
We have 9 standards we teach to in 7th grade English. All standards will show up twice in a year so if your learner gets a lower than expected grade the first time around, we have another chance at the standard later in the year. This is to account for the different developmental levels that students are at.
To see the standards assessed all year in 7-O English, go here
Re-takes:
Formative work typically does not need to be re-taken as it shows where students are at with their practice work. We encourage students to re-take their summative, however anything live such as speeches or discussion cannot be re-taken.
We have two requirements for all re-takes in English; students need to be reading outside of English and trying to meet their weekly goal AND they need to be doing their daily writing prompts in class and showing effort. Without these two fundamental requirements they cannot re-take their work. We encourage all students to meet with us to discuss whether they need to do a re-take, but the general rule is that anything that is below a "2" or so should be discussed.
Today and tomorrow, we are doing a notebook check-in where students will be assigned an engagement grade (C)onsistent, (S)ometimes, (R)arely - you will see this show up in Infinite Campus tomorrow and if your child has an "S" or an "R" I would ask them why.
Engagement grades will be filled out periodically so you can see whether your learner is actively engaged in the daily work. We hope this will be helpful for you as you help guide them through 7th grade.
To see the re-take policy for 7-O English, go here
Memoirs:
Often a standard is broken down into several components so that students can see which specific skill they need to work on, rather than one big grade. For the memoir, students were assessed on three different components of standard 4: Event sequence, details and writing technique. You will, therefore, see three different scores under that same standard - they are not averaged and stand on their own. They were assessed on two separate components of standard 8: Capitalization and end punctuation. Altogether, you will see five different scores for the memoir.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Teaching these kids is truly amazing, I am so excited for the year ahead.
Best,
Pernille
Monday, September 24, 2018
Best Draft Memoir Project Details
This Friday, we have our best draft of our memoir project due. For the past few weeks, students have been immersed in learning about the memoir structure by reading memoirs and also trying their hand at writing one. Over the weekend, I gave feedback to all of the students who handed in their best draft so far.
Here is the breakdown of the project.
Here is the breakdown of the project.
The Memoir Project
Due: Friday before class starts.
Goal: To take your memoir draft and pair it down to a story that has heart, dialogue, and descriptive word choice.
Options
- Typed narrative with a visual component
- This can be a drawing, painting, collage, etc.
- Comic
- This must be hand or digitally drawn. You cannot use Powtoon or anything similar because it is too limiting for this assignment.
- If you choose this, you must talk to Mrs. Ripp because some of the rubric items will be found in your drawings not just your words.
- Poem with a visual component
- This can be a drawing, painting, collage, etc.
- Picture book
- Use Google Slides
- Video
- You can use our Animoto account if you would like
- Copy of your script
- Can use digital images or your own photos
- 100 word narrative with a visual component
- This can be a drawing, painting, collage, etc.
Challenge:
- Pare it down to only exactly 100 words - you must still have a visual component.
Class Schedule
- Monday-Tuesday- Everyone is working on the writing in class
- Wednesday- Editing lesson and groups. Students may work on writing or visuals
- Thursday- Finishing the project. Students may work on writing or visuals
- Friday- Gallery walk/Sharing something from your memoir
Standards assessed:
Standard 4
|
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
|
Standard 8
|
Command the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, spelling, and vocabulary.
|
To see the rubric, go here
Monday, September 17, 2018
To Help With the Character Analysis Assignment
Students in English have been practicing analyzing a character using the 1st chapter from the book Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhoarse. This Wednesday, they have their re-written character analysis due. To do this analysis, they may need the following:
The text can be found here
The example and progression chart can be found here
The rubric can be found here
Directions can be found here
They have been given 30 minutes of work-time in class as well on this, where many were able to finish.
The text can be found here
The example and progression chart can be found here
The rubric can be found here
Directions can be found here
They have been given 30 minutes of work-time in class as well on this, where many were able to finish.
Monday, September 10, 2018
Scholastic Book Order for September
Scholastic Book Orders!
If you at all are considering ordering books for your child, please make it from this one, because if we receive $300 worth of orders our classroom gets 10,000 bonus points, which I then use to get us more books! You are also more than welcome to order for younger siblings.
Due date: Thursday, the 13th of September.
How to place your order:
You can place your order by sending in a check made out to Scholastic Book Club or by ordering online.
To shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: GXJ8R
Recommended Books:
- Grenade by Alan Gratz
- Miles Morales Spiderman by Jason Reynolds
- From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon
- Amulet book 8 by Kazu Kibuishi
- Fault Lines in the Constitution by Cynthia Levinson and Sanford Levinson
- Escape from Syria by Samya Kullab
- Rebound by Kwame Alexander
- American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
- Dog Man : Lord of the Fleas by Dav Pilkey
- Track series by Jason Reynolds
And so many more!
Best,
Pernille Ripp
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
7th Grade Reading Challenge Introduced
7th Grade Reading Challenge:
Today I introduced the 7th-grade reading challenge to students. The expectations for reading this year are:
- To set a reading challenge goal for themselves, this will be done in class tomorrow.
- To read at least two hours outside of class every week.
- To read at least 25 chapter books or more.
- To only read great books for them, whatever that may be.
- If they do not want to do a quantity goal, they can challenge themselves in another way, such as
- Reading longer books than you normally do, if so, what is your typical range of pages?
- Reading harder vocabulary books.
- Trying new formats of books, if so which?
- Trying new genres, if so which?
- They do not need to log their minutes but we will keep track of books in class.
To see more information about this challenge, please go here
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