Seventh and fourth grade buddies participated in Faux-lympics to foster interaction and mentoring. Some events were Heel to Toe Race, Cotton Ball Shot Put, Hula Hoop Loop, and many more. Every station was managed by seventh graders who had to instruct the teams on how to accomplish the task at hand. They recorded times, distances, or quantities and averaged scores to reveal a winning team per event. Winning teams were awarded medals and left with heightened confidence in their Faux-lympic abilities!
Students researched myths from around the world and created a diagram summary of the myth of their choosing. They color coded the myths purposes and characteristics throughout. Then students conducted a gallery walk and recorded similarities and differences on their Venn diagrams. They completed the unit by filling in the final column on their KWL chart about mythology around the world.
Preliminary poetry performances were held in class and the second round contestants performed in front of an audience of students, staff, and parents during the Poetry Cafe. The judges awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners with certificates and gift cards for a job well done. Impressive talent was viewed all morning and inspiration filled the room with student projects including haikus, found poetry, concrete poems, and figurative language research.
For the mythology unit, students turned into Greek mythological characters and creatures in this meet and greet activity. They asked each other questions to find out who they were portraying. Students also listened to an African myth, identified and categorized its characteristics and purposes on the front board with sticky notes.
Character Colloquiums were created in groups using shared Google docs. Students worked collaboratively to form a new fictional setting for four of the characters from different novels we read over the course of the year. They worked diligently to produce a situation where the characters would engage in a dialogue that would reveal their personalities and information about their original novels they ventured from. Students also demonstrated their knowledge of writing dialogue correctly, using a variety of dialogue tags. Students then presented their Character Colloquium to the class portraying each one of the characters through their written dialogue.
All classes participated in a Socratic Seminar for an in-depth discussion about our current novel-in-verse. Many students blended current day issues with that of the main character showing how far we have come in this country in relationship to working conditions and women's rights and how far we still need to go.
Flowerpots overflowed with concrete poems that the students typed into the shape of their subject matter. Students took on the perspective of the object and imagined what life would be like from the object's point of view if it could experience emotion and communicate. This is another experience where students needed to look through a different lens to realize how one entity affects another in the world around us. Wonderful work everyone!
On our half day, students participated in The Ripple Effect, an initiative led by fifth grade teacher, Ms. Bolt. They wrote one nice comment on each student's paper which was taped to their backs. In this way, they practiced talking good about people "behind their backs." When they reached everyone in the class, they were able to remove the paper and read all the nice things people said about them. Then they had to think of and write down someone they would like to thank for how wonderful they all are.
Students ventured to investigation stations to discover common themes in poetry. Using collaborative learning, students read aloud, discussed, and conferenced about their thoughts and ideas on the author's messages. Great insights!
Poetry is in the air! Students created their own found poems from other famous poets' words. Using only the most vivid words that applied to their theme, they cut and pasted away to fashion a new stanza and topped it off with a unique title. Students who finished early presented their poems to the class to inspire them even more!
A synonym search was underway as students rushed to find heightened vocabulary words to replace common, overused words. Once they spent time at every station, they voted on the best alternatives. They then used the "celebrity synonym" to created an inspirational quote for a previously printed celebrity image of their choosing. They turned the window wall into "Words of Admiration."
Students filled the classroom with a dodecahedron of moods! While studying the way author's use tone to create a mood in the reader, students created their own twelve expressions on the faces of their dodecahedron shapes. Students also worked collaboratively to discuss the tone of a photograph and convey it through writing the opening to a newspaper article complete with a catchy title.
Presentations of the Phantom Tollbooth projects went smoothly. There were guided tours, interesting games, building dedications, and let's not forget about the award-winning albums. All students presented on time! Amazing effort everyone!
Phantom Tollbooth Projects are underway in Literature. Students are working in their interest groups to create a project of their choice which may include music albums, architectural structures, board games, or topographical maps that depict locations, characters, and conflicts in the novel.
Figurative language phrases were researched and presented in class. Students taught us more on the origin of the phrases and their evolution over time. They also voiced how to use them in context in current day. Audience members took notes on interesting facts presented, connections or personal knowledge about the topic, and questions they had for the presenters.
Students used brainstorming and novel recall to delve further into specific topics about The Phantom Tollbooth. Students contributed to each topic and then presented one including the responses, meaning, and pertinence to the novel. Students then used the topic words to summarize the novel in an in-class writing assignment.
Students work collaboratively on creating project proposals for their upcoming Phantom Tollbooth Project. Each group used the Chromebooks to simultaneously work on the Google Doc that they shared amongst themselves.
Literature class transformed into "Phantom Tollbooth TV" with students broadcasting their summaries of a section of our current novel while taking on the role of a live broadcasting crew. Here they come Eye Witness News!
Homeroom 7A invited their fourth grade buddies to celebrate Christmas with them. Together, students created recycled Christmas trees, candy cane reindeer, and contributed to a gingerbread house while Christmas movies played in the background. A wonderful time was had by all.
Students used collaboration skills to create a part of the set in A Christmas Carol complete with window panes showing conflicts of the scene and the characterization of Scrooge from one of the character's perspectives.
Students eagerly participated in theater-style reading of A Christmas Carol taking on many roles and even offering stage cues and British accents.
Students prepared for a debate using collaborative reading and synthesizing. They strengthened their arguments by mentioning expert testimony and respected organizations in presenting their findings.
Students participated in a Fishbowl Discussion sharing their opinions and supporting their ideas with evidence from the novel, their own experience, and the world around them. Audience members were active listeners, giving critical feedback to the discussion members.
Students became immersed in the novel, The Cay, by reenacting the "HELP" scene. Students experienced what the characters struggled with in communicating between a blind boy and an illiterate man. Students strengthened their creativity and communication skills through this activity as well as their trust.
Students worked diligently to create mini movie summaries of The Cay complete with all aspects of the plot while adding special effects, music, and dialect.
Seventh graders were among the many students who made unique graphic Thanksgiving Day cards for senior citizens in the area. Their charity work brightened the day of many senior residents of local living centers.
During our "Island Days" students used cooperative learning and experienced the setting of The Cay in several stations of information including the culture and dialect of the Caribbean.
Students got to know each other better while practicing their presentation skills by displaying personal artifacts, reading their "I am from" poems, and revealing their goals for the future. Audience members perfected their listening skills by asking questions and making connections with presenters.
Students participated in the Positive Puzzle Challenge to experience problem-solving, listening, speaking, and especially using positive words in communication. This exercise allowed students to practice giving feedback to their peers, which they will continue to do throughout the year in peer editing.
Literature classes kept cool and engaged in the computer lab while creating storyboard summaries of their summer reading books. Students learned to identify and apply the elements of a plot such as exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution to the novels they read this summer. They also created scenery and characters that they visualized from the stories. In addition, they created dialogue and captions that they remembered to convey a thorough summary of the books. Students also learned how to organize an SIOS (Summary in One Sentence) to give an overview of their reading. Finally, students presented their storyboard summaries to the class. Wonderful work!
The 7th graders stepped up to the cup challenge and worked effectively in teams. Then they reflected on their efforts and recorded their actions and feelings on what it means to be part of an effective team. Great job everyone!