Team Delta

 Social Studies:  Our current unit is Prehistory: What's the Story of Us (Humans)?! In this unit, we are exploring the origins of humanity up to the rise of civilization. Students are analyzing primary sources, like artifacts, to make claims about the past and how technology changed the way people lived. 

This week (10/27) we are wrapping up a simulation around early hominins around the theme of Survivor (the TV show). In partners, they are researching early hominin species this week and making a slideshow about their species and their survival skills. On Thursday, we are presenting our slideshows to the class and we will vote on which species should win our Survivor game. We are practicing skills on how to research and write claims using historical evidence. 

Language Arts:  As we move into the second unit of study in our Folktales Module, students are now focused on writing well-structured paragraphs. At EMS, we refer to these as CERF (pronounced "surf") paragraphs, as students learn to write strong claims, use relevant evidence, articulate their reasoning, and conclude with insightful conclusions or "finishers." Students will be reading several texts from Latin America and the guiding questions for this portion of the Folktales Module are: 

• What fears, values, or beliefs of a culture are reflected in the monsters it creates?

• How do folktales use plot, setting, and characters to emphasize their theme?

Science: Our big question for this unit is: Why is Mount Everest growing taller and moving northeast?

We are putting together the big ideas of plate tectonics including mantle convection currents. Students will have an assessment either at the end of this week or early next week.

Here is our Science Daily Agenda if you'd like to see what we're doing each day.

Math: 7th Grade Math -  We are starting our second Unit on Proportional Relationships and looking at creating tables, graphs, and writing equations. Homework is HERE and due 10/30.

8th Grade Math -   Investigating how similar polygons are affected by dilation and then graphing them on a coordinate grid.  We have a paper handout that is due 10/30.