The Life of a Seventh Grader
Written by: The Entire Seventh Grade Family
September was the month of new beginnings. While walking back into the doors and halls of Glen Hills Middle School wasn’t anything new, the life of a seventh grader was. It was a new experience, one beginning with the march up the stairs leading to the second level where lockers and classrooms, although nothing new, were placed in an unfamiliar land. Learning to navigate the classes, learn about our new teachers and the new material we’d be learning, and on top of that, all the rules and expectations were, at times, overwhelming. But now that we are in the sixth week of school, the waves of uncharted waters have settled down and we are learning how to navigate the seventh grade and all the expectations that come with it, better. Routines have become like breathing, a part of our everyday, middle school lives. And while we haven’t mastered all the nuances of the seventh grade world, we look forward to learning, leading, and laughing as we thrive to challenge ourselves, our peers, and better our communities. We attended field trips to Kletzsch Park and some of us visited Wisconsin Dells. This learning allowed us to “get our feet wet” through outdoor learning experiences. On top of that, we are learning more about ourselves and one another—a blessing of mass proportions. What a gift! Who knows? Perhaps, we’ll even look back at this first trimester realizing, “The beginning of seventh grade wasn’t so bad after all.”
Quite the Characters
We are thrilled to report that we have dived head first into the exploration of characters as part of our first unit of study in ELA. Beyond the ordinary reading of texts and novels, we as seventh graders have pushed ourselves to consider the often ignored intricacies of reading and writing. Our analysis of characters—what they need, want, and desire—the barriers and conflicts that get in the way of such goals—and the life experiences that shape a character are important dynamics to study when investigating characters in literature. What we are finding is that much of the study of main and minor characters in novels and text are not very different from that of human beings. Looking at it all collectively, we are all quite the characters!
7th Grade Social Studies Overview:
Learning Objectives: This week, students will learn the 5 basic elements for creating and reading a map. The acronym, T.O.A.D.S. will be the center and focus of this week. Students will be practicing reading and analyzing different kinds of global maps (physical, political, and thematic) as well as applying their knowledge to create their own maps.
Title – name of a map
Author – maker of a map
Orientation – object showing directions on a map
Date – year a map was made
Symbol – small picture on a map that represents something instead of using words
