Grade 7 LC Quarter Two

Dear Parents Welcome to the Second Quarter of Grade 7!

In this newsletter, you'll find brief overviews of the topics and themes your children will be exploring in their core classes this quarter. We're excited to share all the learning opportunities ahead! If you have any specific questions about a subject, please don't hesitate to contact the respective teacher. For general questions, you're welcome to contact the office or our team leads, Ryan Harwood (rharwood@jisedu.or.id) and Stephen Lawrence (slawrence@jisedu.or.id). As always, we're here to assist you. Please email us with any concerns or inquiries.

Best regards,

The Grade 7 Team

Make sure to follow the JIS Middle School social media account on Instagram

ENGLISH

This quarter, students are exploring nonfiction. They’ll investigate real topics that matter to them, from current issues to ideas they want to understand more deeply. As they read and research, they’ll practice identifying important information and noticing how writers communicate their point of view.

Students will take on a short research project and write about what they discover. Later, they’ll share their findings with classmates in brief presentations. Each student will also choose a nonfiction book to read on their own as part of our Nonfiction Reading Challenge.

This work helps students grow as readers, writers, and speakers, while providing them with tools to make sense of the world around them.

How You Can Support Your Child’s Learning:

Try asking:

What nonfiction book are you reading for the challenge?
What’s something new or surprising you’ve learned from your research or reading?
How do authors organize their writing to help you understand the main idea?

Erin O’Dwyer eodwyer@jisedu.or.id

Moon Jang mjang@jisedu.or.id

Ryan Harwood rharwood@jisedu.or.id

Lidiya Reese lreese@jisedu.or.id

SOCIAL STUDIES

Our second unit, Historical Trade, begins with the story of the first Europeans who reached Asia in search of spices and other luxury items. Systems of trade and economics that we rely on today have their origins in historical trade routes that stretch back centuries. In this unit, students will explore the development of early trade throughout history by investigating various historical systems of exchange, such as those that occurred between African kingdoms, throughout the Indian Ocean, across the Silk Road networks, and within the Columbian Exchange. Students will develop their historical thinking by evaluating primary and secondary sources to understand the motivations of early explorers. Students will also consider the effects that trade and voyages of exploration had on people, including the availability of new goods and ideas while also undertaking research into the key features of one historical trade system.

Please maintain an ongoing conversation with your child about their learning during this unit. The connections students make between the past and present will help deepen their understanding of concepts. Should you have any expertise about our trade-centered focus, do let us know if you'd be willing to come in and share your knowledge with us!

If you have any questions, please contact your child’s social studies teacher directly via email.

SCIENCE

After we wrap up Chemical Changes Unit we will shift our focus to Cell Biology. Our investigations will center around concepts about Cells, Plants, energy, and pathogens.

This unit will begin by determining what is alive and then form the criteria of life. Students will start investigating with microscopes. Students will learn the basic methods of focusing a microscope on high and the terminology of microscopy. They will describe the structure and function of the cell’s organelles, understand the level of organization of multicellular organisms, and how cells work interdependently to maintain the health of organisms. Students will end with an investigation of factors of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

Where Can I Learn More and Get Ahead?:

My favorite online science resource is CK-12. We use different sections in class as a resource and there are many topics and sections online.

In the textbook Life Science, we will be covering concepts from chapters 1-2

CK-12 Life Science for Middle School

Stay curious and keep exploring the world around you!

MATH

Our current unit of study, entitled: “Introduction to Proportional Relationships,” will continue into the second quarter. This unit continues to build upon the concepts we covered in the first unit as 7th graders have now already practiced relating multiplicative relationships such as scale factors to polygons. “Introduction to Proportional Relationships” dives much deeper into multiplicative relationships and the activities and problems that now involve a wide range of contexts and stories. In addition to using methods of scaling, students are also using the Constant of Proportionality and unit rates to solve various problems which all have proportionality at their core. Expanding from there, students will learn to write equations that describe proportional relationships as well as their connection to graphing.

At the end of the second quarter, 7th graders will complete the first semester’s proportionality trilogy with a unit entitled: “Proportional Relationships and Percentages”. In this unit, students will use tape diagrams, tables, and double-number lines to represent proportional relationships involving fractional quantities and percentages. Students will also practice writing and using equations of proportional relationships involving percent change.

In between these two proportionality units, we will complete a relatively short unit involving circles. Students will discover how pi was discovered and it's usefulness.

It was wonderful seeing so many parents at conferences. Please continue to support your son or daughter at home by asking questions like these:

How did today’s math lesson connect or build off of the previous one?
What were some other methods you could have used to solve this problem?
Would you be able to explain to an audience how to solve problems like this one?
What do you think are common mistakes?
Can you make a connection between the current unit and something you’ve learned in another subject or in your everyday life?

Physical Education

Welcome to Quarter 2 – 7th Grade PE!
We’re looking forward to an exciting and action-packed Quarter 2 in 7th Grade Physical Education! This term, students will take their learning outdoors with Invasion Games, such as Soccer and Ultimate Frisbee, focusing on teamwork, strategy, and movement in open spaces.
Students will also step into a new challenge through our Leadership Unit, where they’ll take on the role of coach—planning and leading their own team sports sessions for their peers. It’s a great opportunity to build confidence, communication, and collaboration skills.
Please remember to bring your PE uniform, sports shoes, and a water bottle to each class so you can stay ready, active, and hydrated.
Let’s make it another great quarter of learning and movement!

Report abuse