T2 WEEK 17: 12/15 - 12/19
Please send this message along with your links.
7th Grade Website: https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/stagebarn7thgrade/home
No after School Study Hall this week. After-school study hall will resume on December 2, 2025.l: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgNJT0TdZaq0AsC4pPsYyVPrGeKZmk8O6HwBjFLAFOqt6YUA/viewform?usp=header
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: We have seen an influx of missing work. If something does not get finished during class, it is the students responsibility to get it done during study hall, or at home! All information about assignments are on Planbook/Google Classroom!
END OF TRIMESTER 11/14 – Parents be on the lookout for report cards in the following week. Reminder grades reset after trimester meaning even one or two missing assignments will result in a failing grade. Parents, we will also be doing a pancake feed TUESDAY Nov. 25 in the morning. We are looking for volunteers to donate fruit: Bananas, Strawberries, or etc. Please let Mr. Doerges know if you can donate some fruit (trent.doerges@k12.sd.us)
ELA: This week, we have been reading A Christmas Carol, and doing a Christmas related project!
Reading BUCKLEY: This week, we started reading the novel The One Safe Place.
Math: 2,3,4,6: We finished 3-2. We started a percent worksheet that is due Monday. Friday, we started a new worksheet called part, percent,whole which is due next friday.
Social Studies: Students learned about the middle and southern colonies government and economy. Understanding how these affected history. Students will be tested over this Unit on Wednesday Dec. 17.
SCIENCE: We are continuing our sexual and asexual reproduction unit. We will be looking at the various cellular activities that organisms use to reproduce. With the holiday break, we will be continuing this unit after the break as well. Since the holiday break is looming and attention wanes during this time, we will take a break in some classes for some more festive holiday science activities.
Mr. D’s Corner of the World: It’s been a crazy couple weeks before break, so we are busy busy busy! We are knee deep into new goals for students who have had their IEPs this year and progressing well on goals for meetings that happen this spring. I am LOVING the independence of our crew!
Best Regards,
SMS 7th Grade Team
Keenan.Justice@k12.sd.us
Ian.Walton@k12.sd.us
Alexa.Buckley@k12.sd.us
trent.doerges@k12.sd.us
T1 WEEK 13: 11/17 - 11/21
Please send this message along with your links.
7th Grade Website: https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/stagebarn7thgrade/home
No after School Study Hall this week. After-school study hall will resume on December 2, 2025.l: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgNJT0TdZaq0AsC4pPsYyVPrGeKZmk8O6HwBjFLAFOqt6YUA/viewform?usp=header
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: We have seen an influx of missing work. If something does not get finished during class, it is the students responsibility to get it done during study hall, or at home! All information about assignments are on Planbook/Google Classroom!
END OF TRIMESTER 11/14 – Parents be on the lookout for report cards in the following week. Reminder grades reset after trimester meaning even one or two missing assignments will result in a failing grade. Parents, we will also be doing a pancake feed TUESDAY Nov. 25 in the morning. We are looking for volunteers to donate fruit: Bananas, Strawberries, or etc. Please let Mr. Doerges know if you can donate some fruit (trent.doerges@k12.sd.us)
ELA: This week, we finished our second argumentative essay. Next week, we will do some Thanksgiving activities!
Reading BUCKLEY: This week, we continued reading the book The One Safe Place.
Math: 2,3,4:We worked on 2-5 and the proportion worksheet all week. Proportions worksheet due 11/24. 6th: We finished 2-4 and 2-5. We also started Proportional Relationship worksheet and will be due on 11/25.
Social Studies: Students learned about survival in the colonies and ways of life. Students are tying in hardships from the colonies to current hardships. Creating a PSA comparing colonial hardship to modern.
SCIENCE: We complete our unit on the Carbon Cycle. This is an examination of the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration to life on Earth. Many of your students did a great job on their cell project! I was amazed at the creativity and effort. This project is worth 80 points. You will be able to see your student’s grade on their project this week.
Mr. D’s Corner of the World: Goal reports will be in the mail on Monday! We have a lot of meetings in the upcoming weeks, so I will see many of you soon! Scheduled times for services changed just a little bit as we welcome a new student into our crew, so we are getting used to setting new alarms and coming at different times for some of us. We got this though!
Best Regards,
SMS 7th Grade Team
Keenan.Justice@k12.sd.us
Ian.Walton@k12.sd.us
Alexa.Buckley@k12.sd.us
trent.doerges@k12.sd.us
T1 WEEK 13: 11/17 - 11/21
Please send this message along with your links.
7th Grade Website: https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/stagebarn7thgrade/home
After School Study Hall: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgNJT0TdZaq0AsC4pPsYyVPrGeKZmk8O6HwBjFLAFOqt6YUA/viewform?usp=header
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: We have seen an influx of missing work. If something does not get finished during class, it is the students responsibility to get it done during study hall, or at home! All information about assignments are on Planbook/Google Classroom!
END OF TRIMESTER 11/14 – Parents be on the lookout for report cards in the following week. Reminder grades reset after trimester meaning even one or two missing assignments will result in a failing grade. Parent we will also be doing a pancake feed TUESDAY Nov. 25 in the morning. We are looking for volunteers to donate fruit: Bananas, Strawberries, or etc. Please let Mr. Doerges know if you can donate some fruit (trent.doerges@k12.sd.us)
ELA: This week, we are starting our second argumentative essay. Students did awesome the first time!
Reading BUCKLEY: This week, we continued reading the book The One Safe Place.
Math: 2,3,4:We will be working on 2-5 and 2-6 in the book. Working on Proportional relationships in tables and graphs. Writing equations from graphs and tables. 6th: will finish 2-4 and start 2-5 this week. All classes will do A packet of Proportional relationships.
Social Studies: Students are learning about the English colonies and how colonists made a living. Focusing on economic effects leading up to French and Indian war. What we are learning is causes of the Revolutionary War.
SCIENCE: We start our unit on the Carbon Cycle. This is an examination of the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration to life on Earth. The individual cell model project information, which includes the grading rubric, was handed out two weeks ago. It will be due NLT 21 Nov. No late assignments will be accepted.
Mr. D’s Corner of the World: As the trimester nears, I’ll be working on goal reports for students. It’s always fun to see their growth! You’ll get both a digital copy of the reports as well as a paper copy that I’ll send in the mail.
Best Regards,
SMS 7th Grade Team
Keenan.Justice@k12.sd.us
Ian.Walton@k12.sd.us
T1 WEEK 12: 11/10 - 11/14
Please send this message along with your links.
7th Grade Website: https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/stagebarn7thgrade/home
After School Study Hall: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgNJT0TdZaq0AsC4pPsYyVPrGeKZmk8O6HwBjFLAFOqt6YUA/viewform?usp=header
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: We have seen an influx of missing work. If something does not get finished during class, it is the students responsibility to get it done during study hall, or at home! All information about assignments are on Planbook/Google Classroom!
END OF TRIMESTER 11/14 – Parents be on the lookout for report cards in the following week. Reminder grades reset after trimester meaning even one or two missing assignments will result in a failing grade. Parent we will also be doing a pancake feed TUESDAY Nov. 25 in the morning. We are looking for volunteers to donate fruit: Bananas, Strawberries, or etc. Please let Mr. Doerges know if you can donate some fruit (trent.doerges@k12.sd.us)
ELA: This week, we are continuing with our argumentative essay. We are just about done, and will be starting the editing process. Students have been working really hard and their writing looks really good!
Reading BUCKLEY: This week, we continued reading the book The One Safe Place.
Math: All math classes:We will be working on 2-3 and 2-4 in the book. Working on Proportional relationships in tables and graphs.
Social Studies: Students are testing on Exploration and colonies. We will be moving into life in the colonies and causes of events leading up to the Revolutionary war.
SCIENCE: We continue our unit on Plant and Animal Cells. We will have a quiz on Wed of this week. The individual cell model project information, which includes the grading rubric, was handed out last week. It will be due NLT 21 Nov. This assignment will be on the next Term. No late assignments will be accepted.
Mr. D’s Corner of the World: As the trimester nears, I’ll be working on goal reports for students. It’s always fun to see their growth! You’ll get both a digital copy of the reports as well as a paper copy that I’ll send in the mail.
Best Regards,
SMS 7th Grade Team
Keenan.Justice@k12.sd.us
Ian.Walton@k12.sd.us
Alexa.Buckley@k12.sd.us
trent.doerges@k12.sd.us
T1 WEEK 11: 11/3 - 11/7
Please send this message along with your links.
7th Grade Website: https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/stagebarn7thgrade/home
After School Study Hall: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgNJT0TdZaq0AsC4pPsYyVPrGeKZmk8O6HwBjFLAFOqt6YUA/viewform?usp=header
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: We have seen an influx of missing work. If something does not get finished during class, it is the students responsibility to get it done during study hall, or at home! All information about assignments are on Planbook/Google Classroom!
ELA: This week, we are continuing with our argumentative essay. We also are preparing for Veteran’s Day. We are writing letters to Vets. Students have been working really hard the last couple of weeks and their writing has been looking really good!
Reading BUCKLEY: This week, we continued reading the book The One Safe Place. Students have read up to chapter 22, and have been participating in book club discussions.
Math: All math classes:Last week,we started 2-1 in the book. This week we will finish 2-1 and start 2-2.
Social Studies: Students were able to work on Inquiry Journals. In these journals students were able to read letters, journals, and passages from famous explorers. We will finish up Topic 3 this week and have a test Monday Nov. 10
SCIENCE: We started our unit on Plant and Animal Cells. This is a close look into all the special functions of the organelles and how they support life. We will continue to explore various cells using microscopes and taking detailed notes. We will have a big project to end this unit. Students will build their own 3D model of a cell. Details about this project will be given to your student this week.
Mr. D’s Corner of the World: As the trimester nears, I’ll be working on goal reports for students. It’s always fun to see their growth! You’ll get both a digital copy of the reports as well as a paper copy that I’ll send in the mail.
Best Regards,
SMS 7th Grade Team
Keenan.Justice@k12.sd.us
Ian.Walton@k12.sd.us
Alexa.Buckley@k12.sd.us
trent.doerges@k12.sd.us
T1 WEEK 9: 10/20 - 10/24
Please send this message along with your links.
7th Grade Website: https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/stagebarn7thgrade/home
After School Study Hall: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgNJT0TdZaq0AsC4pPsYyVPrGeKZmk8O6HwBjFLAFOqt6YUA/viewform?usp=header
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: We have seen an influx of missing work. If something does not get finished during class, it is the students responsibility to get it done during study hall, or at home! All information about assignments are on Planbook/Google Classroom!
ELA: This week, we are beginning our argumentative writing unit. We will start by breaking down our thoughts and evidence with a graphic organizer, and work together to create a thesis statement.
Reading BUCKLEY: This week, we continued reading the book The One Safe Place. Students have read up to chapter 22, and have been participating in book club discussions.
Math: All math classes:l This week, we will be looking at reviewing for our test that is on Monday, October 27th. Students have a review packet that is due the morning of their test. The test covers adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing positive and negative numbers (whole numbers, decimals and fractions).
Social Studies: The Age of Exploration–What caused European countries to branch out and explore? We are going to learn about this concept this unit in American History. Students have access to their test scores from last week of school.
SCIENCE: We are wrapping up our unit looking at the similarities and differences between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cells. Students have been taking guided notes using their science notebooks. Students can expect a unit test on Friday. Next week we will take a look at microscopes and how we use them in Life Science. This is in preparation for our unit on plant and animal cells where we will discuss organelles and their functions.
Mr. D’s Corner of the World: Wow, it’s been a busy couple of weeks! Students are hitting their stride, and missing work is still something to chip away at, but it’s better and better as time goes on. While I love the independence that students are showing, at times they still need prompting from teachers to email me to get some help (either I come to the classroom or they meet me in our room) for help, especially with reading.
Best Regards,
SMS 7th Grade Team
Keenan.Justice@k12.sd.us
Ian.Walton@k12.sd.us
Alexa.Buckley@k12.sd.us
T1 WEEK 6: 9/29-10/3
Please send this message along with your links.
Hello 7th grade parents/guardians!
In an attempt to provide a meaningful and positive experience for families, we are again going to use a hybrid format for parent teacher conferences this Fall. Please read through this email for important information about the format as well as instructions about what you need to do prior to PT conferences.
PT conferences will be two days of In-person meetings on Tuesday October 7th and Thursday October 9th, from 3:30-6:30
Tuesday's (10/7/25) conferences will be open format in the gym. This is the same as we have done in the past. You are welcome to come to the gym and talk to any teacher you would like.
Thursday's (10/9/25) conferences will be scheduled in 5 minute intervals, taking place in the teachers' room. Families will be responsible for scheduling the conferences they would like to have using the links below. These conferences will be limited to 5 minutes, and in order to respect all parents' time and schedule, all conferences will be stopped at the five minute mark due to another conference being scheduled. If there are specific concerns, please be sure to note those when scheduling a conference so teachers can be prepared. Encore teachers will be available to talk on Thursday without scheduling a meeting.
To schedule a conference with teachers on Thursday, October 9th, please use the following links. We encourage you to only schedule meetings for every-other time slot if attending multiple meetings in order to give yourself time to walk to the next conference.
Conferences Sign up links
Social Studies Sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49AAAC2DA6F5C43-59085123-oct
Special Education https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948A5AF28A1FDC52-59086901-doergess
ELA: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0848A9A829AAFBCE9-59086599-october
Math:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0948A5AE2BA3FCC34-59174051-october
Science: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0545AAAB2AA2FDCE9-59174055-october
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: We have seen an influx of missing work. If something does not get finished during class, it is the students responsibility to get it done during study hall, or at home! All information about assignments are on Planbook!
T1 WEEK 4: 9/15-9/19
7th Grade Website: https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/stagebarn7thgrade/home
*All of our Planbook sites can be found here!
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: We have seen an influx of missing work. If something does not get finished during class, it is the students responsibility to get it done during study hall, or at home! All information about assignments are on Planbook!
ELA: This week, our Children’s books are starting to come together. Students wrote their rough drafts and also outlined the illustrations and layout of the book that they will publish. In their green packets, students should be through page 7C for Monday.
Reading BUCKLEY: This week, we continued reading the book The One Safe Place. Students have read up to chapter 10. This week, we are doing our first Literature Circle discussion.
Math: All math classes: We worked on Adding integers graphing and 1-4 Subtracting integers.
Due dates: Graphing due 9/19, 1-1 through 1-2 were due 9/16, 1-3 is due 9/18 (done in class), and 1-4 (done in class) is due 9/23.
Social Studies: Students are learning what skills are needed to use throughout History class. Skills like making inferences and drawing conclusions.
SCIENCE: We continued to review science skills and base knowledge this week. One skill that has been identified as needing additional focus is understanding and interpreting graphs. We spent time this week looking at different types of graphs and discussing how they are used in science and in everyday life. Ask your student to show you their graphing skills on Google Sheets. We focused on identifying independent, dependent, and control variables in the scientific method. This is a traditionally difficult concept for students to grasp as it requires logical reasoning. Ask your students about it when you get the chance. The wrap up event this week
T1 WEEK 3: 9/
7th Grade Website: https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/stagebarn7thgrade/home
*All of our Planbook sites can be found here!
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: We have seen an influx of missing work. If something does not get finished during class, it is the students responsibility to get it done during study hall, or at home! All information about assignments are on Planbook!
ELA: This week, we continued our Children’s Book Project. Students will write a children’s book using the writing process. We have been brainstorming what we are going to write for our own writing.
Reading BUCKLEY: This week, we continued reading the book The One Safe Place. Students have read up to chapter 10. This week, we are doing our first Literature Circle discussion.
Math: All math classes: We worked on 1-1, 1-2 and part of 1-3. 1-1 and 1-2 XL’s are due on 9/16. 1-3 XL is due 9/18. 1-1and 1-2 XL, we didn’t get a chance to work on it during class but will have plenty of class time for 1-3 XL.
Social Studies: What is History? Why do we need History? Students are looking through famous quotes from historical figures discussing the importance of history.
SCIENCE: We continued to review science skills and base knowledge this week. One skill that has been identified as needing additional focus is understanding and interpreting graphs. We spent time this week looking at different types of graphs and discussing how they are used in science and in everyday life. Ask your student to show you their graphing skills on Google Sheets. We focused on identifying independent, dependent, and control variables in the scientific method. This is a traditionally difficult concept for students to grasp as it requires logical reasoning. Ask your students about it when you get the chance. The wrap up event this week
T1 WEEK 2: 9/2 - 9/5
7th Grade Website: https://sites.google.com/k12.sd.us/stagebarn7thgrade/home
*All of our Planbook sites can be found here!
Parent Pro Tips & Reminders: If you are gone, checking Planbook will be super helpful. You can find them on our website, or on Google Classroom!
ELA: This week, we started our Children’s Book Project. Students will write a children’s book using the writing process. We started this week by doing some research to gain inspiration for our own writing. Both of the My Book Notes pages are due Monday!
Reading BUCKLEY: This week, we started reading the book The One Safe Place. Students have done research on the author, and began reading the first two chapters. The Theme page is due Monday!
Math: All math classes worked on a 100 question review packet for the past week and a half. It will be graded based on effort in class. Students were allowed to work with partners so if it’s not done, they have the weekend to get a little more done before it’s due on MONDAY.
Social Studies: Students have been working on routines and procedures. With these practices students know how to act like 7th graders. The expectations will be the same for the rest of the year. Academically students are working on finding key details in text, citing the details and summarizing the article into a concise paragraph Due Wednesday Sept 10f.
SCIENCE: We are working on reviewing science concepts. The metric system is always a challenge because we do not use it often in this country, however it is an essential skill used in science. We also reviewed the Scientific Method which we will apply in our lab activities this year starting next week.
Mr. D’s Corner of the World: This week, my students have been working on their new routines for specialized instruction. I love that students get to stay in classes and have learned to email me to jump to their classrooms when they need my help or tell me they’re meeting me in our room. Biggest hit for snacks during our time together: pringle snack packs.
Best Regards,
SMS 7th Grade Team
Keenan.Justice@k12.sd.us
Ian.Walton@k12.sd.us
Alexa.Buckley@k12.sd.us