7th Grade
friday, december 15, 2023
We spent this week working with our partner for our SDG 7 Conference. Students used their independent research to have discussions with their country partner in order to create a solid solution to address our conference topics. On Thursday, pairs wrote a 1 minute speech to present their solution to the conference members. All other countries practiced note-taking skills by listening for the key points of others' speeches. Today we used our notes to meet with other countries. Groups shared glows (areas of strength) and grows (areas for improvement) with countries. Each country pair then reconvened and determined what revisions need to be made based off the feedback. It has been so interesting and fun to watch students work through this process!
Monday, December 11, 2023
The past few weeks have flown by, and I apologize for not updating this sooner! We are in full Model UN mode and it is so much fun!
After coming back from Thanksgiving break, we learned about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), how Model UN works, and did a short country research project to learn the basics about our assigned countries. From there, we dived into our first SDG unit which is #7: Clean and Renewable Energy. Our conference will focus on how to make schools around the wolrd more energy efficient. This has been a great starting conference as we are able to use our knowledge as students in schools to help form our understanding. I have already seen so many wonderful skills being put to practice from our practice with public speaking. We began to meet in our country pairs today and will do so throughout the week in order to form strong solutions to the goal!
friday, november 17, 2023
We spent this week finishing up our speaking games! This week's games focused on persuasion and compromising, both important skills for Model UN! Half of the class has been working on their independent Kid Journalist reports. Students will give their speech on Monday!
thursday, november 9, 2023
We continue to practice our speaking games in preparation for Model UN. Each game focuses on a different skill such as persuasion, creativity, or confidence. I believe that fine-tuning new skills should be done with familiar content. This will allow us to approach public speaking with new content with more confidence! Students also worked in pairs to complete their Kid Journalist reports. Speeches will happen on Monday!
Friday, november 3, 2023
This week we practiced our speaking skills through a variety of games. Students also worked as a class to practice our kid journalist skills. Students will work in pairs this coming week to complete their kid journalist reports. Google Classroom has examples for students to refer to.
friday, october 27, 2023
We finished our last unit of personal finance with a test this week. Students did a great job showing what they learned about investing. Retakes for Unit 4 may be completed through Wednesday, November 8.
We will spend the rest of the year in our Model UN discussion. We will work on public speaking skills the next couple weeks with familiar topics before we start our research. Mrs. Stearns from the Ankeny City Council came to speak with students about her role in speaking and compromising at a government level. It was so interesting!
Friday, October 20, 2023
We continued to explore investing this week! Students learned how to analyze stocks over periods of time. We also learned about bonds, index funds, and the importance of diversifying investments. We finished the week by playing a game that simulated 20 years of financial history. Students were able to invest in bonds, index funds, real individual stocks, and more! It was so fun seeing how their investment portfolios came out compared to the "computer". We will study and take our test next week!
friday, october 13, 2023
We began learning some of the specifics of the stock market by completing a stock analysis and discussing the difference between a bull and bear market. We used an interactive map to analyze stocks over time and the stock market as a whole. Check out the pictures to see students working with the map. We also played an awesome game to learn about investing and risk taking!
friday, october 6, 2023
Students turned in their Unit 3-Rights and Responsibilities of a Consumer Projects on Monday. I've loved seeing how creative our students are! We began our last personal finance unit, Unit 4-Investing. We discussed the difference between saving and investing, and used a compound interest calculator to see how compound interest can make a difference!
We will learn about the stock market and complete a simulation in the weeks to come!
Friday, September 29, 2023
We have been working through Unit 3 this week which covers the rights and responsibilities of consumers. We have learned how to read a receipt and how to be a savvy consumer through managing subscriptions, thrifting, and more! Students are creating either a podcast, video, or flyer to share a topic of their choice to teach someone else how to be a savvy consumer. I look forward to seeing their creations!
Friday, September 22, 2023
We finished Unit 2 on consumer skills and prepared for our test! Students received their test scores today. Those wishing to retake Unit 2 may retake through Friday, October 6.
Friday, September 15, 2023
We are finishing up our quick unit on consumer skills. This unit (Unit 2) focused largely on learning how we can be influenced in a variety of ways including social media and advertisements. There were many wonderful discussions that came out of our learning! We will learn about "dark patterns" that we can encounter on the internet that encourage us to spend money. We will then review Unit 2 and take our test next week.
Friday, September 8, 2023
Students wrapped up their learning about money making decisions by completing a project about their future lives. Each student made a presentation that described goals for a set list of criteria including career, family, and where they live. Students also had to include a "financial plan" for how to achieve that goal! It was so much fun to see the big dreams 7th grade has for their futures!
Friday, September 1, 2023
We have started Unit 1 which is Personal Finance-Money Making Decisions. We learned about our money personality and how that influences our decision making when it comes to money. Students were introduced to our Unit 1 project which focuses on future goals and how to achieve them through our financial planning. Students will have all of Tuesday to complete this project. Criteria for success can be found on Google Classroom or in student folders. I look forward to seeing their projects!
Friday, August 25, 2023
We have spent this week practicing classroom procedures to make sure that our class can flow smoothly. On Thursday and Friday, we discussed how rules may work for some groups and not for others. Students worked in groups to create class rules, before we rewrote them to follow the Longhorn Way. We discussed as a class our most important rules and determined what we need to follow to be successful in social studies. I love seeing students help take ownership of our learning!
Welcome to 7th Grade! We are going to have a great year! Below you will find the overview for Trimester 1.
This handout is also available on Google Classroom, and was handed out to families in paper form at Back to School Night and to students during the first week of school. Additional paper copies can be found in our classroom.
