READING
At the beginning of March, readers will continue to engage in our Poetry Unit. In this unit students will read a wide variety of poetry in order to:
• Understand that responding to poetry through movement, speech, or art, furthers understanding and interpretation. • Understand that the meaning of a poem is constructed by the poet and the reader interacting with text. In order to uncover the deeper meaning of a poem, readers weigh the author’s perspective with their own. • Understand that poetic tools reveal images, evoke feelings, and produce sounds to create a message for the reader to interpret.
Readers will also make connections to the quarterly theme of "Change," thinking of what patterns of change can be found in literature.
At the end of March, and beginning of April, readers will begin our Research Unit, focusing on researching for their upcoming Global Awareness Technology Project. Unit goals include:
Researchers engage in a process of inquiry to ask and seek answers to compelling questions. • Researchers synthesize information across multiple texts and experiences in order to construct emerging understandings.
We will also spend a brief amount of time with the "Functional Text" unit, as we prepare for upcoming SOLs. Unit goals for this short unit include:
Readers incorporate all parts of functional texts to understand the author’s purpose and to locate and interpret information
The quarterly concept based theme for the fourth quarter is "Relationships" and students will continue to make connections to this theme.
WRITING
In March, students will continue and wrap up the Poetry Unit. This is integrated into our reading unit. This unit includes:
Students using the wide variety of poems that they read and topics of interest to form ideas for writing their own poems.
Understanding that poetic tools reveal images, evoke feelings, and produce sounds to create a message for the reader to interpret.
Vocabulary Connection: Poets engage readers by using just the right word or phrase so that they see the ordinary in an extraordinary way, see connections among things, and help the reader visualize what the writer is describing
At the end of March and continuing into April, students will begin the next integrated unit, "Content Area Research." They will begin researching and taking notes for their Global Awareness Technology Project.
Quarter 3 and 4
In this unit, students explore plane figures and their attributes. Students learn how to measure and classify angles. Generalizations are made about attributes such as angles, sides, and diagonals to derive definitions for various plane figures. Subsequently, these same attributes are used to classify and name various plane figures, such as triangles. Students explore transformations and congruency as well as investigate the combination and subdivision of polygons. Additionally, students investigate circles and the relationships between its parts (radius, chord, etc.).
Unit 8-Circles and Geometric Measurement
In this unit, students working with area and perimeter of triangles and rectangles. These concepts help build a foundation for exploring surface area and volume of three-dimensional figures in grade seven. Through exploration, students also derive that the value of pi (≈3.14) which is the value of the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Students end the unit with finding the circumference and area of circles.
Derive (π) pi
Solve problems, including practical problems, involving circumference and area of a circle.
Solve problems, including practical problems, involving area and perimeter of triangle and rectangles.
Quarter 4:
This unit of study focuses on cells, microscope use, and ecology. Throughout the unit students develop their understanding of the nature of science, particularly the concept that the natural world is understandable and that science is based on evidence, both observational and experimental. Through hands-on science, students learn to inquire, observe, experiment, solve problems, collect and record information, and come to conclusions concerning matters about cells and the environment.
The Science in the Field unit provides students with a basic understanding of plant and animal cells and major classifications of each groups. They learn about the difference between vascular and nonvascular plants and vertebrate and invertebrate animals. They further investigate adaptations plants and animals use to survive in the ecosystems in which they live. Finally, students review concepts involving ecosystems as they consider the living and nonliving interactions in a local stream environment.
Students will know…
● cells are the basic building blocks of living things
● cell organelle names and their functions
● the different organelles found in plant and animal cells
● the traits of vascular plants
● the traits of nonvascular plants
● the traits of vertebrates
● the traits of invertebrates
Students will be skilled at…
● using a microscope to view cell specimens.
● comparing known organisms to unidentified samples to draw conclusions.
● sorting and classifying organisms.
● analyzing data to ask questions for further research, draw conclusions, and infer cause/effect relationships.
● recognizing the habitat in which an organism is adapted to live.
● making inferences and drawing conclusions about interrelationships between organisms in a stream habitat.
● recognizing indicators of stream health.
● relating the health of a stream to other areas and bodies of water in a watershed.
Quarter 3:
Students will begin working on the GATP project, or the Global Awareness Technology Project. Visit the following Google Site for more detailed information about the project: https://sites.google.com/fcpsschools.net/global-awareness-tech-project/home Big Ideas and Questions
💡 Big Ideas Students will Explore
Culture is a way of life of a group of people who share similar beliefs and customs. Culture is how people think, act, celebrate, and make rules.
Human beings create, learn, share, and adapt to culture.
Cultural values, norms, and belief systems shape the identity and behavior of a group of people.
💡 Essential Questions Students will Seek to Answer
How do cultural universals (art, leadership, government, innovations, geography, etc.) influence a society or culture?
How did certain cultural universals from the past influence modern day cultures around the world?
What connections can be made between aspects of ancient civilizations from the past to our modern day world?
How have technology and innovations within certain cultures changed over time?
How do innovations from ancient cultures continue to influence our modern day society?
How can you as a researcher develop and grow ideas about a topic?
How can you as a researcher demonstrate your depth of knowledge?