Our Skeletal System

In Science on Thursday, we studied our skeletal system.  We finished class with a scavenger hunt for "skeletal bones" and pieced them all together!

Have a safe and happy Halloween weekend!

Solving for X

Last week, students learned how to solve for x in equations.  They had so much fun and did such a great job!!

Eating Like the Survivors

As we begin reading our second novel in the three-part series, Island Book Two: Survival, the students had the opportunity to try to open and eat a coconut.  It was a great experience and gave the students an idea of what it would be like for the kids in our novel to open and eat coconuts on the island!

Greene Valley Forest Preserve

Today we took a community trip to Greene Valley forest preserve.  We completed a scavenger hunt that correlated with our plant unit in Science.  Although it was a little buggy, it was perfect weather!

Welcome Back! 2014-2015

I hope that everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable summer!  It was definitely a busy summer in the Nino household!

There are many exciting changes ahead for this school year!  All 7th graders will be receiving ChromeBooks to use at both home and school and it will be a wonderful opportunity to incorporate more technology into all lessons and assignments.  We will also be using Google Classroom on a weekly basis to update students and post assignments online.  This will allow for students to access assignments, rubrics, etc. from anywhere and download assignments again if they are needed  More details will follow this week, as well as, at curriculum night.

I will continue to post weekly blogs to update everyone on what is occurring in each class.

I am happy to be working with all students and parents again this year and can't wait to see what this year holds.

March 10th-14th

Here is a look at our week ahead!

*Math:  Students will continue to work on their individual concept areas: money, place value, or division.
*Reading:  We are beginning our Persuasive Unit this week!  Monday, we will spend time defining what it means to persuade someone and take a look at both commercial and magazine advertisements for a variety of products/places.  We will view a short video titled, "Media Wise" on Tuesday and the finish the week analyzing a few stories, such as the True Story of the Three Little Pigs, to determine the types of persuasion being used to appeal to its readers/viewers.
*RtI Reading:  Tying in with our Persuasive Unit, the practice skill for RtI Reading will be Fact and Opinion.  We will begin the week taking a closer look at some advertisements and identifying facts and opinions within them.  We will finish the week having a debate on our "Favorite French Fries".  Students will need to research two facts about their favorite fries and then form one to two personal opinion.  We will share/debate this in class.
*Language Arts: Nouns, verbs, and adjectives will be reviewed this week.  We will spend one day reviewing each of these parts of speech and then play a review game at the end of the week.
*Social Studies (7/8 grade only):  This week, we will continue to discuss the environment and lifestyles of those colonists living in the 13 colonies.  We will talk about how the Revolutionary War affected the lives of the colonists and the first steps taken to write the Declaration of Independence and, eventually, the Constitution.

Have a wonderful week!!

February 18th-21st

Here is a look at our activities for next week!

*Reading: We are continuing with our Literature Circles this week.  Things have been going very well and the students are all very engaged and wonderful contributors to the group discussions!
*RtI Reading:  We are working on Fact and Opinion this week.  Students will be reading the story "Take A Hike" and identifying facts and opinions within the story.  We also will be playing a facts and opinions game before finishing up the week working on Lexia.
*Math: Students are continuing to work on their individual workbooks and activities.
*Language Arts: We are starting adjectives this week.  We will begin by defining adjectives and locating them in sentences.
*Social Studies (7th/8th grade only): Students will finish the presidential reports that they began last week and share them will the class.  We also will be viewing a video about the presidents and discussing how events during their presidencies have affected our lives today.

*Reminders*
-No school on Monday, February 17th
-Community Trip to Walmart on February 20th 9:15-10:30

Have a great weekend!

February 3rd- February 7th

I hope that everyone has found a way to stay warm over this cold week!  Here is a look at next week's agenda!

*Reading: Due to the cold weather days, we are reading the Readers Theater plays from last week "The Alien" and "Falling Asleep".  We will finish the week learning about literature circles and the roles that students have while participating in them.  We will be starting our own literature circle the following week.
*RtI Reading:  We are continuing to work on Comparing and Contrasting this week.  We will be reading the stories "Kid Inventors" and "Adam and Kevin" and answering comprehension questions.
*Language Arts:  Students will be finishing up their short stories and sharing them with the class next week.  Afterwards, we will be starting our homonyms/homophones unit.
*Social Studies (7th and 8th grade only):  We are continuing our Native American unit.  We will be discussing the Southwestern and Northwestern Native Americans tribes.

*Reminders*
-Tuesday, February 4th-Early Dismissal Day
-Wednesday, February 5th- Spirit Day: Sports Day
-Thursday, February 6th- 80s Day
          -8th Grade Cap and Gown Measuring 8:30-11:00am
-Friday, February 7th- Pajama Day

I hope everyone has a great Super Bowl weekend!

January 27th-January 31st

Here is a look at our activities for next week!

*Math: Students will continue to work in their individualized packets again this week.
*Reading: We are reading Readers Theater plays this week!  Students will be divided into groups, reading either "The Alien" or "Falling Asleep".  After practicing all week and completing fluency and comprehension activities, students will be presenting their plays to the class.
*RtI Reading: Our skill of the week is Comparing and Contrasting.  We will be comparing house cats and tigers, inventions, and personalities using various stories and articles.
*Language Arts:  We have finished up the verb unit and are spending the next week writing short stories.  We will review the components of a short story and begin independent writing from there!
*Social Studies (7/8 only):  We are continuing the Native American unit.  We will be viewing a video on recent discoveries about who the first Americans may have been and discussing the impact that this may have on our understanding of the original Native Americans.


Stay warm this weekend!

January 20th-January 24th

I hope that everyone had a great week and are looking forward to a three-day weekend!

Here are the activities for next week.

*Language Arts: On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we will be devoting Language Arts time to discussing/learning about Martin Luther King Jr.  In addition to watching the video, "Our Friend Martin", we will be having class led discussions about his achievement and the impact he had on our current society.  The remainder of the week will be spent finishing up our verb unit.  There will be a short quiz on Friday.
*Reading: Students will be finishing up their novels this week and working on a project on a character of their choice from the book.
*Math: Students will continue to work on their current math units.
*RtI Reading: We will continue to work on inferencing this week. Using stories such as Monopoly-Atlantic City and The Mystery of the Great Stones, students will use this skill to answer questions and complete additional activities.
*Social Studies (7/8th grade only): After finishing up Jamestown last week, we begin our unit on Native Americans this week.  We will begin with learning about Native American migration to America and discussing the Northeast Woodland Indian tribes.

*Reminders*
-No School Monday, January 20th
-Encore switch Wednesday, January 22nd
-8th grade graduation pictures Thursday, January 23rd

Have a great 3 day weekend!