7th/8th Grade February Newsletter

Our monthly websites allow us the opportunity to show you a little of what we have been working on thus far.  JupiterEd is a great tool we encourage you to use to remain up to date regarding your child's grades. Also, we send out weekly newsletters every weekend which will help keep you up to date on weekly quizzes, tests, projects, assignments and in general "the happenings" in the middle school.​​

As always, thank you for your support and should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
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Learning by Doing Slideshow!

7th  Grade English Language Arts
Our 7th grade students are analyzing and creating their own extended metaphor poems! An extended metaphor is a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or lines in a poem. This provides the writer with an opportunity to make a larger comparison between two things or concepts. They created artwork to creatively display poetry.  The rest of our month will focus on "Terrible Things" by Eve Bunting, an allegory about the holocaust.  

​Students continue to analyze their independent reading through a double entry journal.  This format helps students 
     *react to a writer's main idea, topic development, argument
     *keep track of learning during your reading, making it easier for you to reflect and explain connections later in writing
​     *look at specific lines and passages for clarity of meaning, make connections and embark on insights
​     *interpret passage to decide how he/she feels about a character (words, actions, perspective, and outlook)
     *explore a topic or idea more strategically
    Additionally, the structure of a Double-Entry journal promotes connections and enables students to manage the analysis of  literary elements independently and interdependently. It’s been great to see students gain a greater appreciation for reading and the craft of writing!




8th Grade English Language Arts

Literature Circles, also known as Book Club, is off to a great start! Students learned about different roles that they would assume during these next weeks. So far, students have become familiar with being a Discussion Leader and a Dictation Detective. Additionally, students are learning the Book Club schedule which involves student driven reading schedules, reading, role-driven responses, and discussion. Discussions are followed with a group reflection, planning for the next class period, and then a class closing session.  

7th Grade World Cultures   
Seventh grade students are learning about the Industrial Revolution and its impact on the world today.  We have researched many inventions and inventors during this time period and have had many discussions about the inventions that are important in our lives.  We found some interesting information when we researched the child labor laws in South Carolina as well as other states in the country.  As these students are reaching the ages where they are thinking about having part time jobs, it has been interesting for them to know the laws and the different job opportunities  available in Beaufort.  
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8th Grade South Carolina History
Eighth grade students are studying Antebellum South Carolina. We learned that Eli Whitney's cotton gin brought South Carolina out of its economic depression following the American Revolution.  Cotton was "king" in South Carolina and the state enjoyed a very prosperous time.  South Carolina had more slaves than any other state.  We have learned how the growing divide between the North and the South was centered around slavery.  We have studied the many abolitionists and their role in helping to emancipate the slaves.  We will continue to learn about the divide between the North and the South which eventually let to the Civil War.

7th Grade Science
As students examine the big ideas of Independence and Interdependence, they  are developing thoughts about how changes within a system or structure impact relationships. This month, students continued their study of cells. We have learned the about the organelles in cells paying special attention to chloroplasts, mitochondria, and the nucleus.  We examined the interdependence of photosynthesis and cellular respiration. and learned about DNA, the genetic material in the nucleus. We were amazed at the amount of DNA we were able to extract from two tiny strawberries! If you would like to do this at home, you can use the procedure found at this link: https://www.genome.gov/pages/education/modules/strawberryextractioninstructions.pdf 

8th Grade Science
As students examine the big ideas of Balance and Stability, they are developing thoughts about how waves are used to transfer energy and information.  This month, students have continued their study of waves. We have learned about the the properties and behaviors of light waves as they pass through four types of lenses: plano-convex, double convex, plano-concave, and double concave. We were amazed to observe what happens when white light passes through a diffraction grating. We have also learned how the process of sight works in humans and have learned the specifics of human eye anatomy and how the absorption and reflection of visible light affects human  perception of color.  We have also examined how humans have developed technology to measure the wavelengths  of electromagnetic radiation that we can not naturally sense.

Mrs. Kolb's Math Classes


Mrs. Cooler's Math Classes
   7th and 8th Grade Algebra students have been hard at work learning about Linear Equations. Students are now able to recognize how real world situations can be used to calculate and graph lines in a graph. Using Linear Equations is an everyday budgeting skill and involves two values that change according to a consistent pattern. Students turned in their Choice Board projects this week and will be displayed soon in our classroom and hallway, so please feel free to come by and take a look when you are in the building.

   7th Grade Pre-Algebra students just wrapped up their unit on fractions. Students have learned all the four math functions of fractions, mixed numbers and fractions containing integers. They also worked on a Matching Equivalent Fractions and Decimals activity in class this week. Look for those to be displayed in our classroom and hallway. Also, we will start working on a project using fractions in the next week, so be on the look out for that.  
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   8th Grade Geometry students have wrapped up their study of Triangle Relationships. In this unit, students learned about how various lines and bisectors within the triangle form various points of BALANCE (our 8th Grade Big Idea). These points are used often in home and interior design to create efficiency and equidistant locations within the home. In our slide show, you can see pictures of students working on their hands on Triangle Inequality Investigation.