The Ultimate Grade 7 Blog

It was a fun and productive snowy Tuesday! We started our first unit review in Math this morning. Students began working on review questions based on fractions and decimals covered during this unit. For Language, students continued to work on their Utopia Project. Students are now in the process of creating their own brochures to advertise the utopia that they've created. We had a really fun and relaxing Art class today! Students spent the period painting their giant monsters, adding colour and character to their sculptures. For History, we had a great final class discussion about the Loyalists and then started our introduction to the War of 1812. We started our introduction by watching the PBS docudrama called The War of 1812 . We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Math: Complete 4 of the 10 review questions on pg. 95-96 in the Math workbook. Language: Work on Utopia Project. It is due on March 2nd. The "Quick ...

It was a slow, sleepy start for a Monday, but we still got work done! This morning during Math we learned that you can use the same order of operations for decimals as you would for whole numbers. After reviewing "BEDMAS", students learned to do the operations in brackets first; then divide and multiply, in order, from left to right; then add and subtract, in order, from left to right. We continued to work on our Utopia Project in Language. Students were busy today creating their own utopia using a graphic organizer. Afterwards, they will be creating a brochure to advertise their utopia. Students were also introduced to their first "Quick Write" for our novel study. For each "Quick Write", students are given an opinion-based writing prompt, based on a topic or an idea that is covered in the novel. For Gym, students played their first game of curling and are practising to get ready for our curling tournament this Thursday. We did another experiment in Scien...

Lots of smiles and focus on this Friday! We started this morning in Math with a class favourite, the matchstick challenge! We then learned how to divide decimals, using a similar operation as multiplying decimals as whole numbers. Students were working hard researching and creating a brochure for their Utopia Project. Student's sculptures are now almost fully painted and look like ferocious Kaijus! We should complete our Operation: Kaiju art project by the end of next week. Today was the last work period on the Loyalist research assignment. Students were busy finishing researching and writing about why the Loyalists fled the Thirteen Colonies north, to what will eventually become Canada. We ended the day with the ever-popular Oreo Challenge and a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Math: Finish questions 1-3 on pg. 90-91 in the Math workbook. Language: The Utopia Project is due March 2nd.  Science: Work on Take-Home Project. Students will...

A busy Wednesday! This morning during Math, students got into their groups and shared their thinking process on solving the exchange rate question comparing the Canadian dollar to the US. We had a great class discussion during Language about the difference between a Utoipia and a Dystopia.  We then looked at some examples of real-life utopian communities and discussed whether or not these places should be considered a utopia. We are getting to the end of our Operation: Kaiju art assignment. Students are now in the process of painting their sculptures. During History, students continued to work on their research assignment for the Loyalists, who were a group of people that supported the British Crown during the American Revolution. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Science: Work on Take-Home Project. Students will be presenting this project on March 3rd. History: Work on Loyalist questions. The questions are due o...

We got a lot of work done, coming back from a nice long weekend! This morning during Math,  students continued their group problem-solving tasks on converting/exchanging Canadian Dollars to US Dollars for a "planned trip". Within this question, students were exploring how to divide and add decimal numbers while making conversions. Today students needed to present their problem to the class and explain how they figured out the conversion between Canadian and US dollars. We started the introduction for our novel study in Language on the book The Giver by Lois Lowry. Today students were introduced to the concepts of a Utopia and a Dystopia. We then worked on some Pre-Reading Bias reflection questions, where students read statements about society and decided whether they agreed with them or not. Each of the statements that the students gave their opinion on reflected some of the ideas presented in the novel. Tomorrow we will be exploring more about the difference between a Utopi...

It was a productive Thursday for a "Fake Friday"! In Math today, students continue their group problem-solving tasks on converting/exchanging Canadian Dollars to US Dollars for a "planned trip". Within this question, students were exploring how to divide and add decimal numbers while making conversions. Check out the picture below to see their problem-solving question! For Language, students worked on their last "Tell Me A Story" creative writing activity. Students were given two pictures to choose from and had to create their own narrative about what is going on in the picture. The pictures have been emailed to the students, but will also be posted below. Afterwards, for Art, students began painting their base coat on their Kaiju sculptures. Next Art class, they will be fully painting their sculptures and then writing up a biography background for their Kaiju, including discussing what ecosystem they exist in. We had a work period for History. Students sp...

 It was a busy Wednesday! This morning during Math we continued our lesson on exploring exchange rates. Students continued to compare currencies from different countries. Students then got into groups to work on a problem-solving activity. For Language, we worked on a fun creative letter-writing activity. As a class, we read a fictional letter titled Captured by Aliens. Students then had to answer some opinion-based questions and then write a letter to their parents about an imaginary encounter that they had with an alien. For Gym, we continued with our Health lesson. Students were assigned a partner and are now researching to create a poster about a mental health disorder. We did a quick lab in Science today, looking at the dissolving rates of granular sugar and icing sugar. Using one of their jars, students were first given 5 ml of sugar and then 3 tablespoons of water to determine the time required for the granular sugar to dissolve. Students then recorded their observations and...

 Happy Valentine's Day! We had a fun heart-shaped day! This morning during Math, students explored foreign exchange currency and how it continues to fluctuate. We did another "Tell Me A Story" creative quick-write for Language. Students were given another image that they had to create a story around or describe what was going on in the picture. Afterwards for Art, we finished sculpting our kaiju (giant monsters!) for the Operation: Kaiju assignment. Students will now paint their sculptures next Art class! Today was the Heritage Academy Valentine's Day bake sale! After the students ate their lunch, we went up to buy some goodies from the bake sale and play some Valentine Day themed games. All proceeds went to support the anti-bullying efforts for Pink Shirt Day. We finished off by looking at the Invasion of Quebec and the Nova Scotia Rebellion during History. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Math: L...

It was a great start to the week! We did something a little different for Math today.  Students are beginning to explore and understand how currency exchange rates operate. This morning, we created a currency exchange table where students came to purchase money in order to buy goods. They now investigating how foreign exchange works and when the best time is to exchange foreign currency. Today was the last day for students to write/edit their short stories in class. Tomorrow students will hand in the good copy, rough copy and graphic organizer of their short story. In Health, students worked in groups to discuss and find healthy methods for dealing with mental health. Some great responses from students for those who struggle with mental health were doing some exercise or talking to their family or friends.  For History, we finished examining how the American Revolution affected British North America. This time students worked in groups to discuss two key events, the invasion o...

It's been a super fun Friday! Today we got to spend the day at the Museum of Science and Technology. We started our visit by participating in an awesome bridge-building workshop. Students first learned about the different forces that affect bridges (compression, tension, torsion). Afterwards, working in groups, they were given wood blocks to fit together to make an arch bridge. Once their arch bridge was put together, students had to stand on it to see if it could hold their weight. For their next activity, each group was given a limited amount of popsicle sticks and tape and had to construct their own bridge. Each group was given 30 minutes to construct their bridge and then afterwards they had to name it and then test it to see how much compression their bridge could handle. After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the museum!  You can check out some of our fun pics of the workshop below! Homework: Math: Finish questions 1-2 on pg. 87-88 in the Math workbook. ...

It was a bit of a rainy Thursday, but we still had fun learning! This morning during Math we continued to review how to multiply decimals. Students continued to use the Base Ten Blocks to help visualize each equation to find the answer. For Language, students are now using a checklist to help them in editing their short stories. The good copy of their short story will be due on February 14th. In Health class, students learned the difference between mental health and mental illness, what signs to be aware of in regard to mental health problems, and what supports they can use for their mental health. After the lunch break, for Science, students learned the difference between qualitative and quantitative responses during a concentration case study. Students also learned why water is considered the universal solvent! We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Math: Finish questions 1-2 on pg. 87-88 in the Math workbook. Language:...

It was a busy Wednesday! This morning during Math we learned how to use Base Ten Blocks to multiply with decimals. Students worked in groups, using Base Ten Blocks to illustrate and solve decimal multiplication questions. For Language, students are now using an editing checklist and going through the rough draft of their short story, looking for errors. Students continued to finish up their Kaiju sculptures for the Operation: Kaiju project. After lunch, we continued in History looking at how the American Revolution affected British North America with the Invasion of Quebec (1775-1776) and the Nova Scotia Rebellion (1776).  We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Language: Finish writing the rough draft of the short story. It is now due. History: Finish describing the first three Acts (Sugar, Stamp, Townshend) that we covered in the America Revolution.

Back to school and a great start to the week! This morning during Math we learned how to add, subtract, multiply and divide using decimal numbers. Students then learned how to compare and order different decimal numbers. After the first break, students continued to work on the rough draft of their short story. Students should now be finishing up their rough drafts and starting to work on editing. We had a health class during Gym today. We discussed mental health and the stigma that sometimes comes with it. Students were also given some useful resources like the kid's helpline. For Science, we learned about the concentration of a solution. Students conducted a concentration experiment and had to explain the difference between concentration, dilution, saturation, and unsaturation. Check out the pics from our experiment below! We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Math: Finish questions 5-6 on pg. 72-73 in the Math work...

It's been a fun and productive Freezing Friday! This morning during Math, students reviewed their multiplying with decimal skills. We practice how to multiply with 0.1, 0.01 and 0.001. During Language, students continued working on writing their rough copy of their short story. We also did two of our Oreo writing challenges, which is ALWAYS a hoot because who doesn't like eating Oreos?! For the third period, we did Art instead of the gym due to a Senior Badminton Tournament happening in the gymnasium. (But don't worry, our class did our first-ever HIIT workout and the students loved it!) Our student's Operation: Kaiju sculpting assignments are turning out GREAT! Check out some pictures below to see for yourself. Once we finish sculpting, we will be getting ready to paint them. After lunch, students reviewed the difference between a solute and a solvent by creating pictorial diagrams of different mixtures to demonstrate their understanding. We then began learning about t...

It was a great day for getting work done! This morning during Math, students presented their zoo schedule breaking down how much time they would spend visiting different animals using fractions. We then had our introduction to decimals where students had to organize themselves from greatest to least, based on the decimal number they were given. Students continued to work on writing the rough copy of their short story during Language. For Art, we continued working on our Operation: Kaiju sculpting assignment. Students are currently finishing off their sculptures and getting them ready to paint. After lunch, we continued in History looking at different taxes that were imposed on the British settlers, leading to the American Revolution. We had a great class discussion on taxes and whether it was fair for the British to impose these taxes on the Thirteen Colonies. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Language: The graphic o...

Feels a bit like a Monday, but it's Wednesday! We still got a lot of work done. This morning in Math we continued to work on our group problem-solving activity, where each group was given the task to plan a trip to the Zoo. As each group was given a certain amount of time, they had to use fractions to figure out how long they should spend visiting each animal. For Language, we continued to work on our graphic organizers for the short story assignment. Students are now starting to write the rough draft of their short stories. We continued with our unit on Tchoukball in Gym. Students practiced drilling by playing partner passing and hot potatoes. Afterwards, we played "Off the Net" and "Tchouk is on Fire". After the lunch break, we learned about the difference between solutes and solvents during Science. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Language: The graphic organizer for the short story assign...