The Ultimate Grade 7 Blog

It was a chill and productive Friday! This morning, in Math students shared their area of a triangle equation that they created and explained their reasoning for this equation. While we were exploring different triangles we wanted to test a theory of area - what if we only calculated half the measurement of the base … would we still need to divide by 2 at the end? We used PolyPad to test this theory and discovered it works! On Monday we are investigating if this theory works for all different triangles. For Language, we created a plot graph for The Giver. As a class, we identified the main characters, setting, rising actions (events), climax, falling actions (events) and resolution (conclusion). Afterwards for Art, students spent some more time going over the footage for their Videos for Change project. They are now in the process of editing their footage into a one-minute-long video. For Geography we finished learning about landforms, how they are made and how they change, students ...

It was a super fun day! Today the grade 7's went to visit the Museum of Nature. We started our tour by visiting the special outdoor exhibit of live owls. We then checked out the Water Gallery and Pacific Discovery Tank, followed by the Mammal Gallery and the special exhibit about Wolves. After hanging out with the largest collection of Canadian birds in the world, we checked out the Fossil Gallery, where we chilled with some dinosaurs and ended our tour looking at some live bugs! We ended the day watching some Bill Nye episodes on Structures and Volcanos. REMEMBER! Tomorrow is Dress-Down Day, so students can wear their favourite (school-appropriate) shirt! Homework: Math: Create an equation for the area of a triangle. Language: Finish Quick Write on  Legacy . Give one example for each type of conflict found in  The Giver . Science: Finish questions on External Forces.

We had a fun day of learning! This morning students were introduced to a virtual manipulative website called PolyPad. We explored the reasons why figures like rectangles and parallelograms are related, and different, and why they have the area equation they do. Students then explored triangles, and their relationships to other figures, and are working on creating their own area equation of a triangle that makes sense to them. For Language, we had our last Quick Write on Legacy. We then continued our class discussion on the different conflicts found within the novel. Afterwards, for Art, students spend some time going over the footage for their Videos for Change project. We then spent some time experimenting with the editing software for their videos. During Geography, we continued our exploration of landforms and the factors, both natural and human, that change them. We dove deep into land reclamation and how different countries are constructing and reclaiming land. We ended the day wi...

Lots of smiles today! This morning during Math, students presented their solution for the "P's Garden" question. It was great to see the different ways students tackled this problem-based question. It was a fun opportunity for students to learn from and with each other. For Language, we continued with another Quick Write on War. We then spent some time as a class discussing both characters and conflicts within the novel. During Gym, we went to either catch up on our Videos for Change filming or play soccer. After lunch, for Science, we learned about both internal and external forces that act upon a structure. For Geography, We investigated the natural and human factors that impact the shaping of various landforms. Students were fascinated to learn about the Continental Drift Theory and the different layers of the Earth. Next, we will be analyzing land reclamation projects that are happening around the world!  Homework: Language: Work on conflicts within the novel. Complet...

It was a bit of a soggy Monday!  This morning during Math students continued to work on their Garden Problem Solving Assignment. Today, students were finding the volume of their garden to figure out how much soil they would need for growing vegetables. We read our last two chapters today for The Giver . Before we read the chapters, students gave their predictions from last week on how they think the story will end. We then had a great class discussion about the ending of the novel. Finally, students worked on their next Quick Write: on  Love . For Geography, we learned about the types of landforms, the theory of the Continental Drift and what changes landforms. Afterwards, we continued to work on our Canada map, ensuring all provinces and bodies of water were labelled properly. We ended the day with Science, where we reviewed the form and function of a structure, as well as, the three types of structures (shell, frame, solid). Homework: Language: Read chapters 22-23. Work on c...

Students continued working on their problem-based question - "How much soil does P need for their garden?". Today, students determined what they think the depth of the soil should be and began calculating the volume of the garden. We will be continuing this problem on Monday where students will share their thinking with their peers. In Language, we read chapter 21 of  The Giver . As a class, we worked on reading comprehension strategies such as making predictions, summarizing, and asking questions they have about this chapter and what is to come. There are only 2 chapters left! For Geography, students continued labelling and outlining a Map of Canada. This map is an important assignment for their Geography mark. As we celebrated Earth Day as a school, we spent the afternoon outside. The first part was spent with the Grade 6 class at Fairmount Park and the second half was spent helping the Grade 4 class do their Earth Day art activity of making glow-in-the-dark jellyfish! When...

As we have begun our new Math Unit on Measurement and Perimeter, students are investigating how to calculate the area of various polygons (i.e., parallelograms, triangles, trapezoids, etc.). To do this, students are working on a problem-based - "How much soil does P need for their garden?". Check out the pictures below! We read chapter 20 of  The Giver  after the first break. As a class, we worked on reading comprehension strategies such as making predictions, summarizing, and asking questions they have of a text. We also discussed where our last chapter would be located on a plot graph. Check out the picture below! For Art, students continued working on the Videos For Change. All students have been emailed video editing programs that they can use on their computers. We will need their grown-up's help to approve these apps on their child's devices because some have a parental control setting. In Science we continued "What is a structure?" and we discussed th...

What a fun day! Today the grade 7's went on a field trip to tour the Bell Media Building in the ByWard Market to learn about the radio and CTV News sides of the building and how it operates. We walked around the courtyards in the ByWard Market and then visited historic sites like the Rideau Canal. After a lunch break, we headed to the Bell Media Building for our tour. Our tour started with checking out where they broadcast different radio stations, followed by a behind-the-scenes look at the operations of Bell Media. We were then treated to watch a live broadcast on CTV News, where students afterwards got to talk and ask questions with some of the news anchors.  It was a really fun and inspiring day! Homework: Math: Finish questions 1-2 on pg. 122-123 in the Math workbook. Language; Read chapters 17-19. Work on conflicts within the novel. Complete vocab words 1-51. Science: Finish the KWL chart on Structures. Finish questions on "What is a structure?"  

A great start to the week! We started a new unit in Math this morning. Our new unit is on Measuring Perimeter and Area. After reviewing how to find the perimeter and area of a rectangle, we learned how to find the area of a parallelogram. We read three more chapters of The Giver after the first break. Students are now starting to identify some of the conflicts within the story. We had a great class discussion on death and how it is treated in the community from the novel. For Gym, we did a HIIT workout and footwork exercises with a ladder and hurdles. Mr. Aaron also added some Jiu-Jitsu exercises as well. We started a new unit in Science, where we were introduced to structures. Students worked on the KWL charts about structures and then we had a lesson and great class discussion on "What is a structure?" We have also finished with History for the year. Students were introduced to their new subject, Geography. Today, as a class we discussed "What is Geography?" and ...

It was a fun end to the week! This morning during Math, students recorded their final observations and handed in their Sasquatch Sightings graphing assignment. After the first break, we went to Dow's Lake where students filmed some nature scenes for their Video for Change project. Students filmed scenes in their groups to bring awareness to topics such as climate change and invasive species, like the Zebra mussel. After lunch, we had Science and finished our unit on Pure Substances and Mixtures. Today students explored different methods for separating mixtures. We also had a great class discussion on how different industries in the energy production sector (oil, nuclear power, recycling) also use mixture separation strategies. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Language: Finish Quick Write on Famous. Complete vocab words 1-45. History: The War of 1812 newspaper assignment is now due. 

Even distracted by all this beautiful warm weather, we still got some work done! This morning during Math, students continued to work on our Sasquatch Sightings assignment. Today student recorded their observations based on the results of the bar graphs. For Language, we continued to work on our Quick Write, character analysis and started identifying different conflicts within the story. For Gym, we did a HIIT workout and footwork exercises with a ladder and hurdles. After lunch, we continued to work on our newspaper assignment. Students are now writing a newspaper article from a British perspective about one of the battles during the War of 1812. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Language: Finish Quick Write on Famous. Complete vocab words 1-45. History: Work on the War of 1812 newspaper assignment. The graphic organizer should now be completed. The newspaper article is due tomorrow. 

It was a fun Wednesday! This morning during Math, students continued to work on their Sasquatch Sightings graphing assignment. Students are now calculating the mean, median, mode and range of their data. We read three more chapters today of The Giver . Students started working on their new Quick Write on Famous. We also started working on identifying the different conflicts within the story. We had an extended Art class today. Students started by making sure their scripts and storyboards we completed and ready to go. After lunch, we walked down to Preston Street, where students worked in their groups to shoot any "urban scenes" for their Video for Change project. It was a great time hanging out in the warm sunshine, while students filmed their scenes bringing awareness to a social issue of their choice. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. During the first break, we also participated in the "A-Polish Gender Norms...

It felt like a Monday, but was a productive Tuesday! This morning during Math we continued to work on our Sasquatch Sightings assignment. Students are now taking the number of Sasquatch sightings from each province and are now making a graph to display this data. We continued to work on our character analysis, vocab and job identification for our novel study on The Giver . We will be reading new chapters tomorrow! For Gym, we did a HIIT workout and footwork exercises with a ladder and hurdles. This is our last week for History. Students were busy finishing the research for their final newspaper assignment where they are writing an article about one of the battles from a British perspective. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Language: Finish Quick Write: Back & Back.  Complete vocab words 1-37. Art: The storyboard for Video for Change needs to be ready for tomorrow.

It's been a fun Fake Friday (Thursday)! This morning for Math we went Squatching! Students were given Sasquatch sighting stats in Canada and had to display the data using a stem-and-leaf plot and bar graph. We read two more chapters of The Giver  during Language. After reading chapters 12 and 13, we had a great discussion on the topic of "sameness" and what it would be like if there were no differences in society. Students discussed how they would feel if everything was the same and all decisions like relationships and careers were decided for them. We then continued to work on finishing up any planning for our Videos for Change project in Art. Some students were working on their scripts, while others were finishing the final touches on their storyboards. We did a fun experiment in Science. Today students made their own lava lamps using vegetable oil, water and food colouring. While making our lava lamps students had to explain why the oil doesn't mix with the water a...

We had a pretty small class for a wet Wednesday! It was a pretty chill morning. We started with a bit of Math review and then played some Math games. For Langauge, students worked on the Quick Writes and vocab for The Giver . Afterwards for Art, we continued to work on our script and storyboards for the Video for Change project. The Grade 6 class joined us after lunch, where we watched the movie Missing Link together. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Please remember to bring a 500 ml or 1 L clear bottle tomorrow for our lava lamp activity! Homework: Math: Finish questions 1-5 on pg. 104-106 in the Math workbook. Language: Finish Quick Write on Memories.  Complete vocab words 1-32. Art: Finish storyboard for Video for Change project. Due tomorrow.

There was a quiet energy today, but that doesn't mean we weren't busy! This morning during Math we learned that line graphs are used to show changes in data over time. Students learned that a line graph can be used to find values between data points and make predictions for future values. During Language, we worked on our next Quick Write, this time on the topic of Memories. After finishing our Quick Write, we spent time as a class working on our character analysis. For Art, we set up an account for Videos for Change and then students continued to finalize their storyboards. We received our final assignment in History. Students are to write a newspaper article, from a British perspective, about one of the battles that took place during the War of 1812. Students spent the period choosing a battle and researching some of the details. We ended the day with a FLEX period where students got to work on any unfinished assignments. Homework: Math: Finish questions 1-5 on pg. 104-106 in...

What a fun start to the week! This morning during Math we learned that a stem-and-leaf plot is another way to display data. Each two-digit number in the data is split, where the "tens" are the stems and the "ones" are the leaves. We also learned that you can find the range, median and mode from a stem-and-leaf plot using the data. We read chapter 11 of The Giver today during Language. We then did our own Ceremony of 12 activity in class, where each student was assigned a job for them to compare and reflect upon. After receiving two different jobs, students were asked to examine their income, and its ranking in society (the novel). After comparing both careers, students then had to write a reflection on how they feel about their two jobs, what difficulties they may face with the job and what would happen to this society if this job didn't exist anymore. For Gym, we did skipping as a warm-up and then learned some Pilates for our exercises. As we're coming to t...