Oct 7, 2019
Math – Mrs. Tapley: 7th grade mathematicians worked on demonstrating their understanding about unit rates with fractions on an assessment. They then began applying their work with proportions to studying scale drawings. 8th grade mathematicians practiced applying their learning about scientific notation and exponents and then completed an assessment on Friday on this module.
English Language Arts – Mrs. Thoner: This week we began the second unit in A Long Walk to Water. We worked in small groups to discuss what a theme is and to determine possible themes within our text, A Long Walk to Water. We looked at the challenges Nya and Salva have faced so far, and what helped them to survive those challenges. On Thursday we were able to watch a recorded interview with Salva and the author, Linda Sue Park. We learned more about how he currently is affected by the traumas he went through, and about his foundation to provide water, sanitation, and bathrooms to villages in South Sudan.
Super Studies – Mrs. Bebell: This week the 7/8 class worked on some basic science skills, such as using direct observations to infer information and developing an experiment about paper rocket models using the scientific method. They also worked to prepare for Friday’s movie night. The students were great hosts and, while the crowd was small, they raised over $150 (so far!) to send to Water for South Sudan.
Boat Building: This year’s 7th and 8th graders were excited to get started with their boatbuilding class this year! Wednesday was their first session, where they found out that they are going to build remote control sailboats and race them. They are also going to rig last year’s skiff with sails this winter.
Upcoming Events:
- October 7th-11th: Camp Kieve (https://www.kwe.org/the-leadership-school/)
- Friday, October 11th: Brooklin backpacks go home
- Monday, October 14th: No School: Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- Friday, October 25th: Early Release at 1:00 PM
- November 1st: Student-Led Conferences (No school, except for attendance at the conference)
Oct 7, 2019
Super Studies – Mrs. Bebell: As we begin to wrap up our study of the global water crisis, students wrote letters to a variety of people so that they can share what they have learned and/or ask for donations to support their fundraising efforts. They also created some promotional materials for our upcoming showing of Finding Nemo on Friday, October 4. If you are able to help on Friday evening and/or provide low-sugar snacks for the class to sell, please let me know.
English Language Arts – Mrs. Thoner: Students read and digested two articles – one that we had worked on last week regarding the Sudanese Liberation Army and how that helped pull the Nuer and Dinka tribes together in their struggle to maintain their independence and the other about the loss of their ability to provide cattle as a dowry due to the fighting. Students continue to work on quoting from the text to support their responses to verbal and written questions. There will be an end of Unit assessment this coming week.
Math: Mrs. Tapley: 7th grade mathematicians applied their understanding of fractions to unit rates this week. They solved complex problems and demonstrated multiple ways of finding the solution. They ended the week with multi-step ratio problems. 8th grade mathematicians worked hard on learning how to use all four operations with scientific notation. By doing so, they were applying their recently learned skills with exponents.
7th and 8th grade students also were excellent role models to the younger students on Friday when they had an hour where they did various activities with their younger sidekicks. Each 7th and 8th grade student is paired with one or two younger students, and there was an incredible amount of kindness, caring, and patience shown.
Upcoming Events:
- Friday, October 4: 6:00 Family movie night hosted by the 7/8 class to raise money for Water for South Sudan. Donations will be accepted, and there will be snacks for sale.
- October 7th-11th: Camp Kieve (https://www.kwe.org/the-leadership-school/)
- Friday, October 11th: Brooklin backpacks go home
- Monday, October 14th: No School: Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- Friday, October 25th: Early Release at 1:00 PM
- November 1st: Student-Led Conferences (No school, except for attendance at the conference)
Sep 23, 2019
Upcoming Events:
- Monday, September 23rd: School Picture Day
- Friday, September 27th: Early Release at 1:00 PM
- Friday, October 4: Family movie night hosted by the 7/8 class to raise money for Water for South Sudan
- October 7th-11th: Camp Kieve (https://www.kwe.org/the-leadership-school/)
- November 1st: Student-Led Conferences (No school, except for attendance at the conference)
Please note there was a calendar change. The Parent/Teacher conferences are changed to November 1st, as the original date of October 11th conflicted with Camp Kieve. Also, please note that these will be student-led conferences. Your child will be sharing progress that they are making with you. It will be a great discussion about their learning!
Math – Mrs. Tapley
7th grade mathematicians deepened their understanding of proportional relationships by writing equations that represented proportional relationships and graphing these equations. They completed an assessment on what they’ve learned so far. They wrapped up the week by reviewing how to divide and multiply fractions, which will help as we work with unit rates with fractional values. 8th grade mathematicians learned how to simplify expressions that have negative exponents, and then completed an assessment on what they have learned so far this year. Students then began exploring magnitude of very large and very small numbers, which will support our next study of scientific notation.
Super Studies – Mrs. Bebell
This week, the 7/8 class have been applying what they are learning about the global water crisis to education and fundraising efforts. They created posters and a website to help the community understand this issue and are planning some fundraising efforts to support Water for South Sudan. Watch for details on the Water Challenge next week, along with information about the family movie night the class decided to host on October 4. They will be showing Finding Nemo, selling treats, and collecting donations to help people without access to clean water.
English/Language Arts – Mrs. Thoner
Students have continued to focus on how to pull quotes out of the text A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park to analyze how the two main characters lives are similar and how they are different. We also read an article from the Washington Post published in 1999 “Sudanese Tribes Confront the Modern War,” and compared and contrasted the Dinka and the Nuer tribes as portrayed in that piece.
Art – Mr. Kennerk: The class has been working on a detailed geographical map of Africa to accompany their ELA book, “A Long Walk to Water”. We finish up this week and move into some wet-on-wet watercolor with subsequent silhouette work with images of Africa.
Sep 16, 2019
Upcoming Events:
- Monday, September 16th: Camp Kieve info night at 6:00 PM in the Blue Hill Consolidated School cafeteria.
- Monday, September 23rd: School Picture Day
- Friday, September 27th: Early Release at 1:00 PM
- October 7th-11th: Camp Kieve (https://www.kwe.org/the-leadership-school/)
Super Studies – Mrs. Bebell:
The 7/8 class started the week by identifying 10 global issues that we will examine throughout the year, and started focusing on the issue of water, in conjunction with reading A Long Walk to Water in language arts class. After learning about some of the realities of the water crisis, students have been problem solving by brainstorming ideas that could help people in developing areas and also for how they might raise money to support charities that are already working to help people affected by the water crisis.
English/Language Arts – Mrs. Thoner:
We are continuing a “close” read of A Long Walk to Water where we gather evidence regarding the Dinka and the Nuer in the conflicts in Sudan. Students will have an opportunity to hear Salva, one of the main characters, speak on Oct. 2 at lunch time. This novel is based on a true story of bringing drinkable water to South Sudan, but also includes excerpts of the Civil War in Sudan, in which individuals are ruthlessly killed. Please feel free to research this with your child to understand it further. If your child is having emotional difficulties with this text, please let me know.
Math – Mrs. Tapley:
The 7th grade mathematicians have made great progress in understanding proportional relationships and identifying proportional relationships in tables and graphs. They also began solving real-world examples of proportional relationships. The 8th grade mathematicians participated in discussions about the rules that apply to exponents and began practicing applying those rules. Students also completed their NWEA assessment this week, which will allow us to see how much they grow in their math skills during the school year.
Sep 8, 2019
Welcome to the first 7th/8th grade classroom newsletter of the 2019-2020 school year! The year has already started off in a wonderful way, and I’m excited to share some of what the students learned this week. This year, our weekly newsletters will be emailed to you and also posted to our new website. You’ll be able to find archived 7th/8th newsletters here:
brooklinschool.org/rebecca-tapley
Upcoming Events:
- Week of September 9th-13th: NWEA testing
- Tuesday, September 10th: Brooklin School Committee meeting at 6 PM
- Wednesday, September 11th: Back to School BBQ at 5 PM
- Monday, September 23rd: School Picture Day
- Friday, September 27th: Early Release at 1:00 PM
- October 7th-11th: Camp Kieve (https://www.kwe.org/the-leadership-school/)
7/8 Math – Mrs. Tapley
We had a wonderful first week of school in 7th and 8th grade math! Together, we discussed expectations for our classroom community. We completed a number of team building activities, and also began diving into math in earnest. Students did an excellent job on an activity called Four Fours where they used four fours and any combination of operations to create equations that resulted in the numbers 1-20. There was a fabulous amount of math conversation going on, and collaboration with their classmates. Our 7th grade mathematicians began their first unit, which is on ratios and proportions. Our 8th grade mathematicians also began their first unit, which is focused on exponents and scientific notation.
7/8 Super Studies – Mrs. Bebell
This week the 7/8 students began exploring statistics about our global population by imagining the 7.7 billion people in the world as a representative sample of 100 people. They were surprised to discover a variety of facts about our global population, and each selected a statistic to represent by creating an infographic. Data were shown with images drawn by students to represent these statistics about global income, housing, safety, and freedom. The students were also fascinated by this visual representation of global population growth over the last 2000 years! https://watchkin.com/6e3c34efe3?script=WKize
7/8 English Language Arts – Mrs. Thoner
This week we focused on how to productively engage in classroom discussions and how to be considered trustworthy. The text for the next 8 weeks will be A Long Walk to Water which focuses on the lack of water in Sudan and on the civil war in Sudan. One goal is for students to have an awareness of other parts of the world and their political and physical difficulties. A major goal is to understand that sometimes reading is not just reading – it is reflecting on what is happening, delving further into the historical aspects of the text, and understanding the character development through the context of environment and occurrences. Close reading helps you gain empathy and understanding for other cultures and other peoples’ experiences. You should have received a letter emphasizing the need for you to possibly assist your child through some of the really hard parts of this text. I encourage you to read it with and to your child, demonstrating how you might sometimes need to take a break from heavy readings, but how important it is for us all to acknowledge the life situations of others.
Aug 18, 2019
Dear families,
Another school year is just around the corner! We are very excited here at the Brooklin School, as this year is sure to be amazing. This year, your child will be working with three classroom teachers – Mrs. Thoner for English Language Arts and 3rd/4th-grade homeroom, Mrs. Bebell for social studies, science, and 5th/6th-grade homeroom, and Mrs. Tapley for math and 7th/8th-grade homeroom. This specialization will allow us to continue to provide top-notch instruction. Because the town of Brooklin is so supportive and generous, we do not need families to provide basic supplies for students to use at school. The school will supply folders, notebooks, assignment books, pencils, pens, etc. for use in the classroom. At home, please ensure that your child has access to the tools they will need to complete their homework throughout the year and a quiet workspace to support their thinking. The supplies should include:
- Pencils
- Colored pencils
- Writing paper
- Basic calculator
- Dictionary
- Protractor
- Ruler
Thank you! We look forward to seeing this year’s scholars on September 3rd!
Mrs. Bebell, Mrs. Tapley, and Mrs. Thoner
