Happy Thanksgiving!

Fundraising update:  Last weeks recycling contributions raised $43.24 toward our Biosphere2 trip!

Reminder:  We need some 7th graders to help with our Parent's Night Out on Friday night from 6-9pm.  So far we have 8 children signed up to be taken care of.  I could use an extra parent or two to help out! We will be supplying pizza for dinner.  Please let me know if your 7th grader will be able to help. Here is the message that went out to parents:

PARENTS NIGHT OUT!  Bring your kids to Innovations Academy’s from 6-9pm, and for a small fee you receive childcare for a night out!  Our 7^th graders will babysit your kiddos while you shop, see a movie, or just enjoy a night out. They are excited to keep your kids entertained, provide crafts, show a movie, and feed them pizza! $15 for the first child, and $10 additional siblings. What a deal! As if that is not enough, 7th graders will also be GIFT WRAPPING!  Bring your gifts and we will wrap them for you.  (supplies provided, cost to be determined, and DONATIONS WELCOME!) Email lisa@innovationsacademy with child(s) name and age so we can reserve a spot for you.

Can you believe we are almost to December?  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break with family and friends.
A quick recap of our last week together:

• Students wrapped up the Shapes and Designs Unit with a cumulative test.  
• Vocab Quiz #6 was taken
• The majority of the Human Body Project is complete (click here for checklist) Final Due date is Friday Dec 4.
• Students did an amazing job performing their dance, "The Body is a Machine" for their 2nd grade buddies.
• A big thank you to all parents who attended the Parent Meeting for our overnights. Here are the details (you can also find this info on my field trips tab on the Class Portfolio).
• We will be visiting the Biosphere2 in Oracle, Arizona January 20-22. 
• Cost is $125. Payment 1 for $75.00 due Dec.15, Payment 2 for $50.00 due Jan 15.
• Click here for itinerary
• We will be doing as much fundraising as possible to reduce costs.  Currently our ongoing fundraisers are Tuesday and Friday hot lunches (a percentage of proceeds goes to 7th grade) and weekly recycling.  We have the Parent Night Out scheduled for this coming Friday as well as a possible garage sale right after the holidays(still planning this one!)
• Our end of the year trip to Zion National Park is tentatively scheduled for Monday, June 6 - Friday, June 10.  I can't make the reservations until December 6 so I will firm up the dates then.
• Cost is $175.  3 Monthly payments of $50 begin on February 15 with last payment of $25 due May 15.  (as previously stated, fundraisers will reduce these payments)
• I will put out a daily itinerary after December 6, but we can look forward to camping at Watchman campground, hiking Zion Narrows,  Bryce Canyon, Watchman Trail and Emerald Pools.

One More Week til Thanksgiving!

Reminder! Parent Meeting Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 3:45-4:30 pm or Thursday, Nov.19 at 8:15-9:00 am:  We will be talking about our 2 big trips for the year.  The Biosphere2 Tuscon trip Jan 20-22 and our end of the year Zion National Park trip June 6-10.  We will be discuss the educational significance, itineraries, costs, fundraising and chaperone needs. I have only heard from a few parents saying they cannot attend so I expect to see the rest of you at one of the meetings!

Our class is working on advertising our fundraisers.  An ongoing fundraiser is Weekly Recycling.  We also have a Parent Night Out Scheduled for December 4 from 6-9.  7th graders will "kid-sit" for IA families.  It will be an evening of fun, movies, crafts and pizza.  All of the proceeds will go toward our overnight trips.  I will speak more about the fundraisers at our Parent meeting.

We will be wrapping up our project this week and performing the dance piece of the project during the last hour on Friday.  I am not set on the exact time yet but should know by tomorrow.  Both 7th grade classes will be performing for each other as well as for our lower grade buddies.  The entire project itself will be displayed during Exhibition Night in December.

We have our Math Shapes and Designs unit test on Wednesday and vocab quiz #6 on Thursday. For any last minute studying, students were given a study guide that was worked on during class time.  It may help to review it with your student.

I look forward to a busy week and a relaxing Thanksgiving break!

Recap of Oct 26-30

Last week was full of MAPs testing and project design/building. We finished the Outsiders novel and celebrated by watching the movie and comparing the book to the movie (comparison is due Tuesday). Be aware that the Flash Fiction Final draft is due this Friday.  Please take a look at it and help your student with final proofreading.  The History mini project is also due Friday.  Check with Keith or look on GoogleClassroom: Humanities for more information.  

Our schedule is finally getting back to normal after a very eventful October.  Thank you to all of you who made it to student led conferences.  It is so evident that our students have much support at home as well as school.  If you were not able to schedule your SLC, it's not too late!  Contact me for an appointment.  Today we started the boys' and girls' groups.  I enjoyed sitting in with the girls and understand from Keith that the boys' group was as exciting. Due to our class party on Friday, I forgot to remind kids to bring their home-to-school journal home.  You should have seen it today after school.  Please sign and return back to school tomorrow.  

Please mark your calendars for either Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 3:45-4:30 pm or Thursday, Nov.19 at 8:15-9:00 am.  We will be talking about our 2 big trips for the year.  The Biosphere2 Tuscon trip Jan 20-22 and our end of the year Zion National Park trip June 6-10.  We will be talking about the itineraries, costs, fundraising and chaperone needs. If you cannot attend, please contact me.

Last but not least, did you listen to the weekly call on Sunday?  Our school is hoping for 100% participation in our Pledge Drive.(extended deadline!)  If you haven't already, donate! Even $1 makes a difference.  If you can't contribute, how about a note about something you appreciate at IA?   

Have a wonderful week!

Tournament of the Phoenix Photos

Learning about Medieval Europe

 

 

 

Carlsbad Campout photos

What a great time!  The weather was perfect.  The water was a warm 72 degrees (unheard of on a usual non-El Nino October day!)  I was privy to a few comments from fellow campers about our polite kids and what a wonderful experience we were giving our school children. Students played, talked, laughed, worked out, strategized, relaxed, prepared meals, cleaned up after each other and mostly just enjoyed the company of one another. Although it was not much of a surprise, considering the awesome 7th graders we have been privileged to teach this year, I was still constantly amazed by what a stress free time we had. Enjoy the photos.

 

                                                                   
 

 

Sept 28- Oct 2

Upcoming Events:
-Oct 5-Oct 7 Carlsbad Camp out (see class portfolio for details) Bring Tent supplies and sleeping bags Tuesday, Clothes in a backpack and a sack lunch Wednesday Morning.  We will be leaving at 9:30 am. Arriving back at school Friday at lunchtime 12:30.
-Friday Oct 16: Tournament of the Phoenix $12
-Oct 19-22 Student Led Conferences.  Sign up here. We will be on minimum day schedule the whole week with a 12:30 dismissal time.
- TBA beginning of November: Bike ride to Los Penasquitos Waterfall (do you have a bike?)

We had another fun week.  Students are really showing a sense of urgency when it comes to completing classwork. One of the hardest parts of middle school is keeping up with and managing many assignments and deadlines at once. I have seen many students taking work home to add details or make it better. This is exciting to me as I have never had a class as enthusiastic about submitting good work as this one! We are trying to consistently practice organization and accountability for our assignments and work habits. I took all students' math notebooks home last week to check in with their note-taking skills as well as see how they organize their class work.  I used examples of a few of the students' notebooks as models for students who have difficulty recording work and organizing notes. The purpose of their notebook is to not only provide documentation of their learning, but also to be an easy to follow resource as they build on the concepts we are covering this year.
We have an interactive math quiz on Tuesday Oct 6.  Students are responsible for understanding the concepts covered so far:  degrees, basic polygons, estimating angle measurements, right angles, complementary and supplementary angles. My goal is to have the students complete an assessment in a fun and hands on atmosphere where they don't even realize they are taking a test.  I can't wait to let you know if it was a success! 

Our Spanish class is so fun.  I would recommend peeking in there if you are ever on campus.  Patrick speaks almost exclusively in Spanish and the students are quickly picking it up.  He integrates Spanish and drama in his teaching. I was able to record students as they worked on a first draft of the first scene of a story called El Sombrero del Tio Nacho.  Students are involved in directing, narrating, arranging music, illustrating, and voice acting in their shadow puppet story.   

We had the opportunity to do some service in our backyard garden on Friday.  We are preparing for the impending El Nino rain by building a berm and digging a trench to divert flood water away from our outdoor nature studies gazebo and the butterfly garden pathways.

There will be no vocab quiz this week as week will be on our campout on Thursday.
All students should have completed their informational entries and sketches of four human body organ systems in their project journals. The objective of this activity was to familiarize the students with the main components and functions of a some of the organ systems in the body.  Next we will begin the design and creation of a unique 3D representation of six organ systems.  
Circulatory System: Kenzie, Mike, Asher
Skeletal System:  Jared, Alexis, Henry, Raj
Respiratory System: Adam, Katrina, Ian
Muscular System: Monze, Jaylene, Jazmin
Nervous System: Ryan, Logan, Hanan
Digestive System: Hannah, Collin, Hafsa, Areana
Another aspect of our Human Body Being Human project is the performance of a dance routine that demonstrates kinesiology, how our body moves, and symbolizes how the body is like a machine. Natasha is working each week with our class to help us perfect the routine for our Fall Exhibition night.  I notice a few of the boys complain as they come in to practice but also see the giggles and smiles that show they are having a fun time as well as getting a great workout!