As the last few days of seventh grade wind down, we want to wish all of the students a safe and restful summer vacation.  We remind them to keep reading, follow Ms. Colella’s blog, and try to learn something new this summer.

We thank all of the parents for their support these past two years.  We will miss the students but know that they will have a great year next year.

Our Boston trip is this Tuesday, May 6th. Details about the trip are as follows:

• We leave at 7 am
• Students should bring: lunch, a small bag to carry personal items around, a small bottle of water, sunscreen if it is sunny, rain gear if it is rainy, any necessary medication, $ if purchasing lunch at Quincy Market
• Drop off will be at King and at the Bay Lines at around 5:15
• We are touring the Freedom Trail in the morning and attending specialized programs in the afternoon related to our “Spark of Liberty.”

We hope to have a great day and share pictures of our trip on our website.

On Wednesday we are going to kick off our next expedition, Sparks of Liberty. We aren’t going to have a regular class schedule that day, instead we will have “mini-workshops” of colonial activities like sewing and stenciling. We have started to learn about colonial times, from 1607 to 1776 as a way to prepare for the upcoming expedition. Our student teacher in Social Studies, Ms. Donovan, created and is teaching the unit which comes in perfectly designed folders that contain all our papers. It is very interesting to learn about such an important period of time. Mrs. MacDonald has shifted to colonial times too. Starting on Monday we’ll have book groups with books such as The Fifth of March about the Boston Massacre and The Shoemaker and the Tea Party about the Boston Tea Party.
In Math we’ve just started common factors, while in Algebra we’re working our way through the extremely heavy book, and we’re in chapter 3- Solving Linear Equations.
In Science we have all chosen a different animal and have been learning about them while simultaneously learning about the human body systems and trout. We have a tank of trout in the science classroom and we have been recording the water quality of the tank, the temperature, the daily development and so on.
In Scientific Communications, or new related arts class, we just wrapped up making our web pages about our animal. Using Mozilla composer and a product descriptor we learned about composition, balance, images, links, and above all TABLES TABLES TABLES!!!!!!!!! This is a lead up to our final product in our expedition. We’re going to be using Mozilla to create a diary for a fictional character living in colonial times.
We are having quite a learning experience in W7, which is, of course, the best house EVER!!!!!!!!!

Obama, Clinton, McCain and Huckabee. These are the names we have been hearing a lot lately in Windsor Seven. In social studies and language arts, we have been learning about the primaries, caucuses and debates that will determine who our party representatives will be for the 2008 presidential election. Learning about the election is important because it teaches us how our democratic process works. Some students went to the Democratic and Republican caucuses that took place last month. Students that went to these exciting events felt that they were more involved in the election process.

In social studies we have been keeping track of this exciting race with maps of the U.S. highlighting the states that the remaining candidates have won. We sure did have a lot to fill in on Super Tuesday! Now almost all of the states are filled in. We also researched the Democratic and Republican National Parties, the backgrounds of three candidates of each party, and the issues that are important to them. After we gathered this information, our study tables decided on a candidate that we would vote for as if we were delegates.

In language arts, we made our own political ads for the candidate of our choice using the propaganda techniques that we learned earlier in the trimester. They could be a poster, a slideshow, or a video. When we were making the ads there was a lot of talk of who we would vote for. Most of the students said that they would vote for, but some said that they were more on Clinton’s side, and virtually no one would vote for a Republican. The best three ads got a free reading journal pass. Lucky! The students voted on their favorite ads to determine the winners. Also, in language arts we read political cartoons to help us learn to find evidence of the artist’s opinion through color, the words, and symbols that they used. Many of the cartoons were about the election and the candidates in it.

As a result, the students of Windsor Seven have gotten more involved in the election, by spreading flyers, following the news and the debates, and having our own debates at the lunch tables amongst friends. These skills will come very helpful when we’re able to vote for who we think will be the best president when it comes our time to vote.

Welcome back from vacation!

It will be a busy time between now and April vacation. On March 4th the staff from Camp Kieve will come to King for a follow-up session with the Windsor and York students. We are looking forward to seeing the counselors again.

On March 6th we begin our MEA testing. It is very important that the students get a good night’s sleep and eat a healthy breakfast. We will be testing Thursday, Friday, and the following Monday.

Thank you for all of your support of the mathathon. Once the final totals are in, I will give you an update. We are looking for some parent chaperones for our May 6th trip, so please call or email one of us if you are interested.

Mark your calendars for May 1st. That is the date of the second annual Faculty Talent Show. It is a show and silent auction that supports our work with Camp Kieve. Last year was a huge success and rumor has it that the Windsor-7 teachers might be working on a performance, so stay tuned!

Grade close on March 7th. Please remind your child that they can come and work after school every day except Wednesday.

Keep your finders crossed that there are no snow days this week!!!!!!!!

Mathathon, mathathon, mathathon.

Those are the words that Mr. Miranda keeps repeating to the students. That is because we are trying to raise money for our trip to Boston on May 6th. Please support the mathathon in any way that you can, and we appreciate all of your help!

Boy, things are busy after school at King. Drama has started, and track and swimming start this week! Yearbook is in full swing, and the new King newspaper, started by our own Rikki, will have its debut soon.

Congratulations to Megan, Nick, Tate and Camille who all spoke at the City Council meeting last Monday regarding the sewer bond and its impact on the health of the Fore River. They were poised and professional and we were quite proud of them!

We appreciate the comments from students and parents on the blog. One comment about the homework site reminded us how much people are using that site. We will do our best to make sure the homework is posted every night, and we apologize if we missed a night or two.

What a great turn out of Windsor-7 students at the Democratic caucus on Sunday. Whatever your party interest, it is nice to see students interested in this fascinating process called democracy.

This week’s reading log asks each student to write to Mrs. MacDonald about his/her reading habits so far this year. She will enjoy those letters over February break!

With more snow forecasted for Wednesday, we are keeping our fingers crossed that this will be a full week.

Mrs. MacDonald

First, we would like to congratulate the Windsor-7 students who participated in the Around the World in 80 minutes show this past week. Thina was a fabulous emcee for the show. The hip-hop dance featured Samantha, Samar, and Henry. The orchestra ensemble had Mercedes playing the viola. Finally, the rock band was a Windsor-7 group starring Nick, Cody, Lucy and Lillian. We are so proud of your work on this show. Congratulations!!!!!

The students are noticing that there is an increase in homework, and they are correct. On Monday the 28th there will be a quiz in both social studies and science. PACE is also due in math on Monday, since it is a Day 6. In language arts the students have two pieces they need to be working on independently this week. Their personal narrative is due on February 6th and their advertisement for a presidential candidate is due by 2:30 on the 4th. On Tuesday the 5th we will have a gallery of advertisements, and on the 6th we will have an author’s celebration with readings from the narratives.

On February 4th Nick, Tate, Megan and Camille will be presenting our research on the health of the Fore River at a formal City Council meeting.
The council is considering a bond issue that could help protect the health of Casco Bay. We welcome anyone from our house to join us at the meeting, which starts at 7 pm. This item will be early on the agenda, but of course we can’t predict exactly what time they will be speaking. It may also be covered on the local cable channel, so you may want to check that, as well.

Many activities are up and running at King. Drama auditions are this week, and we are accepting applications to work on the crew for the production, as well. The new school newspaper is up and running, but it may be possible to join. Swimming and indoor track will start in the next couple of weeks. It’s a busy time of year!!!!!!!

The students should be working on homework every night. Besides their 30 minutes of reading, they probably should work another 45 minutes on other homework-either completing assignments or studying.

Finally, progress reports will come out this week. This is an estimate of their current grades. Please call or write a note on the progress report if you have questions or concerns. These reports need to be signed and returned to your child’s homeroom teacher.

Let’s hope for a full week!!!

Mrs. MacDonald

We want to thank all of the parents who have signed their child up for the computer take-home program. The process of signing out and returning computers is going very smoothly!!!! Our thanks to Drew, Rikki and Juslin who faithfully sign out computers every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Most of the students are reporting that there is quite a bit of homework right now, so the ability to work on their computer at home is a real plus.

This Friday is the final day of art for Windsor-7 students. We want to thank Mrs. Norton for a great semester, and for all of her help with the fabulous plant illustrations for River to the Sea. On Monday, January 28th, the students will begin their second related arts class with Mr. Comstock. The class is called Scientific Data and the students will be using their laptops daily in his class.

On Friday we will attend a performance of Around the World in Eighty Minutes performance, a show featuring multicultural talent from our school. We have several Windsor-7 performers in the show and are looking forward to this event.

Auditions will take place next week for the Broadway Junior production of Honk, the King drama show for 2008. Seventh grade auditions are on Thursday, January 31st. The musical will be performed the week before April vacation.

Swimming and indoor track seasons will begin soon, so interested students should listen carefully to the announcements.

Progress reports will be distributed next week. These grades are approximate averages at this point. The trimester ends on March 7th and we want to remind everyone that we have after school help every day except Wednesday for any make-up work.

It looks like it will be a storm-free week. Yeah!!!!!!!

Mrs. MacDonald

Congratulations to all of the Windsor-7 students for an outstanding culminating event this past Wednesday. Everyone should be complimented on their great efforts. A special recognition goes to the speakers, who had the additional responsibility of preparing a speech for the invited guests. All of the students presented their written reports with knowledge and poise to the adults who attended. We were thrilled that so many parents could join us for the morning. Great job Windsor-7!!

This week we get to relax at a culminating event, as we are the guests of York-7 on Thursday. They have been involved in an expedition around an environmental issue, as well.

As the race for the presidency heats up, the students are taking a look at the process through their social studies and language arts class. Homework for social studies involves interviewing adults about the candidate they are currently supporting. In language arts we continue to examine the techniques used in advertising, including political commercials.

The students have a first draft of their personal narrative due on Thursday. This piece should be typed and printed before their class on Thursday.

Our next expedition will begin in March and will focus on the “Sparks of Liberty” in Boston. We have scheduled a day in Boston for May 6th, during which we will walk a section of the Freedom Trail and participate in presentations at four Boston historical sites. Chaperones are needed for this day, which will run from 6:45 am until 5:30 pm. Please email one of us if you are interested. As you can imagine, the cost of the transportation to Boston has risen considerably due to the fuel charges. We are going to do another math-a-thon fundraiser in early February. Our hope is that we raise most of the cost of this trip through those efforts. We thank you in advance for your support.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that we have a full week of school again.

Mrs. MacDonald

This week we are culminating our fall expedition, River to the Sea. The color printer is humming in Mrs. MacDonald’s room, and the speakers are busy practicing with Ms. MacLean, as we gear up for Wednesday’s final presentation. We hope parents and interested members of the public will join us for this event as we share our findings on the health of the Fore River.

In other news of the house, the students will be focused on the primary election process through their social studies and language arts classes. If you are watching tv and notice a commercial for a candidate, it would be great if the two of you could discuss the message and the technique used.

Thank you for participating in interviews over vacation with your child. The students will begin writing their personal narrative in language arts today. This piece will go through several drafts, so if your child brings home his/her computer you might take a look at an early draft.

We hope everyone has a great week!

Mrs. MacDonald