WELCOME TO 7TH GRADE (letter)

WELCOME TO 7th GRADE (Letter sent home)

copy of Welcome To 7th Grade Letter to be sent home with students:

My name is Jeff Gentile, and it is a pleasure and an honor to welcome your student to Roseway Heights’ 7th Grade Core class.


WHAT IS CORE CLASS?

Over the last fifteen years as a staff member in this building, I have taught 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade cores.

7^th Grade Core, like our 6^th & 8^th grade Cores, is a two-hour block that covers Social Studies, Reading, and Language Arts.   Your student will receive two A - F grades from me on report cards.

Oregon, including PPS, is fully engaged in the shift to Common Core State Standards and I'll be working throughout the year to show parents how reading and writing assignments align to the standards.

SOCIAL STUDIES: HIST. OF  WEST.  CIV.

7^TH  Grade Social Studies asks the question:  “What is this thing we call Western Civilization and how did we arrive at the world we live in today?”    Core class will cover world history from the rise and fall of Rome through the Middle Ages, up to the Renaissance,  and to the start of colonization of the Americas.  Basically, we will survey more than 2,000 years in 9 months!  Ultimately, we try to show how Western Civilization journeys from the Roman Empire to the United States of America.

7^th Grade Social Studies will include the following major units:

_ Review of maps and globes, latitude and longitude,

    as well as the 5 themes of geography

_  Ancient Rome & concepts of citizenship,     

    democracy, religion and government

_  Middle Ages and the rise of feudalism

_  Development of the major world religions

_  Early American civilizations

_  Early civilizations and cultures of Africa

_  Medieval survey of Japan and China

_  European Renaissance & the Enlightenment

_  European expansion and colonization of the

    Americas

 

LANGUAGE ARTS/WRITING

We will practice and reinforce a wide variety of types of writing in Core class, from the standard expository reports, to short stories, to descriptive narratives to limericks and haiku and other forms of poetry.  Please note that research and note-taking are a HUGE part of nearly every aspect of this year’s 7^th grade social studies or other non-fiction writing.

Typing is expected on final copies from time to time on most major assignments and students must plan on how and when they will complete typing if they are unable to finish during time provided in class.  Computers are always available in our class before school, during lunch, and after school if students schedule in advance.

Although I completely understand parents who wish to keep their students from communicating via email, this technology is also a major component of 7^th grade communications and students are expected (if allowed) to have an email account  that both they and parents can check for assignment notices and instructions.  If there is no computer at home, it is still possible to sign up for free email accounts so that parents and students can check for assignments, instructions and news online at the local library or elsewhere.

READING

Your student is expected to read (fiction or nonfiction) 20-30 minutes per night, five nights per week. Some books are assigned in class. Some books are free choice.  Current events articles (one a week) will always be a part of your student’s home reading.   Many students can also choose to read comics, manuals or nonfiction.   Listening to books on tape also count as reading.   So does reading "cheats" for video games.  ALL reading counts. Emphasis in class is on both learning to read for pleasure, but also on what successful readers do.  Strategies on HOW to be a successful reader are learned and reinforced.

I’m looking forward to a good year of fun learning!  See you all at Back to School night on Sept. 18^th!

Sincerely,             Jeff Gentile