David Murphy; 7th Grade Mathematics & Social Studies

Social Studies: We are still doing a lot of the same.  India, IN-dia, in-DIa, no matter how it is said, it is still India.  We will be getting into the religions of India this week.  Students are copying notes from a PowerPoint made by Mrs. Wood.  It is very informative and is aligned to the Georgia Performance Standards.

Math: Integers are still at the forefront of our learning.  Today, we changed subtraction to addition by using a process known as the addition of the opposite.  This makes math much easier down the road.  Students keep wanting to argue the point that subtraction is easier, and I keep arguing that it is NOW.  I also tell them that next year they will see the fruits of this labor.  However, some want to wait to learn the concept next year.  They do not see the importance of learning a better way that works every time in the early stages.  I keep assuring them that I AM NOT LEADING THEM ASTRAY!!!!!!  This is the  process that all of the math teachers have agreed to follow.  We want to make grade transitions as seamless as possible.

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I hope that everyone had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!!!  However, we are back in the groove around here.

Social Studies: We are going in depth with India.  The standard of focus is SS7G10–Discuss the environmental issues across South Asia.  We will be using a great PowerPoint that Mrs. Wood has created.  It correlates very nicely with the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS).  I am also trying to incorporate some short You Tube videos that drive the content home.  Students are taking notes in their interactive-social studies notebooks.

Math: Integers are all around us from elevation to temperature.  We are taking our math “in a negative direction.”  By this, I mean the study of positive and negative integers within operations.  Today we utilized a Text oriented PowerPoint and Integer Chip modeling to learn to add positive and negative integers.  Tomorrow is the assignment.   Students will be given the class time to work on the assignment.  What is not completed will be assigned as homework.

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Have a Happy and Safe Memorial Day Weekend!!!!!

Social Studies: The class average on the TEST was a 79.3.  This is a little worse than I had hoped for, but half of the test was made by students.   I found that their questions were of a very high quality and difficulty.

Math: The TEST average for all classes combined was a 90.8.  This shocked me!!!  I am very proud of all of the students.  It is evident that they knew the content rather well.

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Social Studies: We spent the day today going over Chapter 20 and its unit review on page 604.  Tomorrow will be a different type of review where students create test questions.  I have found this to be a helpful tool, because it causes students to look at things from a different perspective.  Some of these questions will be used for Friday’s Test.

Math: We are checking the unit review and practicing mental math in preparation for tomorrow’s test.

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Social Studies: Complete all of the questions on Pg. 604 in complete sentences.  We are grading it tomorrow and creating multiple-choice questions from what we have learned about South Asia.  The TEST will be on Friday.

Math: Unit 1 Review on Pgs. 64—66; Probs. 1—15, 20—51.  The TEST will be on Thursday.

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