7th Grade ELA 2020-2021

Course Description

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Spectacular Short Stories!

Hey everyone!
 
Moving into Spring Break, if you are looking for some AWESOME short stories to read, check out these student examples!
 
In Quarter 3, we spent a few weeks developing a unique and creative short story that contained fully developed characters and an interesting plot. The examples below are some of the final products of this project, and they are really fun! Feel free to dig in!
 
Lilly's Kidnapping
 
Untitled
 
Faith
 
Hamuto Kuma
 
Monkey Man
 
Chicken nuggets are falling from the sky!
 
Makayla and Her Friends
 

D&D Club Information

If you have never played or heard of D&D before, it is all about storytelling; a group of people will get together to tell a story, create their own fantasy character that could be anyone and anything, go on a quest/adventure with whatever goal the Dungeon Master (the person who leads the story like a narrator) has for the group, and ultimately have a ton of fun doing it! 
 
Since it is all about group storytelling, and the story is created on the fly by everyone involved, there would be plenty of social opportunities as well to keep kids interested and social during remote learning. The character they create and use would need a backstory, a description, and plenty of other general information, so students would need to do some research, read through some reference manuals and materials that I have and would provide to them, and write their character into existence! Reading and writing would be everywhere in the game as students continue to create and design their character and the story itself.
 
Each session would be an hour or two, and we would meet once a week on the day that works best for the students who sign up for D&D Club. If you have any questions, please email me at [email protected]!
 
I will hold an informational meeting Friday, January 8th, in my office hour from 2:30-3:30. Students can sign in to their class's Google Meet where I will be live to answer any questions you have. Sign-up goes until Wednesday, January 13th, with the first session of Character Creation planned for office hour on Friday, January 15th. 
 
Thanks! 

Exemplar Final Projects

Throughout second quarter, all students worked on a quarter-long research project. 7th grade covered different systems of the human body, and 8th grade covered a historical figure from the Civil War. At the end of the quarter, students gathered their research and created an informational website, using Google Sites, that was all about their research topic. Check out some of the incredible final projects that students created here!
 
7th Grade Sites:
 
 
 
 
 
8th Grade Sites:
 
 
 
 
 

Movie Day!

Hey everyone!
 
In 8th Grade ELA, we have been completing projects about various historical people involved in the Civil War. As a special educational event, I would like to show the students "Harriet" on Monday and Tuesday. Many of you have given permission for your students to view PG-13 movies for educational and incentive purposes, but I wanted to be sure I let you know which movie has been chosen. 
 
In 7th, we have been completing projects about the systems of the Human Body, and I plan to show students "Osmosis Jones", which is rated PG. 
 
If you have any concerns, please reach out on Dojo, Remind, or email me at [email protected]. Thank you for your time. 
 
-Mr. Nichols 

Go Out and Vote! - 7/8 Student Council

Special thanks to Mrs. Claes and the middle school Student Council team for putting together this video! We encourage you to make your voice heard. Go out and vote today!

Middle School Tour

Come along with Mr. Claes as he runs you through a tour of the middle school hallway! We all wanted to show off our rooms to you since we have included a bit of ourselves in them, and we are hoping you are excited to see them as well! Don't forget our first day is coming up fast. This coming Tuesday, we begin school virtually. Be ready to go with all of your materials, and make sure your laptop or other device is charged and ready also! See you in a few days!

Email/Technology Expectations

Hello everyone! We created this video to overview some technology communication expectations for this school year. -Ask for one on one conversation during homeroom or office hours -Guaranteed message response from teachers 7:30 am-3:30 pm. You are free to email any time. -Emails are for academic questions and concerns only. -Please be sure to type full email in body section instead of the subject area. -Please be sure to join all 7 Google Classrooms for your school year. We encourage any and all emails with questions and concerns. All of your teachers are here to help!

Intro to Remote Learning Expectations 2020-2021

Hey everyone! Check out this awesome video your 7th/8th grade teachers made! Remote learning will continue to be different, but we are here to help. In the video, we show you some ways you should and should NOT be treating your technology, taking tests remotely, doing work, or even just attending class. Let me know if you have any questions or if you just love the video as much as we do!
Photo of empty class
Today, I would have been able to meet you all in person and start the school year. Unfortunately, we had to push our start date back and go remote. This does not change how excited I am to meet everyone and get to know you all! If you want to talk to me about anything before the school year starts, or if you (or parents) have ANY questions, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] anytime!
 
While waiting for September 8th, I wanted to remind everyone to check out my syllabus here on my page to get a better idea of what to expect for my class. Also, it's very important that you all check your emails to sign into all of your teachers' Google Classroom links as well as your Remind and/or ClassDojo link so you'll be ready and prepared to start the year! I'm looking forward to it all, as I hope you are too.