Final Exams

Parents and Students, this is a reminder that the Social Studies Final Exams are upon us.
6th Grade SS Exam is scheduled for Thursday May 14th.
7th Grade SS Exam is scheduled for Tuesday May 19th.

Students have received a detailed review that contains unit big ideas and vocabulary.

Week of 4/28 (MSTEP Testing Schedule)

Spring has sprung and time is flying!

6th grade is studying migration patterns in social studies. 6th grade will begin MSTEP testing the week of May 19th.
7th grade is studying the early civilizations (the bronze age) they begin testing the week of April 30th.

7th grade MSTEP test dates: Thurs. Apr. 30th, Tuesday May 5th, Weds. May 6th, Tues. May 12th and Weds May 13th.

Post Test 7th Grade Mesopotamia Work

7th Grade SS students, when you are finished with your Unit 3 Vocabulary Quiz, copy and paste the link below into a new tab to further learn about the development of Mesopotamia.

http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/

Week of March 23rd

Can you believe we are almost to Spring Break? -Wow!

7th Grade Students are currently studying Era 2. They are learning about the development and growth of civilizations. Comparing and contrasting Mesopotamia and Egyptian civilizations.

6th Grade Students are studying population trends and interpreting population pyramids (with a focus on answering the essential question: why does the age of a population matter?)

Each class will take a vocabulary quiz prior to Spring Break

Week of St. Patrick's

Hope you have a wonderful and lucky St. Patrick's Day! March 17th is probably the only day you will hear this Wolverine say, "Go Green!"

6th Grade SS students will be studying population data and trends.

7th Grade SS students will be studying and comparing primary documents from Era 2 (Early Civilizations)

6th Grade Unit 2 Review

Read over and study the Unit 2 Vocabulary and Big Ideas.

Be able answer the following questions or complete the require tasks:

Identify major hemispheres.

Label all continents and oceans.

You need to pick a natural feature on Earth that you learned about. Then, you need to explain the following in a paragraph:
1. Name the feature and describe it. (1st sentence)
2. Name one challenge that the natural feature presents humans. (2nd sentence)
3. Explain the challenge that the feature presents humans. (3rd sentence)
4. Name the opportunity that the natural feature presents humans. (4th sentence)
5. Explain the opportunity that the natural feature presents humans.

Define natural hazards and natural disasters.

Explain how/why natural hazards turn into a disaster.

Describe ways to lessen the effects of a natural disaster.

Label the climate zones correctly on a map.

Differentiate between lines of latitude and longitude and describe what they are used for.

Identify the major dividing lines on a globe (ex. Equator, Prime Meridian…)

Define natural processes and explain what they can be related to.

Define region and explain what regions can be based on or criteria that is used to create them.

Define geographic inquiry.

Name the major map projection types and identify the types of distortion each presents.

Be able to match maps to their correct image (i.e. political, physical, etc…)

Explain which countries are more susceptible to natural disasters (developed or developing) and why?

Identify the major natural hazards we studied

Beginning of March

Parents and Students,

Welcome to March,and hopefully the end to a long sub-artic winter. Also, comes the end of the 2nd trimester this Friday the 6th. That means just over one third of the school year left.

6th graders are finishing their Unit 2 work and should test at the week's end.

7th graders are learning about the importance of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and the establishment of the world's first civilization in Mesopotamia.

Week of Feb. 16th

It was great to see many of you at conferences last week. Thank you for your attendance and support.

6th Grade is studying natural hazards.

7th Grade is studying the beginning of civilizations.

Conference Week

Parents and students,

Parent Teacher Conferences are being held in the middle school gym this Tuesday, Feb. 10th (4-7pm) and Thursday, Feb. 12th (5-8pm).

7th grade social studies classes will have a Unit 2 test this Thursday. Students will have class time on Tuesday to create a review from the Unit Big Ideas and Vocabulary. By Tuesday, I will have a quizlet test review online by Tuesday. Go to quizlet.com and search mrtoole, there you will be able to access the online test review tool.

6th grade is finishing up learning about physical features and will begin focusing on natural hazards/disasters.

Progress Reports Coming Home

Parents and Students,

2nd trimester progress reports are coming home this Friday. These grades will represent the student's performance both halfway through the year and 2nd trimester. The grades include the mid term exam.

7th Grade SS classes will take the Unit 2 test next week. Speaking of next week, conferences are next Tuesday and Thursday.

Halfway Point

Parents and Students,

We have just passed the halfway point of the school year. Students have taken their midterms and progress reports will go home this Friday.

7th Grade Students are finishing their studies on the Neolithic Age and Global Patterns of the Early Ages. Unit 2 Test will probably be scheduled for sometime next week.

6th Grade Students are working on a group project about the major physical features of the world. Students will have Monday and Tuesday to organize and practice their project. Students will deliver the project to the class on Weds.

Mid Term Exams

Parents and Students:

All of my 6th and 7th grade social studies students will be taking their mid term exams next week Wednesday, Jan. 21st.
Students received a review packet today. Their studying/review should consist of focusing on studying the lesson big ideas and vocabulary words from Unit 1 and most of Unit 2.