January 8th – January 12th

Science 

Students this week started their unit about the properties of water. This week’s laboratory was hands on activities to discovery the concept of surface tension and cohesion. Students used pennies to see how many water drops can stay on top of the penny. Next they placed the penny in a soapy solution in order to discovery if this affects water surface tension. Then students conducted an experiment in order to discover the interaction of water with different liquids. We all had a great time learning these concept through hands on experimentation. Next week we will continue discovering properties of water, a substance that is so important on planet Earth.

Mike Noll

Math

Both groups should be coming home with a packet of their work from the first semester! Please ask them to show you if you are interested in seeing how much they have progressed as math students so far this year.

This week, 7X finished Unit 6 (ratio, rate, and speed) and will be progressing towards Unit 7 (percentage) next week. 7Y finished Unit 7 (percentage) and will be taking the unit test on Tuesday, January 16th.

Hebrew Heritage

הורים יקרים,

השבוע התחלנו יחידה של כתיבה אישית, בה כל תלמיד פיתח באמצעות כלים סיפור עם דמויות. בניית הסיפור הוא תהליך ארוך שמצריך תכנון וחשיבה, תוך כדי שימוש באוצר מילים רחב שלמדנו השנה. כתיבת הסיפור האישי מאפשרת ללוות כל תלמיד באופן פרטני תוך עבודה על כתיבתם.

הרעיונות של התלמידים מקוריים ומעניינים והם נמצאים כעת בעיצומו של תהליך הכתיבה אשר יימשך לאורך החודש הקרוב.

סוף שבוע נעים,

אילנה

Humanities 

In history, students have been diligently using their outlining skills to finish Chapter 18: The Late Middle Ages. In literature, students have been engaging in a “Medieval Book Club.” Students selected books, developed a reading schedule, and led group discussions. In writing, we started our second vocabulary unit (Winter Vocabulary). I’m so excited to read their persuasive essays and Independent Book Projects.

Judaic Studies

This report is from the desk of Police Commissioner Lissy (a.k.a. “the Commish”). The crack detectives of the 7th grade have been hard at work on a tough case: what don’t Bnai Yisrael like about manna? We began by looking at the 3 places in the Torah where manna is discussed. The 7th grade detectives analyzed the information and came up with theories about why Bnai Yisrael object to manna: perhaps it is difficult for Bnai Yisrael to have to depend on God, or perhaps the trauma of slavery has made it hard for them to trust in God. The Commissioner awarded several promotions to Sergeant, and we will continue our investigation next week by exploring some new evidence: midrashim.

Hebrew

This week we learned about areas in the northern part of Israel. Students read a conversation between a tour guide and students about a trip from Mount Arbel to the Kinneret, the route they would be taking, the history of the area and the views they would see. We also read an article about the Kinneret. The history of the area, its importance to different religions and how the water level plays an important role for the Israelis.