7th Grade Field Trip Pictures

Everyone had a great time on our trip to Fitz's Bottling Co. & Concordia Seminary St. Louis today.  Thank you to the chaperones who joined us -- what fun!!  We listened, learned, and laughed throughout the entire day.  Ask your kiddo what they learned about The Loop & The Seminary campus.

I am so proud to be these students' teacher & I know Mrs. Murray would say the same.  I love taking them out into the world and really see their Christian attitudes and character fill wherever they are.  A group of girls started to clean up after our lunch at Fitz's -- they were laughing and being "waitresses" bussing the tables and collecting all the leftover root beer.  The server was blown away by their willingness to clean up that he gave our class two cases of root beer to take with us!!  The girls were shocked and had not expected anything in return, they said, "It just felt good to help."  I am so blessed to be around these children every day.  Thank you for sending them to Zion!

Weeks 5-6 Sept. 12-23

Mr. Potato Head Hard at work in 7th Grade

• 7th graders are hard at work planning a Feudalism skit for World History class.  They will be transforming themselves and the classroom into a medieval manor to learn more about what life was like in the Middle Ages.
• Students also started a project in Science each researching a different sickness/virus.
• Students took their first Literature test and will be starting a novel unit Monday -- yippy!!
• Keep encouraging your child to read at home towards reaching their AR point goal, with mid-quarter past, the end of the quarter will be here before we know it.
• The art project this week allows students to use sketching pencils & charcoal to complete a symmetrical picture of an animal.  They are amazed at what they can draw!
• The next memory meditation is due Tuesday 9/27

Field Trips:

• Field Trip coming up with Friday 9/30 to Fitz's Bottling Co. & the St. Louis Seminary.  A permission form was sent home today and needs to be returned by Wednesday.
• A field trip is also being scheduled for Dec. 9 to the MO History museum to see a Metro Theatre play and be guided through a program about Route 66.  If you are interested in being a chaperone please email me (kcluck@zionharvester.org).

Color Wheels:

• Students enjoyed mixing their primary colors to make 12 different colors for their color wheels.  They then cut out a creative shape from each color.  Wow!  I love how these turned out!

Walk-a-thon Fun:

• What a sunshine-filled afternoon at the walk-a-thon!  Our jr. high students had a blast walking, jogging, running, snacking, talking, laughing, and overall supporting the USO.  I am excited to hear our overall totals in miles & money raised.
• Our homeroom walked a total of 116 1/3 miles!!
• Congratulations to Caleb L. & Sam M. (returning champ.) who tied for the farthest with 31 laps (10.3 miles).  Congratulations also goes to two 6th grade boys (Michael K. & Aiden K.) who completed 39 laps -- that's a half marathon!!
• NOW is the time to collect pledge money (new pledges are always welcome), help us support the USO.

Blessings on the long weekend,

Week 4 Sept. 5-9

Memory Meditations

I was blow away by the meditations turned in this week.  These teenagers are truly a witness to me in faith.  I am excited to read the next one Tuesday (9/20) and pray through their writing the Holy Spirit builds up their faith.  Start a conversation with your child about what verses they chose and what they wrote.  They would love to hear from you!

Second Step

Our homeroom started their first lesson in "Second Step" a social skill/character building program we are implementing this year.  It emphasizes social skills, group work, peer pressure, how to be a good friend etc. We will tie the program in to our religion class and discuss how all the attributes of a good friend, good teammate, a contributing group member all reflect what God wants for us in our lives.  Next week we plan to write a class pledge on how we can actively build strong character, positive relationships, and reach our goals.

Non Fiction is Literature Class

We compared fiction vs non-fiction in Literature this week. The Ruby Bridges Story and Henry "Box" Brown were two non fiction pieces shared by Mrs. Cluck & Mrs. Murray. We brought in a box to see if students would fit in order to mail themselves to freedom! **See hilarious pictures on Mrs. Murray's Blog (https://zionmurrayclassblog.blogspot.com/).

Color Wheel Painting

Students had a fun afternoon of mixing paints to make all 12 colors of the color wheel this week.  I'm excited to see the final projects next week once they cut out their creative shapes and complete their color wheel mounting it on black paper.

 Point of View Posters
7th graders mastered their understanding of 5 different types of point of view by writing creative stories from each narrative point of view (first, second, third objective, third limited, and third omniscient).

Dates to Remember:

September 16 -- Spirit Day & Mid-quarter

September 22 -- Jr. High Walk-a-thon (during the school day)*Pledged $$ is not due until AFTER the Walk-a-thon

September 23 -- No School -- LESA Teacher In-Service

September 30 -- 7th Grade Field Trip

Blessings on your Weekend,

Week 3 Aug. 29 - Sept. 2

THANK YOU!  Thank you for the class birthday gift (shout out to Mrs. Wilmas for organizing).  I have already enjoyed the coffee and shared the popcorn with the class.  I can't wait to go for a little shopping spree at Kohl's as well.

Jr. High Walk-a-thon All For One Serving the USO:
For the past 11 years the Jr. High has chosen an organization to serve through a walk-a-thon fund raiser.  The students will collect pledges and then participate in an afternoon walk-a-thon pushing themselves to walk/run the farthest.

The Jr. high kicked off their walk-a-thon preparation this morning with an assembly to listen to a USO speaker.  This year's walk-a-thon will raise money for the USO -- I learned so much about the USO today and am excited to be able to serve those who serve me (https://www.usomissouri.org/).

Students were sent home with a pledge card and an informational card to share with those donating.  Money does not get collected until after the walk-a-thon September 22.

Faith Families:
Wednesday was the first Faith Family get together, whoo!!  7th graders have a great opportunity to role model their Christian character and share their faith with others at this school.  I love getting to know more and more people at Zion, what a blessed family we are!

Meditation #2 Due Tuesday

• Student's first independent meditation is due Tuesday (after a long weekend...yuck!)
• Ask your child what verse they chose and if you could read what they wrote about it.  I'm very excited to see what they come up with on their own!

Other Academics:

• World History Google_slides covering "The Legacy of the Roman Empire" is due Wednesday.  Students are also preparing for a test over chapter 1 Friday.
• Students turned in a Point of View poster today displaying what they learned about the 5 different points of view in Literature.
• Encourage your child to keep using their assignment notebook everyday/every class.   This will keep the late and missing work to a minimum.  "Oopses" do happen, but we are off to a strong start and I want to keep rolling in the right direction.

Art -- Selfies:
The 7th graders sketched their own selfies for their first art project after discussing drawing realistic features.  Wow!  They turned out great!  Look at those cute faces :)

Blessings and Relaxation over this Labor Day Weekend,