7th Grade Parent Newsletter Principal's Message Return to Hybrid Learning Information EMS Parents and Guardians, This communication is intended to answer a few frequently asked questions about the transition back into Hybrid. East Middle School Hybrid students will return to in-person classes next week. Group A will attend in-person on Monday, with Group B in-person on Tuesday. Teachers have been having conversations with their students this week about what to expect next week. If your student is in the Wayzata Distance Choice option, you will notice little or no change in your programming. Whether in Hybrid or Distance Choice, your student will want to be sure to check Skyward for schedule adjustments at some point over the weekend. Most students will have a new Encore class on their schedule for Quarter 3. Here are a few important need-to-know items associated with the return to Hybrid: - School Day: School starts at 9:10 a.m. and runs until 4:00 p.m.
- Busing: You will receive a separate communication from the WPS Transportation Department. Need more or different information? Contact the Transportation Department at (763) 745-5195.
- Pick-Up and Drop-Off: Neither of these activities go as quickly as we'd like them to. The more patient we are in the lot, the safer it is for everyone.
- Student Schedules: Students should check and print a new Semester 2 schedule from Skyward. Sometimes new classes or adjustments appear. Students must follow their Group A or Group B assignment.
- Advisory Check-In: On at-home days, Hybrid students are expected to check in with their Advisory/Flex class via Zoom. This activity will provide a great opportunity for students to connect with their teachers live and replaces the attendance question you may remember from Quarter 1. In-person students will work quietly while this meeting takes place. Teachers have shared the details around how this will work with their students.
- Face Coverings: With the exception of lunchtime, masks are required at all times when on campus. This includes Phy Ed/Health class even when outdoors or engaged in physical activity. After-school activities and sports also require masking.
- Student Spacing: It is really natural and totally appropriate for students to want to be close together and socialize. Even when we space out the infrastructure appropriately, we need students to help staff by monitoring their own behavior. Remember, a safe hybrid experience improves the chances of a more timely return to regular in-person learning. Reinforcement of that message at home is helpful to us at school.
- Backpacks and Lockers: To avoid congestion and congregation in the hallways, we will continue to carry backpacks and not use lockers. Winter gear can be placed in a student's Advisory classroom for safe keeping.
- Sick?: If your student is feeling ill, have them stay home. The responsibility for all of us to make sure we are keeping others safe comes with the return of students to campus.
- Quarantine- Illness/Close Exposure & Travel:
Illness/Exposure- As previously mentioned, students should stay home if they are ill. If they are experiencing COVID-like symptoms or have been exposed to someone with symptoms, contact the EMS Health office at (763)745-6215. They will be able to answer your questions about quarantining based on guidance from the MDH and the CDC. Travel- A 14-day quarantine is recommended after travel to other states. A 14-day quarantine is required after travel outside of the country. - Sports/Activities: Registration for Winter II sports will begin on the 1st. As we move into the spring we hope to add more sports and activities.
Thanks for your help in getting your student ready to go for next Monday and Tuesday. With any luck, we are heading safely toward a return to a more traditional school schedule in the months ahead. We will continue to monitor the situation and will be ready to adapt our model no matter which direction the COVID numbers go. Stay well. Paul Paetzel, Principal Media Center and Book Checkout Hybrid students: please return any books that you are finished reading to the wooden container that will be located just outside the Media Commons. Distance Learners library book pick-up (school days from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.): It is important that distance learners check their Destiny account before coming to retrieve books. After the student logs in they will see the "my info" tab. Select that tab and then confirm that the book that has been put on hold is actually checked out to the student. There will be times when the book on hold is still checked out to another student and will not be ready for pick up on the designated day. If you have any questions, please email Beth Benezra. Culinary Transition to Titan Meal Payment System Culinary Express is updating our point of sale system for school breakfasts and lunches to Titan School Solutions beginning January 4, 2021. Titan provides user-friendly solutions for families and removes the need for personal identification numbers (PINs). Student IDs will be handed out in advisory classes on Monday and Tuesday. We will continue to use Nutrislice for our web-based menus and ordering system for distance learning meals. Please remember that breakfast and lunch are free for all students for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year due to the pandemic. Students will only need funds in their account for the remainder of this school year if they plan to make à la carte purchases. Enrichment Opportunities East now has an Enrichment Canvas page. This page houses academic enrichment opportunities that are open to all students. Our newest offerings include: -
Girls' Coding Club with Technovations (closing soon) -
History and Science Bee with International Academic Competitions -
Engineering Machine Design Contest through the U of M What We've Been Working On - Students have been working on solving word problems involving percents and algebraic reasoning.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - How do you find percent of a number such as 35% of 240?
What We're Working on Next - Student will be solving linear equations with "legal moves."
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - Solve 3x + 7 = 21 using legal moves.
What We've Been Working On - Students have been working on linear forms of equations.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What is the general form of an equation written in standard form?
What We're Working on Next - Students will be working on exponential growth and decay.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What is the general form of an exponential equation?
What We've Been Working On - The last two weeks have been busy! We went over poetic sound devices, completed quarter 2 DOL and vocabulary/WordMasters lists, had our Unit 1 literature test, and graphed those scores.
- We also moved on to our next unit, informational texts.
- Our first semester is wrapped up, and we are ready for an exciting second semester!
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - How did you do on the unit 1 literature test?
- What area(s) did you make the most growth in?
- What area(s) will you focus on moving forward?
- What was your favorite independent reading book from first semester? Why?
What We're Working on Next - The next two weeks we will be digging into author's purpose and main idea and supporting details when reading nonfiction text. Students will be finding their own articles of interest in order to find main idea/supporting details. Students will complete practice quizzes on author's purpose and main idea and supporting details.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What was the main idea in the article you chose?
- What were the supporting details?
- How did you do on the practice quizzes on author's purpose and main idea/support details? What areas do you need to focus on, if any?
- What independent reading book are you starting the second semester off with?
What We've Been Working On - Students learned how DNA, chromosomes, cells, and genes are all connected.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned What We're Working on Next - Students will research a genetic disorder or genetic technology for a presentation and study for their test.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What are you researching?
- What has surprised you about your topic?
What We've Been Working On - Over the past two weeks we have been discussing the causes and conducts of WWI.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What does the acronym M.A.N.I.A. stand for? How did each cause WWI?
- What were the two sides called and which countries were on each side?
What We're Working on Next - Over the next two weeks we will be discussing more of the conduct of WWI, as well as how the United States became involved.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - Can you name six new/improved weapons used in WWI?
- What role did the U.S. play during the first part of WWI?
- How did people in the U.S. support the war on the home front?
Notes - We will be taking the WWI final exam after the first week of February.
What We've Been Working On - Allen: We continued our Unit on Health covering substances, influences, and mental health.
- DeVoe: We have been working through our second health unit of the school year. The topics for lessons during this unit have included marijuana, anxiety & coping strategies, addiction, alcohol, mental health, and advertising/media influences.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - Allen: In what ways to you cope with anxiety?
- DeVoe: Name and explain three specific bullet points (from the above listed topics) learned from health unit #2?
What We're Working on Next - Allen: We will finish our Dribble, Pass, Shoot Unit and hopefully get outdoors for some Winter Activity Units if the weather allows.
- DeVoe: We will finish our dribbling, passing, and shooting unit (from distance learning). The second week we will use our outside facilities for a winter outdoor unit. We will participate in activities like ice skating, snowshoeing, broomball, or hockey.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - Allen: Which Skill-Related Fitness Components does Dribble/Passing/Shooting help you to develop?
- DeVoe: What activity do you most look forward to participating in outside during winter?
Notes - It is required that students wear a mask during class upon return. Please plan ahed to pack two masks on PE days. Thank you!
- Please send outdoor winter gear starting Feb. 8. Students must haves: boots, jacket, hat, and gloves. Optional items (skates, hockey stick, broomball shoes, own personal helmet for ice activities, snowpants). Any further questions please contact Mr. DeVoe.
What We've Been Working On - We continued to work on our choir songs, preparing as if we have a concert. The middle section was not taught on solfege in "A Joyful Song". Students learned that sometimes our method of solfege does not always apply to the notes we are learning.
- We learned the triplet rhythms in "The World Is Ours" and experienced singing on words.
- First and second endings were taught in one of our choir songs.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - Which choir/performance song contains words that are in English and a foreign language (Latin)?
- Which choir/performance song contains first and second endings?
What We're Working on Next - We are going to start the week by looking at all of the text from each of our songs as a poem or spoken word. The concept of good vowels in choir will be discussed.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - How do you feel about your personal recording project for "Give Me Wings"?
What We've Been Working On - Finishing up on Recording of Winter Virtual Concert.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What is the hardest part about doing a virtual performance?
What We're Working on Next - Cut Time
- Extend range up and down
- Chromatic scale
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material What We've Been Working On - G Major
- Staccatos and Hooked Bows
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What is Staccato bowing, and how is it similar/different to hooked bowing? How do you play it?
What We're Working on Next - Upper Octave G major (violins)
- Low octave C major (violas/cellos)
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - How do you know which finger pattern to use when playing a new scale?
Notes - Students should be practicing 20 minutes 5 days a week.
What We've Been Working On - Compile all video and/ or pictures to create an iMovie of project from start to finish and Project Reflection
- Final WPM Test
- If time, TinkerCad
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - Why is it important to reflect on your completed project?
What We're Working on Next Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material What We've Been Working On - Over the last two weeks, students had the chance to practice their culinary skills at home by picking two out of four recipes they would like to complete for our food labs. Students also learned about nutrients and their functions as well as a well-balanced meal plan using the FDA's MyPlate to see what the daily recommendations are as well as what foods fall into the different categories.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What are the 6 nutrients you learned about and what are the 5 food groups from MyPlate?
What We're Working on Next - In the next two weeks, we will be starting with a new quarter and we will take the first week to get to know each other, go over class rules, expectations, and what we will learn this quarter. We will also go over how to generate a professional email.
- The areas of study in 7th grade FCS are Career Exploration, Personal Finance, and Food & Nutrition.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What is a job that you could see yourself doing in the future?
What We've Been Working On - Completed the final Writing Assessment about what people do with food
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - What did you write about people and food?
What We're Working on Next - Basic conversation questions and answers, classroom objects
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - What questions can you ask? Can you answer them?
What We've Been Working On - We continued with our exploration of how mistakes can work in our favor and then we took a break and wrestled with login puzzles.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About What We've Learned - How can mistakes work in your favor?
What We're Working on Next - Growth Mindset and Taking the History and/or Science Bee will be our focus the next 2 weeks.
Question(s) to Ask Your Student About Upcoming Material - Which Bee did you choose to participate in?
Notes - Be sure to check the Enrichment Canvas page for more opportunities.
Culinary Express Meal Updates for February We are excited to be feeding students onsite again with the transition to more in-person learning. This does mean changes to food meal kit distribution starting the week of February 1. All students will continue to receive meals at no cost. All students can still order weekly meal kits. Please read through the following information carefully so you know what to expect. Culinary Express Meal Updates for February WPS Native American Education Resources We are pleased to announce the launch of Wayzata Public Schools’ Native American Education webpage. Through funds available from the Minnesota Department of Education, we are able to support Indigenous children with educational and cultural resources that we hope you will find meaningful. We invite parents/guardians of Indigenous children to participate in the Wayzata Indigenous Advisory Committee (WIAC), which will guide Wayzata Public Schools in matters pertaining to Native American Education. If you would like more information or if you have questions, please reach out to Sam Fredrickson, principal on special assignment, via email or by calling 763-745-5259. Parenting in a Pandemic: A Free Webinar for Parents Struggling to manage your own workload and your kids' distance learning? Feeling burnt out by the non-stop duties of parenting in a pandemic? This free informational webinar, hosted by a Relate Counseling Therapist in partnership with Community Ed, will address these topics and more. Learn more and attend here! Financial assistance is available or call 763-745-5200 for more information. Thursday, February 11, 2021 4:30 PM - 8:30 PM Friday, February 12, 2021 8:15 AM - 4:15 PM Friday, March 12, 2021 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Friday, March 19, 2021 10:10 AM - 12:10 PM Tuesday, March 23, 2021 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM Friday, April 23, 2021 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Tuesday, February 2, 2021 All day Thursday, February 4, 2021 All day Tuesday, February 9, 2021 All day Monday, February 15, 2021 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Thursday, March 18, 2021 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Monday, February 1, 2021 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM Monday, February 8, 2021 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM 12000 Ridgemount Avenue, Plymouth, MN 55441 | 763-745-6200 |