7 th Grade Back to School Night

1. 7th Grade Back to School Night Welcome to the Gifted Support Program

2. Welcome to 7th Grade at Keith Valley • Introduction • Changes to Curriculum and Schedule • Field Trips • Activities KVMS

3. Introduction • Professional Background • 14th year of teaching • Certified Language Arts and Social Studies • 3 years teaching middle school in Philadelphia • 2 years teaching high school in Clayton, NJ • 8th year teaching in Hatboro Horsham School District • Masters in Education and currently in Grad School at PSU • Various advisory and coaching positions KVMS

4. The 7th Grade Experience • The students can now participate in sports for KV….early dismissals for games, tryouts, and opportunities • Class are more rigorous and demanding…first true “secondary year” of their academic career • THE BIG ENRICHMENT OUT OF STATE TRIP KVMS

5. Curriculum • This year new and exciting changes have been made to our curriculum. Grades 7 and 8 will be utilizing the PACE period at the beginning of the day for enrichment class. • In the past set and prescribed units of study were offered. This year the students will choose two/three of SIX units of study for their enrichment experience. The classes will be a mixture of 7th and 8th graders grouped by interest • Students will still be pulled out of class TWICE a month by grade level for independent study and for social and emotional goal management. KVMS

6. UNITS OF STUDY • MOCK TRIAL • The students are assigned a historical case (Rosenberg Trial is one example) and pick roles to assume. They are the lawyers, the witnesses, and in the past the members of the jury. The students learn about the legal process and the rules of criminal and civil trials. They also learn about courtroom decorum. The students engage in a great deal of research regarding the case and the people involved. The culminating activity is a visit to the District Courthouse to engage in a MOCK TRIAL with Judge Paul Leo presiding. • PHILOSOPHY/PSYCHOLOGY • The students study a myriad of philosophers, opening up each student’s views about the facets of present situations and the potential for the future. Socratic seminars are held in response to readings and “case studies” presented to the students. The culminating project is to create a “Personal Philosophy” statement about the “Big Issues” (life, friendship, love, knowledge, reality, spirituality). They will use quotes from philosophers and their writings to support their own philosophical notions. The students will also engage in an overview of psychology with a focus personality types and preferences and brain development. KVMS

7. National History Day Project • Students will conduct higher-level research based on the theme “Rights and Responsibilities in History” • Creation of one of five end products: historical research paper, a website (Weebly), a documentary, a historical exhibit, or an original dramatic performance. • Higher level resources will be made available by teacher, media specialists. Last year we visited the Free Library of Philadelphia (Central Branch) and the Horsham Library as part of the research process • End product to be displayed at the end of the year Enrichment Fair and may be entered into the National History Day Regional Competition in Early Spring (Last year it was held at Ursinus College. There were 500 entries from Bucks and Montgomery County) • Website for more information: http://www.nhd.org/Contest.htm • Be sure to check out Student Project Examples and Creating an Entry for Rules and Regulations for project submission. KVMS

8. Project Citizenship…based on ….. • Program for students that promotes civic participation in their school and local government • Students identify a “problem”. They research the problem, evaluate alternative solutions, and create a political action plan to enlist school or local/state authorities to adopt their proposed policy or program • School staff and faculty members will be also involved in this initiative • Representative Todd Stephens is a local/state government resource who has offered his support. He will be coming into KV to speak to the students on 11/8 to address the legislative process and politics behind making changes • End product will be include a presentation of the action plan with visual components KVMS

9. Hands-on-Science (STEM UNIT) • Students will engage in a variety of “hands-on” STEM related projects that will bolster their understanding of science, technology, engineering, and math. • Example of an upcoming project: • -Asteroid Impact: An engineering challenge for 7th and 8th grade. “An asteroid is on course to impact the Earth and we must design the location and size of underground caverns to shelter the people from an uninhabitable Earth for one year. They form teams, become familiar with geology, cartography, engineering, and mathematics • -What a Dump!: In this activity, middle school students learn about environmental, civil, and sanitation engineering by designing and building model landfills that hold the most garbage, minimize costs, and prevent trash and contaminated “rainwater” from polluting the nearby “city.”  Teams test their landfills, and graph and compare designs for capacity, cost, and performance. KVMS

10. Video Game Design (Gamestar Mechanic) • Gamestar Mechanic is currently supported by a partnership between the Institute of Play and E-Line Media. The game was originally developed by Gamelab in partnership with the Institute of Play and the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab (AADLC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Initial funding for the game and companion learning guides came from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation • Gamestar Mechanic differs from other game creation tools by focusing on game design rather than computer programming. Knowing how to put together a successful game involves system-based thinking, creative problem solving, art and aesthetics, writing and storytelling. • For more information please visit the webpage at: • http://gamestarmechanic.com/ (be sure to check out the links for the parent and teacher pages) KVMS

11. JOHNS HOPKINS CTY • Website for all the information you may need to learn about the programs • http://cty.jhu.edu/ • SAT Information: • http://cty.jhu.edu/talent/testing/about/sat.html KVMS

12. Schedule • Students will be placed in groups comprised of 7th and 8th graders based on interest and unit of study. • Students will meet with members of their “Interest” group every three days during PACE period • EX: Chris is taking part in the NHD Unit. I will see Chris on Monday and again on Thursday this week. Next week I will see Chris on Tuesday/Friday…the schedule will constantly be rotating and posted online and outside of my room. This allow for me to meet and hold class with three groups twice within a six day cycle KVMS

13. Gifted Support Schedule • Students will still be pulled out of class by grade level twice a month to work independently on projects. In most cases this means they will only miss each class two/three times the ENTIRE first semester • Bi-Weekly pull out class sessions will also be used to support social/emotional needs and to mentor students in “interest” unit projects KVMS

14. 7th Grade Field Trip • Tour bus scheduled for Friday, May 2, 2014 • Choices are: Baltimore, D.C., or New York City KVMS