Friday, February 3rd

Religion--Mrs. Timmins We had a fantastic Catholic Schools Week! Thank you for choosing St. Francis of Assisi and Catholic Education! We are blessed to have such a loving family. This week in Religion we finished up our Parts of the Mass section. We are going to continue to look at various liturgical ministries and go into depth learning about the Liturgical Calendar and Holy Days of obligation.   Last week, we were able to have Seminarian Christopher Grow visit and give a wonderful talk about his experiences. The kids loved it! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Language Arts--Ms. Hilton We have started our next big project in language arts! 7th grade is diving into research on a career of their choice. In the last couple of weeks, we have taken a couple different interest surveys, personality tests, and looked at our individual strengths. Now, 7th graders have each chosen a career to research in depth, and we will be starting the process of writing a research paper in the coming weeks. I am so impressed with the hard work and discoveries made by 7th graders in the first two days of researching! If you'd like to help your child at home, I have posted a google slide presentation with all of the research project information including due dates, requirements, and explanations of what we are covering in class on Google Classroom. Reading- We are wrapping up our literature circles as the end of the trimester draws near. 7th grade has been working hard in small groups to read their chosen books and complete discussions, papers, and a final project together. Every day they answer questions related to the reading they assigned themselves for that day, present self-given assignments to their group members, and discuss their questions, discoveries, connections, and frustrations with the book. Many groups have finished reading their books, and are now working hard on their final project (due February 10th) and their final paper (due February 15th). I have enjoyed listening in on the discussions each day and watching students' reactions as they make "mind-blowing" discoveries about their book's characters and events!

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace The 7th graders have been busy studying the major cities of Europe while also starting a chapter on the European Union.  On Monday, February 6th, the students will have a quiz over the major cities of Europe.  I will post a review game on Google Classroom to help with their review. Then, we will continue to study Chapter 14 over the European Union. We will be studying the political, economic, and social factors that unite and divide Europeans regarding the European Union.  I have a test scheduled over Chapter 14 on Tuesday, February 14th.  This will be their last grade for the 2nd Trimester for social studies. A BIG thank you as well to our 7th grade Junior Achievement volunteers this year; Shonda Smith, Walt Long, Bob Larson, and Brian Ringwalski! The students have really enjoyed their lessons so far related to the world economy.  They have been wonderful to have with us each week! Here are some photos of the European nation salt-dough projects!

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 7th graders have been enjoying learning all about magnets and electricity.  In our mini-unit we have learned about properties of magnets, parts of electric circuits and how a motor works.  The students were able to work with iron filings, various types of magnets and learned how to use a compass.  The also built series and parallel circuits and as our final activity built a spinning coil motor.  All groups were successful in getting their motor to run! Next week the students will have a quiz on Tuesday on magnets and electricity.  The information that they need to prepare for this quiz is on their Google classroom, and is posted as a study guide.  After this unit we will begin our study of the human body.

Math--Ms. Cline  Seventh graders in section 7A have wrapped up the chapter on rates, ratios, and proportions and have begun looking at problems involving percents. Students in sections 7B and 7C have been solving problems involving sales tax, commissions, tips, and simple interest. The next time you go out to eat, have your child estimate the tip!  The seventh graders will be taking their Algebra Readiness Exam on February 23. This will help us determine which class to place each student in for their eighth grade year. Please let me know if you have any questions!

8th Grade

Important 8th grade dates:

Friday, May 5th: St. Francis Dance
Saturday,May 20th: 8th grade dance at St. Theresa's
Friday, May 26th: Adventureland
Tuesday, May 30th: 8th grade graduation.  Class picture at 6:30 pm. Graduation Mass in Church at 7:00pm.  Reception following Mass in Parish Hall.
Dates TBA Soon: 8th grade service day (May) & 8th grade auction breakfast

Religion--Mrs. Timmins We had a fantastic Catholic Schools Week! Thank you for choosing St. Francis of Assisi and Catholic Education! We are blessed to have such a loving family. This week in Religion we went into more depth learning about the history of the Church. We are starting Chapter 11 on Monday and it will discuss the Church growing and focus a lot on the conversion of Saul (Paul) and his movement to keep the Church alive. We watched a very interesting documentary on the travels of Paul and the students were able to see where the Christians had to go into hiding to protect themselves and their faith. Last week, we were able to have Seminarian Christopher Grow visit and give a wonderful talk about his experiences. Please ask your student about this presentation as it was very informative and fun! As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Language Arts--Mrs. Callaghan Reading: Language Arts: Dates to remember:

Social Studies--Mrs. Wallace The 8th graders have continued with their study of the Constitution.  Last week, the students did a mock trial of the Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson.  The students then debated whether the burning of the American flag was established under the First Amendment. I was very impressed with their effort throughout the whole trial. On Monday, February 6th, the 8th graders will also be taking a tour of the Iowa Supreme Court! We are very excited for this opportunity. We are now finishing up our study of the Constitution this week. We will go over the study guide on Monday, February 6th, review on the 7th, and then the students will have their Chapter 8 test on Wednesday, February 8th. A BIG thank you as well to our 8th grade Junior Achievement volunteers this year; Amy Calvert, Terri McIlhon, and Jen Brauch! The students have really enjoyed their lessons so far related to the financial planning  They have been wonderful to have with us each week! Here are some photos of their Supreme Court trials in class:

Science--Mrs. Mistry The 8th Graders are finishing up their study of animals and and currently learning about animal behavior and reproduction.  This is a very interesting topic and we have learned about intelligence of animals, how animals communicate and attract mates and different patterns of behavior.  They have also learned about instinct vs. learned behaviors.  We learned about various types of learned behavior such as conditioning, trial-and-error learning and insight learning.  They also studied circadian rhythms and the process of migration.  Our animal study will conclude with a test on Tuesday, Feb. 7.  Our next area of study will be Chemistry.

Math--Ms. Cline  Students in sections 8C and 8B are finishing up the unit on inequalities. There have been lots of rules to remember for compound and absolute value inequalities, but with the help of graphic organizers, an acronym (KISS ☺), and other helpful sayings, they have been keeping the rules straight! Section 8C took their test on Friday, February 3, and section 8B will take their test on Wednesday, February 8. Students in section 8A are finishing up their study on scientific notation and exponent rules. Their test will be on Thursday, February 9. Next up is geometry!