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Mr. Rowan, Social Studies B

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Social Studies Update Week of 5/4/26

Greetings 7th Grade Families!
This week students will be working on their 'Get a Life' project. After researching a career that aligns with their interests, abilities, and values, students will be using that career and starting salary to simulate creating a lifestyle that will fall within their budget. This week students will learn about the following things.
  • Income tax and calculating how much income tax they will pay and then subtracting that from their yearly income.
  • Calculating their monthly income.
  • Debt-to-Income ratio and making sure they are not spending more than 20% of their income on debt.
  • Student loans, the average college student loan for their chosen career, and calculating their monthly student loan payment.
  • Credit Cards and the importance of paying off any credit card charges quickly
Please let me know if you have any questions.
May the 4th be with you!
Mr. Rowan
 

Greetings!

Our Spring Carnival is coming up on May 28th, and one of the most anticipated highlights is our themed classroom baskets for the silent auction! These baskets are a major part of our fundraising efforts, and we’d love your help in making them truly special.

This year, our basket themes are Golf and Wine & Paint Night.

Contributing is easy! We’ve created Amazon and Target registries (links are below) so you can simply click and purchase items. Even better—your items can be shipped directly to the school. If you prefer, you’re also welcome to shop on your own and drop off donations in the lobby during normal school hours.

Short on time? You can donate through the payment portal (please be sure to note which grade your donation is for), and we’ll take care of the shopping for you.

https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/2Q9OP8WYTVJTV

https://www.target.com/gift-registry/gift/seven-eight-carnival-basket

Please ensure all donations are received by Friday, May 22nd.

Thank you for helping us make this event a success!

Sincerely,

Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 4/27/26

Greetings 7th Grade Families,
For the final unit of the year, students will be learning about Financial Literacy and learning about how adults have to manage their money through the "Get A Life" project. Students will explore their interests, abilities, talents, and values by completing various questionnaires. They will use this information to investigate different careers that match their results. Students will then choose a career and learn the salary, education, and skills needed for that career. They will learn about taxes and calculate their deductions, they will calculate their monthly salary, create a budget, learn how to buy/rent a place to live, and buy a car within their budget. Students will also learn about debt and trying to avoid that by following their monthly budget. 
Students will be taking their MAPS tests this Tuesday and Wednesday during the morning. 
Please email with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 4/6/2026

Greetings 7th Grade Families,
Students will be finishing up their study of the Middle East and the conflict between Israel and Palestine this week. Last week students received the biographies of the people they will be representing in the United Nations roundtable discussion on how everyday people view the conflict and work to find solutions to the barriers to peace. To prepare for this students have been studying the background of the person they are role-playing, writing down their biggest concerns, and creating questions about these concerns that they can share during the discussion. We also had a guest speaker whose parents lived in Palestine before the creation of Israel and experienced the division of Palestine by the United Nations and lived through many of the things we discussed in class.
Today, students will get to see a guest speaker who was born in Israel and still has family there. He is currently a professor at CU Boulder and specialized in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. He will share his perspective with the class. By experiencing both guest speakers, students will get to hear both the Palestinian and Israeli viewpoint from someone who has lived through, or parents have lived through the events that we have studied. Between CMAS tests, students will finalize preparations and participate in the roundtable discussion.
Please let me know if you have any questions and concerns.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 9/3/2026

Greetings 7th Grade Families!
Students will have class Monday - Wednesday this week. There is not school Thursday and Friday due to Parent-Teacher Conferences. The following two weeks there is no school due to Spring Break. School will resume on Monday, March 30th. 
Last week students learned about bias and analyzed news stories from the conflict between Israel and Palestine to decide what the main idea of the news story was, determine if there was bias towards one side or the other, explain their reasoning, and then judge if the news source was trustworthy.
This week students will work in groups to analyze video and text to understand one of the 5 unresolved issues keeping Israel and Palestine from reaching a two-state solutions. They will see multiple perspectives of each issue and create one or more solutions to this unresolved issues. The issues they will be analyzing are:
  1. What the boarders should be for an Israeli and Palestinian state.
  2. What to do with the holy city of Jerusalem.
  3. How to decide what to do about the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
  4. Should Palestinian refugees have the right to return to their homes.
  5. How to provide security to Israel from terrorist attacks. 
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 2/1/26

Greetings 7th Grade Families,
This week students will continue learning about the history of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors. We will be focusing on taking notes from a video, learning important vocabulary, and reviewing for a quiz. Students will take a quiz on the history of the conflict and the vocabulary we have learned on Friday. 
Please email with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 2/2/26

Greetings 7th grade families!
Last week students used their research to create a PowerPoint the highlights the geography, history, economy, and culture of their Middle Eastern country. This week students will learn how to create a bibliography in MLA format. In addition I will present a lesson about public speaking to prepare students for their presentations. Students will then practice their presentations and we will start presenting on Wednesday. As students present, the rest of the class will take notes about the different countries. 
Please let me known if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 1/26/26

Greetings 7th Grade Families!
After researching a country from the Middle East, students will take that information and create a PowerPoint presentation. Students will learn tips for making a good PowerPoint like less is more and how to create a presentation that isn't just a list of facts, but one that tells a story. Student will also learn about brain science and how to create a presentation that is memorable where the audience has to listen to the presenter rather than reading all the information off of the slides. Finally, students will learn how to create a bibliography using MLS format. Students will then study various public speaking skills as they get ready to present their country research projects.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 1/1289

Greetings 7th Grade Families!
Two areas of focus for this quarter will be the skills of researching and presenting. Because our focus this quarter is on the Middle East, students will be researching and presenting about a country from the Middle East. We began last week by studying the characteristics that define a region. Students then learned about what a credible source is and how to determine if a source is credible. This week, students will begin researching their country. This will be broken up into three smaller lessons. The requirements for these assignments can be found in our Microsoft Teams Class Notebook. 
Please email with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 12/15/25

Greetings 7th Grade Parents!
Exam
Monday students will review for their Government and Economic Systems exam which will be held on Tuesday. This will be the final grade for Quarter 2 as final grades will be posted Tuesday.
 
Field Trip
On Thursday students will be going on a field trip to the Denver State Capitol. Remember to have your students bring a lunch that doesn't need a microwave.
 
Holiday Party
On Friday, the 7/8 Pod will have a holiday party in the afternoon. Students should bring any snacks they would like to have for the party on Friday. We will have different themes and activities in the four classrooms.
 
Spirit Week
Monday: Pajama/Onesie Day
Tuesday: (Ugly) Sweater Day
Wednesday: Anything But A Backpack
Thursday: Dress Like Your Favorite Element (Earth, Air, Fire, Water)
Friday: Dress for Success/Quarter Zip Day
 
Happy Holidays!
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 12/8/25

Greetings 7th Grade Families!
 
This week students will be taking their Winter MAPS tests on Thursday and Friday mornings. Good sleep, a good breakfast or snack, and the right attitude will go a long ways in helping your student be successful. 
 
Speaking of next week, Friday is the last day to turn in any late or missing work that has been assigned within the past two weeks. All current assignments should be completed by their due dates. 
 
Last week students started to learn about different forms of government. They will continue to read, watch videos, answer questions and complete different scenarios that require them to use their knowledge. Students will then investigate the purpose of government and how it is supposed to keep us safe, provide law and order, provide important services, and guide society and the economy. We will also look how the government tries to balance the common good of society and the individual rights of it's citizens. 
 
This Friday I will be passing out the study guide for the Quarter 2 Social Studies final test. We will have a review day next Monday the 15th and students will test on Tuesday the 16th. 
 
Please email me with any questions or concerns.
 
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 12/1/25

Greetings 7th Grade Families!
 

Your students have been busy creating artifacts and a museum experience to showcase what they have been learning about world religions. They would like to invite you to come visit on Wednesday, December 3rd.

Museum Schedule

  • 7B: 10:55 am to 11:35 am
  • 7D: 2:35 pm to 3:15 pm

Each museum experience will be a little different based on the choices of the students. Please check in with the front desk if you are planning to attend. They will be aware and point you in the right direction. 

For the remainder of the quarter, students will be getting an overview of different types of governments and economic systems. They will then use all they have learned this year to create their own country/civilization with a religion, government and economic system. This will be a creative final project where students get to show what they have learned!

Please email me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mr.  Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 11/17/25

Greetings 7th Grade Families!
Last week, students began creating the artifact they chose to re-create. We will have two more days of "workshop" and then they will start creating the museum. Students will be grouped based on the religion they chose. These groups will then create a museum exhibit that represents their chosen religion and showcases the artifacts they created. After coming back from Thanksgiving break, we will have a museum day where we will invite students from Westgate and all 7th grade parents and family to see the exhibit. 
Please email with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 11/11/25

Greetings 7th Grade Families!
Last week, students began working on the World Religion Museum project. Students chose a religion and a religious artifact from that religion. This week students will research the artifact, create a detailed description of the artifact and then plan how they will make the artifact including any materials they will need. They will then spend time in the "workshop" creating the artifact. 
Please email with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan

Social Studies Update Week of 10/27/25

Greetings 7gh Grade Families!
At the end of last week students took a pre-assessment for their unit on World Religions. The 5 major religions we will be learning about are Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. This week we will start with what students already know and what they want to know. Students will be answering these questions and building their knowledge through participating in an online lesson, taking notes, reading to comprehend, and through analyzing infographics for each of these religions. 
Please email with any questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rowan