What We Learned Today...May 31st

Our Mother Teresa Award Winners!

This morning we began our day with a breif AR period from 9:00 -  9:30 before moving on to ELA.  Student were given the entire hour of ELA to finish up their storyboards for the Fake Movie Trailer Assignment.  Most groups finished this up within the first 15 minutes of the period and began to rehearse their trailers so they will be ready to film on Monday using iPads courtesy of Miller Comprehensive High School.  Instead of Phys. Ed today we had our school wide month end assembly in the gym and students were recognized for accomplishments in AR,and Track as well as Mother Teresa Awards.  I would like to congratulate Khadeeja, Matt and Althea for winning the award this month!

After lunch we had a brief Social Studies period and students spent time completing their Colonization Simulation duotangs.  At 1:00 we headed down to the gym to watch the Eagle Claw Dancers perform for the entire school.  We were very fortunate to have them come out today as it really ties in perfectly with what we learned about First Nations culture during our Social Studies Unit.  During the last hour of the day the students were given the opportunity to either work on their "Clouds" Blog Post or spend the hour working on some extra math using IXL. 

*The three grade 7/8 classes will be going to the University of Regina on Wednesday June 5th for a wellness morning.  The students will need to bring a bathing suit and towel for this trip as they will also be going in the pool. 

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:

Grade 8

8.2, 8.4 and 8.5 are overdue

 

Social:

Social Unit Test-Thursday, June 6th

Colonization Simulation Duotang- Due Thursday, June 6th

Overdue Assignments:
1) French Picture Dictionary

2) North Korea Booklet

3) Solar Oven Paragraph

Reminders:

-U of R Field Trip June 5th (All morning)

-Grade 8 Canoeing is on June 6th (12:45 - 3:00)

-Grade 8 Farewell June 12

What We Learned Today...May 30th

The vote for the Offical Flag of Canada in Social.

AR update: With 9 AR Points Per Student, we are now officially 3/4 of the way to our goal of 12 Points.  If each student can get at least 3 AR Points by next Friday, the students will be celebrating another AR Party during the week of June 10th. 

We began our morning with an AR period from 9:00 to 9:30 before moving on to ELA.  In ELA students continued to work on their Broadcast Studio Trailer assignments for the entire hour.  However, there has been a slight change of plans for this assignment because due to some extenuating circumstances the broadcast studio will no longer be available for the duration of the year.  While it is a little unfortunate that we will not be able to go next week, we will still be moving on with this assignment and rather than filming at the studio, we will be filming here at deshaye using iPads.  This should actually work out quite nicely because the movie editing program on our iPads (iMovie) was tailored for creating Movie Trailers. 

In Grade 8 math the students wrote their Unit 8 Exam for the hour.  *Remember to hand in 8.2, 8.4, 8.5 if you have not done so already. 

After lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and they spent the period putting the finishing touches on their Broadcast Radio Plays.  At 1:15 the students had Science with Mr. Csada and they continued to work on their Flying Monsters Kite assignment for the hour.  I've had the chance to look at some of the different designs the students have created and they look awesome.  I can't wait to see what they look like when they are outside flying!

During the last hour of the day we had a few students from Mr. Csada's class stop by to show us a really cool Water Filter Science Experiment before we had Social Studies.  In Social, we finished up our Colonization Simulation Unit with one last slide show presentation.  Right before the end of the day we had a class vote on the official flag for the newly formed country of "Canada".  We will be having a test next week that covers what they students have learned through this unit.  It will be comprised of questions from previous quizzes from this unit. 

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:

Grade 8

8.2, 8.4 and 8.5 are overdue

Overdue Assignments:
1) French Picture Dictionary

2) North Korea Booklet

3) Solar Oven Paragraph

Reminders:

- Grade 8 Canoeing is on  June 6th (12:45 - 3:00)

-U of R Field Trip June 5th
-Grade 8 Farewell June 12

What We Learned Today...May 29th

We're up to 8.2 AR Points per student!

With track officially over, (We finished 6th! Congratulations track athletes) our day finally got back to normal again.  We began the morning with an AR period from 9:00 - 9:30.  Our class is now up to 8.2 AR Points Per Student, and with just over a week left, we only have 3.8 points to go! At 9:30 we headed down to the gym for the Grade 6 band concert.  They did an excellent job and put on an excellent show for the entire school. 

In Grade 8 math the students spent the hour working on their Chapter 8 Review as well as their Practice test.  We have our Unit 8 Exam tomorrow, so students remember to make up a study sheet for the test if you would like to use it tomorrow. 

After lunch we had Religion and the students continued to work on their "Clouds" Blog Post from yesterday. Here are the response questions again just in case: 1. How does Zach respond to death? 2. How do those around him respond to death? 3. How can you see hope present in his story? 4. Where/How can you see God in Zach's story? At 1:15 the students had Health with Mr. McCulloch and continued to work through their Fully Alive unit. *The "Stewards of the Body" assignment is now overdue so be sure to hand it in if you haven't already.

During the last hour of the day the Grade 8's headed to the gym for the hour with Mr. McCulloch to go over what they need to know for their Canoe trip tomorrow afternoon.  While the Grade 8's were away the Grade 7's had a party worked on their Science projects as well as any other homework they had. 

*Grade 8's: Remember to dress appropriately for your canoeing tomorrow afternoon.


Due Dates & Homework:

Math:

Grade 8

Unit exam is on Tomorrow, May 30th

Overdue Assignments:
1) French Picture Dictionary

2) North Korea Booklet

3) Solar Oven Paragraph

4)8.5 Math Assignment (Grade 8)

 

Reminders:

- Grade 8 Canoeing is on May 30th and June 6th (12:45 - 3:00)

-U of R Field Trip June 5th
-Grade 8 Farewell June 12

What We Learned Today...May 28th

Some of the Flying Monsters from Science.

This morning we began our day with an AR period from 9:00 - 9:30.  We are now up to 7.1 AR Points Per Student with a week and a half to go. Keep up the good work!  At 9:30 we had ELA and students had the hour to work on any homework they had while we watched a movie. We will continue to work on our Broadcast Studio assignments tomorrow when everyone is back to class. After recess the Grade 8's had math and they spent the hour working on the chapter review as well as helping Ms. Norris with a few odd jobs around the school. 

After lunch I had to be at Douglas Park for the Track Meet so the students had a substitute teacher for the afternoon.  In Religion the students began working on their "Clouds" blogging assignment about Zach Sobiech. Due to the fact that we had so many students missing for track today, we will continue to work on this assignment in class tomorrow.  At 1:15 the students had Science with Mr. Csada and continued to work on their "Flying Monsters" kite assignment.  During the last hour of the day the students had a free period because Ms. Norris was also away at Track, so most students spent the hour working on their Science assignments.

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:

Unit exam is on Thursday, May 30th

Health:

Stewards of the Body - due on May 29th

Overdue Assignments:
1) French Picture Dictionary

2) North Korea Booklet

3) Solar Oven Paragraph

4)8.5 Math Assignment (Grade 8)

Reminders:

- Grade 8 Canoeing is on May 30th (12:45 - 3:00)

- U of R Field Trip June 5th
-Grade 8 Farewell June 12

What We Learned Today...May 27th

Today was the first day of the City Track Finals and our track athletes headed to Douglas Park first thing this morning.  As they were leaving the rain was pouring down and it seemed like it was going to be a miserable day to be outside.  However, the rain stopped this morning and the athletes were able to participate in all their events today.  Track will continue all day tomorrow at Douglas Park so hopefully the weather holds out for us. 

To begin our morning here at Deshaye, we had a quick school wide assembly in the gym and Ms. Norris and Ms. Grad aknowledged all those students who performed in the band concert on the weekend as well as the students who participated in the "Moving to Faith" marathon.  Good job guys!
Once we got back to the class we spent the hour that would usually be ELA, working on any homework the students may have.  Due to the fact that we have so many students away at Track, we will continue to work on our Broadcast Studio Trailer assignments on Wedndesday. 

At 10:45 we had even less students for Grade 8 Math so rather than start the next concept in our unit, the Grade 8's spent the hour working on their assignment from Friday.  *Reminder, we have our Unit exam on Thursday, May 30th.

After lunch the students had Arts. Ed and spent the half hour putting the finishing touches on their Radio Broadcast Plays. At 1:15 we had French and students had the hour to catch up on their French Reviews and any other assignments they needed to hand in.  During the last hour of the day the students had Phys. Ed and worked on a short assignment in their duotangs before heading to the gym to play a few games.

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:

8.5 is due on Tuesday, May 28th

Unit exam is on Thursday, May 30th

Health:

Stewards of the Body - due on May 29th

Overdue Assignments:
1) French Picture Dictionary

2) North Korea Booklet

3) Solar Oven Paragraph

Reminders:

- Grade 8 Canoeing is on May 30th (12:45 - 3:00)

- City Track Meets are May 27th and May 28th

- U of R Field Trip June 5th
-Grade 8 Farewell June 12

What We Learned Today...May 24th

The British welcoming the Immigrants to their "British Land"

This morning we began the day with our usual AR period from 9:00 - 9:30 before moving on to ELA.  In ELA the students got back into their groups from last class and continued to work on their Fake Movie Trailer assignment.  Most groups have completed the first part of this assignment and have moved on to planning their camera angles and shots using the storyboards they were given yesterday.  I hope to have the written portion of this assignment completed by next Wednesday so the students have a full week to rehearse their trailers before we film on June 6th. 
At 10:45 the students had Phys. Ed with Mr. Nui (Ms. Norris was away this morning) and played a few different games that worked on the Sending and Receiving Movement Patterns.

After lunch we had Religion and continued our lesson from yesterday by watching the short documentary about Zach Sobiech entitled, "My Last Days: Meet Zach Sobiech" It was quite a powerful documentary and students have been tasked with writing a blog post response after viewing.  The response questions for the blog are: 1. How does Zach respond to death? 2. How do those around him respond to death? 3. How can you see hope present in his story?  4. Where/How can you see God in Zach's story? *This assignment is not for homework as we will have class time to work on it next week.

In Health the students spent the hour working on their "Stewards of the Body" assignment as well as another assignment from their Fully Alive books.  During the last hour of the day we had Social Studies and students got into their Colonization Simulation Groups.  At this point in our simulation we are about to see Canada become a country and each group has spent some time designing a flag for this "new country".  Next class we will vote on a flag and officially see Canada become a country. 

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:

Grade 8

Pg. 307 (Due on Monday)

a)4, 6, 7, 8, 12

b)6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21

c)6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22

8.5 is due on Tuesday, May 28th

Unit exam is on Thursday, May 30th

Health:

Stewards of the Body - due on May 29th

Overdue Assignments:
1) French Picture Dictionary

2) North Korea Booklet

3) Solar Oven Paragraph

Reminders:

- Grade 8 Canoeing is on May 30th (12:45 - 3:00)

- City Track Meets are May 27th and May 28th

What We Learned Today...May 23rd

Zach Sobiech was the focus of our Religion lesson today.

We started out our morning today with AR from 9:00 - 9:20.  AR update: We are currently sitting at 5.7 AR Points Per Student after the two week mark, which is awesome! We still have two weeks to reach our goal of 12 points and I believe if everyone continues to do their part, we will have no problem reaching our goal. 

After AR we had a brief Religion period and continued to look at the concepts of Death and Hope as well as how Jesus shows himself to the world through others.  To begin the class, students listened to the song "Clouds" by Zach Sobiech and were asked to write down what they thought the message of the song was.  Then after listening to it once, the students watched the music video which really gave the students a concrete understanding of what message Zach was expressing through his song.  The song and video are quite powerful because it details Zach's response after finding out he had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma (a terminal form of bone cancer) and only had months to live.  What is really amazing about Zach, was his response to this news. His outlook was to embrace every day with Hope and Joy.  Unfortunately Zach passed away this week on May 20th, but has seen his message spread globally with "Clouds" hitting Number One on iTunes last night.  We will look a little more at Zach and his story during tomorrow's Religion class and look at how we can see Jesus present in within it.

At 10:00 we had ELA and the students got into their groups from yesterday and began working on their Movie Trailer assignments.  Each group was given a different blank storyboard outline depending on the genre of trailer they wanted to create.  At the end of the class most groups were still brainstorming and writing their Movie synopsis's for their trailer.

In Grade 8 Math the students continued to work on their "Applying the Order of Operations to Integers" Textbook assignment as well as the 8.5 handout.  *Remember we will have our Unit Exam next Thursday, May 30th.

After lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and they continued to edit their Broadcast Radio Plays on the iPads.  At 1:15 the students had Science and they learned more about cells as well as various human organs.  During the last hour of the day the students had an extra ELA period and they continued to work on their Fake Movie Trailer assignments. 


Due Dates & Homework:

Math:

Grade 8

Pg. 307 (Due on Monday)

a)4, 6, 7, 8, 12

b)6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21

c)6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22

8.5 is due on Tuesday, May 28th

Unit exam is on Thursday, May 30th

 

Health:

Stewards of the Body - due on May 29th

Overdue Assignments:
1) French Picture Dictionary

2) North Korea Booklet

3) Solar Oven Paragraph

Reminders:

-Tomorrow is Sports Day, wear your favourites teams colours!

- Grade 8 Canoeing is on May 30th (12:45 - 3:00)

- City Track Meets are May 27th and May 28th

What We Learned Today...May 22nd

Our "Knowledge Wall" chalked full of information!

Unfortunately this morning I had to be away for a Math PLC but the students had an excellent morning with Mr. Wright as their substitute.  They started the morning off with an AR period from 9:00 - 9:30 before moving on to French. (We swapped French and ELA for today).  During French, the students spent the hour working through their food unit exam.  *Don't forget you can hand in your Unit Review (Part 1+2) for bonus marks!  In Grade 8 Math the students continued to work on  concept 8.5: "Applying the Order of Operations to Integers". They were given the hour to complete their assignment from last class as well as get a head start on handout 8.5.

After lunch the Grade 7's headed to Mr. McCulloch's room for a homework period while the Grade 8's stayed in our class to work on their Farewell stars.  At 1:15 Mr. McCulloch came to our class for Health and continued his Fully Alive unit.  Students were also given another assignment, "Stewards of the Body" which is due on Wednesday, May 29th. 
During the final hour of the day we had ELA and since we recently completed our environmental unit, it was time to move on to our next unit, storytelling.  We are taking a bit of a different approach to this unit as the students will be looking at Storytelling through the media, with a focus on Feature Films.  As luck would have it, I was able to book our class in again at the Broadcast Studio, so our first assignment for this unit will be creating a Trailer for a non-existent movie.  After going through the assignment near the end of  class today, students began the brainstorming potion of this assignment and we will continue to do so in tomorrows ELA class.

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:

Grade 8 - Pg. 297: 6 ,8, 10, 12, 23 and Pg. 310: 5, 7, 9, 11, 19. (Due Tomorrow)

Pg. 307 (Due on Monday)

a)4, 6, 7, 8, 12

b)6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21

c)6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22

Science:
Shark Fin Soup, Cell Labs and Flying Monster Questions.

 

Health:

Stewards of the Body - due on May 29th

Overdue Assignments:
1) French Picture Dictionary

2) North Korea Booklet

3) Solar Oven Paragraph

Reminders:

- Grade 8 Canoeing is on May 30th (12:45 - 3:00)

- City Track Meets are May 27th and May 28th

What We Learned Today...May 21st

Carol Daniels with our class today.

Welcome back, I hope everyone had an excellent May long weekend, or as I like to call it, a preview of summer!  Now that we're back at school, we officially have six weeks left in our school year.  Time has really flown by this year and it's crazy to think that we're almost at summer and some of the students will finishing up their first year in high school at this time next year. 

We started off our week with a school wide assembly in the gym first thing this morning.  Ms. Grad and Ms. Norris spoke with the school about the important event that occured in Church this past Sunday...Pentecost.  To celebrate the end of the Easter Season here at Deshaye, we had a few students from various grades come to the front of the gym and change the alter cloth from white to green to recognize that we are now in Ordinary time on the Church Calendar. 

After the assembly we quickly headed to the Library because we were very fortunate to have Carol Daniels in our school today.  Carol is a writer, singer/drummer, artist and storyteller and a member of the Cree First Nation. She took time today to tell our students a couple of her very own stories using her voice and paintings she created.  Carol also demonstrated differenent drumming techniques and songs translated into Cree using a Elk Skin Drum as well as a drum traditionally used by the Inuit people of Canada.  This was an absolutely wonderful experience for the students to have today as it ties in perfectly with what we will be discussing tomorrow in our Social Studies class.  I would just like to take a moment to thank Carol for taking the time to come to Deshaye today!

In Grade 8 Math the students continined to work on the concept, "Applying the Order of Operations to Integers". We began the class with a quick review of last class before moving on to their assignment for this section.  *Please see below for full assignment details.

After lunch the students had French and because we have our unit test tomorrow, students were given the half hour to complete their unit reviews as well as work on their contribution for the Knowledge Wall tomorow.  At 1:15 the students had Science with Mr. Csada and began working on their Flying Monsters assignment. (I will post assignment details tomorrow)  During the last hour of the day the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and continued to wrap up their Broadcast Radio Plays.

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:

Grade 8 - Pg. 297: 6 ,8, 10, 12, 23 and Pg. 310: 5, 7, 9, 11, 19. (Due on Thursday)

Pg. 307

a)4, 6, 7, 8, 12

b)6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21

c)6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 22

 

Science:

Shark Fin Soup, Cell Labs and Flying Monster Questions.

Overdue Assignments:
1) French Picture Dictionary

2) North Korea Booklet

Reminders:

-French Unit Test is on Tomorrow, May 22nd

 

What We Learned Today...May 16th

This morning we started our day out with our usual AR period from 9:00- 9:30.  We are now up to 5.2 AR Points Per Student, so we are well on our way to reaching our monthly goal.  In ELA we spent the hour debriefing our Solar Oven cooking session from yesterday.  Students took turns sharing their oven's top temperatures as well as where they placed it.  We then compared each groups top temperature as well as their location with the other groups to examine the disparity of temperatures between groups.  In the end we found out that the groups that placed their ovens on hot surfaces, such as the play structure and black top, had much higher temperatures than those located on the grass.  We discussed how the heat from the base of the oven mixed with the Solar Heat coming in helped to heat ovens more quickly than those that only had heat coming in from the lid of their oven.  To end our lesson students were given a statement and were tasked with writing one paragraph to either support it or argue against it.  *The responses will be due on Wednesday, May 23rd.

In Grade 8 Math we moved on to the next concept in our Integer Unit: "Applying the Order of Operations to Integers". Since this is one of the more difficult concepts we will be learning in this unit, we will spend a few more days next week focusing on it before we have our unit exam.  After lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and spent the hour working on their Broadcast Radio Plays.  Most groups have now started recording with some almost finished this project!

In French the students were given Part 2 of their French review and had the entire class to work through it as well as any other French homework they may have had.  * Remember we have our French Unit Test next Wednesday, May 22nd. During the last hour of the day the students had Phys. Ed with Ms. Norris and they headed to the gym and finished up presenting their Stuntnastic Routines. 

There is no school tomorrow or Monday! I hope everyone has a great long weekend and enjoys the (hot?) weather.  See you on Tuesday.

Due Dates & Homework:\

 

Math:

Grade 8 - Pg. 297: 6 ,8, 10, 12, 23 and Pg. 310: 5, 7, 9, 11, 19. (Will have more time next week)

Science:

Shark Fin Soup, Cell Labs and Flying Monster Questions.

Social Studies:
North Korea Booklet will be due on Tuesday, May 21st

Overdue Assignments:
1) Grade 8 Math handouts

2) French Picture Dictionary

3) Gift of Sexuality (Health)

Reminders:

-French Unit Test is on Wednesday, May 22nd

-No school this Friday, May 17th (TPD) or Monday, May 20th (Victoria Day)

What We Learned Today...May 15th

The Bresciani Bunch showing off their Solar Ovens!

Instead of AR first thing this morning, we dove right into ELA and continued our lesson on Solar Energy.  Students grabbed the Solar Ovens they were making yesterday and spent the hour constructing the rest of their project.  As I said yesterday, I was amazed by the amount of creativity each group demonstrated in the construction of their ovens.  It was also quite interesting to see the different foods each group wanted to try and cook. (we had smores, bacon, eggs, and hot dogs - quite the intriguing mix!)

 After about an hour we wrapped up the construction portion of the lesson and switched gears to Social Studies.  (We thought it would be better to try and cook in the afternoon sun)  In Social, students got back into their Colonization Simulation Groups and we jumped a considerable amount of time into the future again.  As a result, a new group was introduced into the unit - The Metis & African American group.  Some of the highlights of today were: the buffalo hunt, the introduction of Indian Agents into the simulation, and designing a flag for our country.
At 10:45 the students had Phys. Ed with Ms. Norris and spent the majority of the period presenting their Stuntnastics routines for the class.

Due to the fact that we only had Social Studies for a half hour this morning, we continued the second half of the class from 12:45 to 1:15.  After Social Mr. McCulloch came in to teach Health and continued his unit on Sexuality in Fully Alive.

One of the Solar Ovens.

During the last hour of the day we headed outside to get some sun and test out our Solar Ovens.  Once we got outside students had to make an important decision on what location would collect the most Solar Energy for their ovens.  It was also very intestesting to see some of the different ideas groups had on where to place their ovens outside.  We had groups on the blacktop, in the baseball diamond and field and some at the top of the play apparatuses.  Most groups got their ovens to atleast 40 degrees with one group almost reaching 60! Unfortunately though, we had a few clouds that decided to stop by, so some groups were left with their food half cooked (sorry bacon groups!).  Overall it was a very interesting activity and I can't wait for tomorrow when the groups will need to reflect on the data they collected today and make a judgement on whether they feel this type of technology would be handy in everyday life. 

Here's a few more pictures from our day today:

 

 

*Grade 8's: Please remember to bring your Farewell pictures for the slideshow this week if you haven't already.

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8: 8.2 and 8.4 are due tomorrow

Grade 7: 10.3 worksheet

Science:

Shark Fin Soup, Cell Labs and Flying Monster Questions.

Social Studies:
North Korea Booklet will be due on Tuesday, May 21st

Overdue Assignments:
1) Death/Loss assignment

2) French Picture Dictionary

3) Gift of Sexuality (Health)

Reminders:

-French Unit Test is on Wednesday, May 22nd

-No school this Friday, May 17th (TPD) or Monday, May 20th (Victoria Day)

What We Learned Today...May 14th

Working on their Solar Oven.

This morning we started our day out with our usual AR period from 9:00 - 9:30 before moving on to ELA.  As was mentioned yesterday, today the students were split up into teams of 4 and were given a task: create a solar powered oven that can generate the most heat. In order to complete this, teams were given the following supplies: a shoebox, cellophane sheets, aluminum foil, construction paper and tape.  At the start of the activity I showed the students one example of how they could complete this task, but left everything up to the teams to decide.  I was really amazed in the various ways that each group constructed their ovens.  What was even more interesting was that out of the 8 groups there were no repeat designs, which really shows the amount of creativity we have in our classroom.  As the period drew to a close today, all groups were still in the middle of the building stage for this assignment so we will continue this lesson tomorrow.  We have to hope that the weather cooperates tomorrow so we will be able to measure the temperature in each oven and see which team constructed the best Solar Powered Oven! *Remember if you would like to try and cook something in your oven, bring it tomorrow!

 

In Grade 8 Math the students were given the entire class to work on the 8.4 handout they were assigned yesterday.  If students finished early they were able to get a head start on their assignment for next class: Pg. 297: 6 ,8, 10, 12, 23 and Pg. 310: 5, 7, 9, 11, 19.

 

After lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and continued to record their Broadcast Radio Plays.  At 1:15 Mr. Csada came in and taught Science. (I'm not entirely sure what was covered today because I was away for Mimio training this afternoon)  During the last hour of the day the students worked on their North Korea current event assignment from yesterday.  If students finished early they logged on to their IXL accounts and completed some extra math practice questions. 

 

Here are some more pictures from today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Grade 8's: Please remember to bring your Farewell pictures for the slideshow this week if you haven't already.

 

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8: 8.2 and 8.4 are due on Thursday

Grade 7: 10.3 worksheet

Science:

Shark Fin Soup, Cell Labs and Flying Monster Questions.

Health:
"Gift of Sexuality" is due tomorrow, May 15th

Social Studies:
North Korea Booklet will be due on Tuesday, May 21st

Overdue Assignments:
1) Death/Loss assignment

2) French Picture Dictionary

Reminders:

-French Unit Test is on Wednesday, May 22nd

-No school this Friday, May 17th (TPD) or Monday, May 20th (Victoria Day)

 

What We Learned Today...May 13th

Presenting during ELA

We started our week off with a school wide assembly in the gym and students who participated in Senior Improv as well as Badminton were recognized for the great job they did this year!  Once we got back to the classroom the students had a brief AR period to read before we began ELA.  AR Update: We are already up to 4.4 AR Points Per student after only one week! This is amazing and we are well on our way to our goal of 12 Points.  Keep up the great work!
In ELA the students got back into their groups from last class and finished reading their assigned pages from the book, "Harnessing Power from the Sun".  Once all groups had finished their reading, each group took turns sharing what they learned in their section.  We then discussed our upcoming lesson for tomorrow which involves building Solar Powered ovens using shoe boxes.  It's too bad the weather wont be as hot tomorrow as it was today because I'm sure we could have cooked anything we wanted in the +29 degrees today!

In Grade 8 Math students were given back their Unit 7 exams from last week and we took some time to go through the test together.  Once we finished with the tests we continued our unit on Integers by learning how to divide integers.  Students also did quite well with this concept and got an early start on their assignment for tomorrow.

After lunch the students had French and we discussed their upcoming unit test (May 22nd) and students were given an overview of what to expect on it.  Students were also given a review package to work on to help them study for their test.  At 1:15 the students had Health with Mr. McCulloch and continued their unit on Fully Alive by working on the "Gift of Sexuality" assignment.  (This will be due on Wednesday, May 15th)

During the last hour of the day we had Social Studies and took a brief hiatus from our Colonization Unit to learn a little bit about one of the current events happening in our world today.  Over the hour students read and learned about what exactly is happening in North Korea and how that affects us in Canada.

*Reminder: Band students will be leaving for Saskatoon tomorrow.

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8: 8.2 and 8.4 are due on Thursday

Grade 7: 10.3 worksheet

 

Science:

Shark Fin Soup, Cell Labs and Flying Monster Questions.

Health:
"Gift of Sexuality" is due on Wednesday, May 15th

Overdue Assignments:
1) Death/Loss assignment

2) French Picture Dictionary

 

Reminders:

-French Unit Test is on Wednesday, May 22nd

 

What We Learned Today...May 10th

Working on their radio plays.

This morning we quickly boarded the buses and headed to our first Quad Track Meet at Douglas Park. The students did an excellent job representing their school at the meet through their athleticism as well as their maturity.  They were excellent ambassadors for our school and I couldn't be more proud of them! Unfortunately we couldn't take all of our students to this meet so some students stayed back at the school and worked on their Flying Monster project.  I was also very proud of these students as well, because Mr. Csada took the time to tell me how hard they worked and how well behaved they were they entire morning.  Well done guys!

 

After lunch the students had Science with Mr. Csada and spent the hour working on a few assignments that they need to finish up before they can participate in their dissection.  During the last hour of the day the students had Arts. Ed and they spent the hour working on their Radio Broadcast assignments. 

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8

Grade 7 Pg. 362 #6-17, 10.2 handout, Pg. 368 #5-18 are all due on Monday. (McCulloch)

 

Science:

Shark Fin Soup assignment is due on Monday

 

Overdue Assignments:
1) Death/Loss assignment

2) French Picture Dictionary

 

What We Learned Today...May 9th

Setting up high jump!

Things got back to usual today and we started our morning out with an AR period from 9:00 - 9:30.  Point totals were reset on Monday and so far this month we have 1.5 AR Points Per Student.  At 9:30 we had ELA and students were split up into groups and tasked with reading different pages from the book, "Harnessing the Power of the Sun". We will continue this lesson on Monday by having each of the groups form new groups and share what they learned in their assigned reading. 

In Grade 8 Math we began our new unit, Multiplying and Dividing Integers, by learning the basic Sign Rules in order to Multiply Integers.  Students seemed to catch on rather quickly to this concept and they began working on their first assignment for the unit during the second half of the class. 

After lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and they continued to work on their Broadcast Radio Plays.  At 1:15 we had French and we continued learning basic conversational sentences when eating in a restaurant.  We are very close to finishing up our unit so we will be having our Unit test in the next two weeks.  (I'll post the exact date tomorrow during French)

During the last hour of the day the students had Phys. Ed with Ms. Norris and spent the hour working on Track and Field events, with a focus on High Jump. 

*Reminder: We have a Track & Field Quad Meet tomorrow morning at Douglas Park.  If you are attending the meet tomorrow, remember to bring the appropriate clothing!

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8

Grade 7 Pg. 362 #6-17, 10.2 handout, Pg. 368 #5-18 are all due on Monday. (McCulloch)

Overdue Assignments:
1) Environmental Mural

2) French Picture Dictionary

 

What We Learned Today...May 8th

School Track Meet Today!

This morning we got our day off to quite a quick start! The minute the students arrived we boarded the buses and headed to Douglas Park for our School Track Meet.  I was very impressed with the level of participation from all the students at our school! Students were required to participate in at least 4 events, but so many of our students did so much more. Overall we had a pretty decent day to have our meet, it was a tad windy but hey, how can we complain about cold after the winter we had?

After lunch we had Religion and spent the first half of class looking at different examples of how God had revealed himself to mankind through others.  At the end of the period the students were given a sneak peak of their upcoming assignment: Create a collage of at least 25 images of how God has revealed himself to us through others.
At 1:15 Mr. McCulloch came by to teach Health and the students began their Fully Alive unit by looking at the chapter, "The Gift of Sexuality".  Students also began working on an assignment in their Fully Alive booklet. 

During the last hour of the day, we had the second half of our AR Party and finished watching our Movie from Monday! I just want to say one more time how proud I was of our class for reaching their AR goal last month.  They did an excellent job and they definitely deserved their reward today!

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8

Math 7 – pg 362 #4-17 (McCulloch)

Overdue Assignments:
1) Environmental Mural

2) French Picture Dictionary

3) Grade 8 7.3 handout

Reminders:

- Track Quad meet May 10th @ Douglas Park

What We Learned Today...May 7th

This morning we began the day with a a brief AR period before being joined by Mr. Meyers.  We were very fortunate to have him stop by today and give us a guest lecture on the season of Easter.  His presentation was packed with information about the meaning of biblical numbers, post-resurrection stories, connection between Easter and the bunny and so much more!  We really enjoyed having him out again and can't wait until he comes back! We are very blessed to have someone like him give up his time to share his knowledge and great sense of humour with us. (Oh and chocolate as well!) 
In Grade 8 Math the students wrote their Chapter 7 Exam on Volume. *Please remember to hand in any overdue assignments from Chapter 7 for marking by Friday. 

After lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and continued to work on their Broadcast Radio plays.  All groups are now at the recording stage of this assignment!  At 1:15 Mr. Csada came in to teach Science.  While teaching more about the "Flying Monsters" we saw at the Imax two weeks ago, he gave the students a really cool assignment: Design a "Flying Monster" using straws, bamboo and tissue paper.  I can't wait to see what the students come up with!

During the last hour of the day we had Social Studies and compared the Treaties that were made last week in our Colonization Simulation to an actual Treaty that was negotiated in Saskatchewan. (Treaty 4).  It was quite interesting to see some of the similarities between what the students negotiated (without any real background knowledge of the Treaties) and what really happened in 1874. 

*Reminder: We have a school track meet tomorrow at Douglas Park! Everyone will be participating so be sure to bring the appropriate clothing to school tomorrow.


Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8

Math 7 – pg 362 #4-17 (McCulloch)

 

Overdue Assignments:
1) Environmental Mural

2) French Picture Dictionary

3) Grade 8 7.3 handout

Reminders:

-School Track meet Tomorrow a.m. at Douglas Park (All track athletes from Grades 4-8).

- Track Quad meet May 10th @ Douglas Park

What We Learned Today...May 6th

Enjoying the beautiful weather in ELA.

Once the students arrived at the school we headed straight down to the gym for our school wide assembly.  At the assembly, students who participated in Junior Improv this year were recognized as well as those students who were confirmed this past weekend at their Parish.  At about 9:30 we quickly grabbed our wind speed devices and headed outside to take the last wind speed measurements for our experiment. Due to the fact that it was such a beautiful day today, we stayed outside for the rest of ELA and students worked on some response questions for this activity.  Right near the end of the period, we shared the top wind speeds from the different locations students measured and we determined that the best place to build a Wind Turbine would be near the bridge, just outside our school yard.  (The average wind speed there was over 17 km/h!)

 

In Grade 8 Math the students were given the hour to complete their practice tests from last period as well as review all concepts to help them prepare for their Unit Exam tomorrow.  *Students: Remember you may bring in a study sheet if you would like for tomorrow's test. 

After lunch the students had French and we finished up with the verbs from last class and began learning basic sentences that a waiter would say at a restaurant.  For the next few classes we will be focusing on conversational sentences that would occur while in a restaurant.  (Waiter and Customer).
At 1:15 Mr. McCulloch came by and taught Career Guidance.  *Don't forget that Duotangs are due on Wednesday, May 8th! 
 During the last hour of the day we had our AR Movie Party to celebrate the students achieving their AR goal of 12 Points/Student for last month.  Now that we are officially into May, our points have reset and the students are once again aiming for 12 AR Points this month!

*I had a typo in my previous post - school track meet is on Wednesday May 8th not May 7th.

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8

Unit 7 Test on Tuesday, May 7th.

French
Food Picture Dictionary is overdue

Overdue Assignments:
1) Environmental Mural

2) French Picture Dictionary

3) Grade 8 7.3 handout

Reminders:

-School Track meet May 8th a.m. at Douglas Park (All track athletes from Grades 4-8).

- Track Quad meet May 10th @ Douglas Park

What We Learned Today...May 3rd

Getting settled for our Tooth Brush Experiment

This morning we had our usual AR period from 9:00 - 930 and students were taking AR tests like crazy! The students did their best this month and at 3:15 they were at 11.4 AR points per student, a mere 0.6 points shy of their goal.  However our class doesn't give up that easy, and we had a mad scramble of students taking AR tests right up until the final bell.  I'm proud to say that our class succeeded in our goal and finished with an impressive 12.2 points per student for the month of April! Well Done everyone! We will have our AR Movie Party sometime next week.  It is definitely well deserved.
 

The Toothbrush Experiment!

In ELA the students spent their first half hour of class working on measuring the wind speeds at select locations in the school yard.  We will continue measuring the wind speed for one more class and at the end make a conclusion on where would be the best location to build a wind turbine in our school yard.

For the second half of class we went to the Library and read the book, And Still The Turtle Watched by Sheila MacGill-Callahan.  We then discussed the negative and positive choices that were made in the book and compared them to the choices we make in our lives each day and how they impact the environment. One of the choices we discussed was wasting water when we brush our teeth.  To help students see how serious of an issue this is, we had one student brush her teeth for one minute while the tap was running.  At the end of the minute we measured how much water was wasted, and the number was an astounding 23 CUPS! Wow! However, we weren't done yet and we actually did the experiment again, except this time only using the water when it was needed.  The amount of water that we measured this time was only 3/4 cups of water.  So we came to the conclusion that we can save 22 1/4 cups of water (about 5.5 litres) if we turn the tap off each morning while we brush our teeth.  Crazy!

In Grade 8 Math the students continued to work on their Chapter Review before moving on to a practice test.  Students were given a breakdown of their Unit 7 Exam next week to help them prepare over the next few days.  * Reminder we have our Unit Exam on Tuesday, May 7th.

After lunch we had French and the students spent the half hour working on their verb assignments from last class as well as a quick search word with upcoming vocabulary.  At 1:15 the students had Science with Mr. Csada and spent the hour working on a few questions regarding the Imax movie we saw last week (Flying Monsters). 

During the last hour of the day the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and continued to work on their Broadcast Radio Plays.  Most groups were still at the rehearsing stage of the assignment, however there were a few groups that actually began recording today.

Here are a few more pictures from today:

Measuring the wasted water.

 

Calculating some powerful wind speed!

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8

Unit 7 Test on Tuesday, May 7th.

French
Food Picture Dictionary is overdue

Overdue Assignments:
1) Environmental Mural

2) French Picture Dictionary

3) Grade 8 7.3 handout

Reminders:

-School Track meet May 7th a.m. at Douglas Park (All track athletes from Grades 4-8). 

- Track Quad meet May 10th @ Douglas Park

What We Learned Today...May 2nd

Measuring Wind Speed during ELA

This morning we started out our day with AR from 9:00 to 9:30. The students are now up to 9 AR Points per student and only need 3 more points to get their AR Move Party.   With the pressure on to get these points by tomorrow, I'm confident that they will reach their goal by the end of tomorrow. In ELA we continued to learn about Wind Power and discussed where in our school yard would be the best place to build a Wind Turbine.  To help us pick the best possible location students created their own devices to help them measure Wind Speed at different locations in our school yard.  The students created these devices using a table tennis ball, tape, a thread and a protractor.  They then went outside to their locations and measured the angle the wind blew the table tennis ball and converted it to km/h using a conversion chart.  We will continue this experiment over the next 2 classes so we can document where the best possible place would be to build a Wind Turbine.  In Grade 8 Math we quickly debriefed the Inquiry lesson from Tuesday before moving on to the Chapter Review.  Note: We will have our Chapter 7 Test on Tuesday, May 7th.

After lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and continued to work on their Broadcast Radio Plays.  The students are doing an excellent job with this and I will be sure to post their final products on the blog once they are completed.  At 1:15 we had French and continued our Food unit by looking at numerous Regular and Irregular verbs that are commonly used when talking about food.  Students were also given a quick assignment that tasked them with filling in the proper conjugation for a verb when given the full sentence. 
During the last hour of the day the students had Phys. Ed with Ms. Norris and began presenting their Stuntnastics routines for the rest of the class.

Here's some more pictures from ELA:



Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8

Unit 7 Test on Tuesday, May 7th.

French
Food Picture Dictionary is overdue

Overdue Assignments:
1) Environmental Mural

2) French Picture Dictionary

3) Grade 8 7.3 handout

Reminders:

-Track Mini Meet on Friday has been cancelled.

-School Track meet May 7th a.m. at Douglas Park (All track athletes from Grades 4-8)

What We Learned Today...May 1st

In the midst of Treaty Negotiations.

This morning we had our usual AR period from 9:00 - 9:30 and I have been swayed to extend our AR competition until the end of the week.  Students brought it to my attention that since we started school during the second week of April, they should get the first week of May to finish their books.  So students will have until the end of the day on Friday to meet their goal of 12 AR points. (they currently have 8.2 Points Per Student). At 9:30 we had ELA and the students got back into their groups from Monday and spent the first half of class reading and taking notes on their assigned pages from the book, Generating Wind Power.  Then during the second half of the class we had a jigsaw and the students formed new groups and shared what they learned with the members of their new group.  After recess Ms. Norris came down to get the students for Phys. Ed and they spent the hour working on the movement patters, "Sending and Recieving" through playing the sport, Pickleball. 

After lunch the students had Religion and each group took turns sharing what happened in the Post-Ressurection story they read during last class. At 1:15 Mr. McCulloch came by to teach Career Guidance and the students worked on their business plans with a partner.

More Negotiations!

During the last hour of the day we had Social Studies and continued our Colinization Simulation Unit by hosting the negotiations between the Europeans and the First Nations groups.  I was so impressed with how well the negotiations went! Each group put in so much work and took the negotiations incredibly seriously, some went so far as to dress up for the occasion.  Next class we will compare the Treaties the students negotiated to those that were actually signed, and see how similar they are. Check out some more pictures from our Treaty Negotiations below:

Offering a gift to the British

Accepting the gift from the Europeans

Signing the Treaty!

Due Dates & Homework:

Math:
Grade 8

Unit 7 Test on Tuesday, May 7th.

French
Food Picture Dictionary is overdue

Overdue Assignments:
1) Environmental Mural

2) French Picture Dictionary

3) Grade 8 7.2 handout

Reminders:

-Track Mini Meet on Friday has been cancelled.

-School Track meet May 7th a.m. at Douglas Park (All track athletes from Grades 4-8)