November/December

We certainly have had a busy time the last few weeks.  We had our report cards go out, our fall break,  our Remembrance Day Assembly,  parent teacher student interviews,  the academic assembly and spelling bee.  In between all of that we have been working hard on covering curriculum!

LA

• The Giver
• Summarizing
• Vocabulary collecting
• Plot
• The Ceremony of 12 was reenacted from the novel.    Students realized the importance of choice and freedom.  Ask your kids about it.
• Students shared and  wrapped up their book talks.  
• Wonder:  we  finally finished this beautiful novel of friendships, acceptance and differences.

Math

• The Big 5:  Every day we  focus on a different math strand.  Monday is Patterning and Algebra, Tuesday is Number, Wednesday is Geometry, Thursday is Measurement and Friday focuses on Data Management.  This is a great way to review some of our past math concepts.
• We have wrapped up fractions, decimal and  percents and enjoyed playing the games, Fraction, Decimal, Percent BINGO as well as I HAVE… WHO HAS…
• Students have been working hard on reviewing  addition and subtraction of fractions
• Multiplication and Division of fractions has been the main focus of the unit
• Students are working at putting all of  the fraction operations  together and using the order of operations and solving problems.
• Students will be writing a unit test this week on Fraction operations.

Social Studies

·         Students have created their own version of a Modern Day Mona Lisa. 

·         Scholars,  Philosophers, Artists, Mathematicians, Scientists and Writers have all impacted  the Renaissance and  their worldview.

·         Humanism

·         Students examined  a variety of  children’s books which illustrated the Worldview of the Renaissance times.

·         Students   are choosing from a group of famous characters from the Renaissance and are creating a Fakebook Page  or an Instagram page for that person.

·         Students are working at organizing their binders to ensure they have the notes for an open book test which will be happening in the next few weeks.

Science

• Mr. C and 8C have been focusing on many experiments which included paper chromatography, viscosity and solubility. They are wrapping up the Mix and Flow of Matter.

 Gym:  Mr. A and the students are working on basketball and spatial concepts as well as playing bucket ball.

The Academic Assembly recognized students who have achieved their Bronze Eagle Achievement Award as well as recognition  of  excellence in our core subjects, fine arts and athletics.  Congratulations to Sarah  and Isabel  who participated in our school Spelling Bee. Congratulations to Isabel for placing First! 

Important Dates

Dec. 5 – Band  Concert

Dec. 10 – Field trip to The Museum of Regiments.  Forms and Money were due last week.  Please get these in ASAP .  We are still looking for parent volunteers who can help supervise on this day. 

Dec.  11 – Pizza Day

Dec. 11 -  Winter  Wonderland Masquerade Ball from 6-9 for Grades 6-8.

Dec. 15 – 18  The Me to We Club will be selling candy cane grams for $1 during this week at noon.  Proceeds will be going to Santa’s Anonymous and The Me to We Club.

Dec. 15- 19 Annual Carol sing.  Parents are invited  to come and  sing with us and join us for hot chocolate.  Keep posted for your scheduled day.

Dec.   19 -  Ugly Sweater Day

As Always, please check with your child and their agenda for any additions of  important dates.  These include homework due dates, test dates, etc.   

A few examples of our Modern  Day Mona Lisa.

A few butterflies for these two spelling bee contestants!

They were Awesome!

Enjoy a few photos from our Halloween events!

October News

Can you believe that November is just around the corner?

We have had many highlights for the month of October which included numerous cross country events, Middle school volleyball, the Terry Fox Run, Km club wrap up,  two Author visits and a field trip to view The Giver!  In between all of these events, students have also been working hard on completing curriculum!

Report cards will be going home on November 5.  Students will be sharing some of their work in their portfolios which will be sent home with the report card.    Please go through the portfolio and the report cards together.  Parent, Teacher, Student interviews will be taking place November 18, 19 and 20th.  Watch for these forms to be sent home after the Fall Break.

Highlights!!

Language Arts
  Students have been using writing tools to outline and create a persuasive essay.  Parents, your kids are going to share their persuasive essays with you in their portfolios.  Please give them some positive feedback on their essays.  The kids have also worked to publish three journal entries to add to their portfolio.

     We are working towards completing a book talk for the middle of November.  Students are reading their own books and are going to share with the class, a hook, the content and a cliff hanger.  The key is leaving the audience with wanting more so that they will want to read the book.

     Students will be reading the dystopian novel called The Giver!

     Students are continuing to enjoy the read aloud of Wonder by RJ Palacio.

Math

  Students have just finish our unit on ratios, rates and proportional reasoning.  They have created a Thanksgiving project based on their knowledge of rates and proportional reasoning. They are know focusing on finding the percent of a number and practicing that in numerous ways.  

Social Studies

       Students have wrapped up their Plague projects and were truly engaged in what they were learning.  We examined the city states of Venice, Florence and Genoa to see what allowed them to flourish.  The Medici was a powerful family that lived in Florence who were important patrons to the arts.  We are preparing for our first exam in Social Studies.  

Science

      Students are learning about Mix and Flow of Matter while experimenting with solutes and solvents.  Students have used the Chrome Books to complete a quiz on the topic.  

Vanishing September!

The month of September certainly disappeared !  Routines are established and expectations are being met.  We have had many events such as the Tug O’ War, Mini-rewards for September, Cross Country events, Art and Culture Day events.  We have also focused on curriculum for the month.

Highlights:

Language Arts

·         Journal entries – students write daily for 10 minutes on a particular topic.  Sometimes it is a topic I give them such as write a paragraph about a girl named Dot but you can not use any letters with dots (j and i). Sometimes students choose a topic from the list of 100 items that they came up with. The goal is for students to write continuously for 10 minutes even if they have writers block.  They can say, “I am not sure what to write about but I notice the leaves are exhibiting their beautiful hues.”  You get the idea.

·         Novel Study – I Am David by Anne Holm

The students were certainly engaged in the novel.  Students listened and read the novel while choosing 3 items to look for while writing their ideas down on a sticky note.  They could listen for a unknown vocabulary word, a connection , something that surprised them, a quote, something they want to learn more about. 

Students used the information to complete a chapter sheet to prove their comprehension.

·         The Movie – I Am David.  The overwhelming response was disappointment. (I didn’t think the movie was that bad).  It was quite different from the book and students compared and contrasted the events.

·         DEAR – students are given time to read books of their choice while working towards creating a book talk on their reading material.  This assignment was handed out on Thursday, October 2, 2014.  The due date will be in approximately 6 weeks.  November 13 – 20^th.

·         Read Aloud – students are listening to a novel call Wonder by RJ Palacio.  Ask your kids what it is about!

Math

·         We have completed our first math unit on Representing Data.  Students will be assessed on their knowledge by completing a unit test for each unit.  I expect all students to have their parents sign their tests and return them to school.

·         Ratios, rates and proportional reasoning has been our focus the last several weeks.

·         Students are using their knowledge of rates and proportional reasoning to complete a Thanksgiving project that has students find the unit cost of 10 items they would like to have for Thanksgiving dinner.

Social

·         Mapping

·         Current Events

·         Worldview

·         The Renaissance

·         How did the Western Worldview grow out of the Renaissance

·         Students have been learning how to take notes and how to effectively read a textbook

·         Students are currently working on a project on The Plague!

Science

·         Mr. C teaches 8B and 8C Science this year.

·         The focus has been lab safety and WHIMS

·         Mix and Flow of Matter

Some of our Cross Country Participants

One of our Art and Culture Day Participants!

The First Few Weeks!

The end of September is almost here!   Students have participated in some get to know each other activities, routines have been established and expectations are being met.
We certainly enjoyed the annual Tug O War and becoming the champs.

  

Team Work!

Monday, September 15 was International Dot Day!  Students worked cooperatively to write a paragraph about a girl named Dot.  The catch was that they could not use any letters in their writing that had a dot.... i and j!  This creative group shared some interesting paragraphs!

Friday, September 19 was Talk Like A Pirate Day!  Many students talked and dressed like pirates and had pirated names.  Students created chalk pastel pirate art while listening to Pirates of the Caribbean

soundtrack.  

Tuesday, September 23 was our annual Terry Fox Run with our High School.  It was a rainy morning but students walked with friends and chatted along the way.  We watched a short video clip that summarized Terry's life.  You could hear a pin drop at the end of the clip.  I have included a link to the clip for you to watch.  

                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1QOtPDAAeY

Students are listening to the novel I Am David by Anne Holm.  We are learning to read with sticky notes and a pencil in hand.  Students have looked for 3 items for each chapter,  to write on their notes which range from vocabulary, to quotes, something surprising, something they loved, a connection to the story or their own observation.  

Be.... is our theme for the year.  Check out our door.  Thanks to S. Fuller from "Entirely Elementary Counselling School."

What have been some of your highlights for the month of September?

Welcome back to school!

The first week of school can be filled with anxious moments and nightmares.  Even teachers have these feelings.  But there is the excitment and desire to learn and push us to expand our horizons that outweigh those scary moments.
I am extremely excited to be able to teach Grade 8 this year.  I am looking forward to learning about you and your interests.  Every year is filled with anticipation

The goal of this blog is to keep you and your parents informed of our learning moments and up to date on the many events we have going on in our school.  This platform is a new one for me and I am expanding my learning by experimenting with this class blog site. 

It is also a goal of mine to have you blog about your learning and relfect on it. 

I know we are going to have a fantastic year together. 

Watch and listen to this Pep Talk from Kid President!