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!