Wednesday 17 December 2014

What We Learned Today...December 17th

Putting together our Hot Chocolate in a Bag!

Here's a snap shot of our day:

ELA: With the Harry Potter paragraphs due tomorrow, students were given the entire period to finish up their good copies and any other overdue assignments.

Phys. Ed: With the gym in use this morning for the Christmas Concert rehearsal, the students headed outside to play capture the flag with Mr. Bird.

Health: Now that we finished up our Body Image Unit Assignment, we spent Health class today creating our craft for the Christmas Cafe.  These crafts will be sold and all proceeds will be donated to charity.

Religion: We wrapped up our Human Rights Activist unit today by watching the final presentation which was focused on Blessed Mother Teresa.  

Science: Over the hour the students were split up into groups and competed in a game of Jeopardy to review key concepts for their exam tomorrow.

Here's a few more pictures from today:



Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


ELA:
Harry Potter Writing Assignment is due on Wednesday, December 17th  Thursday, December 18th.  (If students hand it in tomorrow they will get a bonus mark)

Science:
Unit Exam will be on Tomorrow, December 18th

Reminders:

-Christmas Concert is Tomorrow, December 18th

-Last day before Christmas Holidays is December 19th (School done at 11:55)

Tuesday 16 December 2014

What We Learned Today...December 16th

Working hard at the Ginger Bread Houses!

Here's a snap shot of our day today:

9:00 - 10:20 - This morning we started our day by welcoming the Kindergarten students into our classroom to make Gingerbread houses.  Once again, the students did a terrific job with the the Kindergarten students; they displayed such kindness and patience and were wonderful role models for the rest of Deshaye.

10: 35 - 11:15 - Mr. Fuchs took the students to the gym for Phys. Ed and they participated in some circuit training before working on various basketball drills.

12:45 - 2:10 - We were fortunate to welcome the afternoon Kindergarten students to our classroom and work on Gingerbread houses with them!

2:25 - 3:35 - During the last hour of the day we headed to the gym for our Month End (and Year End) assembly. We were treated to some amazing music by our band students and a breathtaking black light performance of the song "Christmas Shoes".

Here's some more pictures from today:




Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


ELA:
Harry Potter Writing Assignment is due on Wednesday, December 17th  Thursday, December 18th.  (If students hand it in tomorrow they will get a bonus mark)

Health:
Body Image Posters are now overdue


Science:
Unit Exam will be on Thursday, December 18th

Reminders:

-Christmas Concert is December 18th

-Last day before Christmas Holidays is December 19th (School done at 11:55)

Friday 12 December 2014

What We Learned Today....December 12th


Busy writing their Unit Exams!
Wow have we ever had a busy week this week! Between our Space Station all day Wednesday and being away yesterday, I wasn't able to update my blog as often as I would like.   But fear not, here I am just in time for the regular Friday blog post!

ELA: Today students were given the entire period to work on their Harry Potter writing assignment. Students should now have completed their first draft and started editing and revising process.  They will be given one more class on Monday to finish up their two paragraphs before it is due on Wednesday.

Phys. Ed: Mr. Fuchs took advantage of the nice weather today and led the students outside where they got their share of physical activity by playing a huge game of capture the flag!

Arts. Ed: Over this period the students continued to work on their drawings from last class and handed any Essay's that were not turned in on time.

Grade 8 Math: The day finally came...Students spent the entire hour writing their Unit 4 Exam, which as one student wisely pointed out that it was their final math test for the year!

Genius Hour: During the last hour of the day students were given the entire hour to work on their Genius Hour project as well as work on their Progress Blog Post.

*Sadly there will be no Blog Post update on Monday as I will be away in Seattle watching the Seattle Seahawks take on the San Francisco 49's! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and I will see you on Tuesday!

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


ELA:
Harry Potter Writing Assignment is due on Wednesday, December 17th

Health:
Body Image Posters are now overdue


Science:
Unit Exam will be on Thursday, December 18th

Reminders:

-Christmas Concert is December 18th

-Last day before Christmas Holidays is December 19th (School done at 11:55)

Monday 8 December 2014

What We Learned Today...December 8th

Wow! I can't believe we are already in the second week of December!! It's scary how fast this year is going by, but I guess it's true what they say, "Time flies by when your having fun".  And man have we ever had fun so far this year!

Here is a snap shot of our day today:

ELA: We started the morning out with a half hour of silent reading before looking at our unit end assignment for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  This assignment (which can be found on the ELA page)  tasked the students with writing two paragraphs about similarities and differences between the novel and the theatrical version.  We will be working on these assignments in ELA all week and will be due next week.  (I will post an exact due date by the end of the week)

Arts. Ed: Ms. Postma stopped by and took the students to the Multi-Purpose room to work on their essays as well as a new drama assignment.

Health: Students were given the period to continue working on their Body Image posters.  Since we have already had 3 class periods to work on this assignment and most students seem to be near completion, I will only be giving one additional class period to work on this before it becomes homework.   Please see the due date below.

Religion: Today we learned about this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai and how she has helped to shape the world through her fight for education and women's rights.

Grade 8 Math: Over the hour we spent some time going through the 4.1 - 4.3 assignments before students began working on their Unit 4 quiz.  *Don't forget we have our Unit Exam on Friday, so be sure to start studying now!

Science: Today we started to wrap up our Science Unit by looking at how we see colour and how the addition and subtraction of colour works.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


Math:
4.4 Handout is due on overdue
Unit Exam on Friday, December 12th

ELA:
Harry Potter Chapter 17 Questions are overdue

Arts. Ed:
Essay's are due on Thursday, December 11th.

Reminders:

-Christmas Concert is December 18th

-Last day before Christmas Holidays is December 19th (School done at 11:55)

Friday 5 December 2014

What We Learned Today...December 5th

Hogwarts came to our class today!

ELA: This morning we started out the day by watching the end of Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone.  Students will now be tasked with writing about three similarities and three differences they noticed between the novel and the movie.  If you would like a sneak peak of this assignment click here!

Phys. Ed: The students headed down to the gym for some circuit training before working on a few different basketball skills

Arts. Ed: Ms. Postma stopped by and took the students to the Arts. Ed room where they continued to work on their essays as well as their travel pictures.

Religion: Students continued their Human Rights Activists presentations and today we learned about Rosa Parks and how they made a difference in our world.

Grade 8 Math: Students continued to work on their 4.4 assignments and were given an overview for their quiz on Monday.  *Don't forget to start studying this weekend for our unit end exam next Friday.

During the last hour of the day we headed down to the gym for the second installment of our Staff vs. Student sports game or better known as the "Staff vs. Student Smackdown".  Today the teachers took on the students in a game of volleyball. The students did an excellent job and made it a close game, but unfortunately the teachers came out with the win today. Hats off to the students for a well played game!

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


Math:
Pg. 148-149 - overdue
a) 1-4, 5, 6, 8, 10
b) 1-4, 6, 8-12
c) 3, 4, 9, 11-13
4.4 Handout is due on Monday, December 8th
Quiz on Monday, December 8th
Unit Exam on Friday, December 12th

ELA:
Harry Potter Chapter 17 Questions are due on Friday, December 5th Monday, December 8th

Reminders:

Have a great weekend!

Thursday 4 December 2014

What We Learned Today...December 4th

Watching Harry Potter this morning!

Here's a snapshot of our day today:


ELA: Now that we have officially ended our Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone novel and made our AR point club last month, we celebrated by watching the movie version of the book throughout the period as well as after Arts. Ed. Students were also pleased (well maybe not so much) to find out that they will be writing an essay on the similarities and differences between the novel and the movie next week as our unit end assignment.

Arts. Ed: Ms Postma took the students down to the Arts. Ed room and they continued working on their drawing assignments from last class.

Religion: We are getting so close to finishing up the Human Rights Activists presentations and today we learned about Ryan Hreljac and how he made a difference in the world.

Grade 8 Math:  Students were given the entire period to finish up their assignment from Pg. 148 then begin working on their 4.4 marked assignment. *Don't forget to study for our quiz on Monday next week and our Unit Exam on Friday, December 12th.


Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


Math:
Pg. 148-149 - Due Tomorrow
a) 1-4, 5, 6, 8, 10
b) 1-4, 6, 8-12
c) 3, 4, 9, 11-13
4.4 Handout is due on Monday, December 8th

ELA:
Harry Potter Chapter 17 Questions are due on Friday, December 5th Monday, December 8th

Reminders:

-Staff vs. Student Volleyball game, bring 

-DQ lunch orders went home today.  Be sure to return them by tomorrow if you would like to participate.





Wednesday 3 December 2014

What We Learned Today...December 3rd

Genius Hour assignment for today!
ELA: We kicked off our ELA period this morning with our usual half hour of silent reading.  I forgot to mention last week that the students did a great job meeting their point totals for the month of December, and as a result we will be celebrating tomorrow morning with a movie party.  For the second half of class, students worked on their Chapter 17 guiding questions for Harry Potter.  *Don't forget, that this assignment is due by the end of the day on Friday.

Phys. Ed: Mr. Fuchs took the students to the gym and they continued to work on Basketball by participating in different shooting drills.

Health: Students were given the period to continue working on their Body Image posters.

Science: Today we had an extra Science class right after lunch to finish up our lesson from yesterday about the human eye.
Genius Hour: During the last hour of the day, students worked on their first Genius Hour blog post, updating their progress so far.  Students wrote about what they've learned, things that have gone well or things they have had difficulty with and where they see their projects going.  


Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


Math:
4.3 is overdue.
Pg. 148-149
a) 1-4, 5, 6, 8, 10
b) 1-4, 6, 8-12
c) 3, 4, 9, 11-13

ELA:
Harry Potter Chapter 15+16 Questions are overdue
Harry Potter Chapter 17 Questions are due on Friday, December 5th

Reminders:

-DQ lunch orders went home today.  Be sure to return them by Friday if you would like to participate.

Tuesday 2 December 2014

What We Learned Today...December 2nd

Mr. Meyers speaking with the Bresciani Bunch!


Religion: Today we were very fortunate once again to have Mr. Meyers visit our class for another one of his wonderful presentations.  Over the hour we learned about Advent and the meaning behind the different colours priests wear, the origin of Santa Clause and St. Nicholas and the history of the Candy Cane.  A special thanks to Mr. Meyers once again for taking time out of his busy schedule to come visit us today!

Phys. Ed: Mr. Fuchs took the students to the gym and they began their unit on basketball by playing a few different games that worked on shooting.

Health: Students continued to work on their Body Image posters for the entire period.

AR: After lunch the students were given the half hour period to silently read as they missed their usual period first thing this morning.

Grade 8 Math: Students answered a brief quiz on Socrative on last nights lesson and then got right to work on their 4.4 textbook assignment.  (Full assignment details are posted below)

Science: During the last hour of the day we learned all about the human eye and how glasses help people with Myopia and Hypermetropia see clearly.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


Math:
4.4 is overdue.
Pg. 148-149
a) 1-4, 5, 6, 8, 10
b) 1-4, 6, 8-12
c) 3, 4, 9, 11-13

ELA:
Harry Potter Chapter 15+16 Questions are overdue
Harry Potter Chapter 17 Questions are due on Friday, December 5th

French:
Calendars are due tomorrow

Reminders:

-DQ lunch orders went home today.  Be sure to return them by Friday if you would like to participate.

Monday 1 December 2014

What We Learned Today...December 1st



ELA: After we arrived back from the assembly this morning, the students were given the first half of the class to silently read their AR books before working on their Harry Potter Chapter 15 and 16 questions for the second half of class.

Health: Now that we've finished up with our Goal Setting for term two, we got back to our Body Image Unit and the students were given their Unit End Assignment.  For this assignment, students will be tasked with researching one of the concepts we learned about in our unit and creating a poster, glog or presentation on it.

Religion: Today we continued the Human Rights Activist Presentations from last week and we learned about Martin Luther King as well as Frederick Douglass.

Grade 8 Math: Students were given the entire hour to finish up their 4.3 assignments and work on some extra Math on IXL.

Science: During the last hour of the day we reviewed the "Law of Reflection" and how it applied to our Mirror Challenge last week.  We then moved on to the term "Refraction" and how it affects the way we see things and how it applies to the speed of light.


Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


Math:
4.3 due Tomorrow
Watch 4.4 video for tomorrow (Still uploading)

ELA:
Harry Potter Chapter 15+16 Questions are due tomorrow

Reminders:

-DQ lunch orders went home today.  Be sure to return them by Friday if you would like to participate.

Wednesday 26 November 2014

What We Learned Today...November 26th



The day that every students looks forward to has finally come! No, no, it's not the last day of school. It's Report Card Day! What....You're not excited about it??? Hmm...well maybe it's just me because it means they're finally done. My Bad!!

Here's a snapshot of our day today:

ELA: We spent the first half of our class reading Chapter 16 of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone together before the band students had to leave. For the remainder of the class, students worked on their Guiding Questions for Chapter 15 and 16.


Genius Hour/Health: Due to it being a band day, the remaining students used this period to meet with me about their progress so far this year and their goal setting for term two. When students weren't meeting with me, they were working on their Genius Hour Progress Blog Posts.

Health Continued: In order to ensure I had a chance to meet with each and every student, we took a little more time to go through the Goal Setting Documents. Once we finished up with the meetings, the students each filled out an anonymous term one reflection about our classroom. These reflections asked the students to write about what they've enjoyed so far this year, what they would change to help them learn better and what they would like to see more of next term. 
 I believe these reflections are incredibly important to help me grow in my teaching as well as our classroom environment moving forward. Even though I'm a teacher, I'm still a learner too. I continually learn how to do my job better each and every day and these reflections will help me to do just that!

Social Studies: During the last hour of the day we looked at the terms, "Import", "Export" and "Fair Trade" as well as how Imports and Exports affect Canada's Economy.  


Note about Report Cards: I have attempted to pack them with as much detail as I could. Besides the report card you will also receive an emailed spread-sheet of all of the assignments and tests that I gave to your daughter / son for every class that I taught to them.It is a useful method to start a discussion about what is working well and / or what improvements need to be under-taken in order to maximize their learning potential in each and every class. Please send me an email at m.j.bresciani@rcsd.ca if you have not received a copy of them electronically. I look forward to meeting with you to discuss each student’s progress and to help ensure that the academic plan that we have for each and every student is the right one for them. Please remember too that if you cannot meet with me on the scheduled dates or if you feel that you need more time I am always willing to make myself available before or after school on any given day.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


Math:
4.2 due Tomorrow

Pg. 142
a) 5, 7, 8, 10, 12
b) 5, 8-13
c) 5, 8-16


Reminders:

-Parent Teacher Interviews  - November 27th (Evening) and November 28th (Morning) Please remember to sign up for an interview tonight or send me an email if you would like to meet another day.

Tuesday 25 November 2014

What We Learned Today...November 25th



ELA: Today we did a lot of reading over our ELA period! To begin, the students were given their usual half hour of AR before we got right back into Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone and read Chapter 15.

Health: Over the period, students took turns meeting with me to discuss their progress so far this year as well as their goals for the next term.  Unfortunately we didn't get through everyone today, so we will finish up tomorrow in Health.

Religion:  Students continued to present on their Human Rights Activist. Today we learned about the lives of Jose Rizal and Desmond Tutu and how they have made a difference in the world.

Grade 8 Math: To start the class, students took a brief Socrative quiz (Finally!) on the lesson from last night and then began to work on their 4.3 assignment.  (Full assignment posted below)

Science: During the last hour of the day we continued our Mirror Challenge from yesterday and students used their knowledge of the Law of Reflection to bounce a laser off of five mirrors in order to hit their target.  Check out some of the pictures from this activity below!
























Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

ELA: 
Chapter 13 and 14 Guiding Questions are overdue

Math:
4.2 due Tomorrow

Pg. 142
a) 5, 7, 8, 10, 12
b) 5, 8-13
c) 5, 8-16


Religion: 
Human Rights Activist Presentation are overdue

Reminders:

-Report Cards go home tomorrow!

-Parent Teacher Interviews  - November 27th (Evening) and November 28th (Morning) Please remember to sign up for an interview online.





Monday 24 November 2014

What We Learned Today...November 24th

Checking out the angle of reflection!

Health: For the first hour of the day today, students were given one final period to finish up their Goal Setting documents that we started last week.  Tomorrow I will be meeting with each student to go through their goals and then we will be sharing them with parents at interviews on Thursday and Friday.

Arts. Ed: Ms. Postma stopped by and the students continued to work on their travel drawings from last week and were also treated to view one final skit as well.

ELA: Due to it being a shortened period today, students were given the period to silently read their AR books as our cut off date for this month is on Thursday.

Religion: Today we officially began our Human Rights Activist presentations.  Over the period we learned all about Jackie Robinson as well as Alice Paul and how they stood up for what they believed in.  We will be continuing these awesome presentations tomorrow!

Grade 8 Math: Students had the entire hour to finish up their 2.2 handouts and either work on IXL or watch the math lesson for tomorrow.

Science: During the last hour of the day the students were split into two teams and were tasked with using their knowledge of the Law of Reflection to bounce a laser beam off mirrors onto a target.

Here are some more pictures from today:





Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

ELA: 
Chapter 13 and 14 Guiding Questions are overdue

Math:
Pg. 135 - Due Tomorrow, November 25th
a) 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 13
b) 2, 4, 6, 8, 13-18
c) 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 21


Religion: 
Human Rights Activist Presentation are overdue

Reminders:

-Report Cards go home on November 26th

-Parent Teacher Interviews  - November 27th (Evening) and November 28th (Morning) Please remember to sign up for an interview online.

What We Learned Today...November 20th



(Sorry due to a technical error, this didn't post on Thursday!)

ELA: To start out the day, the students continued working on their Goal Setting documents as well as their Harry Potter Chapter 13 and 14 Guiding Questions.  *Don't forget, the Chapter Questions will be due on Monday, November 24th.

Phys. Ed: Mr. Fuchs took the students to the gym and they had the opportunity to participate in everyone's favourite activity....The Beep Test (For Push Ups!)

Arts. Ed: The students headed to the Arts. Ed room and worked on different drawings on the topic of "Travelling".

AR: Immediately after lunch the students took out their AR books and silently read for the half hour period.  *We are currently at 7.7 AR Points per student and need to reach 10 Points by next Thursday in order to host a AR Movie party.

Grade 8 Math: Students finished up their textbook assignments from Pg. 135 and began working on the 4.2 handout.

Genius Hour:  During the last hour of our day, the students had the entire hour to work on their Genius Hour Projects.  We fortunate to have Ms. Stewart-Mitchell, who is a Technology Coach for Regina Catholic Schools,  join us during this hour to check out Genius Hour in.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

ELA: 
Harry Potter "Mirror of Erised" blog overdue

Chapter 13 and 14 Guiding Questions due on Monday, November 24th

Math:
Pg. 135 - Due Tuesday, November 25th
a) 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 13
b) 2, 4, 6, 8, 13-18
c) 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 21


Religion: 
Human Rights Activist Presentation due  Monday, November 24th.

Reminders:

-No School Tomorrow (TPD)

-Report Cards go home on November 26th

-Parent Teacher Interviews  - November 27th (Evening) and November 28th (Morning) Please remember to sign up for an interview online.

Wednesday 19 November 2014

What We Learned Today...November 19th


Health: This morning we kicked off our day by talking about the term "Self-Regulation" and how different people need to self regulate in order to focus.  We then went through the different types of classroom digit fidgets we have as well as our new wiggle cushion and how to use them responsibly.

ELA: After the mini Health lesson, students got right to work on their Chapter 13 and 14 guiding questions for Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.  These questions will be due on Monday, November 24th.

Arts. Ed: As per usual, the students headed down to the Arts. Ed room and worked on a few different sketchbook assignments.

Health: Students continued right where they left off yesterday and worked on their personal Goal Setting for our next term.  The four areas they are setting goals in are: 1. ELA, 2. Math, 3. Quality Work Habits and 4. Christ Like Behaviour.

Math: During this period, the students began working on their first assignment for 4.2, "Converting Fractions, Decimals and Percents" from their textbook.  (Full assignment posted below)

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

ELA: 
Harry Potter "Mirror of Erised" blog overdue

Chapter 13 and 14 Guiding Questions due on Monday, November 24th

Math:
Pg. 135 - Due Tuesday, November 25th
a) 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 13
b) 2, 4, 6, 8, 13-18
c) 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 21


Religion: 
Human Rights Activist Presentation due on Thursday, November 20th (For Bonus Marks) - Official due date now Monday, November 24th.

Reminders:

-No School on November 21st (TPD)

-Report Cards go home on November 26th

-Parent Teacher Interviews  - November 27th (Evening) and November 28th (Morning)

Tuesday 18 November 2014

What We Learned Today...November 18th


ELA: To start out the day the students learned about different characteristics that most heroes display.  After going through the list together, the students then began working on their Chapter 13 and 14 Guiding Questions.

Phys. Ed: Mr. Fuchs took the students to the gym and the students participated in the "Beep Test" before working on different volleyball skills.

Homework Period/Genius Hour:  Since we had a lot of students away at band during this time, students were given the period to work on any homework they have or their Genius Hour Project.

AR: Immediately after lunch, the students were given a half hour period to silently read their AR books.

French: Ms. Bachiu stopped by the students wrote an exam on the different rooms in the school.

Health: During the last hour of the day the students continued working on their Goal Setting documents for term two.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

ELA: 
Harry Potter "Mirror of Erised" blog due on Wednesday, November 19th

Math:
4.1 Due Thursday

Religion: 
Human Rights Activist Presentation due on Thursday, November 20th
Reminders:

-No School on November 21st (TPD)

-Report Cards go home on November 26th

-Parent Teacher Interviews  - November 27th (Evening) and November 28th (Morning)

Friday 14 November 2014

What We Learned Today...November 14th

Investigating the characteristics of Convex and Concave Mirrors
Here's a snapshot of our day today:

ELA: For the first half of class today, we read Chapters 13 and 14 of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone together.  At 9:45 we put our books away and students were given the rest of the period to finish up their "Mirror of Erised" Blog Post.

Arts. Ed: Ms. Postma stopped by and lead the students to the Arts. Ed room where they continued to learn about contour drawing and had the opportunity to try out a "blind contour drawing".

Religion: Students got back into their groups and they spent the entire class finishing up their Human Rights Activist Presentations using the Surface Pro's.

Science: Over the half hour period, we picked up right where we left off by investigating the characteristics of concave and convex mirrors and lens' through two small experiments.

Grade 8 Math: Students finished up their textbook assignment from yesterday and began working on the 4.1 handout.

Genius Hour: Now that most students have their essential question formed and ready to go, they finally began researching and collecting information on their topic.

Here's some pictures from Genius Hour today:

















Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

ELA: 
Harry Potter "Mirror of Erised" blog due on Wednesday, November 19th

Math:
Pg. 128 - Due on Monday, November 17th
a) 4,6,8,9,12
b) 4,6,8,9,12
c) 4,6,9,12,14,15

Religion: 
Human Rights Activist Presentation due on Thursday, November 20th

Reminders:

-No School on November 21st (TPD)

-Report Cards go home on November 26th

-Parent Teacher Interviews  - November 27th (Evening) and November 28th (Morning)