Tuesday 29 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 29th


Performing the "Bubble Test"!

This morning we started off the day with a half hour of silent reading during AR before moving on to ELA.  In ELA the students continued to work on the rough drafts for their Dytopian Persuasive Essays.  I was really impressed with how focused and how hard the students worked on their essays, as you could have heard a pin drop in our room today.  Keep up the good work everyone!  At 10:38 we had Grade 8 Math and we learned how to apply the order of operations to integers.  Since this can be a little bit tricky, we will be spending the next couple of days practicing this concept.

After lunch Ms. Postma stopped by for Arts. Ed and the students continued to work on their "Jai Ho" dances, with some groups actually filming their good copy.  At 1:38 we had Science and continued right where we left off yesterday by performing a "Bubble Test" to test the how viscous certain fluids are.  In Phys-Ed the students headed with Mr. Fuchs to the gym where they participated in various Track & Field events.  During the last period of the day we had an extra Science lesson and began watching an episode of Bill Nye on fluids.  They were very excited to watch Bill Nye, as you can see from the video below!



Here are some more pictures from today:






















Homework:

Religion:
Service Hours are now overdue
Compassion Project or Lenten Service Booklet are now overdue

Math:
8.4 is due on Thursday, May 1st
Unit 8 Quiz is on Monday, May 5th
Unit 8 Exam is on Thursday, May 8th


Reminders:

Grade 8's: 
-Please email (or hand in) your Farewell slideshow pictures to Mr. Csada by this Friday.  
-Please email a current picture of yourself to me by next Friday, May 9th for your Farewell star.  

Monday 28 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 28th


This morning we kicked off our week with a special Easter assembly in the gym before heading back to the classroom for a half hour of AR.  In ELA the students continued where they left off before the break and worked on their Dystopian Persuasive Essays for the remainder of the period.  We will be peer editing the rough copies of the essays on Wednesday, so all rough copies need to be completed by then.  In Grade 8 Math the students continued to work on the assignment from 8.4 on Dividing Integers.  We will be moving on to 8.5 tomorrow, so students be sure to watch the 8.5 video before tomorrows class.  

After lunch the students headed to the gym with Mr. Fuchs and they continued their Track and Field unit by learning the proper techniques behind High Jump.  At 1:23 we had Science and we briefly went over the Mixtures and Solutions Unit Exams before beginning our new unit on Fluids, Forces and Density.  During the last hour of the day the students had Health and they worked on an assignment dealing with relationships.  

Religion:
Service Hours are now overdue
Compassion Project or Lenten Service Booklet are now overdue

Math:
8.2 is overdue
8.4 is due on Wednesday, May 1st
Unit 8 Quiz is on Monday, May 5th
Unit 8 Exam is on Thursday, May 8th


Reminders:

Grade 8's: 
-Please email (or hand in) your Farewell slideshow pictures to Mr. Csada by this Friday.  
-Please email a current picture of yourself to me by next Friday, May 9th for your Farewell star.  


Thursday 17 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 17th


This morning we started out day with the usual AR period from 9:08 to 9:38 before starting ELA.  In ELA we had one final Today's Meet session with St. Gabriel and St. Francis and we discussed the book (and movie) Divergent and how it relates to our Dystopian theme.  Students also had the opportunity to take a Faction Quiz and see which faction they would belong to if they were characters in Divergent.  At 10:38 the students had the good fortune to write their Unit 2 Exam in Science on Mixtures and Solutions.

After lunch we headed to the gym for our Holy Thursday liturgy as well as a special silhouette presentation of the Stations of the Cross that was acted out by some of our Grade 8 students.  These Grade 8 students did an absolutely amazing job and I know the entire school was impressed with how well it turned out.  Well done guys!   During the last hour of the day Ms. Zenuk stopped by for Health and the students spent the hour working on their non-curable diseases brochure.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Easter and I will see you on April 28th!

*Last minute update:  Congratulations to our class for reaching 25 AR points per student for the Month!  While we may not have won the Battle of the Classes title, we still did an amazing job and I am very proud of everyone. As promised, we will have an AR movie party after the break to celebrate our success.  



Religion:
Service Hours are due Monday, April 28th
Compassion Project or Lenten Service Booklet are due April 28th


Reminders:

Note about Grade 8 Farewell Social from the parent committee:
Grade Eights!  Please save the afternoon and early evening of June 7 for dinner and a campfire at Dallas Valley Ranch Camp -- a night to celebrate the Deshaye years!  Optional activities to take place in the early afternoon.  Watch for more details and a registration form the first week of May


Final Today's Meet


The Interschool Digital Dystopian Book Club Last Today’s Meet Discussion!

Take a moment to watch a video based on our  project. This short video sums up some of the issues and questions we explored, activities from the unit, and finally your reactions. The project was very well received by teachers who attended to Digital EdCamp a couple weeks ago. Teachers from all over Saskatchewan who are interested in using technology attended the conference and were quite excited to see what you did. You are famous… well among Saskatchewan teachers! ;-)

Video link “The Interschool Digital Dystopian Book Club Project”
**Allow for time to load. It takes awhile.

Before you start the chat, think about what Faction you would be in. Now find out if you are right. Take the What Faction Are You? Divergent test. It will only take about 4-5 minutes.

Divergent Aptitude Test


Questions to consider…
A couple weeks ago  we had the opportunity to attend Divergent and meet F2F (face to face) all the other students from St Gabriel and Deshaye who were in our Dystopian Book Club! What a fantastic day!!

Anyways, for our last Today's Meet Live Chat... We are going to discuss your questions! Today’s questions were taken from the survey (Survey Monkey) as well as questions that you may have explored with your teacher after the movie, Divergent. Before we begin, we just want to thank you for your participation, engagement and excellent work you did in this project. Thank you again for taking the time to complete the survey! As teachers it is really important that we have an understanding of your thoughts from the project.
Thanks again for your time and for the honest feedback!



Novels
Teacher Leader
Today’s Meet Link
Divergent
Mr. Bresciani
Legend
Ms. Stewart-Mitchell/Ms. Treptau
City of Ember
Ms. Stewart-Mitchell
Hunger Games
Mr. Rieger
Among the Hidden
Ms. Nicolson
Eleventh Plague
Mrs. Folk


Matched
Mr. Redler
Maze Runner
Ms. Treptau

Wednesday 16 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 16th


Working with their Little Buddies!
We kicked off our day today by heading straight to Kindergarten room after the bell to hang out with our little buddies.  Over the hour the students worked together with their buddies to help them create mini Easter baskets.  The grade 7/8's did a wonderful job working their little buddies and I know Ms. Sutherland and the kindergarteners really appreciated all their help today!  In Grade 8 Math we continued to look at Multiplying Integers and the students took a quick quiz on Socrative to see where they are at.  I'm happy to say that after looking at the quiz results, everyone seems to be having a lot of success with this concept as the average mark on the quiz was 90%!  Well done everyone.

After lunch we headed right back down to the Kindergarten room to work with our afternoon little buddies on the same Easter basket activity.  During the last hour of the day the students had Social Studies with Mr. Csada and they continued to present their Geography Power Points.

Here are some more pictures from today:



*Special Reminder:
Since the students have a major Health project due tomorrow as well as a Science Test, I have decided to show some compassion and give everyone until after the Easter break to submit their Four Service Hours along with the Lenten Reflection Booklet.  However, anyone who wishes to turn them in by tomorrow will receive a bonus mark.


Math:
6.6 is overdue
8.2 is due Monday, April 28th

Pg. 297-298 -Due Tomorrow

a) 7-13
b) 8, 9, 10 (ab), 11(ab), 12, 15, 20
c) 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 20, 23, 25


Religion:
Service Hours are due Monday, April 28th
Compassion Project or Lenten Service Booklet are due April 28th

Science:
Unit Exam is tomorrow

Reminders:

Note about Grade 8 Farewell Social from the parent committee:
Grade Eights!  Please save the afternoon and early evening of June 7 for dinner and a campfire at Dallas Valley Ranch Camp -- a night to celebrate the Deshaye years!  Optional activities to take place in the early afternoon.  Watch for more details and a registration form the first week of May

Tuesday 15 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 15th




Our Seder Meal!
This morning we started out our day with our usual AR period from 9:00 - 9:30 before we headed to the Library for a very special class.  Today the students were treated to a Seder Meal prepared by Mr. Meyers.  We were very fortunate to have him come visit today as he taught the students all about the Jewish Passover and how it connects to our faith as Catholics through the sharing of this meal.  The Seder meal consisted of numerous parts: Grape Juice (Symbolize Wine), Parsley, Apple Chunks, Horseradish and Unleavened bread.  If you would like to read more about a Seder Meal please click on the hyper-link above. 

In Grade 8 Math, the students continued working on their 8.2 textbook assignment (full assignment listed below) and some even started their 8.2 handouts.  Those students who chose to re-write their Unit Exam were also given the opportunity to write during this hour as well.  *All Math marks will be posted by Thursday so all students have an idea where they are at before the break.

At 1:23 Mr. Fuchs took the students to the gym for Phys. Ed and they participated in some Circuit Training before moving on to Track and Field events.  In French we continued to work through our Voyager unit and we learned about different activities that we may participate in on a trip and how to write them in a sentence using five different verbs.  During the last hour of the day Mr. Csada stopped by for Social Studies and the students took turns presenting their geography power points.

Here are some more pictures from our Seder Meal:


























Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
6.6 is overdue
Watch 8.2 Video if you haven't yet

Pg. 297-298 -Due Thursday

a) 7-13
b) 8, 9, 10 (ab), 11(ab), 12, 15, 20
c) 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 20, 23, 25


Religion:
Service Hours are due April 17th
Compassion Project or Lenten Service Booklet are due April 17th

Science:
Unit Exam is on Thursday, April 17th

Reminders:

Note about Grade 8 Farewell Social from the parent committee:
Grade Eights!  Please save the afternoon and early evening of June 7 for dinner and a campfire at Dallas Valley Ranch Camp -- a night to celebrate the Deshaye years!  Optional activities to take place in the early afternoon.  Watch for more details and a registration form the first week of May

Monday 14 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 14th


Taking a break from their dance!
T-Minus seven days until Easter and four days until Easter Break.  This week is going to fly by and we still have so much to do before we say goodbye for a week!    This morning we started out the week with a special assembly in the gym to celebrate the beginning of holy week (Palm Sunday).  Once the assembly concluded we headed back to the classroom for some AR before starting to work on the Persuasive Essays.  Since we will most likely have a shortage of ELA time this week, we will continue to work on these essays after Easter.  In Grade 8 Math we took some time to go over the Unit Exams from last Friday and then began to work on Unit 8, which deals with Multiplying and Dividing Integers. *Since this was our first full unit using the Flipped Classroom model, I have decided to give those students who would like to another shot at their Unit Exam the opportunity to rewrite it tomorrow.  

After lunch Ms. Postma stopped by for Arts. Ed and the students continued to work on their creative dances  using the song "Jai Ho". These dances are coming along great and I will definitely be posting more videos as the students record their dances!  At 1:38 we had Religion and the students were given one final period to complete their Lenten Service Packages/Compassion Project as they are due on Thursday!  *Don't forget, all four Service Hours are also due Thursday, so be sure to bring back the signed service form.  During the last hour of the day the students had Phys. Ed and they continued to work on Track and Field events with a special focus on Triple Jump.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
6.6 is overdue
Unit 6 Exam re-test is Tomorrow
Watch 8.2 Video for Tomorrow


Religion:
Service Hours are due April 17th
Compassion Project or Lenten Service Booklet are due April 17th

Science:
Unit Exam is on Thursday, April 17th

Friday 11 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 11th

We kicked off our morning with a half hour period of silent reading before continuing on with persuasive writing in ELA.  The students really impressed me during ELA as each and every student remained focused throughout the entire hour and they got a lot accomplished!  Well done everyone!  In Grade 8 Math we finished up our unit on Fractions as the students wrote their Unit 6 Exam.  We will be moving on to Unit 8 next week which deals with Integers.  Students, be sure to watch the 8.2 video for next class!

After lunch the students headed to the gym with Mr. Fuchs and continued to learn and participate in different Track and Field events.  At 1:23 we had Science and finished up our Mixtures and Solutions Unit by looking at types of solutions including: Saturated, Unsaturated and Supersaturated Solutions.  Our unit exam will be next Thursday, April 17th.  During the last hour of the day Ms. Zenuk stopped by for Health and the students worked on their incurable STI brochures.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
6.6 is overdue
Watch 8.2 Video for Monday


Religion:
Service Hours are due April 17th
Compassion Project or Lenten Service Booklet are due April 17th

Science:
Unit Exam is on Thursday, April 17th

Thursday 10 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 10th

Trying to figure out one of the questions in French Jeopardy!
This morning we started out our day with a half hour period of silent reading for AR.  We are now up to 22.5 points per student, which is not very far behind the leader.  I'd bet if everyone does a little extra reading this weekend, we'll have the figurative trophy in our hands next Thursday!  In ELA, students began to write their persuasive essays based on the following prompt: "Some critics believe that Dystopian books rely too much on violence and as a result are warping the minds of young adults.  They believe that these books should be taken out of schools.  Do you agree? Do you disagree?" We will continue working on these essays right up to the Easter Break.
French Jeopardy!

As a result of Full Band being cancelled today, we had most of our class present for French.  Due to the fact that it's been a while since our last class, we used the hour to review key terms from our Voyager unit by playing jeopardy.  We will be continuing on with our Voyager unit next week as we explore "les activites" as well as important verbs that align with them.

After lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Postma and they were all bustin' a move as they rehearsed their dances from last class.  I was pretty impressed with all the dance moves going on during this hour and I've even posted a clip below so anyone at home can join in the fun!


At 1:38 we had Religion and the students continued to work on their Lenten Service Packages and Compassion Project.  Students, don't forget these assignments as well as your service hours are due on Thursday, April 17th.  During the last hour of the day Ms. Zenuk stopped by for Health and the students created a pamphlet on incurable STI's.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
6.5 is now overdue
6.6 is due tomorrow
Unit Exam is tomorrow

Religion:

Service Hours are due April 17th
Compassion Project or Lenten Service Booklet are due April 17th

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Pink day!


Listening intently to Deacon Joe!

Today was a very special day in our school and around the world as we participated in the international "Day of Pink".  We gathered together as a school in the gym this morning to celebrate a special liturgy that was prepared by our Pink Day committee.  After the liturgy we headed back to the classroom for ELA and we continued to look at persuasive writing and good transition words.  In Grade 8 Math we had a shortened period because Constable Bill stopped by for a special presentation about Bullying and the legal consequences.

After lunch we continued our trend for "Day of Pink" and watched a short video about Cyber Bullying before heading to the Library to listen to another special presentation - this time from Deacon Joe.  Deacon Joe talked about the importance of positive relationships and positive interactions with one another.  During the last hour of the day we spent some time working on complimenting one another by passing around paper with our names on them and each student was tasked with writing something kind about one another.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
6.5 is now overdue
6.6 is due on Friday
Unit Exam is on Friday

Religion:

Service Hours are due April 17th
Compassion Project or Lenten Service Booklet are due April 17th

Tuesday 8 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 8th


Working hard at evaluating a Persuasive Essay!
This morning we started out our day with AR from 9:08 to 9:38.  With only 7 days left in our Battle of the Classes competition, we are now up to 22 points per student, which is only 3 shy of our initial goal of 25 points.  I'm confident we'll get there by next week if everyone continues to do their part!  In ELA we continued our persuasive writing unit by looking at an example of a poorly written persuasive essay.  As a class we went through the essay together and highlighted the errors within.  Once we completed this, students were given a copy of the persuasive writing rubric and were responsible for evaluating the essay.

In Grade 8 Math, students wrote their Unit 6 quiz before starting to work on the Unit Review and Practice Test from their textbook.  *Don't forget we have our Unit Exam on Friday so be sure to study a little bit each night this week.  

After lunch the students had Phys. Ed with Mr. Fuchs and they completed some circuit training before beginning their new unit on Track and Field.  At 1:23 we had our first post-Science Fair lesson, so we quickly reviewed some key terms from our Mixtures and Solutions unit before looking at the Particle Theory of Matter and the process of dissolving.  During the last hour of the day Mr. Csada stopped by for Social Studies and had the students presented their Geography presentations.  

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
6.5 is now overdue
6.6 is due on Friday
Unit Exam is on Friday

Friday 4 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 4th


Planning their persuasive essays

We kicked off our morning with the usual AR period from 9:08 - 9:38.  As of this morning we are officially up to 20.9 AR points per student which means we are only 4.1 points away from our goal and 2 points behind the leader!  In ELA we explored what persuasive writing is and began to learn how to properly construct a persuasive essay using a planning sheet.  We will be continuing to look at persuasive writing next week and the students will get a chance to actually start writing their first full essay as well..  In Grade 8 Math we quickly took a quiz on Socrative before working on the assignment from Pg. 234.  (Full assignment is listed below)

After lunch Mr. Fuchs stopped by for Phys. Ed and the students continued to work on Badminton and even had a chance to play Kings Court.  At 1:23 the students were given some time to complete their Social Presentations to make up for the class we missed on Wednesday.  During the last hour of the day the entire school participated in an intense game of Bingo over the intercom to help raise money for the Missionary Childhood Association.

Here are some more pictures from today:

Our persuasive topic!
Focused during BINGO!











Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

ELA:
Fakebook assignment due TBA

Math:
6.5 is now overdue

Pg. 234 - 235
a)4, 5, 6, 8, 9
b) 4,5, 9, 12, 13
c) 4, 5, 11, 13, 14, 15

Wednesday 2 April 2014

What We Learned Today...April 2nd

The Bresciani Bunch taking a second to pose!
This morning we kicked off our day with AR from 9:08 to 9:38 and we are officially up to 20.6 points per student.  This is an awesome total and we are only 2 points behind the leader and 4.4 points away from the goal we set for ourselves at the beginning of march.  Keep up the good work everyone!  In ELA the students participated in two surveys that tasked them with reflecting on our Dystopian Unit that we've been working on the past two months. If you would like to check out the surveys click the links below:

Survey 1: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JWPPKFR
Survey 2: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X29LCH9

After recess we boarded the bus and headed straight to the Galaxy Cinemas to watch Divergent.  During this time we also got the opportunity to meet with the other students and teachers who have been participating in the same Dystopian Unit as us! It was so cool to finally meet the these people face to face as before today they were only a name on a computer screen.

As always, I was impressed with how well the students at Deshaye represented themselves and their school today.  Well done everyone!

Here are a few more pics from today:

Excited for the movie to begin!
Apparently there was a really scary scene in the movie!










Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

ELA:
Fakebook assignment due TBA

Math:
Watch 6.6 video for Friday
6.4 Handout is overdue
6.5 Handout is due on Friday



Tuesday 1 April 2014

April 1st...Science Fair!




Well the day finally arrived, (and I don't mean April Fool) today was our Deshaye Catholic Science Fair.  I can't even begin to express how proud I am of each and every student today.  A typical Science Fair project should take about 2-3 months, however we were asked to complete our projects in only one month.  This is an extremely short amount of time when you consider it and this didn't even phase the students.  They worked incredibly hard over the past four weeks and the results were a ton of absolutely amazing projects!  I lost count of the amount of people (judges included) that stopped by to tell me how impressed they were with the students from Deshaye.  Well done everyone!

I would just like to take a second to thank all of the students for all their hard work this month and for never (well almost never) complaining about the process and just doing what needed to be done.  I really admire each and every student in our classroom and I know they all have bright futures a head.  I'm so happy to be able to come to school each day and work with these students.  I definitely have one of the best jobs in the world!

Here's a few pics from the Science Fair today:













Upcoming Due Dates & Homework


Don't forget, we are attending Divergent as a class on tomorrow, April 2nd.  We will departing from the school at  11:00 and returning at 2:20.  If you would like to buy anything at the concession, be sure to bring your money tomorrow. 

ELA:
Fakebook assignment due TBA

Math:
Watch 6.6 video for Friday
6.4 Handout is overdue
6.5 Handout is due on Friday