Tuesday 30 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 30th

Unfortunately we weren't at Lebret today for our retreat due to the rain.  However, we have already began looking at potential dates in the Spring to reschedule it because it is an amazing opportunity that we want the Grade 7/8's to have this year! We started off the day today with AR from 9:00 - 9:30 before switching gears to ELA.  In ELA the Grade 7's headed to Ms. Zenuk's room while the Grade 8's stayed back and we went through the Persuasive Writing Assessment that the students will be working on over the next 3 days.  For this assessment students will need to think of a topic or issue that they care about or have strong feelings for as the basis for their persuasive piece. Students have been asked to come to school tomorrow with a topic in mind so they can get started right away on their research. Since we missed out on our Harry Potter time today due to the assessment prep, students used the forty minutes after Phys. Ed to finish up their second blogging assignment.

After lunch we had Religion and students used the entire period to finish up their "Gods Image" Assignment.  *Students, remember that this assignment is due on Friday.  If you did not finish it in class today, it will unfortunately be homework. At 1:10 Ms. Bachiu stopped by for French and they worked on their drawing assignment.  During the last hour of the day we had Social Studies and we learned about the Public and Private Sector and began to talk about what a Mixed Market Economy is.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
3.1 Handout is due on Friday

ELA:
Chapter 4 + 5 questions are overdue.  Hand is ASAP


Religion:
God's Image Collage is due on Friday, October 3rd

Health:
Digital Citizenship paragraph is due on Thursday, October 2nd

Reminders:

-There will be no school next Thursday an Friday (October 9th and 10th) due to Teacher Institute and TPD.


Monday 29 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 29th

Checking out the "Cloud"

This morning we kicked off our week by heading straight to the gym for picture and everybody had their best smiles on! Once we finished up and arrived back to class, we had AR until 10:00 and then switched gears to ELA and the students had the rest of the period to work on their Ch. 3+4 questions. At 10:35 Mr. Fuchs stopped by for Phys. Ed and he took the students outside for some Football before heading back in for Health where we worked on the Digital Citizenship response.

After lunch we had Religion and the students continued to work on their Gods Image Collage Assignment.  This assignment will be due on Friday, October 3rd (Wow! It's weird to type "October" already!).  In Grade 8 Math we went through all the Unit 2 Exams as a class before beginning to work on the 3.1 handout on Squares and Square Roots.  During the last hour of the day the students all logged on to their One Drive accounts and learned how to create different files on our system cloud.  Just in case anyone forgot the link to the cloud, it's: login.microsoftonline.com

*Unfortunately, due to inclement weather tomorrow, we have had to postpone our Lebret retreat until the spring. However, don't fret too much! We will still be very fortunate to have Mr. Meyers join our class next week for a special presentation!

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Pg. 85 due on Tomorrow, September 30th
a) 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17
b) 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17, 18, 23, 24
c) 5, 19, 21, 22, 24-27

ELA:
Chapter 4 + 5 questions due Tomorrow, September 30th

Science:
Egg Drop Reflection is now overdue

Religion:
God's Image Collage is due on Friday, October 3rd

Health:
Digital Citizenship paragraph is due on Thursday, October 2nd

Reminders:

-No Lebret field trip tomorrow

-There will be no school next Thursday an Friday (October 9th and 10th) due to Teacher Institute and TPD.

Thursday 25 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 25th

"You're a wizard Harry!"
This morning we started out our day quite similar to yesterday as we got right into ELA first thing.  We had a bit of a Harry Potter marathon as we spent the hour reading chapter 5 + 6 together, only taking breaks to examine different Harry Potter props like wands, chocolate frogs and robes.  This week we really tried to get as far into the book as we could because next week will be taking another break from our unit to do a system wide writing assignment on persuasive and expository writing.  At 10:35 the students headed to the gym with Mr. Fuchs and they worked on some football drills. Once they got back to class Ms. Postma stopped by for Arts. Ed and they discussed different kinds of paintings and narration.  

After lunch we had Religion and the students were introduced to their final assignment for our first unit of the year which deals with "Gods Image".  We also had an engaging discussion on what Jesus probably would have looked like when he was on earth and how that differs from the traditional European version.  In Grade 8 Math the students spent the entire period writing their Unit 2 Math exam. During the last hour of the day we continued our Science lesson from Tuesday by looking at the different key terms for Optics and Vision. 

*Unfortunately I will be away tomorrow so there will not be a blog update.  However, I need to say that I can't believe how fast this first month has gone by! I guess it's true what they say, time really does fly when you're having fun.  As I've said before, we have such an absolutely amazing class and I can't believe we only have 9 months left!  

Have a great weekend!

Some more pictures from today:


Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Pg. 85 due on Tuesday, September 30th
a) 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17
b) 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17, 18, 23, 24
c) 5, 19, 21, 22, 24-27

ELA:
Chapter 4 + 5 questions due Tuesday, September 30th

Science:
Egg Drop Reflection Due Monday

Reminders:

-Grade 7/8 Retreat in Lebret is on September 30th.  Students will need to bring $2 to help cover the cost of the trip and their form back by Thursday. As soon as possible.

Wednesday 24 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 24th

Working on their Religion reflections.

This morning we started out our day with ELA and continued on with our Harry Potter Unit by quickly going over the Fakebook assignment before spending the rest of the class reading the fifth chapter of the book together.  At 10:35 Ms. Postma stopped by for Arts. Ed and the students continued to learn the different aspects of critiquing art.
In Health, we spent some time reflecting on the important aspects of Digital Citizenship that we've learned over the past few weeks.  As a concluding activity students, then created "Wordles" (Word Clouds) to demonstrate their learning.

After lunch we had Religion and continued right where we left off yesterday by listening to the song, "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson.  Students were then tasked with writing a reflection on how the various pieces of multimedia from the past two classes tied into our unit theme, "Who am I?" and "How do I Belong?".  In Grade 8 Math, we officially moved on to Unit 3 "Squares and Square Roots" and the students learned about Pythagoras and the pattern we find with Squares.  During the last hour of the day the students had French with Ms. Bachiu.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Unit Exam will be tomorrow, September 26th

ELA:
Chapter 4 + 5 questions due Tuesday, September 30th

Science:
Egg Drop Reflection Due Monday

Reminders:


-Grade 7/8 Retreat in Lebret is on September 30th.  Students will need to bring $2 to help cover the cost of the trip and their form back by Thursday.

Tuesday 23 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 23rd


In the middle of an intense Science debate! 

This morning we started out our day with ELA by reading the fourth chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone together.  Once we finished up reading students were given the rest of the class to finish up their chapter three Fakebook assignments as well as the Ch. 3+4 reading response questions. At 10:20 Mr. Fuchs took the students to the gym for Phys. Ed and they had a free period.  Once the students arrived back to class and instead of the Health, the students who were not at band had the period to work on any homework they had.

Taking some time to "Cha Cha" at the end of the day!
After lunch we had Religion and students were tasked with watching a few different video clips off Youtube.  They were then the responsible for documenting how these different pieces of multimedia tie in with our theme of "Who am I?" and "How do I belong?".  At 1:10 Ms. Bachiu stopped by for French and the students learned some more basic vocabulary words and phrases associated with their food theme.  During the last hour of the day we had Science and continued to look at the characteristics of light through examples and demo's as well as some key vocabulary words.


Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Unit Exam will be on Wednesday, September 25th bumped to Thursday, September 26th

ELA:
Fakebook assignment is due tomorrow, September 24th

Social:
Resource and Wealth Tax Assignment is now overdue

Arts. Ed:
Sketch is due tomorrow, September 24th

Reminders:
-Boys Football practice tomorrow morning at 8:00 and play at St. Dominic at 4:00 after school tomorrow.

-Grade 7/8 Retreat in Lebret is on September 30th.  Students will need to bring $2 to help cover the cost of the trip and their form back by Thursday.

Monday 22 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 22nd

A blurry picture from canoeing!
Well, we kicked off our week a little different than usual today.  First thing this morning, all our Grade 8 students headed outside to the bus and spent the entire morning canoeing on Wascana Lake.  We were very fortunate to have such amazing weather for canoeing as last year, it was less than ideal due to the rain mid-session.  In addition to the nice weather, another positive from our trip today was how well our students presented themselves during our excursion.  We have another great senior group this year and they really represented themselves and their school well today!

After lunch we had Science and the students reflected on their Egg Drop challenge from Friday.  They were tasked with writing a 1-2 paragraph response answering the following questions:
1.  Explain in detail your design for the egg drop
2.  How did your design help your egg survive the initial rounds
3.  If you could change anything about your design, what would it be and why?
4.  If we were to drop your design off the legislative building, what would you need to change to survive the fall?

In Grade 8 Math we spent the hour going through the 2.2 and 2.3 assignments before students finished up their Unit Reviews and Practice Test.  During the last hour of the day we had work period where students finished up their RAD Tests, worked on their Science Questions, Fakebook assignments and Social Studies assignment.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Unit Exam will be on Wednesday, September 25th

ELA:
Fakebook assignment will be due on Monday, September 22nd Wednesday, September 24th

Social:
Resource and Wealth Tax Assignment due Tomorrow, September 23rd

Arts. Ed:
Sketch is due Wednesday, September 24th

Reminders:

-Grade 7/8 Retreat in Lebret is on September 30th.  Students will need to bring $2 to help cover the cost of the trip and their form back by Thursday.

More blurry pictures from today:




Friday 19 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 19th



Anxiously awaiting the Egg Drop!

*I forgot to give out the note today for our trip to Lebret, please read the note here and I will hand out the official note on Monday!

We kicked off our day with the usual AR period from 9:00 - 9:30 before heading to the Library for Social Studies.  Once again technology seems to be an issue in our classroom so Ms. Folk was wonderful enough to let us use the Library!  Students continued working on their Resource and Wealth assignment from Tuesday and learned about the different tax rates between provinces.  At 10:35 Ms. Postma took the students down to the Multi-Purpose Room for Arts. Ed and they learned how to critique paintings. Once the students arrived back and had the rest of the period to finish up their RAD Tests.

After lunch we breifly went through the Social Studies assignment from the morning and then the students had an extra work period to finish up any homework they had.  In Grade 8 Math the students wrote their Unit 2 Quiz and then spent the rest of the class working on their Unit Review and Practice Test.  During the last hour of the day we headed outside for #rpseggdrop where they students tested out their creations from yesterday to see if they could protect their egg from a drop off the roof.  Check out some of the pictures below or follow our Twitter Feed (@brescianibunch) to catch a glimpse of our Egg Drop this afternoon!


Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Unit Exam will be on Wednesday, September 25th
All overdue assignments must be handed in on Monday

ELA:
Fakebook assignment will be due on Monday, September 22nd Wednesday, September 24th

Social:
Resource and Wealth Tax Assignment due Tuesday, September 23rd

Arts. Ed:
Sketch is due Wednesday, September 24th

Reminders:

Boys Football practice Monday at 8:00

-Grade 8 canoeing Monday morning

-Grade 7/8 Retreat in Lebret is on September 30th.  Students will need to bring $2 to help cover the cost of the trip.

Here's so more pictures from today:










Thursday 18 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 18th



Taking a second to pose for their #rpseggdrop

This morning we started out our day with a brief period of AR before the students continued to write their RAD tests that were started yesterday.  Due to the fact that we had a shortened class yesterday, the students will have another  period tomorrow to finish them up.  At 10:35 the students headed to the gym for Phys. Ed and they headed outside for some football drills. Once they got back to the classroom, they began Arts. Ed with Ms. Postma and they spent the first half of class working on a fun character drawing assignment  before working on their sketch books.

After lunch we continued on with our Religion lesson from yesterday on the different sections of the Bible and how the history of the Bible is really, our history as well. In Grade 8 Math students spent the hour finishing up their 2.3 handouts and started working on the Unit Review from Pg. 70 of their textbook.  During the last hour of the day we had Science and the students were split up into teams of 5 and were tasked with creating a device that will protect their egg from breaking during our Egg Drop tomorrow.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Pg. 67 is due tomorrow
2.3 handout is due tomorrow
*The Unit 2 Quiz is tomorrow, September 19th
Unit Exam will be on Wednesday, September 25th

ELA:
Fakebook assignment will be due on Monday, September 22nd


Reminders:

Boys Football practice tomorrow at 8:15


Here's some more pictures from today:









Wednesday 17 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 17th

Today we started out our morning by heading to the Library for AR due to some construction that was going on in our classroom during the first half hour of the morning.  For ELA we were able to get back into our classroom and the students spent the rest of the period working on their beginning of the year RAD test.  We will be continuing these tests tomorrow and hopefully finish them up by Friday.  At 10:35 Ms. Postma stopped by for Arts. Ed and she read the students a short story before working on their next art assignment.  In Health we began our second Digital Citizenship lesson that focused on our Digital Life and how our actions can either have a positive or negative impact on others and ourselves.

After lunch we had Religion and learned about the different sections of the Bible and looked at some of the key historical events that shaped Christianity throughout history.  In Grade 8 Math we continued to look at how to solve problems involving proportions and even learned a new way to solve them courtesy of one of our wonderful classmates.  During the last hour of the the day the students had French and continued to work on their assignment from last class.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Pg. 67 is due on Friday, September 19th
*The Unit 2 Quiz is on Friday, September 19th
Unit Exam will be on Wednesday, September 25th

ELA:
Fakebook assignment will be due on Monday, September 22nd


Reminders:

Boys Football Game Thursday at Deshaye @ 4:00

Tuesday 16 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 16th

Working on the Goods and Services Assignment!

This morning we started out our day with a period of AR (Accelerated Reading) before heading down to the Library for Social Studies.  We continued on from our last lesson about Goods and Services by looking at the terms, "consumer" and "tax" and students began to investigate what exactly GST and PST are.  At 10:35 Mr. Fuchs took the students outside for Phys.Ed where they continued to work on movement patterns and skills associated with Football.  In Health we finished up our Digital Citizenship lesson from yesterday by taking a survey using the Mimio Vote.

After lunch we spent the first half hour creating a classroom policy for twitter account that we will be using throughout the year.  We discussed how to tweet responsibly and maturely, what good tweets should look and the consequences if we break the rules in our policy.  This lesson tied in really nicely with our Digital Citizenship lesson and students were able to draw from previous knowledge to design our policy. At 1:10 Ms. Bachiu stopped by for French and the students before heading outside for a surprise fire drill.  During the last hour of the day we had ELA and discussed themes so far in the book and students began to work on their "Fakebook" assignment for Chapter 3.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
2.2 Handout is Due Wednesday
Pg. 67 is due on Friday, September 19th
*The Unit 2 Quiz is on Friday, September 19th

ELA:
Harry Potter Ch. 1+2 questions are overdue

Religion:
Altruistic Hero Assignment is due tomorrow


Reminders:

Boys Football Game tomorrow at St. Pius @ 4:00

Boys Football Game Thursday at Deshaye @ 4:00

Monday 15 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 15th

Taking a second to pose during Math!

We kicked off our week with a quick school wide assembly in the gym before heading back to the classroom to formally start our day.  Instead of the usual ELA period, we switched things up a bit and had Science first thing this morning and continued to learn about Light and some of it's properties. At 10:35 the students headed to the gym for Phys. Ed before heading back to the class for Health where we began our mini unit on how to be a responsible Digital Citizen.



Serious silent reading!
After lunch we headed to the Library for a half hour of AR due to some work that was being done on our classroom over the course of the afternoon.  In Grade 8 Math the students finished up their 2.2 assignments and began working on the textbook assignment on Pg. 67.  During the last hour of the day we had ELA and read Ch. 3 as a class before going through the reading response assignment from last week.


Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
2.2 Handout is Due Wednesday
Pg. 67 is due on Friday, September 19th
*The Unit 2 Quiz is on Friday, September 19th

ELA:
Harry Potter Ch. 1+2 questions are overdue

Social:
What in the World-Syria assignment is due on Tomorrow

Reminders:

-Extra Boys Football Practice tomorrow at 8:15 

Thursday 11 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 11th

Working on a Shading assignment in Arts. Ed


This morning we started the morning off by discussing the September 11th attacks and how it has impacted our lives today. We watched part of the documentary "102 Minutes that Changed America" as well as read stories about the altruistic people who stepped up during the attacks. (In particular we focused on the Firefighters as well as the passengers aboard United Flight 93). Students were then asked to contemplate a series of questions about the attacks, altruism and the need for peace. (Assignment can be found here). After recess, the students headed to the gym with Mr. Fuchs and worked on some key skills and movement patterns associated with Football before heading back to class for Arts. Ed with Ms. Postma.

For the first half hour after lunch we had Religion and continued to work on our Altruistic Hero assignment from the morning.  In Grade 8 Math the students finished up their assignment from Pg. 57 and began to work on the 2.2 handout for the duration of the class.  During the last hour of the day we had Social Studies and students were given the hour to finish up their "What in the World" assignment as well as work period to catch up on any outstanding work to avoid taking it home for homework. (Because who likes Homework right?!!)

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
2.1 Handout is Due tomorrow
Pg. 57 is due on Monday
2.3 video needs to be watched for Monday's class

ELA:
Harry Potter Ch. 1+2 questions are due tomorrow

Social:
What in the World-Syria assignment is due on Tuesday.

Reminders:

-Boys Football Practice Monday at 8:15

Wednesday 10 September 2014

What We Learned Today....September 10th

Ms. Folk discussing STAR tests!
Now that we've learned our lesson about technology in our classroom (not working great yet), we headed to the Library first thing for our ELA class.  Today the students logged on to our new Surface Pro tablets and spent the hour working on their Kidblog assignment from yesterday.  Since there are still a few glitches to work out with our new devices, I will give the students one more class to finish up their posts before they are due.  At 10:35 Ms. Postma stopped by for Arts Ed and the students learned about perspective and facial proportions before heading to the Library to complete their STAR Tests.  

After lunch we had headed back to the Library to finish up STAR testing before Religion where the students worked on an assignment that dealt with Expectations they had for themselves as well as expectations from their parents, teachers and God.  In Grade 8 Math we attempted to take a quick quiz on Socrative before beginning the assignment for 2.2 (Rates).  During the last hour of the day the students had French with Ms. Bachiu.


 Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
2.1 Handout is Due on Friday

ELA:
Harry Potter Ch. 1+2 questions are due on Friday.

Reminders:

-Bring back all school forms


Tuesday 9 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 9th




This morning we kicked off our day with ELA and the students spent the first half of class working on their Harry Potter Ch. 1+2 Guiding questions. For the second half of class we switched gears and began to talk about the writing assignments that students will be assigned periodically throughout this unit.  For these assignments students will be tasked with writing response to questions prompts in the form of a blog post, using our classroom group on Kidblog. This is an awesome site because it allows the students to have their own personal writing space that is fully protected because the students need to log into the site with a unique username and password. If you would like to check it out just ask your child to log in for you at the following address: http://kidblog.org/TheBrescianiBunch-3/

After recess the students had Phys. Ed with Mr. Fuchs before heading back to class for Health.  In Health and we began to look at the importance of Goal Setting and what SMART goals look like.  Students then spent the rest of the class creating SMART goals for themselves for the present term.

After lunch we had an extra Health class and continued to work on Goal Setting for the year.  At 1:10 the students had French with Ms. Bachiu and they continued to look at basic phrases and items in French.  During the last hour of the day we had Social Studies and spent the hour learning about what Goods and Services are and where we see them in our communities. Students followed the directions on the Goods and Services handout in order uncover the answers and definitions using the various forms of technology.This was a really exciting lesson because not only did we finally get on the tablets again, but we were able to use the School iPads, iPods and Cell phones to extend our learning.

Check out some more of the pictures below of our learning today:









 Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Pg. 51-54 Due Tomorrow
2.1 Handout is Due on Friday
Watch 2.2 Video for tomorrow.

ELA:
Harry Potter Ch. 1+2 questions are due on Friday.

Religion:
Multiple Intelligence Assignment due tomorrow.

Reminders:

-Boys football game tomorrow @ Deshaye

Friday 5 September 2014

What We Learned Today...September 5th



Today we began our day by heading straight to the Library for ELA, due to some construction happening in our room. We continued where we left off yesterday by reading the rest of Chapter One from Harry Potter and then listened to the audio book for Chapter Two.  As we read, we took some time to break down key vocabulary words and keep track of the major plot events and where they fit on our Plot Diagram.  At 10:35 Ms. Postma stopped by for Arts. Ed and the students continued to work their first drawing assignment of the year. In Health we talked about presentations and the students learned some key tips to giving an effective presentation.   *If you would like to view the presentation or the presentation on studying, please see the Health Tab at the top of this blog.

After lunch we had Religion and the students were given the half hour to complete their Multiple Intelligence Charts.  This assignment will be due on Wednesday, September 10th.  In Grade 8 Math we continued to work our way through Two and Three Part Ratios by beginning the 2.1 assignment.  Students, don't forget that the assignment from Pg. 51 is due on Tuesday, September 9th. During the last hour of the day we had Science and officially began our first unit of the year, "Optics, Vision and Light".  Over the course of the hour, the students rotated through different stations where they made observations and inferences about light through the different experiments they carried out.

As I mentioned on Tuesday, we have such an amazing group of students in our class, and it's really made the week fly by. We are going to have an incredible year this year! I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework

Math:
Pg. 51-54

a) 1-6,9,11,12,19
b) 3-6,9, 11-18
c) 6,9 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22

Reminders:

-The Grade 8's will be canoeing Monday afternoon

-Please return all forms on Monday

-Boys football game on Monday @ St. Matthew has been cancelled

Here's some more pictures from today: