What We Learned Today...November 28th

That joyful time of year has finally come around for both students and teachers alike...Wait! It's not Christmas Holidays yet, it's Report Card Day! My Bad!
Today we started off the morning we a great AR period! Tons of students were taking tests and are wrapping up some great books.  Once we transititioned to ELA, the students got out their work from Monday and continued to read the story, "The Killers Tall Tale".  They answered questions that dealt with before, during and after reading the story.  (This assignment will be due on Monday, December 3rd) We also took the last 10 minutes of class to read the short book, "Muhammad Ali, The Peoples Champ" together as a group reading activity. 
In Grade 8 Math, we quickly reviewed how to find the percent of a number before the students got to work on their 4.3 handout.  (Note: This assignment will be due on Monday, December 3rd)

After Lunch we started our Unit on Advent in Religion by examing the theme of the first week of Advent, Hope.  Students have been assigned Blogging Reflection questions and will have time to work on them in class tomorrow.  Parents, if you would like to see your childs blogging responses please visit http://kidblog.org/TheBrescianiBunch/ and have your student log in using their username and password.  (You will not be able to view their posts otherwise because it privacy protected website)  At 1:15, Mr. Csada came to teach the students Science and the students were assigned "Check Your Progress" questions on Pg. 123 (#1-4) and on Pg. 130 (2-3).  Mr. Csada has not posted a due date yet, but I will update with one the minute he does. 
During the last hour of the day the students continued to work on their amazing Social Justice drawing projects in Arts. Ed. 
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 a spread-sheet of all of the assignments and tests that I gave to your daughter / son for every class that I taught to them. In addition, you will see a class average and your daughter’s / son’s individual average. I would suggest using this as a comparative tool when examining how well or how much improvement your daughter / son did or needs to show on a go-forward basis rather than looking at the individual class grade alone. 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. I will also be sending home these spread-sheets on a bi-weekly basis for the remainder of the year. If an assignment is blank then they have not handed it in (the students) and you can help ensure that they get their work in a more timely manner. 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

Grade 8
4.3 Handout is Due Monday, December 3rd


Grade 7

McCulloch:

Weber:

Social Studies


Trade Questions due Tomorrow, November 29th.

If you are missing the handout here is a link to the document online: http://docs.plea.org/pdf/TRADE.pdf
(Please skip to page 16 for the Opportunity Cost Handout)


Overdue Assignments:

1) Religion Poster Assignment

2) ELA Ghost Story Good Copy

Reminders:
- Parent Teacher Interviews are this Tomorrow Night and Friday Morning. Parents remember to book in for parent-teacher interviews. If you still need to book in, you will be able to do so until 12:00 tonight.  You can do so at this link: https://deshaye-rcs.schoolsoft.ca/login.jsf

What We Learned Today...Nov 27th

Today we started out the mornign with a half hour of AR time.  I've been pleased with the amount AR tests our class has taken over the past month, but there is still some room for improvement.  By this point in the year each student should have read at least 3 books and have taken an AR test.  If you would like to view your childs progress have your child log in using thier AR ID and password on Home Connect.  
In ELA we learned about the multiple sources that can help us generate idea's for good topics (Sights, Sounds, Experiences, Circumstances, Wishes and Innovative Ideas) Students then were tasked with finding headlines and articles that teenagers would find interesting and informative using the iPads, Laptops and Newspaper.  After they found their headlines they were asked to turn their headlines into topics.  They then typed them into our Google Doc and we were able to watch it update live on the Smart Board. 
In Grade 8 Math, we started section 4.4 and learned how to problem solve when combing percents. 

After Lunch, the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and continued to work on their Social Justice drawing assignment.  At 1:15 we had French and finished up our genre listening activity from yesterday. The students also learned the names all various instruments in French and worked on a crossword puzzle involving the Genres and Instruments.  For the last hour of the day, the students had Phys. Ed with Ms. Norris and got the opportunity to take everyones favourite physical test....The Beep Test!

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework:


Math

Grade 8
Pg. 142 - (Due Wednesday, November 28th)
a) 1-3, 5, 7, 8, 10
b) 1-3, 5, 8-13
c) 1-2, 8-16


Grade 7

McCulloch:

Weber:

Social Studies


Trade Questions due Thursday, November 29th.


Overdue Assignments:

1) Religion Poster Assignment

2) ELA Ghost Story Good Copy

Reminders:

-Report Cards go out tomorrow.

- Parent Teacher Interviews are this Thursday Night and Friday Morning. Parents remember to book in for parent-teacher interviews.  If you still need to book in, you can do so at this link: https://deshaye-rcs.schoolsoft.ca/login.jsf

What We Learned Today...November 26th

This morning we started the day as well as the week off with a school wide Holodomor liturgy in the gym to recognize Holodomor Awareness Week.  Holodomor recognizes and remembers the Ukrainian famine - genocide of 1932 and 1933.  After the liturgy concluded we came back to class just in time for ELA. During this time the students began reading the story "The Killers Tall Tale" and answered response questions.  Note: the questions are not due yet, I will give another ELA period to complete them.
After recess the students had Phys. Ed with Ms. Norris and continued to work through their physical activity stations.

In French today, the students listened to various French Musical Artists and had to identify what musical genre they were hearing using their notes from the previous lessons.  We are about half way done this lesson and will finish it up tomorrow.
During the last period of the day the students worked on their Social Trade questions from last week until 3:00.  At 3:00 the students learned about Mystery Skypes and were able to watch a video from a Grade 3 class that had already tried one. We will attempt our first Mystery Skype in a few weeks with another 7/8  classroom here in Regina.

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework:


Math

Grade 8
Pg. 142 - (Due Wednesday, November 28th)
a) 1-3, 5, 7, 8, 10
b) 1-3, 5, 8-13
c) 1-2, 8-16


Grade 7

McCulloch:

Weber:

Social Studies


Trade Questions due Thursday, November 29th.


Overdue Assignments:

1) Religion Poster Assignment

2) ELA Ghost Story Good Copy

Reminders:

- Parent Teacher Interviews are this Thursday Night and Friday Morning. Parents remember to book in for parent-teacher interviews

What We Learned Today...November 22nd

Holy Weather Batman! I'm sure every ones heard enough comments about the weather this morning so I'll skip over writing about that and get right to the start of the school day.  This morning we had a very quiet start to our AR time, mainly due to the fact that we only had 12 students in class to begin the day.  As AR time progressed, the rest of the students began to trickle in and by the end of AR we had almost everyone back in time for ELA. 
For ELA we kicked off our Mystery Unit by having each member of the class become a detective tasked with solving the fictitious murder of Abigail Smith. Each student was given a random clue to the case but they were only allowed to look at their own clue.  The students then took turns reading their clues out loud for the rest of the class and each student would have to listen and try to piece together the crime.  Using the information they heard, they would need to make inferences on who the murderer was, the murder weapon and the motive.  I was quite impressed with how well everyone did with this activity and I think we have some future detectives in this class!
In Grade 8 Math we quickly reviewed "Finding the Percent of a Number" and students were assigned questions from Pg. 142 to work on.  (These questions will be due Wednesday, November 28th)

After Lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and continued to work on their Social Justice grid drawing assignments.  I had a chance to look at some of them today and they are progressing quite nicely! During Science Mr. Csada continued to teach the students about Optics & Vision and the students were assigned a handout to work on for the duration of the class.  In Social Studies we followed up our Trade Negotiations with some questions to wrap up the activity.  (If you need a copy of the questions just click on the Social Studies tab and they are under the November heading)

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework:


Math

Grade 8
Pg. 142 - (Due Wednesday, November 28th)
a) 1-3, 5, 7, 8, 10
b) 1-3, 5, 8-13
c) 1-2, 8-16


Grade 7

McCulloch:

Weber:


Overdue Assignments:

1) Religion Poster Assignment

2) ELA Ghost Story Good Copy

Reminders:

-Tomorrow is a TPD so there will be no school for students (Students please try to contain your enthusiasm!)

-Parents remember to book in for parent-teacher interviews

What We Learned Today...November 21st

The scene during trade negotiations today!

We kicked off this morning with our usual AR period from 9:00-9:30 before moving on to ELA.  Some students spent the hour for ELA working on their Final Copy of their Ghost Story while the students who had already finished took part in solving a Murder-Mystery.  Our next unit for ELA will be Mysteries, so those students who turned in their work early, got the opportunity to participate in our first Mystery activity.  They were given the scenerio as well as a series of clues and using that information they had to examine all the clues and decide who murdered Mr. Jameson.  If you would like to see a copy of the activity feel free to check it out here.  In Grade 8 Math we began section 4.3 "Finding the percent of a number". 

After lunch we had Religion and to prepare ourselves for Advent, the students took part in a quick 3 minute retreat centred around "Hope".  From 1:15-2:15 the students had Health with Mr. McCulloch's sub, Mr. Chabot.  For the last hour of the day we continued our Social Studies unit on Trade.  The students got back into their fictitious country groups and were tasked with negotiating trades with the other countries keeping in mind the wants and needs for their country.

Here are some more pictures from the Trade Negotiations:

"Your proposal is laughable!"

Nice doing business with you El Presidente

"Let's hear your best offer..."

"Why Doesn't anyone want to trade with Waterland??"

One of the many trade agreements

Another Successful Trade Negotiation!

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework:


Math

Grade 8

4.2 Handout is due Tomorrow, November 21st

Grade 7

McCulloch:

Weber:

ELA
Final Draft (Good Copy) of the Ghost Story is due Tomorrow, November 22nd

Religion
Saint Poster Assignment is overdue

Overdue Assignments:

1) Religion Poster Assignment

2) Health Assignments: Dear Abbey, Body Image, Media Message and Fat Alien

Reminders:

-Thursday is Western Day so be sure to wear your Western Attire, I know I will!

-Friday is a TPD so there will be no school for students (Students please try to contain your enthusiasm!)

-Parents remember to book in for parent-teacher interviews. 

What We Learned Today...November 20th

Some great finished Saint Posters!

Today we started out the morning with Religion instead AR and spent the half hour working on the Saint Poster Assignments.  I'm quite impressed with the quality of the posters and glogs the students have been making.  I can't wait to see the finished products tomorrow!  From 9:30 to 10:30 the students were given the hour to either work on the Good Copy of their Ghost Story or to continue working on their Religion assignment. 
In Grade 8 Math we reviewed some examples from Pg. 135 and from the handout before the students were assigned 4.2 to work on.  (Handout 4.2 will be due on Thursday, November 22nd)

After Lunch the students were given one more final work period to complete their Saint Poster Assignments.  (Note this assignment is due tomorrow, November 21st) At 1:15 Mr. Csada came by and continued to teach about Optics and Vision.  He showed the class a cool video demonstrating how light can be bent. For Arts. Ed the students continued to work on their Social Justice drawing assignments with Ms. Norris. 


Upcoming Due Dates & Homework:

Math

Grade 8

4.2 Handout is due Thursday, November 21st

Grade 7

McCulloch:

Weber:

ELA
Final Draft (Good Copy) of the Ghost Story is due Thursday, November 22nd

Religion
Saint Poster Assignment due Tomorrow, November 21st

Health:
"Check Your Understanding" due Tomorrow, November 21st

Overdue Assignments:

1) Grade 8 Math 4.1 Handout

2) Health Assignments: Dear Abbey, Body Image, Media Message and Fat Alien

Reminders:

-Thursday is Western Day so be sure to wear your Western Attire, I know I will!
-Friday is a TPD so there will be no school for students (Students please try to contain your enthusiasm!)
-Parents remember to book in for parent-teacher interviews. 

What We Learned Today...November 19th

An interesting approach to the human knot.

This morning we had a quick school wide assembly before settling in the classroom for some AR time.  Ms. Folk paid us a visit shortly after AR to address her concerns with the amount of overdue books in our classroom.  (Students make sure you are either returning your books on time or renewing them each week!)  She also reminded us that it is important to take an AR test as soon as you can after completing a book because the information is still fresh in your mind! So far this year some students have really excelled with AR, however there are still quite a few students that need to put a little more effort into their reading.  (Parents! If you would like to check in on your childs AR progress you can ask them to log in using their accounts here.)

During ELA, students had completed their second drafts of their Ghost Stories and began the Peer Editing process today.  We will continue this tomorrow and the Good/Final Copy of their stories will be due on Thursday, November 22nd. 
In Grade 8 Math we used the hour as a work period for students to work on their assignment from Page 135.  Some students who finished early got a head start on their 4.2 handout which will officially be assigned tomorrow.

Life...It's a team sport!

After lunch the students had Arts. Ed with Ms. Norris and continued to work on their Social Justice Art assignments.  After Art we had an hour of French and finished up our lessons about the French Music Genres.  Students were given a quick pop quiz to apply what they learned from the last 3 classes.  During the last hour of the day the students headed to the gym and had Phys. Ed with Ms. Norris. 

Upcoming Due Dates & Homework:

Math

Grade 8

Assignment -Pg. 135 (Due Tomorrow, November 20th)
a) 1,2,4,6,8,13
b) 1,2,4,6,8,13-18
c) 1,2,6,8,10,13,15,17,21

Grade 7

McCulloch: Worksheet 3.1 Due Tomorrow, November 20th

Weber: Pg. 92 #5-8

ELA
Final Draft (Good Copy) of the Ghost Story is due Thursday, November 22nd

Religion
Saint Poster Assignment due Wednesday, November 21st

Health:
"Check Your Understanding" due Wednesday, November 21st
-Get all NHI assignments in to Mr. McCulloch by Monday!

Overdue Assignments:

1) Grade 8 Math 4.1 Handout

2) Health Assignments: Dear Abbey, Body Image, Media Message and Fat Alien