Friday...and reminders for Monday!

Friday we started the day off with a presentation from the colony of Newfoundland. The group did a fairly good job and I am looking forward to the rest of the presentations this Monday and Tuesday. After the group did their presentation we did a reading activity where we took apart the character of Melinda. Students are to finish doing their analysis of Melinda and choose one other character from the book to do the same with. Analysis is due Tuesday. Students are also responsible for their reflection on the negative effects of stereotyping on Monday, please see the reflection question attached.

We did a math activity in our math teams where students solved a word problem in teams and posted their results on a small sheet of paper. Then the class evaluated each teams results and gave them a level on their answers based on our success criteria for their - Simplification, Solution and Communication of their results. Math homework this weekend is a combination of 3 days of homework and will be checked on Monday: p.369 #8-19, p.372 #4-7 and p.373 #9-15.

Time was given to the students to work on their artwork after math was finished and students used the time to either work on classwork or artwork.

For tomorrow:
1. It's Holiday Spirit Day tomorrow so wear your outrageous holiday clothes and accessories.
2. Math p.369 #8-19, p.372 #4-7 and p.373 #9-15
3. If you haven't finished your pen pal letters please bring them in.
4. Stereotyping journal reflection (see question below).
5. Work on Speak reading analysis activity.

We are still looking for donations for the food drive so if you have any food, detergents, or toiletries (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo or conditioner) it would be much appreciated.


See you tomorrow!

Science Lab Expectations part 1.

Science Lab Part 2

 

 

Reading Analysis worksheet

Math Teams

Stereotyping Reflection

Math team marking

Wednesday...Dress Rehearsal

So sorry to have not posted since yesterday. Lucy was sick and we took her to the hospital as she was having trouble breathing. She is doing better now, but I have missed out on some much needed sleep and am caught up as of now. Just as a reminder the Holiday Concert is tomorrow night and starts at 6:30p.m., my Grandmother will be attending and she is looking forward to seeing our film presentation.

The visit to the Birchmount Community Centre was an absolute success. We got a lot of work done and we even were able to unpack a bunch of food from our own school that was delivered when we were there, which was awesome. They let us know that they are really in need of children's toothbrushes and laundry detergent. They seemed to be out of Kleenex boxes and paper towels too, so if any of you have a packet to donate that would be much appreciated. I will post photos of the students in action below, it definitely was a great day.

As for yesterday and today class work was done. Science results were taken up and the class got a chart to fill in with all of the results for the lab report. Today's class work was Math problem solving again in teams unpacking the ideas surrounding division and integers. Tonight's homework was p.369 #8-19. The students also had their pen pal letters due today...and hopefully the majority of them came in. Students were treated to the dress rehearsal of the Holiday Concert this afternoon and I'm not sure what they were able to cover as far as Language but there was a reflection regarding the Holiday film as well.

We are still looking for donations for the Holiday Food Drive so please bring in what you can. Hopefully Lucy will have a restful night, with good breathing. Fingers crossed.

Monday, monday, monday!

Today was a bit challenging, to say the least. Lots of group work = work getting done/some people losing focus.

We started off today, with a double period of History planning and construction. Students were given the last opportunity to get work done on their presentations and their poster boards. All look much better than on Wednesday, and some groups have taken the feedback I gave them and made some improvements on their work. This makes me happy, and it will also reflect in your marks so... :).

Filming for the Holiday film happened all day today. Thanks to the whole class, as well as Sahifa, Samara and Fatima for getting last minute takes done for our really tight deadline.

We also did problem solving in groups answering a question which required multiplication with integers. The math teams were out flexing their muscles, and I have to say I was impressed with the quality of work this afternoon. We broke the class into two groups; two groups presented their results and then the rest of the class were in two smaller clumps observing and evaluating. Each group evaluated each other on how they presented their answers and I have to say that most students were honest with each other on what they did well, and what they could improve either as presenters (communication) or on the clarity of their calculations (knowledge and understanding). Math homework tonight is problem solving p.365 #16-22.

Due to various rehearsals with the majority of the French Immersion students Mr. Ndikumana requested that I give the students time to work on their group work presentations for the "Party" planning assignment. Students worked in their partners and planned their ideas.

We discussed the Pen Pal letters and we decided as a class that they all should be done by Wednesday. Students that didn't get a pen pal letter, are not required to do one...seeing as that is not fair. I have communicated to the other teacher and hopefully all of the missing letters will be sent by e-mail ASAP!

For tomorrow DON'T FORGET!!
1. Food bank trip tomorrow afternoon we'll be back by 3:30 the latest.
2. Bring your LUNCH and BUS FARE for tomorrow's trip.
3. Math p. 365 #16-22
4. Pen pal letter by Wednesday.
5. Bring your Science lab results from the experiment last week.
6. Food donations for the food drive, all donations are appreciated.
7. Finish ALL History work...your groups are waiting on you! Presentation work should be done.
8. French party project due soon...get them done and translated!

Dress for the weather, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Lucy made cookies with me on the weekend...she was so proud of her work!

Math problem...solved with pleasure by the Math Teams of Room 201

Is it Sunday Already?

So tomorrow there are a few things to remember:

1. Trip forms for the Food Bank trip on Tuesday
2. Math p.364 #4-15 & p.368 #4-7
3. Math Karma:
When good things happen to good people, that's good.
When bad things happen to bad people, that's good.
When good things happen to bad people, that's bad.
When bad things happen to good people, that's bad.
4. Language things: Line for the film, Student of the Month, Pen pal response.
5. Food drive items...we only had 11 for this week's tally...we have to pick it up for next week.
6. History last minute items...one last period to work on your display boards.

See you tomorrow, hope you had a good three days off!

Our School's donation...our class donated 11 pieces here.  The S.L.T.'s goal is to have each student donate 3 pieces...have we met that goal in our class yet?

Wednesday...the soft due date

Today began with a bang! We had lots to do and catch up on because of the previous day being a trip. I was happy to hear that students really enjoyed it and felt it was a worthwhile adventure. Ms. Vincent told me that everyone from our class was well behaved and I was happy to hear that from her.

This morning we began with planning for our holiday film. The class brainstormed some ideas and we finally came up with a great concept about a grown-up Christmas list. All students were assigned a topic and they need to come to class with their line prepared for tomorrow (see picture below). We will begin filming tomorrow and I look forward to the premiere at the concert. I will post the film on YouTube after next Thursday so that parents can show their relatives what their kids have been up to and students can show their family when they see them over the holidays.

Today was a soft, due date for the History poster boards. Most groups boards are coming together and the boards will hopefully be done tomorrow. Time will be given in class tomorrow and groups will be given an extra day on Monday to finish up their boards OR to plan their presentations which will happen next week. As an extra bonus Mr. Knierim allowed us an extra computer lab period to type up any last minute headings and information...but work must be done and brought in for tomorrow because Friday is a P.A. Day.

Ms. Sneyd came in today from guidance and students met with her about optional attendance and portfolios. She met with the students who had their paperwork filled out, and will be back next Wednesday for anyone who has anything else for her to fill out or questions to be answered.

Art planning for the tree assignment started today and students were given a double period to plan out what they might do for their projects. I have purchased about $120 in art supplies and once I have more finished plans I will go out to pick up more supplies when I have a demand for them. Most students used their time fairly well today, and have planned at least one of their trees for the project. Next Thursday students need to have their supplies for the double art period at the end of the day. We have also decided that the art and writing component are due before December 23rd, seeing as most of us agreed that we didn`t want a project to have to complete during the holidays.

For Homework:
1. Pen pal letters were handed out today, homework is to write back to your pals and letters will hopefully be collected before the end of next week.
2. Line for the film due tomorrow AM!!
3. Student of the Month (was due last Friday, I only have 10 letters...that's less than half the class, I need those letters ASAP!)
4. Pictures, data, graphs, typed up information due tomorrow so that boards can be finished for History.
5. Watch this link for tomorrow:

Film assignments...sort of blurry sorry :(

CLAUDE WAT SON?

Today we started our day with a quiz, as promised. Students were allowed to use number chips to answer their questions as well as using number lines on their papers. As soon as recess hit, students that were going on the trip headed into Ms. Vincent's room and got ready to go. The rest of us had recess, and then luckily Ms. Nieto ran a fun drama class for the grade 7 and 8 English students who were left behind.

In the afternoon, students shared Science data and did some work on their History projects. Fortunately for us, Ms. Vincent gave us her phys. ed. period so after recess students were treated to a double period of fun co-ordinated by Mr. Church. That was our day. We didn't get to do much, and although we did some work it was a pretty relaxed. I hope the students who went on the trip had fun?! I can't wait to hear about what the show was about, and how everyone interpreted it.

Tomorrow we will have one last day for History, and the planning stages of the art project will begin. We will pick a due date for the art project and plan for our class holiday movie. Have a good night everyone. I leave you with a few excerpts from my favourite holiday film.

A block city created by Thomas in Ms. Vincent's grade 7 class

Our food donation box...we need more food!! 

Rainy Monday

What a grey day! Indoor morning recess = crazy classroom time.

Many students didn't bring in their Claude Watson permission forms and $5.00 today so quite a few of our class is not going on the trip tomorrow. The students who have brought in their forms will be attending with Ms. Vincent, Mme. Stempiniak and Ms. Wright. Those who did not will be staying with Mr. Ndikumana and me doing class work and review.

We did the beginning of our Science experiments and observations were made about the mass of a liquid and its relationship to volume. So far the data from each of the stations observing one of the three substances was collected. The distilled water and salt water stations went smoothly and the corn syrup crew had a few technical difficulties. After lunch thanks to - Angela, Justyn and George the corn syrup data was more accurate and the group seemed to be working together much better.

For math we took up the word problems involving subtracting integers and went through the questions some people were struggling with. There is no homework tonight for math, however the students know that there will be a quiz on adding and subtracting integers so a basic review will be necessary for tomorrow morning. Students going on the trip will be required to write the quiz because they leave just before recess and that is definitely enough time to complete a short quiz. I will attach a couple of links for computational math so that students who want to can practice their skills.

Adding Integers: http://www.321know.com/g8_65_x1.htm
Subtracting Integers: http://www.321know.com/g83d_sx1.htm

The last 30 minutes of class, groups worked together putting their display boards for their History projects together. Wednesday, there will be some time for groups to work together, but I'd like all groups to be done. If you have information you need to type up, please use homework time tomorrow night to do your work and bring in your finished copies to class on Wednesday.

For tomorrow: We will review the science experiment results and take them up in class. Students who stay behind will become experts and present their results to the rest of the group who went on the trip. We will do some reading from our novel "Speak", we will start to work with the ideas surrounding multiplying integers and share the "secrets" in solving the problems. We will also maybe have some time to work on the History and Art projects. It should prove to be an interesting day.

We are still looking for:
1. Baking donations OR money (last day has been extended to Wednesday AM)
2. Food bank trip forms (December 13th)
3. Food drive donations (forms came home today)

Thanks to all of you who have already donated to the basket, it's looking really good in our class. Also thanks to half of you for bringing in your trip forms. The food drive has begun...lets make a difference, bring in whatever you can. It will be much appreciated.

Have a good night, and I will try to erase the hour and a half drive home I had tonight from my memory. Gosh I hate the rain!

Friday! Friday! Friday!

Whoa! How is the week already over!? It went really fast and I have to say we got a lot done this week. History research projects are coming along and more information is coming in to the classroom. I am happy to see some of the progress really happening for some of the groups and I spoke with the rest of the groups who didn't seem so organized and let them know how they were worrying me.

Our class had a bit of a lecture today from me about speaking to each other with kindness. Some people are being extraordinarily hard on themselves and then to hear put-downs when they come to school just adds to the stress and insecurities they are already feeling. We all have things that we don't like about ourselves and to some of us we are our own worst critics. We need to keep celebrating the differences that each person brings to the class and speak positively to each other. We did an "appreciation" activity this morning and the feeling in the class was much improved from how we left off yesterday. Students were asked to put compliments on each other's backs annonymously and each student left with a sheet of pick-me-up words and phrases from their friends. We talked about how we felt it went and a lot of the students agreed that it made them feel good and connected to each other. I was happy to see people caring and laughing with each other again.

After community building, we decided to rearrange our day so that we could do the Science experiment on Monday. A lot of us felt that it was Friday and doing an experiment might be a little too much for a Friday afternoon. We will do the experiment on Monday morning...and we'll have our results consolidated by the end of the day. I am looking forward to each group...figuring out how mass and weight really work.

Math games resumed today and the groups worked well. I was happy to see all of the students working together and even working through their mistakes. It was great to see groups taking apart the words and unpacking the idea that "difference" means subtracting. Homework tonight is p.360 #14-19, all word problems using the ideas of subtracting integers are there. Please read them carefully...use your number line knowledge and if you have to draw it out using integer chips...DO IT! Work will be checked Monday.

For the end of the day students got their project boards for History. Some groups took them home and some groups left them here. Plans were made and students will have to start posting their work next week because time is running out!!! I'm thinking by Friday next week, students should and MUST have their projects done and ready to present. Please bring in your printed photos, good copies of jot notes and your titles if you need them to class, don't waste your time...it's running out!

JUST A FEW REMINDERS!!

1. 3 more students brought in donations for the Holiday Basket, our theme is "BAKING". We still need more donations and the deadline is Monday!
2. Claude Watson permission forms went home yesterday...they are due MONDAY with $5.00, the trip is Tuesday. So far I have one permission slip and one 5 dollar bill!
3. Food Bank permission forms are due as well...trip is December 13th. We are going in the afternoon and will be back at dismissal time.

Have a safe and happy weekend! See you Monday scientists!

For George & Justyn: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/confederation/023001-3110-e.html#a

Tommy giving Tomas some compliments and Justyn doing the same with Bory

A train of good vibes

Smiling about being positive

Full class participation :)

Day One

I was at a workshop this morning and I really learned a lot. Definitely a great morning and I heard pretty good things from the supply teacher so I think the class also had a good morning.

For the first part of the morning the class read from the novel "Speak". They saw how Melinda gave respect to her family's turkey by making a tree out of the remains of a disastrous attempt by her mother to make a turkey dinner. Melinda inspires her teacher Mr. Freeman and starts to turn heads in her art class. Melinda gets noticed for her basketball skills and well, she really is uncomfortable with the attention she gets from her "Fizz Ed" teacher. We will start to look more closely at the characters in this book tomorrow and next week.

Students were given an opportunity to work on their projects for History and (according to them) work got done today. :) I'll check up on that progress tomorrow.

We had some extra time this afternoon so we attempted a math problem in our math teams (as requested by the students). We will revisit this activity first thing tomorrow AM and I have posted the question below for you all to think about it as homework.

Two permission forms came home tonight. One for a trip to Claude Watson on Tuesday, and one for a food bank visit on December 13th. Please get your parents to sign them and bring them back ASAP!

Also, the school council is asking for donations to the class basket. Our theme is baking, and we need your donations. So far we just have one student's donation and mine. Please bring in baking things, it's a bit of a desperate situation.

On a happy note, from the French Immersion class Yunizze & Nirthya came out to their Student of Month reward lunch. Nirthya nominated Yunizze and her nomination paper was the best and made everyone in the class laugh. Congrats ladies!

Community meeting tomorrow morning. We need to talk about respect and being kind to each other. See you tomorrow.

Sara's First Snow

Today was a magical day. Why? Because Sara is new to Canada and she saw snow falling from the sky for the first time today. I'm not sure if any of us remember the first snow that we saw when we were little or when we first came to Canada but it was delightful watching one of our students see it for the first time. What I loved most was that Sara was just awestruck and all of us were really enjoying watching her marvel at the white stuff that we've all come to love or hate. A special thanks goes out to Ms. Wright who volunteered to take Sara outside to experience the snow falling down and to catch some of those beautiful delicate snowflakes. I have attached a link to YouTube where you can see some other people's reactions to their first snow experience. It made me smile, I hope it has the same effect on you.

Today I met with all of the History research groups and helped to guide either their research or to follow-up on what they have so far. Most groups are well on their way to success and I was fortunate to see that the groups who were lagging behind realized today that they had better get on the ball. There will be a double period tomorrow morning dedicated to group work again so I am anticipating that you ALL will have your work with you ready to go! I was talking about the Confederation rap I saw on YouTube the other night...here it is!

The Art project launch happened today and many students had some great ideas about what they might do. I have posted a picture of the assignment below and anyone who was away today can get a copy tomorrow.

We did some cooperative math this morning involving integer chips and subtracting integers. Most teams did well, we have decided that the number line was the most useful for people to use if they got confused. Many students said that they could draw out their results to clarify their thinking too. Math homework tonight is p. 359 #1-12 and p.360 #13. We will attack subtraction word problems on Friday in our Math teams.

Tomorrow is Thursday! I can't believe it! I will be at a workshop in the AM so you will have a supply teacher. Please make sure that you take advantage of working on your History projects when you are given some time...please don't waste the morning! See you tomorrow!

Sara by the window trying to catch snowflakes in her hand

Art Assignment

The sunset, just before I went in to pick up Lucy from her daycare...the sky was all beautiful and pink as I was driving down the road.

Rain, rain go Away!

Indoor recess, pouring rain, crazy behaviour...it was a challenge today but we got through it.  What a day for rain! Will it ever stop?!!

Math Games continued today with Bory, Terry, Mhogan and Martina's group taking the lead.  I was impressed with the competitive spirit in the room and there was a genuine feeling of teamwork, so I was proud of what we accomplished today.  Close seconds are : Dennis, Dylan, Will and Tommy's group, the SLT group including Renis, Fatima, Christian and George and of course the dark horse of the competition C.G., Angela, Rachelle and Sara!  Good work everyone. Math homework tonight is p.354 #12-17, it will be checked for completion so get your work done.

On a happy note, Ms. Nieto paid me a compliment about our class today!  She was impressed with the professionalism of our class' work on character development and said we are the best class in the school (of course confirming my opinion).  As Grandma Gibbs says "It's always good to hear the good news!", which made me proud.  So a pat on the back to all of you...I think we've officially topped off the points for this time around...and it's time to plan a reward session.

We read through the upcoming Science experiment on Weight and Mass, and I am looking forward to doing the experiment on Friday morning.  Groups will be responsible for observing one of the following fluids: corn syrup, distilled water or salt water and then charting the results.  We will debrief before typing up this detailed lab report and students will be given notes from which to glean their answers.  All will be posted on the blog and due next week.  Please if you haven't already get your Science in, the investigation was done last week and I want to move on from this topic.

At the end of the day students were given the rest of the period to work in their History groups.  I will be circulating tomorrow to see how it's all going in each of the groups.  Please be honest and get your work done, and bring in your research to get organized!


Tomorrow we will: Be introduced to the new art project, return to the math games and start subtracting integers, and for art you will be introduced to different methods of getting a message across using one object.

Keep your fingers crossed that Lucy sleeps the night through...and the fever stays away.  See you tomorrow. :)

Read this about Earl Beatty: http://m.ctv.ca/topstories/20111129/toronto-school-hard-ball-ban-111129.html

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/11/28/for-some-recess-is-the-hardest-subject-teacher-says-at-meeting-on-schools-ball-ban/

Here is the famous photo of Grandpa Ray and Marilyn Munroe...sorry it is so late.  Grandpa Ray is my husband's grandfather and this is his claim to fame!