This week, April 18th to 22nd

Calendar Notes:

Exploratories start this Thursday. Dress appropriately.

Academic Notes:

English: We will be reading Chapters 1 to 3 of the Outsiders. You will be self evaluating your stories using a marking rubric. I will use your evaluation to inform or direct mine.

Social Studies: How would you take down a castle to get inside? We will be exploring siege weapons including marshmallow catapults. Just wait a second, they didn't have marshmallows in the middle ages!

French: We will review the verb avoir or to have, a very important verb. You will get some time to tidy up your Francophone country brochures, posters, powerpoints, etc.

HCE: That same subject, but only for one more week.

Today's word is: Siege

This week, April 11th to 14th

Calendar Notes:

Monday is the first day to hand in Exploratories. First come, first get; hand them in late, get what you get.

Tuesday is class photo and whole school picture day, so dress to impress.

Thursday is early dismissal. Look for more information on the school blog regarding Open House events. Some parents will be meeting with us in the afternoon.

Friday is a Pro D. I am continuing to look into how to "flip" my practice and use more technology. You have a day off and enjoy it because the next long weekend isn't for a while. Moo ha ha.

Academic Week:

English: We will be reading and annotating the Ousiders. You will also be given one computer block to type the neat copy of your short story which is due this Wednesday.

Social Studies: Project time to work on the Day in the Life assignment.

French: Monde Francophone continues.

Health: We will look at STI's and prevention (grade 8s).

Today's word is: disgusting.

April 8th

Academic Notes:

English: You were coached on how to be a peer tutor something that we will be putting on your resumes when we start them next week. Published short stories are due on Wednesday, April 13th.

Social Studies: A Day in the Life project is due on Monday, April 18th (except if you are going to go in character for the Open House on April 14th; then, your project needs to be plotted out for that date).

April 6th

Academic Notes:

English Div 5: You were given computer time for typing the neat copy of your sci fi and fantasy short stories. The finished stories are due on Wednesday, April 13th.

Social Studies Div 2: You were assigned the "Day in the Life" medieval project and you were given a "Castles" handout.

Social Studies Div 5: You read a "Castles" handout and you viewed a video on castles of the middle ages.

English Div 6: You were given computer time for typing the neat copy of your sci fi and fantasy short stories. The finished stories are due on Wednesday, April 13th.


No tea for you! Today's word is: "Tea"

April 5th

Academic Notes:

English Div 5 and 6: We began the Outsiders with a 60's retrospective. You were given a graphic organizer to note down what defined the 60s.

English Div 6: You were given editing and proofreading time for your stories.

Social Studies: You were assigned the "Day in the Life" Medieval Role project. The link can be found here (scroll down)

French Div 5: You were given computer time to research and put together a Francophone country brochure. (The remaining time was given for Medieval research).

Today's word: unlikely

This week, April 5th to 8th

WELCOME TO OUR THAI VISITORS!

Academic Notes:

Advisory: Consent continued and the miracle of conception (and, for grade 8s, how to prevent that miracle from happening too soon in your life).

English: This week we will be working on proofing, editing and publishing your short stories. The good copy of your fantasy or science fiction story is due on Wednesday next week. We will also be starting a novel study and a genre focus on Teen Fiction. Our focus novel is The Outsiders by SE Hinton.

Social Studies: We will take a look at your manors and determine whether or not you could be truly self sufficient. We will also explore the question: how could you advance your interests or get what you need to be better off? You will be assigned a Day in the Life micro project. This will involve you investigating what a typical day would be like for you in your medieval role and presenting it .

French: Francophone country research in the computer lab.

Today's word: Bee (and Birds)

April 1st

And I am back...in this time zone; my brain was still back in Europe, hence the blog blackout.

Mr Bryan does not sleep in the computer room closet...April Fools.

Social Studies Div 5: You were given time to complete your scale/grid map of your manor land. We discussed the importance of following both the grid and the scale to make your map as accurate as possible. These maps are due on Tuesday for 25 marks.

Advisory Div 5 and 6: We discussed consent. The focus was on being respectful and asking for permission before you make contact with someone. We also talked about what it means to be "in a position of trust" and how the law applies to people in this position (eg. coaches, teachers, doctors, police officers., etc). Also, we looked at the 2008 consent law; there are different consent rules for different ages. Knowledge is power; now you have that power.

English Div 5 and 6: You peer proofread and edited your fantasy/sci fi stories. We will be publishing (typing those up) next week.