This week, November 30th to December 4th

Calendar Notes:

Wednesday, December 2nd, PJ DAY

Friday, December 4th Report Cards go home.

Academic Notes:

English: This week we will continue to annotate and discuss the main ideas and themes in The Giver. We will begin work on our own Dystopic fiction. Our grammar focus continues to be repairing sentence errors like sentence fragments and run ons.

S.S.: We will be exploring the Viking religion. On Thursday, we will play a game of Barbarian Tag. Come dressed appropriately (eg. wearing animal pelts).

French: We will continue working with adjectives and the verbs avoir and etre.

HCE - we are looking to do a community project between now and Christmas break.  Most likely helping out the food bank or families in need within Sooke.

Math 

grade 8 - we have started to use the Pythagorean Theorem.  Homework was given over the weekend, due on Monday.  We will move on to word problems using the Pythagorean Theorem, homework to be expected on Monday and Wednesday.

Science - a pie graph is due on Monday and another will be assigned on Monday.  On Monday I will assign a graphing project to be completed for Friday.  

Today's word: REPORT

Let's hope not...

November 27th

Block 1: S.S. Div 5 We concluded watching the documentary on the Vikings and taking notes.

Block 3: English Div 5 Annotating text. I modeled how to select, record and reflect on selections of text. I reviewed the criteria for annotating text. Editing/proofreading for Sentence Fragments and Run Ons test on Monday.

Block 4: English Div 6 Reading and annotating The Giver. You were given the criteria for annotating text. Editing/proofreading for Sentence Fragments and Run Ons test on Monday.

November 26th

Not so funny, if you were an Anglo Saxon.

Block 1: S.S. Div 2 - The Vikings by Nova. We watched a documentary that highlighted how Viking history was recorded and the reasons for their successes in battle, trade and exploration. The viking longboat was key.

Block 2: English Div 2 - Reading block.

Block 3: S.S. Div 5 - The Vikings by Nova. Why did the Vikings voyage beyond their shores? Why were they so successful in battle, trade and exploration. We looked into these questions and watched the documentary.

Block 4 and 5 - EXPLORATORIES

Today's word: exploration

November 25th

The Vikings is a History Channel series that recreates and creates a story revolved around the Vikings in history.

Block 1: S.S. Div 5 - Viking boat construction time.

Block 2: S.S. Div 2 - Viking boat construction time and boat test runs. We assessed whether the boats were buoyant, could withstand low and high wind situations. Sadly, many an imaginary Viking sailor was lost today.

Block 3: S.S. Div 5. - Viking boat construction and boat test runs. We assessed whether the boats were buoyant, could withstand low and high wind situations. More Viking sailors survived these tests, but there were still many who sank to the bottom of my kiddie pool.

Block 5: English Div 6 - We read The Giver, annotated and analyzed it.

November 24th

Tomorrow is Character Day


Block 1: English Div 5 - We reviewed the test on correcting sentence errors. There will be another sentence editing quiz next Monday.

Block 2: English Div 6 - We also reviewed the test on correcting sentence errors. There will be another sentence editing quiz next Monday.

Block 3: French Div 5 - We reviewed the verb avoir and etre. You completed a verb chart. We looked at how these verbs pair with adjectives to describe people. You highlighted French adjectives that describe you.

Block 4: English Div 6 - Reading, annotating and analyzing The Giver. You were asked to identify quotes that point to the nature of the community, dystopic or utopic? At minimum, you should have 5 quotes. We will set a finish by date tomorrow.

Block 5: Social Studies Div 5 - You began building your Viking boats. We will continue working on them first block tomorrow.

Today's word is: construction

November 23rd

Viking women fought along side their men.

Block 1: English Div 6 Run on/Sentence Fragment Test

Block 2: S.S. Div 2 We finished our Viking boats and read about a Viking raid. We will test our boats on Wednesday.

Block 4: HCE 6 Div 18 We reviewed SMART goals for Term 2, finished questions on exercise and the brain, and learned about different learning strategies.

Block 5: English Div 5 Run on/Sentence Fragment Test -- a surprise to some even though I had the test noted on the homework board for a week and reminded you about it on the blog. Not only that, the test itself was also posted on the English course link. Take ownership of your learning, Div 5. I am giving you the tools, but you aren't using them.

Today's word is: "ownership"

Ragnar says, "Get to work you Thralls".

November 23rd to 27th

Calendar Notes:

This Wild Wednesday is character day. Come dressed as your favourite character from books, TV or film.

Academic Notes:

Health and Career: We will continue to exercise in advisory to experience what the science is saying, kids do better at school, if they start the day with physical activity. We are already noticing that some of you come into school very sleepy and grumpy, but after 15 minutes of activity, you are more alert and brighter eyed. 

English: You have a quiz on repairing sentence fragments and fixing run on sentences this Monday. This is a test of your editing ability following our lessons on sentence structure. We will continue to read, annotate and analyze The Giver. Our focus will be on disguinshing whether the community is utopic or dystopic. You will be asked to identify quotes that support your opinion. Remember that one person's utopia can be another's dystopia. 

S.S.: You will continue to explore Viking innovation specifically their nautical technology. We will be engaged in an engineering challenge to build "sea-worthy" boats. Also, we will be looking at the Norse religion and its gods. The Vikings were polytheists; they worshipped multiple gods.

French: We will be conjugating two irregular, but highly important verbs, avoir and etre. In addition, we will be looking at how to use adjectives to describe people.

Math and Science: click on my link to Madame's website to the right of this screen. 

Today's word is a name: Thor, god of thunder and son of Odin. Somehow I don't think the Vikings had him fighting an Ironman.

November 18th

From the movie, "The Giver"

Advisory: Physical fitness in the morning as we test the theory, physical activity improves school performance.

Block 1: Div 5, English, Library book exchange and reading.

Block 2: Div 2, Social Studies, Viking Boat Building

Block 3: Div 5, Social Studies, We read page 31 to 35 in the test and did questions 1 to 5 on page 35. You will get more time because you should submit these for marks.

Block 5: Div 6, English, We read and annotated chapters 1 to 3 of The Giver.

Today's word is: conform

Storm and Power Outage

No blog entry today.

November 16th

Advisory: Exercise and the brain, a good combination.

Block 1: English Div 6 - We reviewed sentence errors and how to correct them. You were asked to complete the Sentence package.

Block 2: S.S. Div 2 - Tests were returned. We looked at the anatomy of a Viking Boat. You were given two handouts and we completed the boat anatomy section.

Block 4: HCE Div 18 - Sleep presentations were finished. You were asked to give 5 facts about sleep. Then, we began looking at exercise and the brain. We will be answering 5 questions on sleep next class.

Block 5: S.S. Div 5 - Unit 2B Test was given.

Today's word is: engineering

This week November 16th to 19th

Calendar Notes:

Early Dismissal on Thursday, Nov. 19th for Parent Teacher Interviews. School lets out at 11:58 and interviews run from 1 until 7pm. Online booking is available through the school website, but at last check there were very few spaces left.

Pro D Day on Friday, Nov. 20th; no school for you, but I will be studying the new curriculum.

Academic Notes:

Health and Career: We have been focused on Teenage Brain development and substances that can interrupt or prevent that beautiful process. This week we will be looking at how to get a natural and healthy high through exercise and sport.

English: We will be reading and responding to "The Giver", a dystopian novel. The grammar grind lesson will be targeting those pesky sentence errors, fragments and run ons.

S.S.: (Division 5 has their Unit 2 Test last block on Monday) We will be looking at the rise of the Vikings. In particular, we will be investigating their nautical innovations.

French: How can you describe yourself and others in French? We will be reviewing how to conjugate the verb etre so that you can use it and a cache of useful adjectives to describe people.

Today's word is: nautical

November 13th

Block 1: English Div 6 - We worked in groups to define our ideas of utopia. Is it possible for one person's utopia to be another's dystopia? We pondered this question.

Block 3: S.S. Div 5 - We concluded the Barbarian presentations. The test was rescheduled to Monday. If you look on the course link, you will find that I have posted the test. This is like one of those facebook challenges to see how many of you are reading this blog...

Block 4: Global Scenario Div 5 and 6. Our plane crashed. Lucky for us, we packed a carry on and had time to grab 5 items before splashing down in the water. We did a team building activity on our "liferaft".  The French group swam off to the main island, while my group swam to a small island off of the coast. What shall we do now to survive?

November 12th

Advisory: Letter grades and Mastergrade for Term 2. We discussed how grades will be reported to you in the second and third terms using two fake students as examples. This program is used by high schools in the district.

Block 1: Div 2 Social Studies - We watched a video on the Syrian Refugee Crisis; I have attached it below for your information. Then, the Unit 2 Test was gven.

Block 2: Div 2 Social Studies - Questions 1-5 on page 35 were completed and submitted for marks. If you didn't complete the questions, I am open lunches for tutorial.

Block 3: Div 5 Francais - Voici ma famille. You talked about your ficticious family.

Block 4 and 5 Exploratories.

Jordan has taken in 200 000 refugees. Here is a refugee camp there. Today's word is "crisis":

November 10th

Advisory: You were given 5 questions to answer about "Molly". We watched two short videos on what club drugs are and their possible side effects. We discussed why they are produced to look like candy.

Block 1: English Div 5 We watched the screenplay version of "The Lottery" and discussed how a society might evolve into the dystopia that it depicted.

Block 2: Remembrance Day Assembly - there were some superb performances by students in both Divisions 5 and 6 which included poems and a piano piece. The audience was so mature. I was really proud of you.

Block 3: English Div 2 We read "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and considered how dystopic the community was.

Block 4: French Div 5 Students were given time to create a family to talk about. On Thursday, you will be asked to talk about that family with a partner. You will receive a mark for your participation in that activity. The main requirement is going to be can you communicate information about your family in basic French (and with hand gestures). After all, learning another language should always be about connecting with people. L and H in Mexico should be speaking about their family with Spanish speakers!

Block 5: S.S. Div 5 The Franks and The Vandals presented information about their "Barbarian" group. You have an open book test on Friday. The question you will be asked is: "Why do humans migrate and what are some of the consequences of mass human migration? Use examples from the history we are studying, The Barbarian Migrations, and from current events, "The Syrian Refugee Crisis", to illustrate the reasons why and to show what can happen in times of mass migration." 


Today's word is: "Thank you"

November 9th

Calendar Notes:

Assembly Tomorrow - Div 5 students will be performing poems for the ceremony. Parents are welcome.

Academic Notes:

Block 1: English Div 6- We looked at how to identify and fix sentence fragments and run on sentences. You were given a grammar package. We did two pages of it and we will finish with it tomorrow.

Block 2: S.S. Div 2 - We began Unit 3, our study of the Vikings. I read you pages 31 to 35 in the text. Then, we did questions 1 to 5. You will be given time to complete these next class and to submit them for 5 marks.

Block 4: HCE Div 18 - The last of the sleep presentations were given today. Those of you who do not want to present in person need to email me your project. We discussed how to in class.

Block 5: English Div 5- We looked at how to identify and fix sentence fragments and run on sentences. You were given a grammar package. We did two pages of it and will finish with it tomorrow.

Today's word: "remember"

This week, November 9th to 13th

Calendar Notes:

November 10th Remembrance Day Assembly (1 Block)

November 11th Remebrance Day, No School

Academic Notes:

Advisory: We will be exploring the world of synthetic or club drugs. The goal of these lessons is to inform you so that you can protect yourself and make good decisions in situations where you may be exposed to these dangerous substances.

English: This week we will begin reading "The Giver". As I will be modelling how to read for analysis, we will be reading the book in class. I don't have enough copies for each student; I have 30 copies, but I teach English to 90 students. However, I have linked an audio book to the English site for students who miss school and readings. The Giver is a dystopic novel and we will be exploring this genre. Our grammar focus this week is proper sentence structure which will include being able to identify sentence fragments and run on sentences.

S.S.:  We will be looking at some primary source information about WWII in time for Remembrance Day. In addition, we will begin studying "The Viking Age". This Thursday (Div 2) and Friday (Div 5) there will be a test on the "Mass Migration" of human beings. You were given the test question already. If you don't have it, I have written it on the board in my classroom. We are looking at this question from a historical perspective, The Barbarian Migrations, and a modern one, The Syrian Refugee Crisis.

French: You will be given class time to complete a bizarre family tree en francais.

Today's phrase is: "lest we forget"

November 6th

Hello L and H, I see you checking in from Mexico in my live feed. Hope you are having fun down there.


Block 1: Div 5 English - Stories were collected. Emails will be sent to remind students who did not submit to hand the stories in on Monday. These are late and this affects your work habit mark unless you are on an IEP and have elastic deadlines. We read "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, a classic example of Dystopian Fiction.

Block 3: Div 5 S.S. - Research time and a presentation by the "Goths" research group. The rest of the groups will present on Tuesday. There is a unit test this coming Friday the 13th. It is a one question test and you were given the question.

Block 4: Div 6 English - Stories were collected. Students in grade 8 who did not submit will have an email reminder sent home to have that overdue assignment given in on Monday. We explored the concept of Dystopia.

I will draw for a prize on Monday. The word today is: "oops". Is that a word? Is woopsie daisy?

November 5th

Advisory: Marina from Seaparc demonstrated how to put a victim into recovery position and you practised on each other.

Block 1: Div. 2 S.S. Barbarian Presentations.

Block 2: Div. 2 S.S. Barbarian Presentations.

Block 3: Div. 5 Grammar continued. We did page two and three of the package. Then, we explored the concept of Dystopia. Scary Stories are due tomorrow.

Block 4 and 5: Exploratories.

Today's word: Dystopia

November 4th

This is for you, Carson.

Advisory: The recovery position for unconscious, breathing victims with a known history.

Block 1: Divison 5 Library Book Exchange. Story due typed on Friday, November 6th.

Block 2: Division 2 S.S. Fire Drill. Then, research stations. Presentations moved until tomorrow.

Block 3: Division 5 S.S. research stations. Presentations on Friday..

Block 5: Division 6 English: Grammar Grind. Sentence Types. We took notes and you were given a grammar package. We did one page in class. Story due typed on Friday, November 6th (Grade 7s can take until the 9th).

And now some more socks with sandals.



Today's word is a number: "911"

November 3rd

Advisory: Alcohol and teens. We read the article and discussed the 5 questions. Tomorrow you will learn how to put a person in recovery position.

Block 1: Computer Time Div. 5: One block of time was given to publish the neat draft of your story. This is due on November 6th and is homework.

Block 2  English Div 5: Grammar Grind. Sentences. How are sentences punctuated? What are those sentences called? How are sentences constructed? You were asked to write a page of notes using the English site (see Unit 3, Grammar Grind, Sentences). A package of exercises was given out and we did one page in class.

Block 3: Social Studies Div 5: Barbarian research groups. Presentations are tomorrow. I have been keeping notes on your group work and participation. This is a life skill.

Block 4 and 5 Suicide Awareness brought to you by NEED2 Suicide Prevention Education and Support.

Today's word: "subordinate conjunction"

November 2nd

Advisory: You were given an article on Teen Health: Alcohol. Before reading half of the article, we reviewed the focus questions.

Block 1: English 8 Div 6 Computer Time/Proofreading and Editing Time for stories. Stories are due on November 6th. This is now homework. The room is open lunches, if you require time with computers at school.

Block 2: S.S. 8 Div 2: Research Time for Barbarian presentations. Presentations will begin on Wednesday.

Block 4: HCE Sugar Documentary (we had an on-call teacher for the afternoon, so "Sleep" presentations will continue next Monday)

Block 5: Concluding Narnia. Our neighbourhood is Narnia and this is for decorating inspiration. Perhaps you will also be inspired to pick up the C.S.Lewis series.

Divergent...a great Dystopian novel for teens.

Today's word is: "curriculum" this is what Mrs Bridal and Mrs Abell were learning about this afternoon at the Board Office.

November 2nd to 6th

DYSTOPIA

Calendar Notes:

November 11 Remembrance Day, No School

November 19th Parent Teacher Interviews - Mrs Abell and I do interviews together so that both humanities and math/sciences can be addressed. Stay tuned for interview sign up information; the office coordinates the sign up through an online service.

November 20th Pro D Day (Mrs Bridal is off to UVic to learn about Google Apps)

Academic Notes:

Health and Career: We will continue to look at alcohol and its negative affects. The focus will be on healthier choices and lifestyles.

English: We will be reviewing the key parts of speech that we have been studying. Then, we will look at what makes a complete sentence and how to punctuate it. Part of this study will include identifying run on and fragmented sentences. Students will be proofreading each other's stories for errors like these. They will be given one publishing block at school to type the good copy of their scary story. The story will be due on November 6th. I will email parents of students who do not submit for deadline. Unit 3 begins this week; we will be looking at the concept of Dystopia and the increasingly popular genre of Teen Dystopian Fiction.

S.S.: You will be teaching the class about your designated "Barbarian" group this week. Remember to keep it simple, to the point and visual to engage your learners (your classmates). Once you have finished presenting your "Barbarian" groups, I will present you with one of the most successful "Barbarian" groups, the Vikings.

Today's word is: "Toxic"