This week, February 1st to 5th

Calendar Notes for February:

February 8th FAMILY DAY
February 16th High School Counsellors visit for course selection
February 19th Pro D Day/ No School for you I am going to be learning about Google Apps for Education

Academic Notes for this week:

English: Tomorrow you will edit a badly written paragraph as a test of your editing ability. We will look at different ways to rewrite sentences so that they are not repetitive. Our reading focus will continue to be informational texts around science.

Social Studies: We will continue to investigate the feudal system. You will be tested on your understanding of the concept and your feudal role on Monday (Div 2) and Tuesday (Div 5).

French: Porter dialogues will be practiced this week. This will provide an oral language mark for the course.

HCE: We will begin a unit on healthy eating and teens. Eating well is a good way to support both physical and mental health.

Today's question: What group is at the bottom of the feudal social pyramid?

January 28th

Today we went to EMCS for YES2IT, an exploration of the trades at EMCS; you created a circuit, made pasta, welded and hammered together candle holders. I was really impressed with how mature you all were.

AND NOW ... our student of the week...

January 26th

Homework (Class work...what you have missed, if you were away):

English: None ( In class, you were given a sentence fluency lesson and review package. There will be an editing test next Monday, February 1st; this test will see can you edit out 7 common sentence fluency problems.)

French: None (In class, we review er verb conjugation using the verb porter. Qu'est-ce que tu portes? Je porte ... notes were taken.)

January 25th

Homework:

English: None (In class we completed a couple of exercises around identifying sentence run ons and fragments. We also looked at how to assess your sentence fluency using the SAS. To learn how to use the SAS, we read and assessed a biography on Helen Keller)

Social Studies: None/ Check the board to see if you are missing assignments.

French: None

HCE: 5 questions on Mental Health and Illness due tomorrow.

This week, January 25th to 29th

Calendar Notes:

Wednesday, January 27th Anxiety Workshop for Families at JMS

Thursday, January 28th - EMCS YES2IT - Trying our hands at the trades, a great employment option for the future.

No Exploratory

Academic Notes:
+ Please note that assignments are in class, so if you miss school, you must make up for the missed time at lunch and/or after school.

English: 
This week we will:
-review proper sentence structure
-explore how to vary our sentences to improve flow
-read informational text on Mars and Planet X
Assignments:
-in class worksheets on sentence fluency
-in class writing assignments -- summaries

Social Studies:
This week we will:
-discuss how to divide up this new, feudal land (that happens to be exactly like Vancouver Island)
-map our land and decide where to set up our manors
Assignments:
-in class group discussion/decision making
-in class mapping activity

French:
This week we will:
-review er verbs
-continue to develop our clothing vocabulary
Assignments:
-in class verb review page
-in class vocab exercise

January 21st

Mental Illness is not a weakness. This month is about understanding mental illness, removing the stigma and exploring how to improve or maintain mental health. The video above was produced by Kelty Mental Health Resources, a fantastic organization that helps individuals and families who live with mental illness and other issues.

Homework:

S.S.: Div 2 Feudal Game Cards /10 due on Monday

Homeroom Student of the Week!!!

January 20th

EMCS EF Tour Parent Information Meeting TONIGHT at 6pm in the Art Room at EMCS

Homework:

None. However, you should check the board to see if you are missing assignments and therefore marks.

January 19th

Tomorrow, Jim, the Wrap Around Coordinator, is coming in to talk with us. He will be answering your questions around high school transition and middle school survival. 

We are going to be working through a unit in Health and Career on Mental Health and Illness. Our goal: to take the stigma away from mental illness and to explore ways to maintain or regain mental health.

Yay, Clara Hughes, you are a wonderful advocate for people living with mental illness!!!

Calendar notes:

I goofed. We go to EMCS next Thursday! That means that we have Exploratories this week.

January 20th, 6pm in the Art Room at EMCS ... Find out about a student travel opportunity for March 2017. Travel is one of the best educations that you will get...if you can, do it!

Homework:

None.

However, some of you need to check the homework board to get overdue work in and if you have been off task in class, you should be catching up at home.

This week, January 19th to 22nd

I hope that you aren't too blue on this, the most depressing day of the year. Certainly, having the day off might have cured you of that.

Today, teachers were required to survey the new curriculum which must be started in September 2016. It affects grades K to 12. If your parents are interested in navigating the site, here is a "how to" video courtesy of the government. It is directed at teachers, but it is useful for parents too ( I am looking at the grade 11 and 12 options for my daughter):

Here is a link to that curriculum: http://www.curriculum.gov.bc.ca/

So now to the business of your work week, calendar notes:

I goofed. We go to EMCS next Thursday!

January 20th, 6pm in the Art Room at EMCS ... Find out about a student travel opportunity for March 2017. Travel is one of the best educations that you will get...if you can, do it!

Academic Notes:

English: We will continue with our unit on informational texts. This week we will be looking at the topic of travel to Mars. Our grammar focus will be sentence construction and fluency. After reading some of your recent writing, it is clear that a refresher in how to hammer out sentence fragments and run on sentences is in order.

Social Studies: We will continue to investigate and explore the concept of feudalism (social organization). Divisions 2, 5 and 6 should have their feudal roles by the end of the week. You will learn and map out your land's geography.

French: We will plan what clothes to bring on a trip to Tahiti. "Er" verbs will be reviewed (eg. porter).

For Math and Science notes please refer to Mrs Abell's blog.

This week, January 11th to 15th

Calendar Notes:

Exploratories start this Thursday. Come prepared.
January 18th is a New Curriculum Day for us and a day off for you.

Academic Notes:

English:
We will:
-review proper editing and proofreading;
-peer review the dystopian short story drafts;
-start the Non Fiction Genre unit with a focus on articles about scientific advances.

Social Studies:
We will:
-explore the consequences of the Norman invasion;
-learn about feudalism;
-draw our social roles in the Game of Fief.

French:
We will:
-start a unit on clothing.
-review er verb conjugation.
-review avoir.
-review colours and other clothing specific adjectives.

January 8th

Homework this weekend:

S.S.: Maps and Study for the Unit Final Wednesday

English: Write the rough draft of your dystopian short story for Monday.

French: If you didn't get your adjective poem done, you need to do it for Monday.

An instant prize on Monday, if you can identify what this artist is making fun of...

January 7th

Calendar Notes:

January 14th - Exploratories Start

January 18th, NO School -- Pro D

January 20th 6pm EMCS Art Room -- European Educational Tour meeting for interested Grade 8s

Homework:

French Quiz was moved to tomorrow first block. The topic: conjugating the verb etre. Once you have done the quiz, you can complete your Adjectives poem.

S.S. Unit Final on Wednesday. The Spread of Christianity map is due tomorrow.

English Rough Draft of the Dystopian Short Story due on Monday. Neat due on January 18th.


The word: Hastings

January 6th

Do you dream of travelling the world? Next year EMCS is taking a student group to France, Germany and the Alps. Ms Garat, EMCS' Art Teacher and Allana's mum, will be hosting the group.

There will be a parent meeting this coming January 20th at 6pm in the Art Room at EMCS, for interested students.

This map shows the travel route.

And this is...

And this is the cost...

Homework:

French Quiz on Etre tomorrow

S.S. Unit 4 Final on Wednesday, January 13th (closed book)

English Short Story draft due on January 11th, Published copy is due on January 18th.

Today's word is: TRAVEL

January 5th

Exploratory forms went home today. You will find extras on the homework board. These forms are due in on Thursday and are first come, first serve/choice.

Homework:

English: Plan/Draft Dystopian short story due January 11th (we will proof and edit this in class on that day). Published copy with cover due on January 18th.

S.S.: Unit 4 Final Exam Wednesday January 13th

French: Etre quiz this Thursday

Today's word: explore.

January 4th

Well, it seems that some of us got the flu for Christmas. Get to bed early tonight because it was clear that, like me, you got used to staying up late and sleeping in. Let's reset those body clocks.

If your resolution is to do better at school, keeping up with class work is a good place to start. Check the blogs to check into what you have due in all of your academics.

Homework:

English Div 6 and Div 5: Dystopian Story planning page and rough draft due January 11th (next Monday). Neat copy will be due for homework on January 19th..

Social Studies Div 2 and Div 5: Unit 4 Final Exam on Wednesday January 13th.

Today's word: resolutions.

This first week of 2016, January 4th to 8th

Welcome Back

Calendar Notes:

SCHOOL STARTS BACK UP ON MONDAY (my own daughters were thinking that they had Monday off and didn't believe me when I said that they didn't!)

Exploratory forms will go home this week.

January 18th - Pro D for teachers to learn how to deliver the new curriculum.

Academic Notes:

English: We will review how to use quotations. You will be given time to develop your own dystopian short stories. We will be reading non fiction texts on advances in science.

S.S.: We will conclude our unit on religion, a force of change in the Middle Ages. There will be a unit final a week Wednesday.

French: We will review the verb etre. You will be given time to finish your adjective poems.

Math and Science: Check out Madame's blog link to the right of this page.

Today's word is: "return"