February 29th...the day that only happens every 4 years....

Academic Notes:

HCE/English Div 6: We took the 16 personalities test; some of you still need to go through the questions, get your result and read your write up. It would be interesting to determine what type your family members are...

SS Div 2: We reviewed the features of a typical Manor. We reviewed what a legend on a map shows and the concept of scale. You were given an 11 x 17 page with a grid on it to map your Manor. We decided on a scale of 1:10m. You should have the title, the legend, the direction and the scale on the map.

HCE Div 18: You were assigned tasks for the Orientation Movie Project.

Catch up Block for Div 5: You were given a list of HCE items to complete and time to work on your English.

This week, February 29th to March 4

Calendar Notes:

Last day for getting term 2 assignments in for marking is Tuesday, March 1st. This applies to all your classes. Our boss is really strict about our deadlines.

Neighbourhood Meeting: Wednesday at 9:20 am (Block 1)

EMCS Soccer Academy Visit Thursday 9:30 to 10:30 am

Whole School, Team and Club Photo Day, Friday, March 4th

Academic Notes:

English: Character Sketches are due in on Monday, Feb. 29th for Div 6 and Mar. 1st for Div 5. This will be a Term 3 mark out of 10. We will begin to draft our stories in class. Drafts are to be printed or handwritten to show work, proofreading and edit notes. We will be reviewing key proofreading and editing points as well as the marking rubric to make sure that you are all on point for this final term, major assignment.

Social Studies: Final decisions for manor placements will take place this week. You will create a blueprint for your manor land. We will use a grid to locate key features. This is the first graded assignment for the third term.

French: Le monde francophone.

HCE: A letter to your future self which I will mail to you in the year...2020, your graduation year (now that is staggering).

Today's question: Why do we even need this extra day in February?

February 26th

Well, that dance was fun, but my 15 hour day meant no blog entry, sorry. Here is my blog entry which summarizes the homework board...that you may have missed on your way out.

Academic Notes:

You were given a list of items to complete for the second term (that is, if you are behind). It is your responsibility to complete those items for Monday. We are aiming to have all you keep pace with assignments for the third term. Yes, all of you.

English: You are to complete a detailed character sketch for the main characters in your fantasy/science fiction story. It can be a visual or a written description, but it needs to use adjectives to describe your characters' appearances and personalities. This is due on Monday for Div 6 and Tuesday for Div 5.

Social Studies: No homework.

French: No homework.

Have a great weekend all of you.

Mrs Bridal dancing with her mom jeans and her mom buddies...

February 24th

Your Grade 9  course registration sheets are due tomorrow. If you have encountered problems, we will alert the high school.

Academic Notes:

HCE/English Div 5: We looked into how to assess whether a problem between students is a conflict, a lack of manners (rude), a lack of thought (mean) or bullying. You can find the activity on the Health and Career site; just click this link. You were to read the scenarios and make your judgement. We will follow up on Friday.

Social Studies Div 2: You had a quiz on the concept of scale and how to use it to determine distances on a map. We then had a lesson on how to convert distances on a map to metres and then kilometres.

Social Studies Div 5: You discussed where to put your manor land. Remember a manor included the nobles and their castle as well as the homes of the people under them; it was a self sufficient community. You were asked to submit a 5 point defense of your location for 5 marks. If you weren't here and don't know where your manor land was placed. You can suggest what geographical features would make a location appealing to a noble looking to establish a community. You would have to identify 5 points and then submit that when you return under the heading: "Manor Land Placement".

English Div 6: You submitted your setting assignments. Some were done much, much better than others. Your coach (that would be me) wants you to up your game; some of you are coasting. I discussed and assigned the character descriptions. You are to submit a detailed set of character sketches for all your main characters. These sketches should outline your characters' appearance and personality. I gave you a personality trait handout for a list of useful adjectives to describe personality. This assignment is due on February 29th and is worth 10 marks.

Today's question: What random act of kindness could you do for someone...tomorrow?

February 23rd

Academic Notes:

2 Blocks of Square Dancing and Banjo Playing

English Div 5 and  6: We read King Arthur's Tale "The Sword in the Stone". You were given two hand outs; one was a summary sheet and the other was a copy of the story. The grammar grind of the week was on "Parentheses, Dashes and Hyphens." You took notes and we viewed a video on how to use this type of punctuation. Your setting is due tomorrow Div 6 and the day after Div 5. This is for 10 Term 2 marks.

February 22nd

Academic Notes:

HCE Div 5 and 6: We discussed non verbal bullying or "bad manners". Your homework: to make a 8x11 Pink Shirt Day poster for tomorrow. Pink Shirt Day is February 25th and your poster is to feature positive messages around friendships and school communities.

English Div 5 and 6: You were given time to develop your setting. You have a written or verbal plan due on Feb. 24th (Div 6) or Feb. 25th (Div 5).

S.S. Div 2: You were given 10 minutes to justify where you chose to position your Manor. Then we took notes on scale. You have a quiz on Wednesday to check your understanding of that concept.

HCE Div 18: You were given 10 minutes to write about what you want to be in the orientation film for Grade 5 parents. We will begin writing and practicing the parts next Monday.

Today's question: What fraction of our language is non verbal?

This week February 22nd to 26th

They could be talking about today's PAC lunch, but they are making someone very uncomfortable. Non verbal language communicates A LOT. Let's aim to be kind.

Calendar Notes

Monday to Wednesday at lunch in the foyer: tickets on sale for the "Spring Dance" this Thursday ($5)
Tuesday is "Wear What You Love" Day. If you love your jammies, wear them.
Wednesday is pink shirt day. Represent.

Academic Notes

HCE - We will continue to investigate what friendship means in the digital age. In honour of Pink Shirt Day, we will be looking at defining bullying and identifying ways to stand up to it when it happens.

English - The grammar grind this week is a punctuation review. We will also look at how to properly use parentheses in your writing as some of you are experimenting with these. You will be reading King Arthur's tales as well as constructing your own fantasy/science fiction settings for your short stories.

S.S. - We will be doing a mapping review. You will be exploring and mapping out your sector of Vancouver Island...I mean the land that looks much like Vancouver Island floating out in the North Sea.

French - The Francophone World. Where can we travel to and use our French? Lots of places, but you might be surprised where most of them are.

Today's question: Where do you want to travel to next?

Think about this one...

February 18th

No school tomorrow. It is a Pro D for teachers. I am learning google apps for education.

Academic Notes:

Social Studies/English Div 2: You read the King Arthur story "The Sword in the Stone"; you were given a graphic organizer to summarize story information and a copy of the story. You also met in your fiefs to discuss where to put your manor lands.

English Div 5: You were assigned a setting plan for your fantasy/science fiction story. You were given the option of using a visual or written format to describe your settings in detail. This is a marked assignment out of 10. It is due on February 25th.

Student of the Week

February 17th

Academic Notes:

Theatre Sports Presentation - In a word, hilarious.

Social Studies Div 2 and 5: You were given notes on Manors and Manorialism. The Barons have chosen their land and we are going to establish 3 manor lands on each plot of land.

Numeracy: You worked on benchmark fractions and equivalent fractions. Many of you cannot identify factors or multiples of numbers; this is symptomatic of not knowing times tables. At this stage, you need to drill at home daily to know these key facts because in Grade 8 Math not knowing times tables is like saying you don't know how to walk, but want to be on the track team.

English Div 6: You were assigned a "Setting Plan" for your Fantasy or Science Fiction story. You are to create a plan that describes your setting in detail. It can be either a visual or a written format, but it should detail all the settings in your story. (Div 6 due date February 24th)



For an entry, answer this question....what is your favourite book?

February 16th

Hey, ladies!

Academic Notes:

English Div 5: You wrote the start of a sci-fi story using a picture prompt. This was an inclass assignment and will be marked. If you were away, go to English, Unit 5, and scroll down to writing Science Fiction. You will find a picture of a girl and a robot there. Write a paragraph to start a story about that girl and the robot. The paragraph should describe the setting, introduce characters and outline the problem. This is due tomorrow.

English Div 6: We explored the world of fantasy and Tolkien. No Homework.

Mr Phipps visited.

Social Studies Div 5: You took notes on Nobles and Ladies from information you viewed on a documentary and read in two handouts. If you weren't here, get the handouts and take the notes. These are testable.

February 15th

If you or your parents want to get a better idea about the offerings at EMCS, they are hosting an open house this Thursday evening. All are welcome.

Today:


HCE: What is a "good" friend? We are investigating what a good friend is and what a "needs improvement" friend is.

English: Div 6 We looked at the passive and active voice. You were given notes and had a few exercises to do. We began looking at "Fantasy".

S.S.: Div 2  You were given two handouts on the noble class and ladies. We viewed a short video on the subject.

HCE: Div 18 You are going to design an orientation film for incoming Grade 5s.

English: Div 5 We reviewed sentence construction. You were given in class exercises on capitalization, using conjunctions and a review of sentence types.

If you weren't at school, catching up is your homework. If you were at school, there was no homework assigned in my classes today.



What movie/story is this gif depicting? The answer for an entry.

February 15th to 18th

My apologies for the media blackout. I have been sick and avoiding computer screens. Thanks to Mr. Quint for covering my classes on Thursday and Friday. Student of the week will be announced on Thursday this week.


I love my classes.

Calendar Notes:

February 16th - Crazy Sock Day (Carson, this is your opportunity to wear socks avec sandals)

February 19th - Pro D Day - No School

Academic Notes:

English: We will continue to explore the science fiction genre. The grammar grind this week will revolve around sentence construction. You will be doing in class exercises.

Social Studies: We will investigate the nobel class and lady's lives during the Middle Ages. The Barons will decide which land to pick for their Fiefs. You will decide where to position your manors.

French: You will be assigned a project on the Francophone world.

HCE: Healthy relationships and friendships are the topic for this week.

Today's question: "What do you love about your closest friend?"

February 10th

Academic Notes:

Advisory: Medieval tournament to determine top fiefs.

S.S. Division 2 and 5: You were given a review of the Knight class; we viewed a video clip, read two informational texts on the subject and completed a couple of exercises.

French Division 2: You performed your "Porter" dialogues. Some of you were absent and will need to present on Tuesday next week.

English Divison 6: You viewed "Wire Cutters" and did a traditional plot review. Afterward, you used a picture prompt to construct the introduction to a story. You can find that picture under Unit 5 in English, Writing Science Fiction.

Today's question: "What was a knight's hand protection called?"

February 9th

Academic Notes/Homework:

English Div 5: We read "The Fun They Had" by Isaac Asimov. You answered two questions: "How can you tell this was written by a man in the 50s?" and "Do you think education will go the same way as this story depicts?" No Homework.

English Div 6: We reviewed your editing test. To follow that up, we reviewed capitalization rules and sentence building. We listened to "A Boy's Best Friend" by Isaac Asimov and did a plot summary. No Homework.

French Div. 5: We reviewed the verb porter. In addition, you were given time to develop and practice a porter dialogue. You will be presenting those tomorrow.

SS Div. 5: We looked at the military class, the knights. No Homework.

Today's questions: What is one half of 12?

This week, February 9th to 12th

Calendar Notes:

Academic Notes:

English: Our grammar focus will be on active and passive voice. Also, we will be reviewing how to construct a sentence; your writing samples indicate that this needs to be addressed again. This week we will be reading science fiction short stories.

S.S.: We will compete for 1st to 5th choice of the newly conquered land in the Game of Fief. The competition will focus on both strength and wit. Once you know what piece your fief has won, you will decide where to put your Manors using maps of the region. We will learn about manors and the nobility this week.

French: You will be given time to develop and practice a simple dialogue using porter and clothes.

HCE: We will look at how to read those confusing food labels.

Today's question: "Which science fiction author coined the term 'robotics'?"

February 4th

Homework:

Study for the French quiz on porter tomorrow.

And NOW...

THE STUDENT OF THE WEEK!

Who is it for an entry?

February 3rd

Isaac Asimov, I love you.

Academic Notes:

HCE: On a piece of 8x11 paper compare your meal with the recommended plate and serving. Due: Friday.

English Div 5: Library book exchange. We read the Space.com article on "The Martian". You were asked to summarize the visual and written texts on Mars into a one paragraph summary. If you didn't get it done in class, this is due tomorrow a.m. It needs to be a structured paragraph that demonstrates sentence fluency.

English Div 6: We viewed Isaac Asimov's rules of robotics, read "The Fun They Had" by Asimov and looked at answering these questions: How can you tell this story was written in 1951? Do you think that school will ever be like it is in Asimov's story? Explain.

Today's question is: "What day is Monday next week?"

February 2nd

Social Studies: No Homework ( Div 5: you were given a mid unit test on Feudalism. Div 5 and 6 met to discuss boundaries and the fiefdoms. You were asked to justify those boundaries based on your basic and strategic needs. This proved difficult for some.)

English: No Homework (Div 6: You wrote a summary paragraph on the "9th Planet". Div 5 No English today)

French: Porter Dialogue for Tuesday, February 9th (We reviewed er verb conjugation, the verb porter and how to use adjectives of colour with clothes. You were tasked with preparing your dialogue.)

For Math and Science notes, please refer to Madame's blog.

Today's question: Why would you want to have a mountain within your fief's/domaine's boundary?

This is the oldest remaining map of the world. It is Chinese from the Ming Dynasty (1418 AD). Consider this: the maps that we would have been using to divide up land in the middle ages were highly inaccurate. How would that affect boundaries? Disputes?

February 1st

We will be doing up I forms this week for interim reports.

Academic Notes:

English: No homework (Div 5 and 6: We reviewed how to fix sentences so that they flow and aren't repetitive. You did an editing test where you had to edit and rewrite Pat Learningtowrite's badly written paragraph.)

Social Studies: Div 5 - Test Tomorrow (Div 2: We wrote a midunit test on Feudalism and your role in the Game of Fief)

Question of the day: What is special about tomorrow? Tomorrow is ______ day.