Welcome

Welcome to room 21!

It has been a lovely start to the year.  Students filed in to the classroom ready and willing for the new year.  It has been a pleasure to meet all the new students and to visit with past students once again.

ELA

The focus for the beginning of September is "Getting to Know You".  Students will be doing a mini-project in order start the year off feeling strong, recognized and part of the classroom community.  We are also gearing towards Strong Beginnings.  Students will be doing some reading assessment and handing in writing samples in the next two weeks.   Please keep an eye out for the Strong Beginnings link that will be sent out from the office.  I will let students who do not need to attend Strong Beginnings know by early next week.

February

Grade 7

We are completing coordinates and transformations unit.  Students have been taking transformations to the next level by completing transformations in succession.   Next week, students will receive the practice test (l'auto-évaluation).  The coordinates test will take place March 6th.

Congratulations to the grade 7s for completing their Rock Cycle project.  They look beautiful and are filled to the brim with exciting information.  

Ever wonder how mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes are formed? The grade 7s know.  We are now exploring plate tectonics.  Students are currently using global earthquake data to map out plates combining our knowledge of coordinates and science.   Next we will take a close look at minerals and mining in Manitoba.  It'll be a chance for students to connect their knowledge to our province. 




Grade 8

We are wrapping up our cell exploration.  Students presented their edible cell today.  It was such a treat!  Excellent work grade 8s!  It was wonderful to see and taste such creativity and understanding.  The cells, diffusion and osmosis test will be the 6th of March.  Students will receive a preparation outline next week.  Our next chapter will be cell systems, specifically a look at the circulatory system and the immune system.





Pictures:

Grade 7 - crayon rock cycles

Grade 7 - exploring rock properties

Grade 7 - erosion experiments

Grade 8

 

                     Grade 8 - comparing plant and animal cells

Grade 8  - onion dissection

Grade 8 - Paramecium lab


Grade 8 edible cells projects

Bienvenue!!

It has been lovely coming back to such a warm welcome.  It sounds like the first term went very well.  I hope to keep up the momentum!

Grade 7

Math - We have started a new unit: The Cartesian plane.  Students will discover how to plot points on a graph as well as move figures to new coordinates using reflection, translation and rotation.  This year, because we are working with the Cartesian plane, students get to graph with positive and negative coordinate points.

Science - We have started "The Earth's Crust" unit.  Students will have a chance to explore the geology of our planet from rock and minerals to plate tectonics and the formation of mountains.   The unit plans to be "ground breaking"....hehe

We are also focusing on the scientific process this term.  Students will be learning through experimentation:  Hypothesis, understanding Variables, Observation and Conclusion.

Grade 8

We started January by learning how to use a microscope accurately.  Now, we are in the midst of the Cells and Cell Systems unit where we will use our new skill to uncover the mysteries of the smallest living units of life on earth - the cells. 

In the classroom

Separating mixtures - grade 7

Experiments using microscopes - 7 and 8

Playing with DNA - grade 8



June

Here's what we are up to:

Band Concert

Congratulations!  What an amazing performance Monday evening.  The music not only showed an incredible amount of student growth from the beginning of the year, it also warmed the soul.  Well done everyone!

 

Pi Day

Pi is a beautiful number that compares the perimeter of a circle (circumference) to its diameter.  The unbelievable thing about Pi is that it is a number that continues to an infinite number of digits past the decimal but it never repeats.  Crazy!  Pi day is typically March 14^th (3.14), however, we will be celebrating this curious and mind-boggling math concept this Friday, June 10^th.  Better late than never. 

Students have already learnt the basics of Pi.  On Friday they will be competing in several circle, sphere and memorization challenges (how many digits of pi do you know?) as we further dive into the wonderful world of math in celebration.  Feel free to send your child to school with pie.  It wouldn’t be pie day without it!

 

Final OH

This week will be our last OH.  Students may choose any role for the day.  The focus will be on body-movement, limiting fillers and capturing audience interest.   It’s been a wonderful ride so far.  I look forward to seeing students’ OH finale. 

 

Field Trip Finale

We will all be going to FortWhyte on June 20^th for one last field trip Hoorah.  Students will have the chance to work together, develop their friendships and explore their natural environment as we play Predator-Prey, make our own lunch over a roaring fire and learn some outdoor survival skills.  It should be a fun-filled and exciting day.  We are looking for a few parent volunteers.  If spending a day outside in the summer is something you enjoy, come join us at FortWhyte.

 

Project Runway

Students will be spending the last week and a bit of school preparing a sustainability, art and design project.  Students will work in teams to learn about our ecological footprint, research information about recyclable materials, build an outfit out of those materials and finally, present their outfit in a fashion-show extravaganza that will end the year.  Students have already started collecting their recyclables.  Please collect what you can at home so that everyone has the resources they need when we begin (June 22^nd).

 

Math

We have completed our Geometry unit.  Students have explored and measured angles, shapes, perimeter, area and volume. 

Our new unit is an introduction to algebra through patterns and relations.  Students will learn to pair a mathematical formula to a pattern sequence that they see.  In addition, students will discover how to graph the pattern in order to see the type of relationship two variables have with each-other.  Sound complex?  No worries.  Students are already half-way there and flying through.  Ask your son or daughter to give you an example of how patterns and relations work.

 

Science

We are now in the midst of our Biodiversity unit.  Our Field Trip to Oak Hammock marsh was a great success.  There was an incredible amount of diversity for us to see – pelicans, ground squirrels, battling red-wing black birds, many plants and invertebrates and even snail eggs!

Students are continuing to explore the variety that exists in the natural world and how we organize this diversity.

Before the start of Project Runway, we will be taking advantage of the great weather by going outside to do a bug hunt for one afternoon and an invertebrate hunt for a second afternoon.  Students will use their knowledge of dichotomous keys and animal adaptation to organize and explore the biodiversity right in our school yard. 

 

Social Studies

Students are starting a research and video project on a period of time in Canadian History.  Students are tasked with asking their own questions about a topic and then researching to find the answers.  Once they become experts, they will be building three minute-heritage videos to share their expertise with the rest of the class.  Some topics include:  The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, Woman’s suffrage and the creation of the RCMP.

 

ELA

We have now mastered recognizing 17 different literary devices such as: metaphor, simile, personification, tension, onomatopoeia, atmosphere, parody etc…

Students are now in the midst of applying their new-found knowledge by creating their very own radio-play just like the good ole’ days before television.   These radio plays will be outlets for creativity and team-work but they will also be filled to the brim with literary devices.

 

French

Students are all reading novels based on the famous Noémi series.  Noémi is a young girl who has many adventures with her grand-mother Mme. Lumbago.   Together they solve mysteries, uncover secrets about their past and grow together as a family.  Students are each reading their own unique Noémi novel and will be building a book report to share their reading with the rest of the class.  Instead of doing a standard book report, students will be making the report out of a cereal box to add creativity and excitement to the project.  This is an at home project that is due June 13^th. 

We will also be starting a French read-aloud called “Le phantôme d’Anya”.  It is a graphic novel about a girl at school fighting peer-pressure, stereotype and other common issues for students as they progress through school.  We will be using this novel for our health unit as well as we explore what to do about these issues.

 

Beginning of April

Here's what we are up to:

Math

We have completed our unit on Transformations and Coordinates.  Students did an excellent job navigating plotting coordinates on a graph and manipulating images using reflection, translation and rotation to specific criteria.

Now we have started our geometry unit!  We have already mastered using the protractor to create and measure angles.  Now we are looking at angles within shapes and problem-solving using angles.

We will be starting a math/art project where students recreate an image using only lines - in the style of picasso's cubism.  They will then look at geometric shapes in their art as well as acute and obtuse angles.

Science

We are now on the Flight unit.  Students have discovered the history of flight, the properties of fluids, the forces of flight and Bernoulli's principle.  Yesterday, we did an experiment testing Bernoulli's principle using two straws and a cup of water.  Ask your son or daughter to show you how Bernoulli explains the dynamics of a squirt bottle and beyond.

Next, students will explore their understanding of flight as they create their own experiment using controlled variables.

Social Studies

It is once again election time.  As we get ready to go to the polls for the provincial election, students are tasked with taking on the role of a news reporter, finding the scoop on voters' values.  Students were tasked with talking to at least three different people to discover what it might be like in the mind of a voter.  Feel free to only answer the questions with which you are comfortable.  The intent of the project is for students to start to think like a voter might.

French

We are close to completing our french Book Club.  Only four more sessions to go.  Students are now deep into their novels and excited to see how they end.

We are now looking at verbs in the past tense: "le passé composé".  Afterwhich, students should be able to conjugate verbs in the present, past and future.

ELA

We have completed the Red Wolf novel.  Students have one final written response to demonstrate their reflections of the novel.  It has been a meaningful journey together.  I'm excited to see what they have to say about the novel as a whole.

Our poetry unit is almost complete as well.  Student have this week and next to ensure their poems have meaning, juicy vocabulary and imagery and then to polish their poems in a final publishable copy.