Tuesday December 15, 2015.

3 days of school left- and a busy 3 they will be.

I was absent from school yesterday so no post to the blog was made.

Today we:
-had gym (played Indiana Jones)
-had French
-had literacy(time to work on narratives and finish up novel study #3)
-had history
-had music playing and written tests

Reminder: Our holiday celebration is on Friday. In order to participate students must be done all assignments, tests, and have good behaviour for the rest of the week. Students who do not meet this criteria will have alternate activities to do in the library (finish up unfinished work/be provided with work)

Some students have elected to participate in our class secret Santa. Please bring in your wrapped gift $10 or less on Friday.

Tomorrow there is an open book history test for both grades. Students will have time to study for the math test which I moved to Thursday, and time to finish/work on their novel studies and narratives. Also, the principal from OSS is coming to speak to the grade 8's at 2.

$50 for the grade 8 trip is due tomorrow

Grade 7 History Sample Test Questions

1. The first French explorer to step foot in North America was...
a.) Jacques Cartier
b.) Samuel de Champlain
c.) John Cabot
d.) King Louis XIV

2. The first French explorer to create a successful settlement in North America was...
a.) a.) Jacques Cartier
b.) Samuel de Champlain
c.) John Cabot
d.) King Louis XIV

Example fill in the blank (you will have a word bank)

Life was very ________ for the first French settlers. They had to clear the land, build homes, ___________, and were constantly working and struggling to survive. In New France you could be successful if you worked hard. This was different than in France where ___________ determined how successful you could be.

Example True and False

1. Jean de Brebeuf was a British Jesuit missionary. ____
2. The Acadians were British farmers under French rule. _____

There will also be matching.

Grade 8 History Sample Test Questions

1. When did the Quebec conference take place?

2. What is confederation?

3. What is the difference between representation by population and representation based on regions?

4. What was the purpose of the Charlottetown conference in 1864?

5. In 1841, Upper and Lower Canada were each given half of the seats in the United Legislature even though Lower Canada had more people.  What was idea behind this?

6. What did confederation give the English Canadians?

7. What was the feeling of the French regarding Confederation?

You may use your notes.

Tis the Last week of school before the Holiday break!

Hello,

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend.

On Friday, we worked on adding and subtracting fractions, had French and watched "The Giver" as we read the novel earlier this term, and had gym- we played individual dodgeball.

We did not have time for the music playing or written test as we had a couple of unexpected interruptions and wanted to finish "The Giver" movie.

Progress Reports were handed out on Friday as well. The next set of Report Cards go out in February.

Thank you to everyone for your very generous donations to our class' food drive efforts. Together, we were able to collect 73 items of food, shout out to Collin who brought in the most items. Later this week, the students will attempt to duct tape me to a wall with 73, 15 cm pieces of tape, looking forward to that experience. :)

Our class was busy decorating our door on Friday and finishing letters to our Kindergarten friends for the holiday mail exchange. There are some strong contenders for the door decorating competition throughout the school, but we're hoping our door wins! Thank you to all of the students who helped make our door look awesome- below are a couple of pictures.

Also on Friday, the grade 7's got Little Caesars pizza fundraising kits to bring home for their overnight grade 7 trip in May.

Grade 8's- the first $50 deposit for your trip is due this Wednesday, December 16th.

Remember, Orchard Park has a lot of great opportunities for you to get involved and make the most of your time here. Being involved in extra-curriculars opens doors and opportunities for you in the future, some of the experiences and skills you gain are invaluable and will help you in your future endeavours. Here is the link to the video I played for you about getting involved-for high school, but applicable for now too.

Count Me in Video

                              

Here are some of the opportunities available at Orchard Park right now: leadership team, student council, the eco team, band, choir, boys basketball, girls volleyball, the crochet club, the coding club, chess club, etc. - if there is a club or team that you would like to start, put a proposal together and approach a teacher about it!

            

This week is going to be very busy wrapping a lot of our learning up before Mr. Finney's return and before the holidays. I do not want to leave projects and assignments unfinished for Mr. Finney so it is my expectation that students have everything finished by the end of the week. There will be a few quizzes (music, history, and math) this week that are unavoidable. Music will be tomorrow, history and math will be Wednesday. History will be open book, on what the students have learned so far, and math will be on adding and subtracting fractions for both 7's and 8's. The third and final novel study is due Monday (students have been given a month for this assignment). Narratives are due Wednesday (we will have been working on them for 2.5 weeks and they are to be 2-4 pages typed). The students who have finished everything so far this year will have Friday to celebrate their hard work.

On Tuesday the principal of Orillia Secondary School will be coming to meet with the grade 8's who will be attending OSS during the day.

Friday's plan: we've been brainstorming some ideas- board games, a movie, bringing in food, having extra social time, doing a craft, there will be a holiday assembly, and some students have opted in to do a secret santa gift exchange ($10 & under). Gifts must be wrapped, and are not for a specific person. We will end 2015 with one final gym class!

Also this week, there are two spirit days. Crazy sock day is on Thursday and Friday will be Red and Green day/holiday spirit day, and optional p.j/onesie day for our class.  

Looking forward to this final busy week before the holidays!                                                                                                                     

Sample Music test questions for tomorrow (or today if you checkout the blog when you wake up!)

Sample written music test questions:

1.Draw a treble clef on the staff. Then, draw whole notes for each letter name below. If it can be in more than one place, you choose which place to draw it.

Notes: A, C, E, B, D

2. Match the number of beats with the correct note.


 _____ 21. Eighth Note     A. 4
_____ 22. Quarter Note     B. 2
_____ 23. Half Note          C. 1
 _____ 24. Whole Note      D. ½

3. Draw a crescendo

4. Draw a time signature

5. Label the grand staff

6. Draw a quarter rest

Remember, there will also be a playing test.

Another quick update

Yesterday our class participated in "Hour of Code". There will be an intermediate coding club. Listen to announcements for details on meeting times. As well, students interested in playing in the band are asked to see my Mrs. Nicholson for a form. Also, tryouts are currently underway for girls volleyball and boys basketball. There are a lot of opportunities, get involved, and make the most of your time in school!

Thursday December 10, 2015.

Today we:

Students brought in more food items! Thanks everyone, we are up to 62 items of food, and almost 10m of duct tape! Ahhh, I'd be lying if I wasn't a little scared to be taped to a wall, but it's for a good cause!

We did a math lesson on the SMART board on converting improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice-versa, and students are now working in partners on adding and subtracting practice.

Here is the link to the lesson: Improper fractions/Mixed Numbers lesson and practice:

Improper fractions and mixed numbers lesson and practice

During literacy, students worked on their narratives, letters to their Kindergarten friends, and on their reading responses.

Grade 7's went through some of a slideshow and watched some videos for history, and Grade 8's watched a video about the events leading up to confederation, we will continue through those lessons until the break.

The principal for Twin Lakes Secondary School came to speak to the grade 8's who live in the TLSS zone and will be attending TLSS next year unless they have been approved for out of area. The principal for Orillia Secondary School will be speaking to the grade 8's who live in the OSS zone next week.

We had music today and students were practicing their song of choice on the Glockenspiel for tomorrow's playing test. Don't forget, there is a written component as well. Check back later this evening for some hints for the written test.

Tomorrow is the last day for the food drive. Please bring in at least 1 non-perishable food item.

Tomorrow we will be decorating our door, and mailing our letters to the Kindergartens. We will also be watching the movie "The Giver", as we read the novel earlier.

Here are some pictures of students practicing the Glockenspiel:

 

One more thing...

Here is the Orillia Youth Centre December Schedule (they have a lot of free programming!):

The last few days

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to give you an update on what we have been doing these last few days. Our schedule has been a little bit different due to a couple of presentations.

On Monday we began our unit on Number Sense- adding and subtracting fractions.

Students worked on a problem called "Pedro's Patio" in small groups. Here are some samples of their work:

We have been working on our narratives, and following the writing process. Narratives are due Wednesday, December 16, and are to be 2-4 pages, typed. Students have been given time in class each day to work on these. Also, their final novel study is due on Monday December 14th.

We are writing letters to Ms. Mercer's Kindergarten class for our holiday letter exchange. Looking forward to receiving their letters, our students have been great leaders, and have each been matched up with a Kindergarten. 

On Monday we also had a music class and students were given holiday music to learn on the Glockenspiel, on Friday there will be a playing test for a piece, that students may select, there will also be a theory test on note names, value, dynamics, rhythm, etc...a review will occur in class.

We have been doing some history lessons this week, and we have begun a phys.ed unit on dodgeball.

On Tuesday we had a special presentation in the afternoon on Cyber safety and digital citizenship, it was excellent, and I think a wake-up call to everyone that nothing posted on the internet or sent via technology is ever private. Also, messages and pictures sent can never be taken back. The speaker was very knowledgeable and sent a clear, strong message, that needed to be heard by everybody. Hopefully everyone took what he said into consideration and will become more cautious with their internet use. Who's changed their password to at least 7 characters? Who changed their password to 12 or more characters, and made it a word? Who went and got a password book? Who owns their own phone...?

Today we had a special presentation on Equity and Inclusion, which included messages about racism, homophobia, sexism, and other discriminatory practices.

The intermediate division all gathered in the library for a period where the teachers shared some personal stories, videos, slideshows and students played a game about prejudice. The presentation was interactive and students contributed to the conversation which was great to see. Our school has zero tolerance for discrimination and any student who is found to be discriminatory in any way, will be sent to the office immediately.

Here is one of the videos we watched today:

Love has no labels

Festive Activities:

The food drive has been a great success this week, please keep bringing in your food items!!! If each student could bring in 1-2 items, it would be wonderful! The food drive ends Friday. So far our class has collected 32 items (last counted this morning). Keep it coming, each item= 1, 15cm piece of duct tape to tape me to the wall...

We are entering the school's door decorating contest, if anyone has any extra holiday decorations they could donate to our door, that would be excellent! Thank you in advance.

Candy cane grams have been on sale all week, they end Friday so hurry and get your's soon!

We have been learning holiday music on the Glockenspiel.

Some students have chosen to participate in a class Secret Santa exchange on the last day of school. Students are to bring in a wrapped gift with a value of $10 or less. Gifts will be placed in a pile, and then we will play a game to determine which gift they will get. This was optional.

We have been thinking of ideas for the last day of school, some include bringing in food, watching a movie, having lots of social time, board games, narrative reading contest, pyjama/onesie day, dress-up in X-mas wear etc. We will narrow down the ideas and let everyone know ASAP. It is for sure red and green day school-wide.

Students must be finished all work from the term in order to participate in this final celebratory day before the holidays.

Also, Thursday December 17th is crazy sock day. :)

There is a parent/guardian meeting tomorrow, Thursday, December 10th at 6:30p.m about the grade 7 trip to the Canoe Museum in May. If you aren't able to attend and you have questions, you can email Ms. Cornwall (the other grade 7 teacher) and she would be happy to answer any questions you may have. 

Only 7 school days left, ahhh! The countdown for the holidays is on! :)

Presentation tonight

Hi everyone,

There is a presentation on digital citizenship for parents/guardians with Paul Davis tonight from 6-8:30 in the school gym. He is an excellent speaker and addresses schools and parents all over North America, and works with the OPP, Airport security, etc.

His messages about social media and cyber safety are very relevant and important to today's society and I highly recommend that at least one member of your household attend. He addressed the students today but would like to communicate his message to parents/guardians as well, and help make you aware of some of the dangers, threats, and other issues with the internet, and what you can do about it. Students are welcome to come tonight but must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

Hello

Hello,

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend,

On Friday we did our patterning and algebra test, some still need to finish their test, they will be given time tomorrow to do so. We will be starting another unit on Number Sense tomorrow which will take us to the holidays.

We also had a special presentation of holiday music by the Orillia Youth Symphony Orchestra. It was a great way to get into the festive spirit!

Afterwards, we had some literacy time, then in the afternoon we had finish up/free Friday and followed by Gym- our last day of Fitness with the 12 minute run and some dodgeball as a reward! Many of the students worked very hard and challenged themselves during the fitness unit and saw significant improvement on their fitness levels! Great work everyone!

The Food drive kicks off tomorrow. We have a class challenge, that for every non-perishable item brought in, the students will earn a piece of duct time about 10 cm long...and at the end can attempt to duct tape me to the wall! Start bringing in those items, let's work together to help our community!

We also have a door decorating contest happening this week, judges will be around on Friday. Tomorrow we'll be brainstorming ideas to make our door the winning one!

Progress Reports go home Friday.

Less than 2 weeks until the break!

Tomorrow we have: Math, French, Literacy, History, and Music! :)

Music Test Friday Dec. 11th on note names, note values, dynamics, and tempo, as well as Glockenspiel playing test, on any chosen piece out of 4 selections (you will find out what they are tomorrow).

Today, tomorrow, and a few sample math test questions!

Hi everyone,

Today was a very productive day!

We had a math review for our patterning and algebra test tomorrow

Here are some sample questions:

Grade 8's:

1. Grade 8 students are setting up rows of rectangular tables for an outdoor picnic. The tables can seat three people on each side and one person at each end.
a.) Draw a diagram and complete a table of values to help you develop and algebraic equation for the number of people that can sit at a row of "n" tables. Define your variables.
b.) Use your formula to find how many people can sit at a row of 13 tables.

2. Solve this equation: 3x-2=x+4

Grade 7's:

1. Susan is looking after the neighbours' cat while they are on vacation. She is given a choice as to how she is paid.
Choice 1: Get 10 cents the 1st day, 20 cents the 2nd day, 40 cents the 3rd day, 80 cents the 4th day, and so on.
Choice 2: Get $75.00 today.

The neighbours are away for 10 days.

a.) Complete a table of values that shows the money she earns for choice 1.

b.) Graph the data in the table.

c.) With which method of payment will Susan get more money? Explain.

2. Evaluate each expression by replacing "w" with 4.

a.) 2w+10=       b.) w+4  =               c.) w +9 =
                                  2                           2

The students had drama today with Madame Poisson.

For literacy the students worked on their independent novel studies and narratives. I also worked with the grade 8's on an algebra lesson.

After recess students were able to finish up the geography test from yesterday, finish any unfinished health posters that were due Tuesday, and work on their math project.

We had art at the end of the day, students are creating positive and negative space artwork. Here are a couple of samples of the beginning stages:

Can't wait to see the final products!

Food Order forms and digital citizenship/cyber bullying presentation forms went out today (they were poorly photocopied but the original orange form should have gone home last week). Please bring those back ASAP- final due date is December 8th.

Also, exciting news! The grade 8 selections for the year end trip were tallied today...and most students/parents &guardians selected the 2 day Toronto excursion. Details on payment schedule will be sent home soon but the first $50 will be due sometime in December. 

Start collecting non-perishable food items for the food drive! Tomorrow we're going to set-up a food drive challenge and set a classroom goal. Let's all work together and help out our community in this time of giving!

Tomorrow we have: math patterning and algebra test, French, Literacy, Finish up/Free Friday, and Gym (our last day of fitness), come prepared! Fitness goal setting and tracking sheets are due.

Bonus: A couple of answers for the geography tests!

Grade 7's:

Question: People interact and respond to challenges and opportunities presented by the physical environment. Describe 2 interactions between the physical environment and humans (e.g., humans build dams, and levees to prevent flooding).

Possible answers:

Humans design buildings suitable to their climate region and or suitable to withstand a natural event such as a tornado.

Humans build irrigation systems to be able to farm on otherwise inhospitable land.

Specialized economic development such as resource towns are set-up in areas rich with natural resources such as ore, or tourism in areas of natural beauty or with a desirable climate.

Grade 8's:

Question: List 3 ways human settlement has affected the environment:

-air pollution from vehicle and industrial emissions
-soil contamination from pesticides
-deforestation and loss of habitat from expanding settlement
-loss of agricultural land to urban sprawl
-water pollution from industry
-human waste

Intermediate girls basketball team

Just wanted to update everyone, the girls basketball team won their first game and will play in the finals at 5!

Food Order forms/Digital Citizenship and Cyber Safety Forms

Hi everyone, I'm at a workshop today but wanted to let parents/guardians know that food order forms for January will be sent out tomorrow and are due back by December 8th. They can also be completed online in which case, you don't need a form. Additionally, an orange form was sent out last week about a digital citizenship presentation in the gym on December 8th. It needs to be returned otherwise students will not be permitted to attend the presentation. I will have both of these forms available to students tomorrow. Lastly, the grade 8 trip selection form is due back tomorrow, Thursday December 3rd. Please bring this back so your voice is heard! Thanks very much. 

Vimy Ridge Info Night for interested Grade 8's, opportunity to travel to Vimy Ridge and other sites in Europe in April 2017!

Dear Grade 8 Parents,

On April 9^th 2017, Canada will be celebrating the 100^thanniversary of the battle at Vimy Ridge in France. The Orillia Schools (Orillia Secondary School and Twin Lakes Secondary School) are planning a trip to provide students with this once in a lifetime opportunity to participate in this significant commemorative ceremony. The Canadian, British and French governments have all pledged to participate in the ceremony. In fact, approximately 10,000 participants are expected. Our school community is very much looking forward to being present for this historic moment. Additionally, our tour provider, EF Tours, has organized for us to visit historically significant sites in the Netherlands, France and Germany. As this trip is taking place in April 2017, we do not want the Grade 8s to miss out on this amazing trip of a lifetime that will take place during their Grade 9 year.  

Why Vimy?

On April 9^th 1917, one hundred thousand Canadian soldiers from across the country fought shoulder to shoulder together for first time as one unit under a Canadian General. Prior to this, the four Canadian regiments were mixed with other British and allied regiments. Significantly, the Canadian soldiers accomplished that which both the French and British armies failed to do – capture the strategic position of Vimy Ridge. This great military victory of WWI led to a sense of nationhood and is in fact seen as the birth of our nation.  

Info Session

On MONDAY DECEMBER 7th at 7:00pm we are hosting an information session at TWIN LAKES SECONDARY SCHOOL to share more details with you about this exciting trip. EF tours will be sending a representative to present important information and to field questions. Please join us. We look forward to seeing you to discuss the possibility of your son/daughter participating in our school excursion next school year.

Vimy Ridge Link 1

Vimy Ridge Link 2

Grade 8 Geography Test Sample Questions

Grade 8 Sample geography test questions:

11.      Australia has a population of 19 million and an area of 7 682 000, what is the population density of Australia?

22.      What type of population density does Canada’s North have?

a.)    Moderately large

b.)    Populated

c.)     Concentrated

d.)    Sparse

33.      Many of the World’s largest cities exist near a major water source. What is one reason why people like to settle near water?

44.     Before 1800 most people lived in rural areas. What major event caused people to begin to move into cities?

55.      What is life expectancy? List 3 factors that effect life expectancy.

66.      Problems occur when people hold different views about what land use decisions should be made. Poor planning can result in land use conflicts. Name 2 examples of possible land use conflicts.

77.     If you were a world leader, list two steps that you would take to improve agriculture in order to produce more food for people who are hungry.

Grade 7 Sample Test Questions

Grade 7:

1.       What landform process is the Pacific Ring of Fire known for?

2.       The Earth’s _________ is a thin, brittle shell broken into several pieces called plates, and floats on the mantle.

3.       What scale is used to measure the strength of an Earthquake?

4.       What is Pangea?

5.       What kind of rock is present in shield regions? Name one example of a shield region.

6.     What is global warming and what are 3 effects of Global Warming?

Test Questions

Hi Everyone,

I just got home from a great workshop in Barrie about nutrition for grade 7/8s! Thanks for being patient waiting for a few sample geography test questions to be posted. I am going to work on posting those now.

Also, today when I asked who views my blog, 2 students raised their hands...I realize that it hasn't been updated every day and there was a period of time when I wasn't able to update it due to work to rule, but, let's try to make a habit of viewing it every day from now until December...to monitor this, I will have daily questions posted for students to answer the following day. I'm sure Mr. Finney will have a blog or something similar when he returns in January, so it's good to get into the habit! Thank you for your co-operation.

Tomorrow I will be away at a Student Success Symposium in Barrie for intermediate teachers. As a teacher, I am learning constantly, and love to further my learning at conferences and workshops throughout the year. Mr. Kerr will be supplying for me. I know you'll be on your best behaviour!

You will be working on your data management/healthy eating/healthy school assignment! We have the chromebooks signed out throughout the day so you and your partner will be surveying your class 1st period on google forms  then working on your graphs on google sheets/google docs. You will have time to work on this throughout the day, including a computer lab period at the end of the day, so it should be finished by the end of the day tomorrow! :) Remember, grade 7's, you must include a circle graph and a frequency table, and your other 3 graphs/charts are up to you. Grade 8's, you must include a histogram, and scatterplot, and your other 3 graphs are up to you. If you can't gather all of your information from google forms, you may use a traditional pencil and paper survey, but you should try using google sheets to gather as much information as possible. I will have handouts available tomorrow to guide you through the process, help each other out!

Stay tuned for the geography questions...

Tuesday December 1

Hi everyone,

There will be a grade 7/8 geography test tomorrow, Wednesday December 2nd. Please study your notes. The test will be open book.

There will also be a grade 7/8 patterning and algebra quiz on Friday.

Please take the time to study for both quizzes.

Today is an optional re-take day for anyone who got below a 70 on the most recent math test or below a 50 on the science test. The re-tests will be taking place at both recesses.

Please come to class prepared with assignments on time and learning materials, and study for tests.

Students need to bring a change of clothes and appropriate footwear for gym class. Failure to do so will result in them sitting out, therefore, not participating and losing marks. We are preparing the 7/8s for high school and it is their responsibility to be prepared for gym class.

Health posters are due today. If students have not completed their health poster, they are required to stay in at recesses to finish it or bring it home to finish.