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! :)