7A English

This week, the students are completing an in-class analysis of a Narrative. The story is called "The Creation of Man" - a Native Tale. The students were given 5 questions to answer:

1. Describe 2 character traits about Coyote's personality. Use examples form the text in your answer.

2. When and Where do you think the story takes place? Explain.

3. What is the main conflict in the story? What type of conflict is this? How is the conflict resolved?

4. What is the climax of this story? Why do you think so?

5. Identify 2 morals from the story. Explain why you think these are the morals.

To help the students improve their ability to answer questions, they were asked to use the following Success Criteria:

Success Criteria For Answering Questions

• Use full sentences and proper paragraph structure
• Re-word the first part of the question in your answer
• Answer the question in detail, give specific examples from the text (facts)  and your own ideas (opinions)
• Make your own connection to the text by comparing and contrasting
• Your writing is organized legible and stays on topic
• Give a reason for your answer, explain why you think the way you do?
• Use strong/advanced vocabulary
• Use proper spelling and grammar

When we return from Winter Holidays, we will begin the process of planning, writing, editing and revising our own Narratives. Further details and assignment outline to follow in January. 

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and restful holiday!

Week of December 16-19 6/7 E-1

We are almost at Winter Holidays!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of our families a very safe, happy and healthy Holiday! It is an absolute pleasure working with you and your children :)

Here is our week at a glance. Included are some holiday homework links to keep the students busy :) There are both Printable and Online activities. Should you need to print at school prior to the holidays, please ask your child to talk with me about logging on to the blog in class and printing to our classroom printer. All requests will be accommodated!

English - Students are finishing our first round of Grammar work. We have studied:

Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs, Writing Complete Sentences

Online Activity - Verbs: Tutorial, Activities and Game

Online and Printable Activities - Types of Sentences

                                                                                       

History  /  Social Studies

Grade 6 - Students should be finished Map of Syria and surrounding countries.

Work to do: Please take opportunities to read the world news in either newspaper or on an online source to find out what is happening now in that part of the world.
Questions to ask:
Has the conflict continued? Worsened? Resolved?
Who is now in power?
What happened to all of the people displaced earlier in the year?

Grade 7 - Students completed their Chapter 2 Test. When we return to school in January, the Grade 7's will look at the final years of New France. You can begin to read online about the following topics:

The Great Peace of Montreal, 1701

The Loss of Acadia

The Seven Year's War, 1756-1763

Some excellent sources for personal, at-home reading / viewing include:

You Tube Videos: At school, we use Canada: A People's History. These can be found on You Tube at the following link:
Canada A People's History Episode 2  This is where the Grade 7 History text begins. It is an excellent series - a very visual presentation of our Text. From there, I would suggest Episode 3 - Claiming the Wilderness and Episode 4 - Battle for a Continent. I would not view past this, as the students will be unfamiliar with the events.

PLEASE NOTE: We will be going on and the role the Gibson Family played in the events. More details to follow!

Math - we are working on ELAPSED TIME. Students create timelines and are becoming more proficient every day. Homework can be found here:

Elapsed Time  Please go to Elapsed Time section. There are several questions that would benefit students to complete found in the 5 minute intervals and 15 minute intervals for Max. 5 hours. There are more challenging questions for the students to complete found in the 5 minute intervals and 15 minute intervals for Max. 24 hours section.
*It is HIGHLY recommended that the students draw timelines on a separate page, as we did in class, to show their work for the questions found here.

6/7 E-1 - Week of December 9 - 13, 2013

6/7 E-1

This is a very busy week!

On Monday, the students voted and chose to do a Secret Santa. Each student who chose to participate has a name and a small list of items for ideas for their gift to purchase. The limit is $10 - please try to spend close to that, without going over. *I have a master list of names, in case the students forget.

The date of our Secret Santa Gift Exchange is Thursday, December 19th. 


English - Students are finishing up Grammar work. Most are working on identifying and creating complete sentences, with some students working on more complex sentences using "connecting words".

Students will be doing a "test" on Friday - identifying nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and writing complete sentences.

Here are a few examples:


Math - We are quickly reviewing the basics of time (telling time, relating minutes-hours-days-weeks-months-years, etc.). Based on proficiency, students will progress through passage of time (i.e. hour intervals, 5 minute intervals, random minute intervals, then mixed hour and minute). This task will require loads of patience, as it involves precise work.

Social Studies (6) - Students are finishing their Map of Syria and surrounding countries. When this is complete, the students will have a short Test, using their Reading Text to support their answers.

(7) - Studying and preparing for the upcoming Test.

7A English - Week of December 2 - 6, 2013

7A English

1. This week the students received a Reading / Writing / Media Assignment

English Writing Assignment - Comparing The Mirror to Dove Evolution

Materials: Student copy of The Mirror, YouTube video for Dove Evolution:

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS TO BE COMPLETED IN YOUR MEDIA LOG

Task:

1. Write a paragraph for each Media Text, summarizing the main idea for each. (What are they about?) (1 paragraph for each text)

2. Write a paragraph to make connections between the Media Texts. Refer to: morals, characteristics or other features (main "character", etc.). (1 paragraph)

3. A statement is made at the end of the story and the end of the commercial.

a) Identify the statements. (write the statements)

b) Write a paragraph to identify the connection between the two statements you identified in part a). (1 paragraph)

This assignment is to be completed in the Media Log (sent home) and is due: Friday, December 6, 2013. It is a short assignment. 

2. In class, the students chose a Fairy Tale to read, analyze and identify Elements of a Narrative. The stories are not the "usual" versions of Fairy Tales. Choices include: Fractured Fairy Tales, Aboriginal Tales, Fairy Tales from other cultures.

Graphic Organizer – Story Map for Narratives

Setting:                                                   When/Time:                                                     Where/Place:

Who/What/Where/When/How/Why – Use the 5 senses and JUICY descriptive words!!! Major Characters: Minor Characters:

Problem/Conflict/Issue/Struggle/Opposition:

What happens? Plot/Events/Rising Action/Movement of the story:

Resolution/Conclusion/Most exciting or decisive moment/Moral:

This task will be completed by the end of the week. 

Looking forward to next week...

We will begin examining development of both Setting and Characters. Students will use the 5 Senses and descriptive vocabulary to describe fictional settings and characters (based on visuals).

Math Test Prep and Homework - December 4, 2013

As we are working to attain our PLATINUM Eco-School status, we are asking that you only print the pages that you will be using. Thank you!

Place Value Review

Please refer to the following Place Value Chart, which is like the one we used in class.

Here are practice pages for identifying place value - what place is underlined, what is the VALUE of the digit? (i.e. 4321 - the hundred's place is underline, the value is 300) These are just examples. You can find several practice pages for each topic on www.mathdrills.com

Identifying Place Value 1
Identifying Place Value 2

Identifying Place Value with Decimals

Writing numbers in Expanded Form

Expanded Form Practice

Expanded Form with Decimals Practice
Expanded Form with Decimals Practice 2

Please message me via Student Agenda / Planner or by telephone at school if you have any questions!

7E-1 Grade 7 Test Prep for History Test December 11, 2013

Format of test:  Multiple Choice, Matching, Labeling (see #1 below) and simple short answer (i.e. List 2 positive and 2 negative interactions between the French and First Nations / Aboriginal). History Test Will Include the Following: 1. Heirarchy of New France: This is taken from the diagram in the text and in student notes.  King Viceroy Minister of the Navy Governer of New France                                                                                 Intendant Governors of Montreal, Quebec                Sovereign Council                        Intendant's representatives  and Trois Rivieres                                                                              in Montreal, Quebec and Trois                                                                                                                    Rivieres Captain of the Militia Citizens Who was on the bottom? (please see vocabulary below for specifics) Indentured Servants Criminals Slaves  First Nations 2. Mercantilism and the goods sent to / from France  This is taken from diagram in the text and in student notes. Please see definitions below for Mercantilism and Triangular Trade. France imported (received) the following raw materials from New France: furs, wood, fish In return, France exported (sent) the following to New France: manufactured goods France imported (received) the following raw materials from Antilles: sugar, rum, tobacco, molasses In return, France exported (sent) the following to Antilles: manufactured goods New France exported (sent) the following raw materials to Antilles: fish, flour, peas, wood In return, Antilles exported (sent) the following goods to New France: sugar, rum, tobacco, coffee, molasses 3. Interactions between French and First Nations As we have read and discussed, there were many positives and negatives as a result of the the newcomers arriving in what is now Canada. Here is a copy of our chart: French and Aboriginal Interaction           Positive                            Negative - trade between French and First Nations benefited the French economy and provided many useful items for Aboriginals -French learned survival skills from Aboriginals inter-marriage between French and Aboriginals -Inter-marriage between French and Aboriginal people created a new, officially-recognized group of people in Canada: Metis -Trade caused conflict among Aboriginal people as they competed for the right to trade with the French -religion-Aboriginals resented attempts by the French to replace their spiritual beliefs with the Roman-Catholic religion -French introduced diseases for which the Aboriginals had no defence: smallpox, flu; many Aboriginals died -French introduced alcohol to the Aboriginals and this negatively affected their ways of life 4. Vocabulary: Chapter 2 Definitions
Hierarchical Society	A society in which there are distinct levels of status or authority.
Viceroy	A person who oversees a colony on behalf of a monarch
Intendant	A high-ranking government official.
Sovereign Council	The body appointed by the governor to administer New France.
Commoner	Someone who is not born into the upper classes of society.
Clergy	People trained to lead religious organizations.
Bishop	A high-ranking Church official, usually in charge of a district or diocese.
Diocese	A geographical area in which all the churches of a particular denomination are over-seen by a bishop.
Parish	The area served by a local church.
Lay Organization	Religious organizations run by people who are not clergy.
Census	An official count of the population, including information such as occupation, gender, age, religion, and ethnic origin.
Indentured Servant Mercantilism Triangular Trade	A person who is under contract to serve their employer for a set time, doing hard labour for very little pay An economic system in which a colony provides the parent country with cheap raw materials and buys manufactured goods in return. An economic system in which a colony could trade only with its parent country or with other colonies from the same country.

6/7 E-1 Week of December 2 - 6, 2013

6/7 E-1

Language:  We are continuing GRAMMAR basics this week. The focus this week is: Pronouns, Adjectives, Adverbs and Verbs. The students will be building on previous work (Nouns and Pronouns) to put it all together to write COMPLETE sentences!

The unit will end with a practical application of the skills to date (Thursday, December 12).

Math: First group is ending decimals...test on Friday, December 6. Students will use their skills in place value, decimals and fractions. This will be an OPEN BOOK test, just in case the students require a reminder. All questions on test will be taken from their classwork.

Second group beginning TIME - review of analog clock.

ALL STUDENTS WILL BE WORKING ON ELAPSED TIME BY THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK.

Grade 6 Social Studies: Students are continuing to look at the conflict in Syria to develop Critical Thinking skills. They will participate in discussions and hands-on activities to help understand the development of the issues to date. Students will also use an atlas to colour and label a map of Syria and the surrounding area.

Grade 7 History - Outlining the Mercantilist System of Trade

Students have identified the Triangular Trade route between France, New France and Antilles. Students have identified the products imported and exported from France.

Students will be studying for an upcoming test (Wednesday, December 11). Study sheet to be posted on blog this week.