HSP 6/7/8 - Week of February 17-20

We are using the Novel The Breadwinner to connect with both English and Geography.

English / Geography:

- Vocabulary building
- Summarizing skills (please see post from last week for homework ideas)
- making connections (text to text, text to self, text to world, text to media...) to the story to increase understanding
- connecting to Drama (small groups) to demonstrate connections between characters in the story
- using Atlas to locate Afghanistan, the countries surrounding, the climate, etc.

Math:

Finishing up data managment

Students should be prepared to take an open book test next Tuesday. They are reviewing in class to help prepare. Students are encouraged to complete work from older blog posts, showing their work for each step.

NN and EK have already done their test. They will be preparing to start the next unit.

7B Summarizing - for February 17, 2015

Summarizing effectively and concisely is an important skill. Here is what we are working on in class next week:

This is How to Summarize

SOMEBODY - tell who the main characters in the story are and describe them

WANTED - what was the main character trying to accomplish or achieve in the story? What was the goal?

BUT - what or who was standing in the way of the main character's goal? What was the problem?

SO - what major events happened after the problem arose?

THEN - how did the story end? How did the problem get resolved? Tell the conclusion.

This week....the students in 7B will be applying this to the Fractured Fairytale that they have chosen in class. They will be applying this to an upcoming Media / Fable assignment (to be posted at a later date).

HOMEWORK - please have your son/daughter read an article in the newspaper / online newspaper and use these categories to begin to identify the important information. Then, using only that information, write a detailed paragraph summarizing the original article.

7B The Creation Of Man - Focussing on Elements of a Narrative

The students read the Native American Legend, The Creation of Man to investigate and analyze the characteristics of a Narrative. Here are the questions presented in class:

PLEASE REMEMBER: Answer each question in complete paragraph form. Please refer to blog post from November on "How to Answer Questions"

1. Describe 2 character traits about Coyote's personality. Use examples from 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 the story? Why do you think so?

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

Updated Math Homework for HSP 6/7/8

Math Homework: Tuesday, February 10, 2015


JK, BL, SP, RJ, YG:

Questions about Pictographs

Questions about Pictographs 2


EK, NN, MN, NB, SK:


MEAN, MEDIAN and MODE

Mean: the average

To calculate the mean, add the numbers together, then divide by the number of numbers

3+7+11+9 = 30      30 divided by 4 = 7.5


Median: putting the numbers in order from smallest to largest and finding the middle number

3, 7, 9, 11 middle number is between 7 and 9 is 8

Mode: the number that occurs most often

60  73  80  73  51        73 is the mode

Mean, Median and Mode 1

Mean, Median and Mode 2

7B Friday, February 6, 2015 - Update and Homework

We are beginning our Narrative Unit. Please read the following work and then complete the CHALLENGE question at the bottom for homework:

The Camel and the Mouse by Rumi

One day an untended camel was approached by a mouse. "Let me lead you," the mouse said. Since the cam had nowhere to go and no one to protect him, he agreed to follow the mouse.

Taking the camel's halter in his hand, the mouse began to march the camel across the wilderness. It wasn't long before they came to a swift and angry river. The mouse pulled back from the shore, but the camel stepped into the water. It was up to his knees.

"Take me up on your shoulders and carry me across the river," the mouse commanded, "or I will drown."

"You should have thought of this before you tried to become a leader," the camel answered, and marched across the river by himself.


The Oh So Grand Ox, and the Poor Pathetic Frog By La Fontaine

One day an ox, having wandered far from his home, came to a pond that was filled with water lilies. He did not notice the croaking frog who was trying very hard to get his attention. Although the ox heard the croaking, he had no idea what it meant, or even who was doing it. He was too busy admiring the water lilies.

Meanwhile, the frog -- who had never before seen a creature so large or majestic, so proud or mysterious, or so strange -- found herself growing larger and larger in an attempt to be noticed. Croaking and puffing, and puffing and croaking, she sprang from her lily pad to the shore, but she still couldn't get the ox's attention.

Finally, the frog began rolling on her sides, and twisting her head this way and that, to see if she had been noticed, until her outer skin was so completely filled with hot air that she exploded.

The ox looked down to see what had made such a noise, but the frog, of course, was no longer there.

CHALLENGE: The moral of a fable is sometimes directly stated at the end of the story. Decide how you would express the moral of each of the two model fables. You may write: The moral of (insert title) is...

HSP 6/7/8 TERM 2!!!

After the craziness of the end-of-term work collection / finish up, we are up and running for Term 2! Thank you for your patience :)

English: We are beginning Persuasion. This will take many forms: 

Point-of-View
For / Against charts
Vocabulary building (word choice to make what you're saying effective)
Letter Writing

Our focus will remain: AUDIENCE - Who is your audience? What is the best form for that audience? What is the most effective language for that audience? 

Homework: Students are to continue reading short stories, novels, etc. at home to build vocabulary and practice the skill of reading. We visit the school library on a regular basis, where students are given the opportunity to check out books. Alternately, a family visit to your local public library is an excellent opportunity for you to be included in the book-choosing experience and become more aware of your child's reading interests. Especially if your child is reading books in a series, I encourage you to take out your own copy and read it in order to promote discussion.


Math: Students are working at various levels / topics. Please refer to intials for each student's suggested homework. 

JK - Finding basic information from Graphs

Homework: Questions about Graphs

BL, SP, RJ, YG - Finding information from Graphs

Homework: Questions about Graphs

MN, SK, NB - Math Makes Sense - Interpreting Graphs - answering questions about various types of graphs and inferring what the results mea

Homework: Questions about Circle Graphs   Questions about Broken Line Graphs

EK, NN - Looking at Bias in Data from Surveys 

Homework: Bias in Data

7B Procedural Writing Assignment

The students are working in class to create an accurate, precise Procedural Plan. They will be making a PowerPoint to present this to the class. They will receive a Writing, Media and Oral Presentation mark for this assignment. DUE: January 26, 2015

1. Success Criteria for Procedural Writing / Power Point Presentation

I can…

∙state the goal in an introduction (2-3 sentences…make it interesting and catchy)

∙list all of the materials with diagrams / visual aids

∙write the steps in a clear, chronological order

∙use strong, precise language (be specific)

∙add simple visual for every step with labels where appropriate (can be photographs)

∙show the finished product

∙write a conclusion that summarizes: Did it work? Why or why not? (1 paragraph)

∙create a vibrant, eye-catching power point presentation at school (1 slide each for: Goal, Materials, each Step, Conclusion)

2. Evaluation Rubric

Criteria	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
	1-         1           1+	2-         2           2+	3-        3          3+	4-        4           4+
Writing	- An introduction is poorly completed or missing - A list of materials is included - Many steps of the procedure are missing or lack detail - The conclusion is poorly completed or missing - Student rarely uses correct spelling and grammar in their procedure (9 or more errors).	- A simple introduction is included - A list of materials is included with a minimal number of diagrams/visuals - Steps of the procedure are missing or lack important details or visuals/diagrams  - A conclusion is attempted by the student - Student sometimes uses correct spelling and grammar in their procedure (6 - 8 errors).	- A good introduction is used for the procedure - A list of materials with diagrams/visuals is included - Most of the required steps are present with good details - A good conclusion is used for the procedure - Student uses correct spelling and grammar in their procedure most of the time (3 - 5 errors).	- An attention grabbing, creative introduction is included - A list of materials with diagrams/visuals and labels is included - All of the required steps are present with specific details, strong vocabulary and proper terminology - A strong conclusion is included - Student regularly uses correct spelling and grammar in their procedure (0 - 2 errors).
	1-             1                  1+	2-                2                      2+	3-                3                     3+	4-                  4                     4+
Media Production	- Most of the writing is NOT in an easy to read font OR colour that DOES NOT contrast the background - Has difficulty using effective animations and transitions, they ARE distracting - Very few slides are neatly organized and most are NOT in a logical order - Rarely uses appropriate visuals for the materials and steps of the procedure	- Some of the writing is in an easy to read font and colour that contrasts the background - Sometimes uses effective animations and transitions, most of them ARE distracting - Some slides are neatly organized and in a logical order - Minimal use of appropriate visuals for the materials and steps of the procedure	- Most of the writing is in an easy to read font and colour that contrasts the background - Regularly uses effective animations and transitions, most are NOT distracting - Most slides are neatly organized and in a logical order - Regularly uses appropriate visuals for the materials and steps of the procedure	- All of the writing is in an easy to read font and colour that contrasts the background - Always uses effective animations and transitions, they are NOT distracting - All slides are neatly organized and in a logical order - Always uses appropriate visuals for the materials and steps of the procedure