- Wednesday March 2 - Popcorn Day, Mystery Skype
- Thursday March 3 - Science World
- Friday March 4 - Park Clean Up 1:30-2:30
After several weeks of hard work, we finally got to share what we learned about the pro and cons of Giant Reed as biofuel, GMOS, tap vs. bottled water OR paper vs. plastic vs.cotton. It's been several weeks of developing research skills using non-fiction text, using credible primary & secondary sources and making reasoned judgments. Some groups chose to present their information on a poster, others chose Powerpoint or BookCreator. Giving students a choice in how they presented really allowed them to take ownership. With the support of our Aboriginal enhancement worker, we explored texture and value (elements of design) while we made printing plates out of cardboard. Our first step involved cutting out our base, followed by adding texture to our plate by combining and gluing rippled paper, string, and cardboard to our base plate. As we were working, we realized that our print would be a reflection of what we designed so if we wanted to include our name, we needed to make it backwards. Once we made our printing plates, we used a brayer to roll on ink. The amount of ink we used affected the lightness or darkness (value) of print, so we tried to vary what our prints looked like. Our goal is to create four prints that all have different value and we'll then use felts or pencil crayon to add colour. Consider it a work in progress :) We kicked off a new unit in Reading this week. Prior to starting our class (modeled) novel, we had great discussion related to the inquiry question of this unit: "how do my choices shape me?" We shared our ideas about whether or not events in our lives influence our personalities and whether or not our personalities change over time. Then we made some predictions (using clues - the title and the front cover) to make predictions. We've not gotten far in the novel, but we've discovered that the main character (Timothy) in House Arrest is dealing with a lot of challenges. We've had some directed lessons about how to monitor our comprehension (rereading, keeping track of major events) and how to build our metacognitive skills, such as making inferences "read between the line" and asking deep-thinking questions. The story has grabbed our attention so we're looking forward to finding out what happens! On February 24 we wore pink to show our support for the CKNW Orphans' Fund anti-bullying program. It's a perfect reminder that although we're all different, we all have the ability to include others and to demonstrate kindness. Upcoming Dates:
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Over the past few weeks we’ve become experts at plotting coordinates on a Cartesian plane in our unit on transformational geometry. We’ve used several different tools to help us graph, translate, rotate and reflect several different 2D shapes. So it was time to share our learning! We worked in groups to capture videos of ourselves using Math vocabulary (lots in this unit!), demonstrating how to plot points on four quadrants of the graph and giving examples of transformations. Creating an iMovie also allows us the opportunity to create, collaborate, and share, rather than simply consume (what happens with a test). Here are a few examples of what we came up with:
Tennis got off to a great start this week with Tennis XL. We’ve learned some basics, such as holding and swinging the racquet. We’ve also had fun competition running around the gym while balancing the ball on our racquet and passing the tennis ball back and forth to a partner. Although the drills seem simple, we’re building some great skills while demonstrating respect and fair play. Who could ask for anything better? We had a great discussion and brainstorming session about what influences our own personal eating habits. It is sometimes surprising just how insightfully aware kids are (they are fully aware that many of us eat out of boredom and that higher quality food is more expensive). We then began exploring magazines to see how marketing can influence us. There were some great questions being asked (why do food ads also show people exercising?) and observations being made (these photos make me hungry because seeing food “stimulates my endorphins” –Ryann). Yes, an insightful bunch of kids. Looking forward to more great discussions ahead. Student Highlight of the Week This week's highlight :) Upcoming Dates:
When we use information on the Internet, we often overlook the importance of citing the source of that information. Many of has have copy and pasted photos or pictures that have then been used in presentations and we’ve not even thought twice about it. In actual fact, we can’t do that. That’s copyright infringement. A photo or picture is someone else’s work and we don’t have the right to use it, unless they say its ok. And if they say it’s ok, we need to give them credit. Thankfully there are great websites, including Wikimedia Commons, that have free media files which we can use (with some restrictions). Sukhman and Simrein found a photo that they wanted to use on Michael J McGuire’s website about drinking water. We contacted him via twitter to ask if we could use his photo in a presentation. He gave us permission can use it…and will give credit of course. Knowing that our environmental inquiry unit is coming to an end, we brainstormed different ways to share our learning. Here are all the ideas we came up with: This week we chose how we would present and then were quick to get started. Many of us have realized that we need to use our time efficiently in order to meet deadlines, so you’d be impressed to see awesome time management. Our curiosity was clearly shown this week as we played and had fun with circuits. (In past, I’ve often overlooked the value of allowing kids time to explore, but every time I do, I’m blown away by what they come up with. And this week was no exception). As soon as the wires and batteries were out, circuits were being made…and so were observations. Several were quick to point out that when we hook up a light to multiple 9-volt batteries, the light gets brighter. We also noticed that the battery gets hot quickly – the one closest to the battery gets the hottest. Who needs a formal lesson when kids explore, observe, test and learn? More to come next week as we explore different ways to connect the wires (series vs. parallel). This week we got to celebrate Valentine's Day (who says grade 7s are too old !?!) by making cards with Mrs. Salary in French. We practised making sentences using "tu es." To end the week we got to play board games and have fun in class. Student Highlight of the Week Here's what's coming up:
We’ve been working hard gathering information for our inquiry on an environmental issue. One of the criteria for this assignment is to include credible information from different sources. There's lots of information out there, so we need to need to be mindful that both primary and secondary sources can be biased. Thanks to the Internet, we have quick and easy access to lots of different secondary sources (especially newspaper & magazine articles, websites, YouTube clips, etc.). Some of us initially assumed that all websites were secondary, however we quickly realized though that some websites (such as the City of Surrey or Biofuel Net Canada) are primary sources. We’ve also gotten answers to many of our questions via twitter (another helpful source of primary information). The City of Surrey was quick to respond to our questions about tap water in Surrey, @GMOjournal gave us links to helpful websites about GMOs and @CulliganNation gave us some information about the source of our drinking water. One group phoned BullDog Bag Ltd. (a wholesale bag manufacturer in Richmond) to ask if chemicals (such as bleach) are used when making paper bags. It’s been a great week of gathering information. Next week we’ll be working on citing sources. We finished up our public service ads, inspired by Bell Let’s Talk’s “End the Stigma” ads. Couldn’t resist sharing what students came up with.
We made series electrical circuits this week to brush up on what we already know about electric current. We knew that a circuit needs to be closed to allow electric current to flow. After a brief discussion about insulators and conductors, we needed to experiment to find out what which objects are conductors and which are insulators. Groups worked collaboratively to make simple closed circuits that connected two wires to a battery and light bulb. They then chose items (such a rulers, pop can, hair, paper, etc.) to see if the objects allowed the current to flow and allow the light bulb to light up. Students were quick to make observations and draw conclusions. Many noticed right away that metals allowed the flow of electrons, but wood and paper didn’t. Lots of exploration with circuits to come! We ended the week by taking part in the 2nd annual Global School Play Day and had an afternoon of simple, unstructured play (no screens, no devices, no structure). In our busy lives filled with devices of all shapes and sizes, we overlook the benefits of play. It was a fun afternoon filled with all sorts of different activities – playing with board games & puzzles, making a fort out of blankets, passing a football outside and playing with Playdoh and many others. It was a fun afternoon that ended our busy week. Curious about the value of play in schools? Click here to learn more. It was Armaan's last afternoon at our school, so we made sure to take some great photos with him. Armaan, we are going to miss you! Enjoy your new school and we'll see you soon :) Student Highlight of the Week |
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March 2020
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