What comes to mind when you hear the words “famous monument”? The Statue of Liberty? The Eiffel Tower? The Empire State Building? Big Ben? Or do you think of monuments left behind by ancient civilizations, such as Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum or the Great Pyramid of Giza? Although many of us are fascinated by these structures, few of us realize that they are more than just tourist attractions! Over the past few weeks grade 7s have been learning about monuments that were spiritually significant for ancient civilizations. In our research, we discovered that Delphi was an important Greek religious sanctuary sacred to the god Apollo, the ziggurat was part of the religious architecture found at the centre of Mesopotamian settlements, and the pyramids were built to prepare pharaohs for the afterlife. These monuments still exist today even though they are over 2000 years old! After learning about the religious significance of these monuments, we then used our creative thinking to build and then share our 3-D models. Canada has a long tradition of welcoming refugees and in recent years we have welcomed over 40,000 Syrian refugees into our country. After reading a recent non-fiction article, we were surprised to find out that refugees also cross the border illegally and seek asylum. Some even risk their life as they trudge through snow and cross the border into Canada. Who knew? Many of those seeking asylum are from the Middle East or from Latin America and are worried about the changing political climate in the United States. While reading the article, we learned about the Safe Third Country Agreement and the strain on border towns that don’t have resources to support refugees. Should we take people from the US when they’re not facing the same challenges as people in Syria, the Middle East or Africa? That’s a tough question that required us to think from different perspectives. We needed to fairly look at both sides while completing a yes and no chart and then we used that information to form our own opinion. We’ll be sharing those opinions next week in a class debate on this very issue. It was busy week preparing for our grade 7 farewell assembly! Here's what we were up to:
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It’s hard to believe that there’s only two weeks left of the school year. You wouldn’t know it from everything we’ve been up to! It’s Speech Fest time again!! We've been spending time in class coming up with good ideas, writing drafts, giving & receiving meaningful feedback, making revisions and practicing our speeches. Here's an example of our peer assessment: That’s a lot of work!! Our first speech presentations have begun and it’s been great to hear such a variety of different topics, including 5 secrets of Disneyland, the mystery surrounding Malaysian Airlines flight 370 and life with twin brothers. Speeches will continue next week so stay tuned! We’ve just finished learning about Data Analysis & Probability, so we had fun exploring different First Peoples games that use chance. Our favourite was "Picaria," a game that requires problem solving and critical thinking as you try to outwit your opponent. After participating in a variety of different improvisation activities in class and being audience members at a high school drama performance, we've realized that drama involves taking creative risks! We've also learned the importance of facial expressions, body language and tone of voice when trying to convey a message. It was time for us to become actors – and to show what we’ve learned. All of our scripts were mock trials – and we had a variety of different familiar characters, including Humpty Dumpty (suing the King for the personal injuries from his fall), Luke Skywalker (charged with destruction of the Death Star), Superman (charged with mischief) and Harry Potter (charged with second degree murder of Professor Quirrel). It was great to see everyone take on their roles, accompanied by costumes, accents…and a great sense of humour.
Mother Nature was working in our favour on Games Day!! Although we had a touch of rain while getting our stations set up, the rain didn’t last long and thankfully the sky began to clear. We all arrived early to grab our equipment and get our stations set up in the lower field. We had already done a run-through of our stations to make sure that our instructions were clear and that we had everything we needed. We also made revisions to smooth out any wrinkles and we looked for different ways to adapt our stations to suit all ages. When the action began, we showed excellent leadership, team spirit and enthusiasm while working with younger students. When we had a few minutes to spare, we got house teams to practise their cheers. The highlight was the tug-of-war between grade 7 house teams!! Oh, and in case you’re wondering, black won. :)
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AuthorWe are a curious group of kids who are excited to share our learning with you! Archives
March 2020
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