March Updates

Dear Parents,

I hope you aren’t getting stuck driving on the wonderful streets of Regina!  I know I say this in every email but I can’t believe how fast the this year is flying!

Upcoming Events:

Just a reminder that the grade eights have their farewell pictures tomorrow.  There is no need to dress up, as they will be wearing a gown provided by the photographers.  They just need to ensure they have no food on their face and that their hair is just the way they like it.  The pictures will be in the morning and will be done by lunch time.

The grade eights will be going to the Do It With Class presentation of The Wiz next Thursday, March 15^th.  There is no cost to this performance as our class was sponsored with free tickets.  This is a great opportunity for the grade eights to attend and fits in with our Arts Ed curriculum:  CR8.1 Respond to a professional dance, drama, music and visual art work through the creation of own arts expressions.  Students will need to bring a lunch for this day as we will be eating around 11:15 am at school and boarding the bus at 11:45 am to attend the performance.  We will be back at school around 3:00 pm.  Mrs. Lutz will be joining us for this play and I have one more ticket if a parent would like to attend.  First person who responds will get to join us!

On Friday, March 16^th we will be going downhill skiing.  Although we thought there might not be enough snow on the hill, this dump of snow will help!  If you child was originally unable to go last time but is able to attend now, we can make sure that they get another form to fill out.

Curriculum Update:

ELA

We are right into our No Limits Digital Book Club unit with the other schools.  The students have completed their first week assignment and received a mark for this assignment.  The students have had two live chats with their book clubs and they have proven to be successful.  I have heard many positive comments from the students on how they are enjoying blogging about the novels they are reading.  The blogging really focuses on student writing and representing the main ideas from the novel.  The live chats focus on current events and making connections back to their novels.

Math

We are in the middle of learning about multiplying and dividing fractions.  We will be finishing this unit up next week.  Students will be writing their test either Wednesday March 14^th or Thursday March 15^th.  Students will have the opportunity to practice with IXL at school but also are welcome to practice at home too.

Science

We are learning about viscosity, density, mass and volume.  Students are learning how to find the density of an object, how to measure volume and how to measure mass.

Progress Reports

Progress reports will be going home on Tuesday March 20^th.  We will be having round two of student/parent/teacher conferences on March 21^st and 22^nd from 4:00 – 7:30 pm.   Conference Manager is now open for you to book in for your conference.  It is my hope that students have been staying on top of handing in their assignments.  I will have a good idea of what I am missing from students after next Monday and will be reminding them all next to week to get things in.  If students have an excessive amount of late assignments, I will make sure to call you and let you know as well.

Grade Eight Farewell

I would like to start gathering a baby picture and kindergarten picture of your child for the PowerPoint for the Farewell Celebration.  If you could email that to me that would be great.  If you have hard copies that you would like me to scan, just send them in and I will make sure to scan them and return them.

Jodi Carignan-Olson will be sending out an email this week about the Farewell Party.  If you have not given her your email yet, unfortunately you won’t be receiving those updates so please make sure to give her your email address to stay in the loop.  

I think that sums up what I needed to say.  WOW, this is one of my shorter emails:)

Take care and safe travels on the roads.

January Updates

Welcome back to a New Year!  I hope you had a great Christmas and were able to spend time with your family.  We are into the second half of the school year and I can’t believe how fast the first half has flew by.  I guess that’s a good thing because it shows that I’m not dreading coming to school and teaching this group of grade eights. :)   We have a lot of things happening in the next part of the school year.

ELA

We will be finishing our unit on Greek Mythology.  Students were introduced to an activity in which they are creating a mixed beast that would be important in Greek mythology.  They are writing a poem and legend for their mixed beast.  They will then be creating a digital project with the assignment.  I look forward to seeing the final product. 

Our next unit is called “No Limits” it is exploring how people stretch their limits.  The unit is a digital book club unit.  Basically what this means is that we will be doing this unit with three other schools.  Students will be each assigned a novel that has to do with the theme of “No Limits”.  In their book group, their will be students from the three other schools.  (St. Matthew, St. Augustine, St. Josaphat)  Students will be required to read a section of their novel each week.  Then they will be involved in a Live Chat (on a secure site) each week with the members from each of the school who are reading that book.  Each live book chat will be supervised by a teacher who will lead the discussion.  The students will then respond in the live chat to the questions that have been posed by the teacher which has to do with current events in which everyday people have pushed their limits.  They will also have an opportunity to discuss the book they are reading.  The second part of the unit will require students to “blog” about their book and complete assignments about the section of the book they read.  The assignments will relate to the reading strategies.   I have done this type of digital book club for the past couple of years with other schools and the students really enjoy it.  During our live chat sessions it is dead silent, except for the clicking of keyboards as students type their responses.  It is pretty amazing to see the students so focused and engaged in the activity.  If you have any questions about this inter-school unit please let me know.

Next Better than a Book Report will be due February 5^th.

Math

We are currently learning about Surface Area.  This can be a bit more of a difficult unit for some because it does require students to think in 3D. 

Science

We will be wrapping up our Water Systems unit and moving to Fluids and Density for our next unit.

Grade 8 Farewell

It is that time of year to start thinking about Grade 8 Farewell!  Hard to believe I know!  We will having the meeting on Wednesday, February 17^th from 6:00 – 7:00 pm in the library.  During the meeting we will go over particulars of the farewell. 

Miller Spend A Day

It is also that time of year to start thinking about high school!  Miller is our feeder school and therefore, a guidance counsellor will be coming out next Friday on January 19^th in the morning to discuss with the students a bit about our Miller Spend a Day that will take place on February 6^th.  Students will come to school at the regular time on Feb. 6th day.  We will leave shortly after 9 am.  Miller will be providing lunch for the students so they do not need to bring a lunch.  We will return around 2:30 pm.   Whether your child is planning on going to Miller or another high school, this day gives your child an opportunity to see what high school life is like.  Attendance is expected even if your child isn't going to Miller.  If your child will be out of town, no worries, I will ensure that they receive all of the information that they need to know about the registration process etc.  I will send out an email closer to the date with any additional updates.

Downhill Skiing

We will be going downhill skiing on February 7^th.  A letter was sent home yesterday with your child, letting them know about this day so please make sure that you got the letter.  We specifically chose to go during the middle of the week to avoid tournaments and such.

Humanitarian Project

We have a student in grade eight who has a great opportunity to go to Peru and volunteer in an orphanage.  The group that she is travelling with is collecting items to put in two humanitarian suitcases.  I thought it would be cool for the grade eights to help out with this great experience.  I have attached a list of the items in the email that I sent to you.  If you have any of these items at home, please feel free to send them to school.  We will collect the items and then the student will be able to take these items to give to the orphanage.   Below is a bit more detail of what kind of condition the items from the attached list need to be in and other ways you can help donate if you choose to.

They are looking for items such as used children's glasses frames, used back packs,  flip flops in good condition and insulated lunch kits new or in used in good condition. They would take any of the items on the attached list (no outdated medical supplies) or donations to purchase items. If doing donations they take cash or cheques payable to R.R.M.R.R.  All donations of $20.00 or more are eligible for a tax receipt for charitable donation. However, they would just be happy and grateful to get people's used items that they no longer have use for but are still in good condition to fill the two suitcases.

I think that wraps up another long winded update from me!

November Updates

I hope you had a great weekend and were able to spend some time with your families.  It looks like we are officially in winter mode!  I have a lot of information to share with you so put your feet up and have a read through my email!

Assessment Folders and Progress Reports

Students are bringing home their assessment folders today.  You will find assignments in various subjects that have been corrected in their folders.  Attached to the folder is a checklist of all of the assignments that students should be bringing home.  The purpose of this is to let you know how your child is doing.  Some of the rubrics for the assignments can be found in the students’ OneNote.  So if your child didn’t get a chance to print off the rubric, then you can have a look at the rubric in the online version of OneNote.  Please sign the checklist and have your child return the assessment folder by Friday.   At the end of next week, students will bring another set of assignments that have been corrected home and will follow the same procedure.  There are few assignments that I am hoping can be included on the first Progress Report and therefore, students may find they have a few more assignments that are due next week.  However, if students are using their class time well, then they should not be too swamped at home trying to finish the assignments.

Don’t forget to sign up on Conference Manager!  I look forward to seeing you at conferences.

How to Read the Rubrics

In Math, I have included what the students mark was on their assignment and then attached a rubric as to where they are at in the area of Not Yet, Beginning, Meeting or Enriched Understanding when it comes to the outcomes.  This is more difficult to do in ELA and some of the other subjects to give a specific mark. So you will notice that there is no “out of” mark on their ELA assignments but it will show how they did on that particular outcome.  For example, they may have got an M in one outcome, an M in another outcome and then a B in the third outcome for that particular assignment.  Each outcome has been entered separately into the progress report.  More explanation of this can occur at Student Involved Conferences.

ELA

We are currently doing our first persuasive essay.  This is a formative assessment in that it will help me understand where students are at in their writing and what we need to work on.  Last week students learned what a persuasive essay is. They had the weekend to come up with a persuasive topic.  Today they started researching their topic.  We will be using the rest of our ELA classes this week to complete the essay as it needs to be done in class to get a true representation of where the students are at in their writing.

Next week we will begin our new unit on Greek Mythology.  Students usually love this unit as it explores the creative aspect of writing and representing.  A couple of favorite projects include creating Pandora’s Box and creating a Mythological Beast.  Students are introduced to graphic novels in this unit.

Math

We are finishing Unit 3 on Pythagorean Theory.  This is one of my favorite units because it dives into formulas and applies math concepts to the real world.  Students will be having their math test next Wednesday. Our next unit is on Understanding Percentages. 

Agribition

Each year in November, we have the opportunity to attend Agribition with our Kindergarten buddies.  We will be going to Agribition on Tuesday, November 21^st for the whole day.  Students do not need to be at school for the regular school day and we will return for 3:35 pm.  Students will need to bring a bagged lunch for this day.  Most likely students will want to wear “clothing” that they are okay with getting a little smelly and dirty.  This is such a great day for the grade eights.  They get to be leaders for their kindergarten buddies as well as learn about an important part of Saskatchewan’s economy.  I am very conscientious about ensuring that curriculum outcomes are taught and I’ve been able to find connections to our Science unit on Water Systems on Earth so it will definitely include a day of learning for these students.

I think that covers everything so far for this month. Don’t forget to check out “The Important Dates” in the blog for the events happening this month. 

October Update

October is here already.  It seems like we just started school not that long ago.  We are getting back into the routine of school.   This will be another long winded email as I have a lot of things that I would like to explain to you about the new marking system and progress reports.

Gymblast
When we were at Outdoor Ed, we started to plan as Grade 8 leaders for Gymblast.  Gymblast will take place this Friday, Oct. 13th in the morning.  Students are to dress in their group colour.  We will be in the gym all morning enjoying team building activities with the grade six and seven classes and showing off our leadership skills.

ELA
We are still doing  Telling One's Life Story unit.  Students have created their Adobe Spark stories called My Life in 30 Words.  We will finish up this project this week with any students who have to still record their voice.  Still left to complete in this unit is finishing the novel that I have been reading to the students called The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen.  Students will be also reading a couple of short stories that involve some deep issues such as self esteem and responding to these stories with questions and reflections.  Students have completed the RADs which is a reading assessment that involves making predictions, finding main ideas, making inferences and making connections.  I will be taking some time this week to go over the RAD with the student so that they can look towards setting some goals.  I find it is nice to do goal setting around this time as they have had the chance to receive feedback from the assignments that they have completed so far and therefore can set some realistic goals for themselves.

I will also be going over Better Than a Book Reports with the students this week so that they understand the expectations of book reports in grade 8.  I have a tab on the blog for this so students and parents are welcome to look at this to get an idea of the expectations.  I like doing book reports with the students because it requires them to read which for some students I know that they may not enjoy reading.  It also requires students to work on their writing skills by creating an interesting book talk to go with the book report.  It also helps to improve students speaking and presenting skills because they need to present their project and book in front of the class.

I will also be taking some time to teach students about persuasive writing and students will have an opportunity to complete a persuasive writing piece on whatever topic they choose. Other than picking their topic, this will be done during class time.

Math
We completed our first unit and students will be getting their tests back on Tuesday.  We are currently learning about Ratios, Rates and Proportional Reasoning.  I provide a lot of opportunities for students to practice the concepts that they are learning in Math and so you will probably find that if your child has homework, it is usually in Math.  My goal is that they will go into Grade 9 feeling confident with the concepts that they have learned in Grade 8.  There are many concepts to teach in Grade 8 and therefore, to stay on top of things, I do find that math homework is common for many students. 

How's My Child Doing
At the end of every month, students will be bringing home any of the assignments that I have corrected and returned to them. (I didn't do this at the end of September, so they may be bringing things home at the end of this week) Your child may have already told you how they did on the assignment but this will allow you to see first hand how they are doing.  You may find that sometimes there are more assignments in some months and subjects than in other months and subjects.  The big thing to understand is that it is not about the quantity of assignments but the quality of assignments.  For example, in ELA this month the Adobe Spark video was a bigger project and took more time to complete.  So although you may only see two or three assignments in ELA it would be because it was a bigger project assignment which had a lot of quality to it.

In Health, you may not see an assignment at all in that month.  That is because Health has less minutes in a week compared to Math.  Therefore, we may be working an assignment a lot longer in Health because there is not as many minutes in Health.

When it comes time to putting pieces that students are proud of or pieces that the students need to work on in their portfolio, you will most likely have seen all of the pieces and won't be surprised by the marks your child is receiving and this is a good thing!  It will allow your child to talk more to that piece at Student Involved Conferences!

Marking and Progress Reports
As you are aware, marking and progress reports have changed quite a bit this year.  It is definitely a new learning experience for me.  This is why when I mark an assignment, I put a lot of thought and effort and analyzing into the assignment.   I also have been constantly chatting with the students ahead of time about how an assignment will be marked and include rubrics for marking.  I also explain to the students what does a Meeting and an Enriched Understanding look like.  I will usually write a comment to explain things a bit further on the rubric as well.

I understand that it is a new process for you as well as me.  If you have any questions at all, I would encourage you to make sure to call me.  I would actually prefer that you call me rather than send me an email.  It is much easier to explain the process in a phone call than in an email.  As you are seeing in this long winded email! :)

Homework Updates and Remind:
Now that I am using Remind, I will most likely update you about homework this way rather than going back to my blog and updating it that way in the homework tab.  I find it easier to update you about homework and projects through Remind. 

Hopefully in the future, my emails shouldn't be quite as long as this one but with the beginning of the year, there is a lot to say!

Enjoy Your Thanksgiving Day!

Welcome to my blog.  I will update this on a regular basis to keep you informed.  I will also be using Remind to send you quick messages and updates on homework and assignments that are due!  Each tab has some useful information so don't forget to check out each tab.