Hovercraft

Hovercraft from last year

Star LAB Friday Oct 28,2011

STAR LAB


On Friday we had the pleasure of spending the morning in the Star Lab with Mr. Waldron; the Grade5/6 Teacher. Mr.Waldron shared his knowledge of  the history and origins of the stars and constellations of Astronomy. He explained how most of the constellations originated from the ancient Middle Eastern, Greek, and Roman cultures. That they identified clusters of stars as gods, goddesses, animals, and objects of their stories. How each star formed a pattern or picture like Orion the Great Hunter, Leo the Lion, or Taurus the Bull.


Just before lunch Mr. Yves Bousquet our Principal of Fairhaven School shared his knowledge that was given to him by First Nations Elders. He shared the Indigenous perspective and their origins of the stars and constellations . The constellations we learned about were the Lizard Constellation, from the Native American-Navajo Culture and the Spider Web Constellation of the First Nations-Cree & the Anishinaabe-Ojibway Culture.

LA
In Language Arts we have read half way through the Novel "No Time to Say Goodbye" by Silvia Olsen which is about 5 children who were sent to residential school. Through this novel the class is learning what it was like for students who attended Residential Schools. The students have read up to page100 and and are working on Post #7 on their EDMODO student accounts. We watched an Interview with Authur Fourstar a former Residential School Survivor. Later the students discussed the the similarities and differences between the Survivor-Arthur Four-star to the characters within the Novel. They worked on a handout comparing and contrasting the characters to Authur.
Social
I am teaching about the different Worldview of the British ( Western) and First Nations Cultures in relation to the Treaties and the perspective that both groups were coming from. Using the example from the Star Lab we examined the different worldviews of the Roman & Greeks to the Aboriginal Worldview of the stars and the origins of their constellations.  We listened to a oral story The Coyote and The Stars that I shared using Vocaroo (it was my first time using) which was made into a children's story. The story is about how the stars and constellations came to be with the help of the character named Coyote. This Native American story is derived from The Navajo Nation. If you click on the Vocaroo tab you will be able to listen to the story. 






Math
In Math - I worked with the the Grade 7s  on a handout where the students had to show fractions using pattern blocks while Mr. Catton taught the Grade 8's. We ended the day Sock Wrestling which was my first time playing and alot of Fun! It was a good day as everyone was excited that it was Friday and the weekend. The  Grade 8's students planned a Halloween Dance fundraiser for their After grad party.


Hope to See you there! Mrs. Nelson

Update - Wanuskewin Field Trip

Wanuskewin Forms & Fee$


 The Gr7/8 class will be going on a field trip to Wanuskewin Heritage Park on Nov2, 2011. The park is located just outside of Saskatoon. In Social, I have started the Unit on Treaties and the first topic is examining the  First Nations people and British (Western) people historical worldviews. Wanuskewin is a historical park that teaches about the cultural, spiritual and archaeological side of the First Nations people of Saskatchewan. The class and I are excited to go on a field trip and since this is my very first field trip as an Intern Teacher I think I am more excited then they are. 

Students need to bring $3.50 for the trip. We will be taking a bus to and from the park. I sent a letter home last week with the details of the trip. If a parent/guardian can sign the letter and send  it back with your son/daughter this would be appreciated. Once I have the itinerary for the day's event I will post it to the blog. 


Students may bring along some extra spending money for the restaurant and gift shop! Make sure your son/daughter is dressed for the weather as we will be going outdoors for some of the activities.Students may pre-order a meal and I will send forms home tomorrow. I encourage students to pre-order their meals before hand. If you are able to print off the menu and fill it out and send it back to school tomorrow this would help. We are still in need of two chaperones and if you are able to volunteer we would greatly appreciate it! There would be no admission cost for the parent volunteers. Thank you in advance. 


Mrs. Nelson

Important After-Farewell Announcement by After-Farewell Committee

*****ATTENTION GRADE 8 PARENTS*****

As part of the gr. 8 after-grad fundraising, the students are delivering doorknockers in the College Park Area of the city. We have to deliver 10,000 of these before Nov. 1. They will be paid $1200.00 for doing this and the money is going towards their after-grad party at the end of June. This is a big job and it is crucial that all of the students participate in helping.  Mr. Catton has graciously given us some class time for some of it. Thursday, October 27 we will be leaving the school at 11:30 and returning to the school by around 3:00. We have 4 parents going along to supervise, but it would make it even better if we could possibly get another 4 parents to help drive kids over to the east side as well as help supervise. Unfortunately, 3 hrs will not be enough time to deliver them all, but a good portion should get done. We are asking if you would be available in the evening this week either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday to possibly take your child or a couple of gr. 8 students and go out to deliver some. It would really help. We have 27 map areas to cover and the organization we are delivering for will be checking the areas we work on to ensure that the doorknockers are indeed being delivered to guarantee that we get paid for this. So, if you can please help out in any way at all call Connie Shelley at 202-9084 or 979-8837 and we can get you set up to go.  Thank-you very much.

The kids are also holding a halloween fundraiser in the gym on Saturday, October 29 from 1pm-4pm. They have volunteered to stay after school Friday to decorate and set up the maze. We have also asked them to bring in decorations that can be used for Saturday and they will be brought home on Saturday afternoon once everything is cleaned up. We are asking the kids to be at the school on Saturday by 12pm to allow time to make popcorn, get all the lights going, etc. If you are able to come and help us Friday after school with decorating or Saturday during the event and with clean-up afterwards, that would be great. Every little bit helps. We are doing all of this to raise the money to cover the kids for after-grad. The more money we raise, the less you, as parents, will have to put in at the end of the year for your child. Our hopes are to raise enough this year so that no one has to pay out of their pocket. So please encourage your child to help with these fundraisers and come spend some time with your child and the other kids from their class and have some fun.

Lastly, a couple of weeks ago, the After-Grad Committee sent home a letter with your child listing some options for the after-grad. We needed it signed by a parent and returned so we know what to book for the kids. We have only received 7 out of 17. Please return them and if you didn't receive 1 let either Mr. Catton or Connie Shelley know and we will get 1 out to you. Thank-you.  There will be more notes to follow about the other fundraisers we have planned.  All of the participation from the students and the parents will go a long way.

Thank-you!                                                                                                                                                              Grade 8 After-Grad Committee

Gr. 7/8 Math- Cooking with Fractions

                                                        

Gr. 7/8 Math- Cooking with Fractions

Your last party, where you served apple crisp, was such as success that your friends have been hounding you to host another party.  You’re happy to do so, but now you feel a little stressed since you are pressured to do something even better than the first party.  You decide to go out and buy your first cook book and you start flipping through the pages.  After a lot of contemplating, you decide on the 2 recipes below.  The only problem is that you have invited 12 guests and the recipes make either 6 muffins or 50 cookies.  You decide you only want each guest to have 1 muffin and 2 cookies since you don’t want them to overstay their welcome.  Which of the 2 recipes do you have to ½? Double? Explain.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Makes 6 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
•  3/4 tsp baking powder
•  1/2 tsp  baking soda
•  1/4 tsp salt
• 1 eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup mashed bananas
• 1/6 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/8 cup chocolate chips

Preparation

1.    In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2.    Mash bananas in small bowl with fork

3.    Beat eggs; blend in buttermilk, oil and vanilla with bananas. Pour over dry ingredients. Sprinkle with chocolate chips; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

4.    Spoon into greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Bake in centre of 375°F (190°C) oven until tops are firm to the touch, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes; transfer to rack and let cool.

NEATLY rewrite the Chocolate Chip Banana Muffin ingredients below so the recipe will serve 12 people

Smartie Cookies

Makes 50 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup	butter	250 ml
1 1/2 cup	brown sugar	375 ml
2 tsp	vanilla extract	10 ml
2	eggs	2
2 1/4 cup	all-purpose flour	550 ml
1/2 tsp	baking powder	2 ml
1/4 tsp	salt	1 ml
1 1/2 cups	SMARTIES candies (about six 50g pkgs)	375 ml

Preparation

Step 1: In large bowl, beat softened butter and packed brown sugar until creamy.  Beat in vanilla and eggs.

Step 2: Beat in flour, baking powder, and salt.

Step 3: Drop slightly rounded tablespoons about 5 cm  apart onto greased baking sheets.  Flatten cookies slightly and press 5 SMARTIES into top of each.  Bake for 8 to 9 minutes.

NEATLY rewrite the Smartie Cookies ingredients below so the recipe will serve 12 people

Conversion Table

1 cup= 250 ml
1 tablespoon= 15ml
1 teaspoon= 5 ml

____________________________________________________________________________

Baking Groups

 

Reflections:

Again, the students did a great job!  As I told the class, there are not many grade 7/8 classes of 30 students that could pull this off.  All 32 of us, along with some teachers from other schools who were observing, were crammed in the staff room during this activity.  It could have lead to disaster, but instead was an authentic learning experience where students used their understanding of fractions in 'real life' situations.  This is extremely important for many reasons.  Below is a summary of what the students told me they took from this experience:

• understanding  +, -, x and /  fractions is very useful in the real world
• it's really important to use proper reading strategies when you are cooking because it's easy to make a mistake....and for your food to taste gross
• it's important to understand units of measure because a tsp of salt is a lot different than a cup of salt
• when cooking, it's way more effecient and quicker if you're able to model/visualize fractions compared to using a process/pencil/paper
• when working in a group, it's important for everyone to feel valued and for the group to communicate and be organized
• can't wait to do it again!!!

Taste-test Winners- (Thanks Mr. Waldron)

 

No Time to Say Goodbye-ASSIGNMENT LIST

POST Assignment List


Post  1- title
Post 2 - portray a character pg  1 -20
Post 3 - portray a character pg 20-36
Post 4 - portray a character pg 36-55 
Post 5 - portray a character pg 55-67 This is due tomorrow Oct 25, 2011
Post 6 - portray a character pg 67-82
Post 7 - portray a character pg 82-100
Post 8 - portray a character pg 100-117-This is due Thursday Nov 2, 2011

 

Today Oct 24, 2011

Read Pages 82-90 (We will be working on Post#6 & 7 ) Just a note that the school will no longer have computer time until the Star Lab is finished date Nov 2nd, 2011. Get as much as you can finished and use your time wisely!

Writing Process for EDMODO

Pre-writing
o   brainstorming
o   planning
Writing
o   rough copy
Editing
o   punctuation
o   spelling
o   sentence and paragraph structure
Publishing-good copy
o   neatness

Wanuskewin Field Trip

Wanuskewin Heritage Park Field Trip

Dear parent/guardians,

Just around the corner, Mrs. Nelson & Mr. Catton grade 7/8 class will be going to Wanuskewin Heritage Park on Wednesday, November 2^nd, 2011.  The cost of the trip will be $3.50 per student. In Social studies we have started the Treaty Unit. I Mrs. Nelson was employed as an Interpretive Guide throughout the summer for the last 10years at the park. I know first hand that this will be a great learning opportunity to experience First Nations Culture. The students will learn how it was to live and survive off the land. The students will also learn the traditional ways of the Plains Cree people. We will be renting a bus to travel to and from the park. What’s important now is finding 2 parent-volunteers for the trip to go ahead. If you are able to volunteer, please contact Mrs. Nelson via email (nelsonte@spsd.sk.ca). It would be great if we could have the 2 parent-volunteers.  Thanks in advance.

The Tour Package includes:

·         DVD Presentation (20min)

·         Access to all Trails, Exhibits, Galleries

·         Plus any two programs OR 1 Module

·         Traditional Dance Performance when scheduled

·         Min of 12 required to for Tour packages

*Chaperones with Groups FREE

It is essential that Adults\teachers are present during the tour. They require one adult for ten students in our group. Your assistance will be needed to prepare and distribute materials, monitor students, to provide a speed you the use of equipment and most importantly assist in cleanup. Chaperones are also expected to assist in monitoring the tour group and ensure that the artwork and walls are not touched. Please remind your students prior to your arrival and during your visit that the works of art must not be touched.

   

Here is a link to Wanuskewin Heritage Park

                                http://www.wanuskewin.com/seeking-knowledge/plan-your-visit/ 

*Any help you can offer is great appreciated! Please remind your children prior to your arrival and during your visit that the works of art must not be touched.

                                                                                                         Mrs. Nelson & Mr. Catton

D-Day: Juno Beach

From what we have learned so far about D-day, specifically Juno Beach, one can only imagine what the soldiers were thinking and what they went through during the days up to and on June 6th, 1944.
Assignment
Your assignment will be to take the point of view of a Canadian soldier who has either already taken part in the attack of the Nazis on Juno Beach or is about to take part in the battle the next day.  You have the choice of presenting the feelings of the soldier by either writing a letter to a loved one, doing an interview (you'll need 2 people in your group to do this) or what ever other way you can think of.  The most important thing to do is to present from the soldier's point of view and display a lot of empathy towards the soldier.  In order to make your presentation feel real and authentic, you must be knowledgable about what events occured during the the time that lead up to June 6th, 1944.

Once you have decided what you are going to do, it is now time to start planning out your project.  Optional: Use BubblUs-Mind Mapping so you are able to have everything planned out ahead of time.  When you are done planning out your presentation, you are to embed your BubblUs on your blog.

Now it is time to start putting your ideas to work and to start writing them into complete sentences.  If you are writing a letter make sure you use the proper format for a fireindly letter and if you are interviewing a soldier, make sure your questions are planned out and answered from the point of view of a World War II soldier.

Science-Undertanding Tension Force

Tension Force-The force of pull supplied by strings, ropes or chains

Where do we see tension force?

Above are some examples of tension force.  One is also a great example of unbalnced force when the girls ruled the boys in one of the tug o' wars.

POP QUIZ- Science Ch. 8.1-FORCES

POP QUIZ

Tommy Douglas Dance Partnership

Tommy Douglas Dance Partnership

Our school is very fortunate to be participating in a dance partnership with Grade 11 and 12 students from Tommy Douglas Collegiate.  These students will be teaching dance to the Grade 8’s on nine occasions during the next two months, our first session beginning on Monday, Oct. 24. This session will be hosted in the dance studio at Tommy Douglas with follow-up sessions occurring at Fairhaven.

We will be leaving Fairhaven at 9:30 to walk to Tommy Douglas. Please remind your child to dress for the weather. Students will also need light clothes that are appropriate for dance, so there may be a need to change clothing upon our arrival at Tommy Douglas.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Ms. Horsley-Dewar

Mrs. Nelson

Magnetic Force- Meglev Train

Meglev Train-How does it work?

Writing Process-EDMODO

L.A.

No Time to Say Goodbye -EDMODO

Remember to edit your post. Have a classmate read over your post and then upload it. If you see mistakes-after you have posted you can go to the corner of your post & scroll above the pen -click on the edit (pencil symbol) Some of you are using text messaging lingo-don't! 

 I am really impressed at how well many of you have stepped into your character's role. Most of the posts are well written and the character is portrayed convincingly-Good Job! To portray a character well, it helps to use feelings, thoughts, and actions of what you imagine the character to be like. Make sure to bring in specific events that relate to what is happening in the story.

Assignment List for EDMODO Posts...

               
                  Post #1- predicting from title

                  Post #2- portray a character -pg 1-20

                  Post #3- choose a different character to portray- pg20-36

                  Post #4- portray a different character- pg36-55
                          remember you may reply to other student's post-positive remarks
                  Post #5-portray a character-pg55-67 -

Writing Process for EDMODO

Pre-writing

·        brainstorming

·        planning

Writing

·        rough copy

Editing

·        punctuation

·        spelling

·        sentence and paragraph structure

Publishing-good copy

·        neatness

Mrs. Nelson

EDMODO Post #3

 Monday Oct 17th , 2011

L.A

Students worked on

Just Read- No Time to Say Goodbye novel

                    -Read silently in LRC pg 36-55. 

 finished their EDMODO post #3 from pg20-36. choose a different character to portray & remember

   ....edit.... edit..... edit......

    Due-EDMODO post #3 is due tomorrow Tuesday Oct 18th 

     EDMODO Post #4  - finish reading pg 36-55 and we will have time in class to work on

SOCIAL

Unit-Treaties


I, Mrs. Nelson have started teaching the Treaties unit in Social Studies. We will be focusing on the European Worldview and the Aboriginal Worldview  throughout Canadian history.


 Mrs. Nelson

Homework-EDMODO

EDMODO Post #2 past due- No Time to Say Goodbye-Novel -Thursday Oct 13. -Mrs. Nelson

           Have a good weekend!

Forces-The Segway

Forces

A force is the push or pull that acts on an object. Watch the video below on The Segway Centaur and answer the question, "How does the Segway use forces to move/turn/stop?"



Assignment

1. Find a partner who you work well with and that you haven't worked with before
2. Using the Internet as a resource and Google docs as the presentation device, answer the following questions and present your findings in a interesting and effective manner.
1. What is a Segway Centaur?
2. Who invented it?
3. Explain how the Segaway Centaur uses forces to work
4. Compare a Segway Centaur to a car.  How is it better than a car?  How is it not as effective as a car?
3. Be sure to have a bibliography on your Google docs slide show

Some good resources are:
howstuffworks.com

Seway's homepage

Any other ones you can find

Homework

Math

• quiz on adding/subtracting ractions

EDMODO Writing Process Rubric

No time To Say Goodbye-EDMODO-post-

Writing Process –Rubric

CATEGORY	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Grammar	Indentation, Periods, commas, spelling mistakes and capital letter missing or improperly used.	Many periods, spelling mistakes, no indent, commas and capital letter missing or improperly used and did not indent.	Some periods, spelling mistakes, indented, commas and capital letter missing or improperly used.	All grammar is appropriate and complete.
Content (clarity)	Information is poorly written & inaccurate or incomplete.	Some Information is provided, but is limited or inaccurate.	Information is well written and interesting to read.	Information is accurate and complete is creatively written and is cleverly presented.
Length	Student wrote less than 3 sentences.	Student wrote 3 sentences	Student wrote 4-5 sentences.	Student wrote 5-7 sentences=1 paragraph.
Comprehension	1-2 Sentences, difficult to read and understand.	3 Sentences are clear and easier to understand.	4-5 Sentences  are clear and easier to understand.	5-7 or more Every sentence has  clarity and are easier to understand.
Feeling (expression)	The student included no feelings.	. The student attempted to write feelings.	The student wrote emotions felt, but did not include any supporting evidence	The student showed feeling and emotion. Portrayed a character convincingly.

Total = ____/20 marks