Hello everyone,
It's hard to believe that it will be June tomorrow! It has been such a busy year, and we will have so much in front of us over the next four weeks. First of all, a big thank you to all of you who supported your children and everyone in Grade 7 for the Entrepreneurial Fair. We raised $2428.25 because of your contributions. However, the comments we recieved that were the most rewarding were about how the students learned so much. We applied pretty difficult (but practical) math to our work, and the students did a lot of functional writing. It covered a significant portion of our curriculum, and hopefully it was a fun way of doing it. The last two weeks have been so busy with the Entrepreneurial Fair and then Camp Chief Hector, that this week was all about getting back into routine and tying up loose ends. Here is where we are at in the curriculum front: Language Arts Students have completed their Book Club books and are writing their final book club reviews. This is due this Friday. After that we are going to do another short story where we focus on mystery writing. This will compliment the Sherlock Holmes play at Vertigo that we are going to. Social Studies Final products for our CPR activity were completed today. We will me moving on to more modern issues in Canadian history, and examining the role that relationships with First Nations communities have in today's government and society. Math The students have been working very hard on Algebra. This is a very fun unit because it is easy to meet students at all different levels of understanding. Students have been working on problems involving substituting values into variables, single-step algebraic equations, and writing equations from word problems. We will have a unit test on this next Tuesday. After that we will be working on review and a final project. We have completed the curriculum so we will have time for a larger summative project. This is going to involve the students creating their own locked room, using a variety of questions on topics we have learned through out the year. It should be a lot of fun! Science For science we are completing an activity on plate tectonics and mountain building. Once this is finished, we will spend the rest of the year working on the plant unit and spending as much time outside in the naturalization area. This is the best time of the year to be working on it! It gives us a lot of freedom for sketching and for practicing observations. That is all for now! Brandie Good Afternoon Families,
Here are your updates for the past two weeks: Language Arts Students are finishing their book club books. After this the students will be writing a book review and deciding whether or not they would recommend the book to others. This also includes an examination of themes, conflict, plot mapping, and character development. Social Studies Students are working on a project where they will use visual representation to show their understanding of the CPR construction and the treatment of Chinese immigrants. Science We have been going on numerous community field studies to examine the Bow River, watching the water levels rise and considering the factors that lead to the water levels changing. We will be moving onto the study of techtonic plates after we return to Camp Chief Hector Math We have been going really hard on algebra. The students are doing an excellent job. Please ask your child how they did on the linear expressions quiz. The results among the entire class were excellent. Please see e-mail correspondences for updates on Hector and the Entrepreneurial Fair. Brandie Hello parents and caregivers,
Here is an update on what is happening in class! Language Arts: Students are fully emerged in their Book Club. Please talk to your student about the book they are reading? How they are enjoying it? What the predominant themes are? How they are documenting information (character growth, inferencing predictions, word work, etc.). This activity is going really well so far! It will culminate in the students completing a literature review. I look forward to see what they produce. Social Studies: Students have a unit test on the Metis People, the various battles that they engaged in with the Canadian Government, and the creation of Manitoba. Following this we will be examining expansion to the West , how Canadian's have depended on and utilized our natural resources, and the construction of the CPR. Math: Students are hard at work on our linear expressions unit. This also covered input/output tables, graphing , and linear relations. From here we will be moving on to solving algebraic equations. The work on expressions will also be used in the Business Plans for the Entrepreneurial Fair. Science: We are currently working on the Planet Earth Unit. This one is my personal favourite! We have studies fluvial processes, incremental change in landforms, weathering, erosions, and deposition, and glacial activity. Students are currently developing their own demonstration or experiment to show one of the physical processes we have learned about. They will be following the scientific method to create this work. Other Information: -May 3rd is Hats On for Mental Health - This is a day of awareness about Mental Health issues in young adults. Students are encouraged to wear hats to show that this is something they think is important to talk about. -The Market (Entrepreneur Fair) is on May 16th. All community members are welcome to come between 5 and 7pm in the evening. 7A Classroom updates
Hello parents and caregivers! As usual, we have been very busy in class and outside of it with extracurricular activities. Please see below for a quick summary! Math In math we are simultaneously working on multiple units. For the Entrepreneurial Fair (EF) students created a survey, and analyzed the data results. This covers our central tendencies unit (mean, median, mode, outliers), as well as looking at survey bias, sampling types, and the differences between a census and a sample. We are also starting to work on algebraic expressions, moving into graphing linear expressions. Currently this involves the essential background information, and then the knowledge will be applied by the students creating expressions and equations to graph their projected profits and break-even points for their financial summary in the EF. This is a lot of hard work, but is a pretty practical way to teach the curriculum! Science We are working on the Planet Earth Unit in science right now. There will be a unit test on May 9th. This unit will focus on scientific diagramming skills, and hypothesis writing (in addition to the curricular content). Students will also be completing some model building and working on using a key to identify different types of rocks. Social Studies In Social Studies were are on the post-confederation part of the curriculum. We are currently learning about the Metis people, the Red River Uprising, and the Second Metis Uprising. Students are in groups of 3 creating a seminar on one of the uprisings. They will put together a hand-out for another group and lead a seminar-type discussion for their topic. The focus here is on academic conversation and dialogue. Language Arts Students have all completed their TED talks. They did a really excellent job on these! Please ask your child how they did! Today we started our final novel study of the year. Students are in small groups, participating in a "book club". Ask your child what book they are reading and the way the novel study is structured! Field Studies All important dates have been updated on the main webpage and on my webpage. There are still more trips to come, so stay posted! Science Fair Congratulations to the grade 7's who participated in the Calgary Youth Science Fair. Their engagement and commitment to this work was commendable. Please see the weekly message for more details about this! Camp Chief Hector I apologize about the delay sending home the paperwork. I am waiting on some final information from the Camp in order to submit the paperwork. It will be out very soon! Mayor's Environmental Expo A small group of grade 7's have taken the initiative to work on a Langevin Bike to School project. This is being supported by myself and Mr. Yeo, and we will be presenting at the Expo on June 6th. If you are able to come visit that day and see the display and the work the kids have done, that would be awesome! Stay tuned for more information about this great work! Grade 7 Celebration of Learning The grade 7 celebration of learning will be May 16th. There will be a portion of the day where this is set up, and then it will be open to parents and families from 5pm - 7pm that evening. Students will be setting up a booth to showcase their product/service for Langevin's very first Street Market! We hope everyone will be able to make it. We will send out formal invitations and more information as we get closer to the date. Thank you all for your continued support, Brandie Hello parents and caregivers,
Sorry for the delayed post! It has been a whirl wind since getting back from winter break. We are back into things in full swing! Please check the main page for important events as well. Science - We have completed our structures and forces unit. Students built their own bridges, and designed their own buildings. We learned how to use really interesting technology like Sketch Up for the design component. Math - Since returning in January we have been working on perimeter and area of composite shapes. Students created an artistic project using their name, or a building design to demonstrate understanding. We have also started working on circle geometry. From here students will work on angles . Social Studies - Students completed a story map using GIS software to show the routes of different explorers and study their impact on aboriginal societies. This was an awesome project. The software was really cool to use, and has a lot of practical applications. Now we are working on creating history lessons based on significant events from the War of 1812. Language Arts - Upon returning to school students wrote a Newspaper article. We are now working on short stories. In between all of this students are working on grammar as part of our writer's workshop and our commitment to improving the quality of writing. Students recently have learned how to properly use quotation marks in dialogue, and how to use semi-colons. They are using both of these in their stories. It has been quite impressive! CTF - Students are working on a project where the create their own game. This is in line with the recreational leadership component of CTF. The games will be designed and then taught by the students. Options - New options were selected this week. Students in band are still continuing with this, and the rest of the students have selected a new course. Other news - The FinS (fish in schools program) has delivered our eggs. The grade 7's are responsible for monitoring and taking care of the tank! Many of our fish have already developed into Alevin and are moving around. It is really exciting! -Camp Chief Hector parent meeting is March 1rst. This meeting is mandatory. It is CBE policy that the teacher -in-charge (me!) meets face to face with all parents to discuss the itinerary and potential risks. If you cannot make this meeting, please e-mail me so we can reschedule. That is everything for now! Take care and let me know if there are any questions. Brandie Hello parents and caregivers,
Hopefully everyone is gearing up for a restful holiday! We have been very busy in 7A, so here is the most recent update: Language Arts: We have been reading, "A Monster Calls." This book is touching and suspenseful. The students really seem to be enjoying it. We have been learning about figurative language (Metaphor, Simile, and personification), and working on reading strategies like critically analyzing the text and making predictions based on context. We have also explored inferencing to make meaning of difficult words and to try to make meaning of an event. Social Studies: The students continue to work on their explorer project. We have been practicing map making skills and are using ArcGIS to plot events and information on a data layer in the software. We will be combining the research and the map-making skills to make a "Story-Map", where the information is embedded in the map. The program is really interesting and teaches the students very valuable technology skills. Please ask your child to show you what they are working on! The software can be accessed on any computer. Science: Students have completed their first major bridge-building activity. The results were excellent! They completed a self-evaluation, had peers evaluation them, and have presented their bridges to the whole class and to me. We are moving onto how materials and shapes impact the strength of structures, and will be applying this to various design challenges. Math: We have begun our integers unit. Students are currently in groups working on one question that they must examine in detail. They will be creating a step-by-step procedure to show how they are solving the problem, including two visual models, and will create hints that will help students remember the trickier elements of adding and subtracting integers. We are focusing on real-world applications and how to effectively communicate in math. I believe that is everything for now. Please let me know if there are any questions! Brandie Hello Parents and Caregivers,
Welcome to the Thursday update. This week has been another very busy one. Math: Students completed a task where they had a variety of shopping challenges at Luke's Drug Store. The intention was for them to engage in problem-solving activities involving adding, subtracting, and multiplying decimals. After completing that activity we did a lesson on dividing decimals. We will continue working on this, and order of operations. We will have a unit test (operations involving decimals, and relationships between decimals and fractions) next Thursday, November 16th. Science: We completed a summative task for our ecosystems unit where students created a mind-map with all of the concepts learned using a program called Go Conqr. It was a really cool learning experience and introduced the students to a new learning tool. From here we have started to look at different types of structures and are engaging in exploratory building tasks. Language Arts: Students have completed their summative paragraph showing their understanding of the Skeleton Tree. We have looked at some reading strategies through short stories, and are also going to be doing a mini-unit on grammar next week as part of our writer's workshop. The format of Writer's workshop is that I teach a mini-lesson on a concept, then we do one or two examples of it together, then the students do a couple of examples on their own, then they apply it to a writing practice activity. We will be starting our next book, "A Monster Calls" as a class novel study in the next two weeks. Social Studies: Next week we will be launching a Geography project in Social Studies. We will be using arcGIS mapping software using a program called Story Mapping. Students will choose an event from the curriculum and map the significant events connected to their topic and their importance using the software. We have completed some practice activities to introduce the students to the software, which have been really interesting! Other important notes: -The school Remembrance Day assembly is tomorrow from 10:30 to 11:30am. 7A has created a presentation that the students have worked very hard at. It is a message a peace. The entire presentation idea was generated by the students, so it is really special. We have a student accompanying the group on piano, and there is a student art component. -Next week is parent-teacher conferences. If you cannot make the conference times and would like to set up a meeting outside of the assigned times, please e-mail me. Hello Students,
I am really sorry I am away today. I was feeling very sick! I hope you have a great day at school. A lot of the information you will need for learning today will be outlined here. Language Arts: 1. Start with Writer's Workshop. This is on concluding sentences. Review this website page and look at good examples: https://msliewsclass.weebly.com/concluding-sentences.html 2. Check your concluding sentence. Does it need to be changed? 3. If you have finished that, you should be completely done organizing your ideas now, and should be formatting everything into a paragraph. 4. If you have finished that, you need to complete a self, and peer edit. You will be receiving a hand-out to support that work. Math Activities: If you finish your Luke's summary activity early, you can grab a computer and do one of the following things: 1. Continue working on your paragraph. 2. Go to Khan Academy. Complete the assigned sections on adding, subtracting, and multiplying decimals. 3. Play math games! The links are below. You might have to copy and paste them into a new browser window. http://www.math-play.com/decimal-math-games.html https://www.mathplayground.com/number_conundrum_decimals.html https://www.mathgames.com/skill/6.42-multiply-decimals-with-numbers-up-to-100 - **This one is more difficult! Hello Parents and Caregivers,
We have had a VERY busy week! On Tuesday we had an excellent trip to the zoo. While we were there we reviewed some of the most important ecosystem concepts we have learned about, and made observations about the animal enclosures and how the structure of them must match their function. It was an awesome day, with great weather. A big thank you to the volunteers who made the day possible! In math we continued working with decimals. We learned about how to order decimals and fractions, and how to compare them. We also started working on ratios and how to make equivalent ratios. This was done through a mapping exercise. In language arts we finished the Skeleton Tree. It was a really excellent book. The students will be writing a summary paragraph next week based on one of five prompts. From here we will be moving onto short stories and reading strategies. I think that is everything for now! I hope you all have a great weekend. Brandie Classroom UpdateHello Parents and Caregivers,
I'm sorry that I have missed the last two updates! With so many days out of school (2 PD Days and Thanksgiving!) it really shook up the schedule. Here is what we are working on in class: Math - We have reviewed important fraction concepts (equivalent fractions, improper to mixed, simplifying, converting to decimals), and are working toward more difficult levels of questions. Next will be adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators. Social Studies - Next week the students will begin an analysis of the decisions Western (British and French) settlers made when they came to Canada, and how they interacted with the Aboriginal Societies. Science - Students are building models of ecosystem concepts. They had topic choice, and there were extensions available to students. We will be presenting these next Wednesday. Students have had group meetings and designated work that needs to be completed over the weekend so they are ready for Wednesday. Tuesday will be used to tie up loose ends and ensure they are ready for the next day. Language Arts - We are just about finished the Skeleton Tree! This has been a great book. Through this book we have learned about Theme, Foreshadowing, and Symbolism. Students have completed tracking sheets, which record significant events and character development. They will write a book review once we have finished. This should be happening next week! Other news -Students will be participating in Student Votes today, which is a student version of the Calgary municipal election. We have completed some activities that have familiarized students with the mayoral candidates, the Ward 9 councillors and School Board Trustees. -Next week will be attending the Military Museum. The grade 7's will be responsible for planning the Remembrance Day Assembly this year. That's everything for now! Please e-mail me if you have any questions! Brandie |
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AuthorBrandie Ferrell and the students of 7A Archives
May 2018
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