We have received lots of field trip forms for next week which is great. If you haven't already done so, make sure you have your parents/guardians sign these forms so you can join our trip. Also, I've herd from a parent who is able to volunteer. We'll need three parent volunteers each day to maintain CBE's mandated adult to child ratio of 1:13. If you are able to volunteer, please email me at [email protected].
This morning we reviewed the work that was accomplished in my absence: Chapter 8-9 of Fever 1793, completion of (most) collages, and Wade Davis' talk on cultural diversity.
0 Comments
Students were to have had time to complete their collages, and then continued with the substitute teacher reading Fever 1793. In Social Studies, students watched a video of anthropologist Wade Davis giving a talk called, "The Wayfinders - Why Ancient Wisdom Matters In the Modern World" Students had a tracking sheet to help construct meaning from the video.
Tomorrow we will continue with Fever 1793, hang up our collages, and share our thoughts on Wade Davis and the importance of cultural diversity. After daily 5, we read two more chapters from Fever 1793 and discussed some text-to-life connections for the tracking sheet.
In social studies, students had one more period to complete their worldview collages. If students did not finish their collage they can complete it tonight for homework and we will display them tomorrow. There are two sign-up sheets on the bulletin board in the classroom: one for a debate and one for a presentation. Students are welcome to sign up during any non-instructional time (before/after school, lunch time, between classes). Students must sign up for one debate topic and one presentation date. Field trip forms will be going home this week for an exciting opportunity at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. We are fortunate to have been approved for this experience and I hope everyone is able to attend. The best part is: it's FREE!
In order to go, however, we will need parent volunteers to come with us. If you are available to attend on either Wednesday, October 4th or Thursday October 5th, please email Chris Spencer at [email protected]. Additional information can be found at the Exploring Careers website. The class worked together to complete the first tracking sheet for Fever 1793 (chapters 1-5). As we continue to read, students will fill out the remaining 5 tracking sheets independently.
I demonstrated how I chose picture for my worldview collage and then demonstrated how I would arrange them. Students continued searching for pictures for their collages. Reminder for students who want to print in colour: every person with a public library account has access to free printing services ($5.00/month at 10 cents for a black and white sheet, 20 cents for a colour sheet). And remember: it's FREE! Students will have access to the class set of the grade 8 Social Studies textbook, Our Worldviews, while in class. Outside of class there is an online version students can access here.
After our independent Daily 5 tasks, we finished Chapter 5 of Fever. We wrote a short comprehension quiz on the first 5 chapters and continued to work on vocabulary.
Students started planning their worldview collages. When they were ready, they started looking through magazines to find pictures that represent their values and beliefs. Students are welcome to bring in images on Monday to add to their collage. Today we read up to chapter 5 of Fever 1793 and then did a few minutes of work on vocabulary from those chapters. Tomorrow we will read chapter 5 and then have a short comprehension quiz to make sure everyone understands what is happening in this story. We made some notes about the factors that shape worldview (geography, ideas & knowledge, and contact with other groups) and shared some examples. Students started a survey to recognize their own worldview in preparation of of a worldview collage. During our discussion, Josh mentioned a personality quiz which may help people examine their own values and beliefs. If people have pictures/books/magazines at home that they can cut up to use in a collage they can bring them to class tomorrow and/or Monday. Mount Royal has an online platform for accepting donations to support cancer research through The Terry Fox Foundation.
Donations can be made in person at school or online at the following address: http://www.terryfox.ca/MountRoyalSchoolCalgary In English Language Arts, students completed their Daily 5 activities. I introduced the novel Fever 1793. We made predictions about the book based on its title, cover, back synopsis, first sentence, and first page. We talked about how the first page of a piece of literature is important and thoughtful and may contain clues about the entire rest of the book. We read Chapter 1.
We are reading a copy from our school's library, but I found an online pdf of the text here. I can't vouch for the safety or security of this website. We watched a video about map projections and the many legitimate ways we can "view the world" as a jumping off point for worldview as it applies to our Social Studies class. Students took notes on worldview, social systems, political & economic systems, and culture. The video we watched mentioned a game that plays with the distortion of a Mercator projection and also a website dedicated to various map projections. |
AuthorMr. Spencer teaches Grade 8 Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Drama at Mount Royal School. Archives
May 2018
|