Please Note: I sent a letter home today with some details of our upcoming play (December 20). Please read it, sign the bottom, and return with your student tomorrow.
Today in Social Studies, we reviewed the quiz from last week. Students who received a 1 on the first side need to print off a copy of the quiz and complete it as a homework assignment to move from a 1 to a 2. In English Language Arts, we reviewed the roles of putting on a play and students' individual roles were posted on the bulletin board by the door. We read from the play using the student actors in their assigned roles. Reminder: Pecha Kucha schedule is on the board by the door. Your PowerPoint is due (in the appropriate Google Drive folder) 2 days before you present. On the day you present, bring a blank rubric for a self evaluation.
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Tomorrow I will return the Social Studies quizzes from last week. Students who received a 1 on the front side need to print off a copy of the quiz and complete it as a homework assignment to move from a 1 to a 2. This is important as the concepts on this page will be revisited for the entire year. Feel free to use the online textbook for this work.
I was away from school today at a teachers' workshop. In my absence, students watched a video about the Medici family and completed a viewing sheet while they watched. We'll review this document in class tomorrow.
Also, there are a few people who have not yet passed in their Fever essay. For your sake and mine, I'm making it mandatory that all students who do not have their essay handed in come after school on Thursday and stay until it is complete. Tomorrow there will be a list up on the wall of students' roles for our "Shakespearean" plays. A letter will be going home tomorrow to make sure parents understand that the performance will be in the evening and asking for theatre donations. Today, we had time to work on whatever among the following was most pressing for you:
We talked about William Shakespeare's play (either Macbeth (8B) or Hamlette (8A.) and then started reading (aloud, as a class) their contemporary parodies Mmmbeth and Hamlette. Each student has their own copy of the script and must protect it vigilantly for the next month. Jobs will be assigned on Tuesday, Nov. 30. I will be away on Monday, November 27. Mr. Shipley will be in the class for me and will be showing a video about a rich and powerful Renaissance family: the Medici family. I hope to see students with their parents & guardians tomorrw. If I don't... I hope you have a fun day away from school! Some students were scheduled to deliver their Pecha Kucha presentation on Thursday, November 23. There is no school that day because of Parent/Student/Teacher conferences (oops! My bad!). So, people scheduled to present on Thursday (and people who have missed their presentations previously) will present on Tuesday, November 28. We will resume the posted schedule next week on Thursday, November 30.
Reminder: your PowerPoint is due 2 days before your presentation. If you'd like feedback from me before your presentation I am usually available before and after school and I'd be happy to watch your presentation and provide feedback. We started our class today with about 10 minutes last-minute study time for a quiz and then we wrote our quiz.
We reviewed a list of late assignments (notably: Fever essays, short films, and online survey). Students were given either an iPad or desktop computer to work on to complete outstanding assignments. Those students who were up-to-date on their work were given a head start on a short research assignment for Social Studies which is due Monday, November 27. For this assignment, students need to research 3 aspects of 3 Italian City-States and compile their knowledge into a chart. All the information they need is available in out textbook (an online version is available here.) Regarding short film submissions: Some people have been uploading their project files from Movie Maker which does not work. When in Movie Maker, EXPORT to computer and then upload the saved file to our shared Google Drive folder. Also, many films still need to be submitted. Tomorrow is the last date available for feedback before our Film Festival. I returned Fever 1793 essays to students today. The marks for the essays are up on Home Logic. Students who have not yet submitted the essay received NHI (not handed in) in Home Logic. Students who have not handed in their essay or who received a 1 on their essay were asked to meet me in the library after school today. Some, but not many, students arrived and received help getting their essay handed in.
In class today, we played some drama games to loosen up as we embark on our Shakespearean Play. We concluded with sharing some Shakespearean Insults. Students had time at the end of class to study for tomorrow's Social Studies quiz. Students who submitted their short film on time received feedback from me. This is a required step before we show the films during the film festival on Friday. If you haven't already done so, please check your educbe email account and complete the survey I sent, "An Evening With The Bard." Today was day two of choice. Students Had the choice of the following tasks:
Homework
After some student presentations, the grade 8's had the opportunity to choose what was most pressing for them to work on:
Tomorrow, students will have to work on their Fever essay and have their story arc/conflict sheet submitted before they have the choice of other learning activities. Reminder: on the day of your presentation, bring a copy of the rubric to fill out.
Students worked on their story structure and conflict planning. This double-sided, student-create sheet is due in class tomorrow. Making storyboards for your film will help you plan types of shots, but I will not be collecting storyboards.
We developed a rubric for our short film project. Attached above. Students copied down a brief study guide for next week's Social Studies quiz. The guided consisted of the following: The Factors that shape worldview How worldview shapes a society Examples of how Renaissance worldview is shaped, examples of Renaissance ideas existing in current Canadian worldview How the following contributed to the start of the Renaissance: The Silk Road, The Crusades, Leonardo of Pisa, The Black Death & Urbanization Life in the feudal system The next two days will consist of student presentations, time to plan films, time to film (bring any resources you'll need), and time to study for the quiz next week. |
AuthorMr. Spencer teaches Grade 8 Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Drama at Mount Royal School. Archives
May 2018
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