I was pleasantly surprised and that's is a great way to start a Monday morning AND it stopped raining AND the sun came out to the point where we could even put off the classroom lights BONUS!!!! Congratulations to the 20 grade seven students who handed in thir ancient civilization projects today. Way to go- I hope you feel like a load has been lifted :) Thank-you for all your hard work.
Of 28 students only one was away today, so not counting that student, all but 7 students turned in some very impressive socials research projects. I am looking forward to start reading them. One had trouble printing and the others well let's just say they needed more added to get off homeplate!!
Homework
Unit 14 activity sentences and paragraph developed from one of the sentences- many completed this in class but some still have it to develop the paragraph
that's all for tonight but now that the project is over (praise be to the ancient gods!!) there will be more diverse assignments coming home for completion in the coming weeks
Reminder that hot lunch money is due by Wednesday and if any student is interested in the Jan Teen Reading Club orders they are due too (by Wednesday)
General Day
Returned Unit 13- how do you encourage students to understand the difference studying makes to results without 'nagging'? [My question of the day.]
Unit 14 words prepped using a fill in the missing unit word into the sentence blanks. The activity requires close contextual reading and a use of the language clues/cues to complete the sentences correctly. A paragraph development assignment from one of the 12 sentences was the second spelling activity. I asked the students to practice their writing skills.
Chapter 6 from Word Nerd in which we discover where Ambrose and his mother live in Vancouver (West 7th Avenue near Broadway), where she works (UBC) and all about their Greek landlords whose basement they rent (Mr.and Mrs. Economopoulos whose youngest son , Cosmos, we learn, is in jail).
Today is the U.S. Martin Luther King long weekend. We completed an Edit assignment in which we searched and corrected 10 basic grammar errors while learning a brief introduction to the MLK story.
Most students had heard of Rosa Parks who decided she was not going to head to the back of the bus for any more white people in Alabama as per the law. The Civil Rights movement was born and MLK was a great believer (like Ghandi) in non-violent protest- how ironic he was killed by a sniper's bullet- there sure were a lot of bullets that took out many good men in the 60's. I wonder too if we will ever get the truth about the involvement of the 'authorities'!!Tomorrow I will share a section of his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
SRA laborotory- reading lab was difficult for a few students today- they had real difficulty settling into reading and independent work which is too bad as it keeps us from experiencing the quiet atmosphere that is needed for students to think about their own reading and answers. Some students have completed 8-10 different reading selections others have only managed one or two- what makes the difference? Focus, motivation and perseverence. Here I go again, how do you encourage students who have a difficult time with the skills and activities to try harder to improve their achievement. I can encourage and assist but ultimately, I can't make them do it or will them to get better at anything if they are not willing to make any effort. It is frustrating.
Math- today I took a review section of a numeracy test and gave the students 10 multiple choice of number concepts including LCM, GCF, scientific notation and decimals to fractions, fractions to decimal expression- interesting that when I do go over the answers some students tune out the 'how to' part and do not take part in the correcting errors session that is the point of these practise sessions.
DEAR time - not bad- not great! To be fair we were interrupted to assist a follow up to a lunch time incident.
completed the math assignment from the morning with correct answers and review of the numbe concepts.
Personal Planning- Making Decisions- considering consequences- This 'game' is a risk-assessment type of activity in which students are challenged to place given scenarios (i.e. going to a party, dating an older person, being willing to do anything to fit in etc.) in a category describing 'weather' as sunny, cloudy, stormy or Tornado (out of control). Each placement (a few a day is recommended) allows the students a chance to think and decide whether the 'placer' has put it into the correct category or if it could be perceived differently. It makes for some good discussion once the students have overcome their embarrassment and giggles!!
We just got this started today so I'll be following up in the next couple of weeks.
Phys Ed. We only had 20 minutes left by the time we got to the gym and managed to get the students organized (even though we had tried ahead of time!!) Basketball 5 on 5 with 5 minute scrimmages. Today I was looking for more stringent rule following and 'called' travelling, fouls, double dribble, forward-back play as well as too long in the key. We can pick up on and continue this tomorrow as only four of five teams had court time although the nature of the game is for all students on the sidelines to be involved in the advancement of the play from the sideline only. Team that made it to court in the last few minutes continues play tomorrow.
3pm dismissal
Boy's basketball practice after school
Have a good Monday- hope the students who need to, will get their projects completed asap. See you tomorrow.
Mrs. J.
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