Thursday 3rd May

I tried to get away with telling my students that it was May 5th but they were onto me!!!

Today seemed to be a fast paced day...

Homework
Bring your instruments and music for an extra band practice tomorrow afternoon (for Tuesday's performance with the DRS Band visit)
Biography posters (now have 14) that leaves 13 to be handed in!
French art/clothing activity (wardrobe) now have 10 leaving 17 to get!!!!!!!

Reminders
Please remember hot lunch orders due next Wednesday
Camp permission Thursday next week

General Day
Spelling Test for Unit 5 and redo for Unit 4
I challenged the students this week and am curious to see if the marks are better overall

Completed the last 20 minutes of Hercules: Clash of the Gods from the History Channel
I learned some new facts about the stories that I was unaware of (or had forgetten?) that Hercules' father, Zeus, finally recognized his sons' torment and 'brought him home' to the sanctuary of the gods on Mount Olympus (but not before he set fire to himself- Hercules I mean). Hera had a lot of issues (crazed jealous streak) and I wonder that instead of tormenting the illegitimate son why she didn't go to the source of the infidelity and confront her rotton husband. Probably like confronting the Mafia Boss, no donbt.
The students enjoyed the presentation enough that they requested we see one show a week until the end of the year!!

Next we started a 'jigsaw' mythology activity. 5 group amd 5 Greek mythology stories: Theseus, Jason, Perseus, Pegasus and Prometheus
The students are expected to read the story and create 5 questions covering a range of levels (QAR question levels)
Once the questions are agreed to and written up each group will read the 4 other stories and answer the questions together.
Today we managed to get the groups together and the stories read. Next week questions and switch stories.

Math
Activites 3-6 reading and analysing graphs and making predictions on the data or making conclusions about the data relationship to the questions asked.
Measures of central tendency and outliers were used today.
Students also agreed to next Thursday for a review test on the unit Ch 5 and 12 probability and managing data.

Silent Reading
sure were a lot of emergency vehicles this afternoon??

Personal Planning
Thanks to an amazing interactive spine on a Chiropractic website and the overhead in class, I was able to show how each section of the spine can affect ceratin sections of the rest of the body. The three sections included the cervical, the thoracic and the lumbar. Go to the following Link and under Why Chiropractic
find the interactive spine display. You click your mouse on the different parts of the spine and it shows a connection to other areas of the body and related problems.
chiroone.net
We discussed the safety measures for the head and brain using helmets (we had considered the research about concussions in sports earlier) and how we are aware of the need to protect the head )brain) BUT so many of us forget that our spine is just as important. As a matter of interest I asked how many of my students had an accident on a trampoline (quite a few it seems).
I was surprised that none of my students knew Rick Hansen's story. I'll share that properly another day as I wasn't prepared for that to be part of the lesson and really didn't have the time either. One student asked,  "Isn't he Canadian?"


I also had students write any questions they had (anonymously) for my planning of lessons for the rest of the Personal planning unit on preganacy and birth.

Phys. Ed.
Split gym: the floor hockey boys are taking themselves too seriously. Methinks a bit of a break will help us all!
Basketball group seemed to have some fun together.

Art
Deconstruction activity explained and started - some students have already completed an activity (started last week) and asked if they could try another :)

review homwork
clean off desks and area
pack up
Dismiss
Have a nice evening
Mrs. J.
Simi and her mom are off to Vancouver to meet Rick Riordan tonight- she has some great questions for him. Hope you have a great night and come back with some interesting stories to share. Simi has been enjoying the Kane Chronicles (Egyptian mythology) and apparently she has heard from good sources that he is now planning a Nordic mythological story. More tomorrow.