Coding

Today we revisited the Hour of Code site.  Students have been studying Transformational Geometry (translations, rotations and reflections) in math, and coding is a great way to reinforce these concepts in a practical way. 

Harriet the Eagle (and family)

Friends of mine are vacationing in Florida, and they sent me this link to an eagle nest near their home.  It is a live video feed of Harriet the Eagle, M15, and their two eaglets.  Both have hatched in the last couple of days.  The class is very excited to follow the family!
http://www.dickpritchettrealestate.com/eagle-feed.html#

Speeches

Students have been working hard on their speeches in class.  Many are off to a great start.   They have all been typing their work in a Google Doc so that they can access it from home or school.  Having it in their Google Drive also prevents any loss of work.  At this point, I would like students to have an introductory sentence and 1-2 paragraphs complete.  Could you please review your child's speech with them over this 3 day weekend?

I have attached the speech layout as well as both the written and oral rubric to this post.

Britannica School

Britannica School

This is an excellent resource for any research topic.  It also gives you different reading levels so that you are able to understand what is being discussed.  At school, you won’t have to login, it will let you directly onto the site using the web address.  At home, you will have to login using the information below.

school.eb.com

Username - renfrdsb

Password - renf8560

PJ Day

Just a reminder that tomorrow (Thursday) is PJ Day.  We will also be having a character education assembly at 2:10.

Self-portraits

Our class did an amazing job recreating themselves in pencil self-portraits!

Symmetry and reflections

Some students found the exercise of reflecting shapes over a line of symmetry very easy, while a number of others really struggled. For students who are not strong with visual-spatial relationships, this can be a difficult task. At home you can reinforce this concept by creating designs using household items (cutlery, office supplies) and have your child reflect(flip) a duplicate of the design over a line. 

Free the Children Fundraiser

On Friday, the Grade 8 class will be running a fundraiser complete with guessing games, treat tables, a hockey shootout, and so much more.  Tickets are $.50 each or one non-perishable food item.  Our class will be attending. 

Please note: Some activities will require more than one ticket. 

Symmetry in the Snow

We took our math lesson outside today!  Students made a line of symmetry in the snow then created symmetrical designs. 

Speech Package

I have sent home a package regarding the speeches students are working on.  Today they brainstormed topics and narrowed it down to three.  They then jotted notes about those three topics.  My hope is that they will narrow it down to one topic tonight.  They do not need to complete the last sheet in the package.  We will work on topic sentences and sub-topics over the next couple of days. Please be sure all students bring their package back to school each day.

2016

Happy New Year!  We now have a week of school under our belt and are back into our routines.  In Language, we have been learning how to stretch our sentences to include more detail and are now expanding that into building proper, detailed paragraphs.  We have also been learning how to identify the main idea of a text. In the coming weeks we will be preparing speeches.  Much of the work will take place at school, but you could be discussing topic ideas with your child to prepare for our brainstorming session.   In Math, we have just completed a unit on measurement and are now investigating 2D shapes.  In Science, we are learning about forces.  Yesterday, we had a great hands-on lesson watching the Grade 9 Transportation Technology class race CO2 cars.  Our students had some interesting questions for the high school students.

Book Orders

Scholastic book orders are due tomorrow (Wednesday). 

Snow tunnel

While out for DPA, the class decided to conquer an ice hill by digging a tunnel through it.  They would not give up until they broke through!  Success!!!