Final Deskercise!

This round of Holy Names High School Leadership students have conducted the final round of DPA with our class.  Since their theme this time was Christmas, they even brought treats!

Unwrapping the gift

Peeling away the tissue...

...one by one!

The Winners!

Reindeer Games!

More Reindeer Games

Bob the Lobster!

Our class is doing a great job of giving!  We have now filled four baskets - just our class alone!  Way to go Guardians!  Keep it up!

Plotting Locations!

As we continue with our data management unit, we have been working with Cartesian Planes.  Although the concept is a simple one, it is important for the students to remember that the numbers on the axes line up with the lines on the grid and that the numbers in each ordered pair that name each specific point must be in a specific  order:  (number of steps to the right, number of steps up).  Therefore (3,4) means three right, up four when beginning at the origin.

Many Thanks!

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Our class continues to display the true spirit of Christmas!  Just Tuesday alone we filled two more baskets of items for our Christmas giving campaign!

We are getting a great variety from items - even boxes of tea bags, hot chocolate mix, syrup, boxes of candy canes.... keep it coming!  I am sure we will put a smile on quite a few faces this Christmas!

Thank you to all of the families who donated a wide variety of art supplies that were requested in an earlier blog.  It is greatly appreciated.  If you have more to send, it will be accepted as we use up lots of supplies with such a large class.

Did you know that since our book talks for this month will wrap up this week, the students have now been assigned a Christmas Poetry Reading assignment?  This will work in a very similar manner to that of a book talk, except that they were allowed to choose a Christmas poem to read and respond to.  They will demonstrate their  understanding of various elements of poetry by using the reading strategies we have been working on, as well as other criteria.  Ask them about it!  All students will present their poem and work before the Christmas holidays.  They will receive a reading mark and an oral presentation mark as well.

                                                            

Way To Go!

After putting out the appeal on yesterday's blog, I can't believe how many items came in for our Christmas Giving Campaign.  Although we did not count all of the items, check out the photo of the heaping hamper!  Don't stop now - we have a second one to fill and more are available where that came from!

On Monday we completed our Science unit and the students were told that they could take home their duo tang and textbook as long as they return it daily (we are still working on researching and writing a non-fiction feature article about a vertebrate of their choice).  The students also know that they may use their textbook and duo tang during the evaluation.  Remember, we are much more interested in applying their knowledge rather than memorizing the facts that can be found in their books.  Check out the activity we did that incorporated the Windsor-Essex Parkway with Biodiversity.   That is a great way to demonstrate how we can apply knowledge to everyday situations. 

Christmas is Coming...

Have you noticed how many signs of Christmas have seemingly arisen within the last week or so?  And, to add to that the mild weather is gone and SNOW has now been falling in our area.  This brings me to challenge each family with the question that Fr. Paul McGill (associate pastor of Corpus Christi Parish) recently challenged our class with:  What are you doing to prepare for Christmas?
                                            
We have begun collecting items to fill our St. Gabriel Giving Hampers last week.  Since we typically are quite fortunate financially, it is our responsibility to think of others at this time of year.  It is also a great opportunity to teach children about charity, giving back, etc.  We are accepting items until December 5.  "What can I donate?" you might be asking.  Anything non-perishable in a non-breakable container:  canned goods, boxed or bagged food, toiletries (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, dental floss, deodorant, kleenex, toilet paper), cleaning products, hats, gloves, scarves, socks, books, toys, gift cards, etc.  You get the idea.  We have a hamper in our classroom already waiting to be filled.  Let's go Guardians!  You CAN do it!
                                                 
Also, the final Scholastic book order catalogue will be sent home this week and will be due soon.  Any orders placed will arrive before the Christmas holidays (as long as items are not back-ordered).  If you would like to order items as gifts, please enclose the order in an envelope with a note indicating it is a gift.  When it arrives I will phone you and we can make arrangements for you to pick it up at school in time for wrapping.  Books make great gifts!
                                 
Finally, for our collage project, we are accepting donations of any of the following items.  If you can, please send them to school with your child ASAP.:  wrapping paper for any occasion, magazines, ribbon, fabric scraps.  Thank you very much in advance!

Surreal Art: Collage

Friday we had an art lesson in collage.  The students were shown a slide show and we discovered the techniques and supplies needed to do a collage.  We realized that when doing collage, the image created is not perfect, and has elements of humour and uniqueness.  Today for practice, we began working on Santa head collages, but a major project which will be evaluated, is on the horizon!  In Literacy we also learned about the similar techniques of a First Nation's artist, George Littlegood.

On Friday we will have a Science evaluation on our Diversity of Living Things unit.  Students will be allowed to take home their duo tangs next week.  Please note that it is important that students can take the ideas and information presented in our work and extend them to real life situations, which is what we will practice in our Science class on Monday.

Good News!

Congratulations to the winners of our Good News Ticket draw for this week:  Sophia, Melanie, Michael, and Nathan (twice).  Keep up the good work!

Congratulations is also extended to the gift card winners.  Any student that sold cookie dough/ muffin mix/ cupcake batter was given one ballot per tub.  All ballots for the entire school were put into a drum and drawn from.  Any student whose name was pulled was awarded a gift card to one of a variety of establishments.  Congratulations to the winners from our class:  Raven, Matt, Michael, and Julia O., and the winners from the whole school!

Math Makes Sense!

Data management games on computers!

Today we had many things happening at once in our math class.  The students did one open response question that dealt with mean, median, and mode (there were a variety of questions happening in the room), they completed a written math journal, then worked at other practice stations.  Check out the photos!

Magnetic tangrams are used to create pictures

Fall Fun Day!

What an absolutely fantastic day!  The weather couldn't have been any better for Fall Fun Day!  Our students enjoyed a variety of healthy active living activities both indoor and outdoors.  Check out the photos and ask your child about the activities.

GYM OUTSIDE!

Boneyard!

Can you believe it?  It is November 21 and we were able to have gym outside today!  We didn't even need our jackets because we were running around quite a bit.  I don't remember the weather being this nice in late November before!  It should be great for our Fall Fun Day tomorrow as well.  Please make sure you wear outdoor running shoes and comfortable clothes to school tomorrow.

Spud!

soccer

soccer

soccer

soccer

soccer

Today our math test was finally handed back so that the students can get a parent signature on them.  Please return them ASAP.  Also, please check the Anchor Chart Library page of our site for new anchor charts that we have recently developed.

VIP began today!

Today we had the pleasure of meeting Constable Silver of the RCMP.  He introduced himself, explained the difference between the RCMP, OPP, and municipal police services (ie. Windsor Police).  He also explained his training and career history.  He also explained all of the parts of his tool belt, including a few demonstrations.  He concluded with a question and answer period.  Check our class calendar for the scheduled dates that he will return to work with us.

Mrs. D'Agnillo also visited us today and we prayed the rosary together.  The topic today was faith.  The students were reminded of the importance (and obligation) to attend weekly mass, reading the catechism, and going to confession.

One final note:  many of the students in our room are beginning to suffer from seasonal colds and flu.  As a result many boxes of tissue have been used in the last week or so.  We only have a few left from the original donations that were brought in in September.  If at all possible, I would gladly accept donations of boxes of tissues.  We are still in November and have many more months of this type of health issue ahead of us.  Thank you very much in advance.

CTV coverage of the Nicole Clark workshop  (scroll to the second story:  Mental Wellness Week)