WOW!

Congratulations are extended to this month's WOW winners:  Tommy and Rocco.  Tommy has been recognized for his perpetual desire to achieve his very best.  Rocco has been recognized for a marked improvement in his problem solving in math.  Keep up the great work!

Keep those vocabulary words coming!

Pun of the Day - I'm glad I know sign language because it sure comes in handy!

Tour of the Church

On Wednesday, our class went on a tour of Corpus Christi Church.  This supports our study of the parts of the mass and information from our tour will also appear on next week's test as well as the information about the mass that we have recorded after viewing our power point presentation and video and participating in all of our discussions.  I am very impressed with how our class handled themselves and the questions that they asked.  Special thanks to Fr. Bedard who hosted the very informative tour.  Check out the photos and ask your child about them!

Congratulations to Ellen who won a gold medal at the chess tournament on Wednesday!

Pun of the Day - Did you hear about the man whose whole left side was cut off?  He's all right now!

Health Homework

In conjunction with our health and VIP studies about drugs, each student has received their very own resource book.  It is theirs to keep and, although we are using it this year as a source of information, it may prove to be useful in the future, especially when they enter high school and may be faced with challenging decisions regarding this topic.

The homework that has been assigned is this:  1. Students are asked to watch the enclosed DVD with at least one parent.  This video is divided into seven short sections that range between two to six minutes in length each, so it is not necessary to watch it all at one time.  2.  Parents are asked to read part four (Section for Parents) of the print resource, page 91-104.  3.  When these tasks are complete, please write in your child's agenda "drug safety homework complete" in the March 4 section of your agenda.  This homework is due March 4, 2014.  Please ensure that this book is at school daily after the March Break as we will be using it in the classroom.

Pun of the Day - Broken pencils are pointless.

Family Life Homework

 After the March Break we will be working on a section of our Family Life curriculum that also coincides with a section of our Health curriculum:  Created Sexual.  Due to the sensitive nature of the material, I am requesting that parents review this material with their child(ren) in advance of our classroom activities.  This will provide you with the opportunity to see the material that your child(ren) is/are learning, play an important role in this education, and field questions from them that they may not feel comfortable asking in the classroom setting.  Feel free to use this as the daily home reading assignment.  As a result, they have been given the textbook resource to take home with them.  I am asking that collaboratively parent and child read pages 57 - 86 inclusive.  When this reading is complete, please record "Family Life reading complete" in the March 5 area of the agenda and RETURN THE TEXT TO THE CLASSROOM.  This reading is due March 5.

Pun of the Day - I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger, then it hit me!

Winter Olympics: St. Gabriel Style!

We had a fun afternoon on Friday, as we participated in our own version of the Winter Olympics.  Check out what my camera found!  (I was stationed in the gym, so I was unable to venture outside of that location.)

Congratulations to the overall winners!
Gold:  Team 6 (Ethan and Nick)
Silver:  Team 12 (Quinn)
Bronze:  Team 3 (Frankie and Steven)


Literacy evaluations are finally complete and will be going home at the end of the day on Monday February 24.  In addition, dance/gym rubrics will be sent home as well, for parent signatures.  Please return them promptly.

Have you checked our classroom calendar to keep up-to-date on the latest scheduled tests and evaluations?  Check it out!

Pun of the Day - What does a clock do when it is hungry?  It goes back four seconds.

Field Trip: Holy Names High School

On Thursday we ventured to Holy Names High School to view the dramatic performance of  "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown!"  To activate prior knowledge and/or provide schema for our class, we viewed a timeline outlining the history of the Peanuts comic strip and some information about its creator:  Charles Schultz, I provided some background information about the play that was first performed in 1967, and we viewed some daily comics.  It was helpful for the students to know names and appearances of the main characters.  The class asked that I put a link to the website where the daily Peanuts comic strip can be found.  Click here if you would like to enjoy some of Schultz's work.

The cast, crew, and pit band at HNHS did a fine job.  Here they are in their curtain call.

Upon returning home, we collaboratively completed a drama critique using drama vocabulary.  Finally we created success criteria so that we can do a similar task in the future for evaluation.

Please try to wear Canada gear on Monday to celebrate the success of Canada's Olympic team!

Good News!

Congratulations to this week's Good News ticket winners:  Emily and Evanleigh.  Keep up the good work!

  Here are the results of this week's Mad Minute task:

correct responses (/60)                        number of students

             0-10                                                      0

           11-20                                                      7

           21-30                                                     12

           31-40                                                      3

           41-50                                                      0

           50+                                                         0
          absent                                                      1

Scholastic book order catalogues were sent home on Thursday. Please note that there are six different varieties with February and March issue dates this time.  They are all due on February 26 because if I place the order that day then they will arrive at school before the March Break and students that order will have received their March Break reading material in time!  Don't forget that when you order, you help support the classroom library in our classroom because I receive free books based on the orders that I place.  Thank you very much in advance!

Dances Phase Two

We were finally able to complete the dance presentations on Thursday, but we had to use our classroom since there was no other available space in the school.  Check them out!

                                                        Brandon, Markus, Aidan, and Luke

                                                   Cailin, Evanleigh, Bromleigh, and Lindsay

                                                               Sarah, Evan, and Quinn

Please note:  Math tests were sent home for parent signatures on Thursday.  Please review, sign, and return them ASAP.  Thanks!

Pun of the Day - What do you  call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary?  A thesaurus.

Drug Education

Wednesday we began our study of legal and illegal drugs.  Not only is this a portion of our VIP program, but this also correlates with a section of our Health curriculum.  We did a few introductory activities which included our mind map, a version of true/false with think/pair/share component, and a VIP visit.  Ask your child about the poem we read called Death of an Innocent.
Sergeant Mizuno brought Constable Shane Renaud with her today.  He specializes in drug education and brought many items that we were able to examine, a video, and a powerpoint presentation.  Check out the photos.

Constable Shane Renaud

The Effects of Meth on the human body.

Healthy lung

Smoker's lung with cancerous tumour

Inert samples

Inert samples

Please note:  On Friday afternoon our school will be participating in our own version of the Winter Olympics.  All students have been put on teams and know their team number.  This event will be outdoors, weather permitting, but will be indoors if the forecast holds true.  The students have been told to dress appropriately to ensure maximum participation.  Don't forget to wear red or Canada gear if you have it!
Pun of the Day - I didn't like my beard at first, then it grew on me!

Interpretive Dance Phase 1

Tuesday, due to technical difficulties, only three groups were able to present their final dance presentations.  I am trying to find a gym period later this week so that we can complete the rest of the groups.  Be ready to go!  Check out the results from Tuesday!

Please note that the latest Mad Minute package has been sent home for metacognition and parent's signature.  Please return it promptly.  Since not all students have written the literacy evaluation that was held last week, it has not yet been sent home. I will let you know when to expect it.

                                                                                 Ethan, Rocco, Nick, and Steven

                                                         Jack, Tommy, Frankie, and Chris

                                                       Ashley, Emily, Ellen, and Julianne


Pun of the Day - The latest headline from a daily paper read:  Energizer Bunny Arrested! - Charged with Battery! (I hope you get a charge out of that one, especially since we are working on the electricity unit in our Literacy block)

Vocabulary!

We continue to have our Vocabulary of the Day presentations.  Not all students have been prepared for their day, however.  Please refer to the calendar page of our site to check for your day.  We have encountered many situations lately where many students realize how important having a good vocabulary is and the fact that many of them are lacking in this area.  Also, check back at past blog posts to ensure that you are not repeating words already presented.

Pun of the Day - Our class went on a field trip to the Coca-Cola factory.  I hope that there isn't a pop quiz.

Happy Family Day!

                                      

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of the families of my students a very happy Family Day 2014!  Sleep in, enjoy brunch together, and/or spend the day having fun together!

                                                  

P.S.  Don't forget that our final dance presentations will be done tomorrow for evaluation!  Make sure you have all music, props, and "costumes" ready!

Carnaval!

On Friday, our class eagerly celebrated French culture and traditions when they attended Carnaval!  Some students came to school in "French" costumes, yet others had their face painted during the festivities.  The grade eight students worked the various booths and the rest of the students body enjoyed the fun and treats!  Check out the photos.