English News

For the month of December, the students are working on planning, writing and revising a children's holiday storybook.  The class is learning about specific criteria that this type of writing requires and will be using the information to write their book.  Once their final copy is complete, they will be sharing their stories with the primary students in the school.

Due dates for this assignment are:  rough copy - Wed., Dec 9th

                                         good copy - Wed., Dec. 16th

Weekly activities:  Writer's workshop - Day 3  

                      Reader's workshop - Day 2                     

Daily reading/reading logs - Students will be reading daily so they must ensure they have something to read.  Also in this time, students will be either conferencing with myself or writing a reading response letter to me, to be handed in once a month.

Science News

Grade Seven:  The new unit of study is Heat.  In this unit the students will be learning the difference between heat and temperature, and use the Particle Theory to explain how heat is transfered through convection, conduction and radiation.  We will also cover properties that make items good or poor insulators.  The students will be getting a Design Challenge assignment in which they will have to plan, design, construct and test an insulating device to keep a drink cold for a period of 4 hours.  The following are the dates for each part of the project.  (Students are strongly encouraged to use materials from home, as they should not have to spend any money on the making of the project)

     Alternatives sheet:  7L - Dec., 3rd; 7P - Dec., 7th

     Blueprint design:     7L - Dec. 7th; 7P - Dec., 11th

     Prototype built and testing to be started:  7L/7P - Jan., 5th

     Testing at school:  7L/7P - Jan., 8th

     Presentation to the class:  7L - Jan., 12th; 7P - Jan. 11th

Grade Eight:   The first unit of study for grade eight is Cells, Tissues, Organs, and Organ Systems.  We study the basic unit of life, the cell, and all of the functions of the cell.  Students will understand the differences between plant and animal cells, in their structure and function.  The students will also have the opportunity to use the microscope to view various specimen.

The students will be given an assignment to create a cell model (either plant or animal) using only food items.  This assignment will be given out the week of October 13th and will be required back on the following date, completed.

                   8B:  Wednesday, October 21 

                   8M:  Wednesday, October 21

Reminders:

1)  Students must get their leadership points total signed every Monday night to be checked by the homeroom teacher on Tuesday.  These totals will indicate to you whether your child is achieving 80% of his/her points at the end of each previous week.

2)  Picture Day:  Thursday, October 15 (grade 7 and 8)

3)  Have something to read EVERY day at school.