December Week 2 Update

On Monday, this week, students worked on their second and final Weekend Update for December. It was based on a two part CNN10 report on the 15th Anniversary of Facebook. The reports were from December 5th and 6th. The question presented was: What are the pros and cons of social media services, such as Facebook and Instagram? In your opinion, does social media do more harm or good? Why?

Students also finished a unit on the components and functions of the Federal Government, which included roles and responsibilities of federal branches of government and the impact of lobby groups and media bias on policy. Our learning culminated on Wednesday with a PAT-style unit test. 

On Thursday, students began exploring Canada's Charter of Rights and Responsibilities. They began working on a project, for which they are exploring an event (present day or history) where people's rights or freedoms were violated, had Canada's Charter been applied. They are working independently, in pairs, or groups of 3. The assignment will culminate in a presentation on their findings next Thursday.

December Week 1 Update

Students began the week with their first weekend update assignment for the month of December. It involved a CNN10 story from November 20th with regard to Beyond Meat products. The question associated with the story is, "Would you consider switching to an all-plant diet by replacing meat with alternative proteins, such as Beyond Meat? Why or why not? 

Students also learned about the Federal Government structure in Canada, with a focus on how government's are formed, how citizens are represented, and how new laws are passed. There will be a multiple choice quiz to end the unit early next week. 

November Week 4 Update

This past week, students did a weekend update report on one of two news stories, viewed in class. They reported on the five w's of the story and then answered a question related to the story. Here are the two questions with the link to the appropriate video:

November 25 CNN10 Bubonic Plague: The bubonic plague is one of many diseases, thought to have been eradicated, that has made a comeback in recent years.  Should a new law be passed that makes it mandatory to get vaccinated (except for special circumstances)? Why or why not?

November 7 CNN10 Self-Driving Automobiles: Should non self-driving vehicles be banned from public roads in the near future? Why or why not?

Students also finished their short stories, which are due Friday November 29th, via lined paper or Google Docs.

Next weeks, students will begin a social studies unit, looking at federal government structure in Canada and the process in which new laws (bills) are passed.

November Week 3 Update

This week in humanities, students continued working on their short stories. They created a plot graph outlining a basic story arc, then created a first draft of their story using a paragraph organizer template, and finally created a second draft with self edits and modifications from their first draft. The second draft should be finished by now and was assigned for homework if incomplete. It can be written on lined paper or Google Docs.

Next week, students will be writing a 2 paragraph news story reflection for the month of November and will complete the final copy of their short stories. Students will edit the second draft of their peers, before working on their own final copy, using their peers' edits and suggestions.

Also, students will be walking to Forest Lawn High School and Jack James High School on Wednesday, November 27 as part of the Grade 9 High School Tours. Students will learn about the high school experience in preparation for Grade 10. NO LUNCH will be provided and NO OPPORTUNITIES to purchase a lunch will be available. Therefore, ALL students are being asked to bring a BAGGED LUNCH for the day.

Book Talk Slide Show

Students can use this Book Talk Slide Show Organizer / Exemplar to help build their own slide show to accompany their book talk. Please see the previous post, regarding book talks, for all other resources pertaining to the book talk.

November Week 2 Update

Last week, students finished writing short stories within their table groups, based on prompts that were provided to them. As a group, they filled out a plot graph and wrote a rough draft of a short story by contributing a sentence, before passing their paragraph organizer to a table mate to add their own sentence. This process was repeated, until a 5 paragraph / 25 sentence story was written. We then shared the stories with the rest of the class.

This week, students are using skills learned in last week's collaborative story writing task to create their own short stories. The plot graph portion was due Monday. The paragraph organizer will be due Tuesday, the rough draft Wednesday, and the final draft Thursday. Stories will be checked over by the teacher before students move on to the next stage. Peer assessment will also be a part of the process. All materials and resources are available in the classroom (hard copies). The rough draft and final draft may be written on lined paper or Google Docs.

November Week 1 Update

This week in humanities, students are studying the short story, The Veldt. We started with watching a music video based loosely on the story. We then brainstormed main ideas that came out of the music video and used those to predict what the short story is about. Here is a link to the video: The Veldt Music Video. We then read the story as a class, having students take on the roles of some of the characters through dialogue. We will be finishing our studies on the Veldt with a reading comprehension assessment and a plot graph lesson. The plot graph will help students prepare for their own story writing planning next week. Here is a link to The Veldt short story: The Veldt

October Week 4 Update

This past week, students completed workbooks for the short story, Tell Tale Heart. Here is a link to the assignment: Tell Tale Heart Reading Assignment . We also began a post reading assignment, called Tic Tac Tale . Students are to choose three assignments (in a row on the grid, to make a tic tac toe) to complete. All three assignments are due on Tuesday November 5th.

Students are also beginning to present their book talks. Here is a link to the assignment, which outlines expectations and provides a rubric: book talk assignment . Students have access to a graphic organizer (Book Talk Graphic Organizer ) to help plan out their book talk, which should have a visual component, such as a Google Slide, to go along with their oral presentation.

Here is a preliminary schedule of the book talk presenters: book talk schedule . Note, that some minor changes may be made due to various circumstances. Students, please see the hard copy in the classroom for the most updated version.

October Week 3 Update

In our first week back from Fall Break, we held a school election in culmination of our political campaign unit. Congratulations to the NDP for winning the most seats and holding a minority government, with the Conservative Party and Green Party tied for the second most seats and forming the official opposition.

After the election, we began our short story unit with Edgar Allen Poe's classic dark story, the Tell-Tale Heart. We are reading the story together as a class and filling out a booklet that focuses on different story elements and reading strategies. An online link to the assignment is unavailable, due to copyright policies. Students all have a hard copy of their own.

Next week, students will engage in independent post-reading assignments based on Tell-Tale Heart.

October Week 2 Update

Congratulations to all students for their determination and commitment throughout the political campaign. This past week, students participated in their second, and final, debate on school issues. Congratulations to the Green Party from 9-5 and the Liberal Party from 9-4 on your victories. Students also spent the week finalizing their political advertisements and campaigning door to door for student votes around the school. The School election will be held, in conjunction with the Federal Election, when students return to school on Monday, October 21. Enjoy your Fall Break!

October Week 1 Update

This week, students wrote paragraphs based on their knowledge of Residential Schools and Truth and Reconciliation, along with their political parties' platforms on Indigenous Relations. The link to the assignment is in the blog entry, posted earlier this week. For the remainder of the week, students continued working in their groups to complete their political commercials, posters, and flyers. Students also prepared their statements for next week's political debate on school issues. It will be held on Tuesday. Questions for the debate are located in last week's blog entry.

Orange Shirt Day / September Weekend Update

Students discussed the history of Residential Schools and the meaning of Truth and Reconciliation in humanities today. After lengthy discussions, students were assigned a paragraph written reflection on the topic. Three questions were presented for students to reflect on:

What were Residential Schools? What does Truth and Reconciliation mean to you? What is your assigned political party's plan for moving forward with Truth and Reconciliation?

Students were provided with 45 minutes to respond to the question via lined paper or Google Docs. Unfinished work was assigned for homework. It will be counted towards students September Weekend Update paragraph writing mark.

Following the written reflection, students attended a historical exhibit with artifacts related to Residential Schools. This was hosted by our Indigenous Learning team. They ended the day with a sharing circle in the Main Gym to debrief.

September Week 4 Update

Students completed their first political debate, yesterday. Great job to all of the parties. Congratulations to the Green Party for winning the 9-5 Debate and the NDP for winning the 9-4 Debate. Next week, students will prepare for their second, and final debate, on school issues. This week, students will begin preparing their commercials. Here is a link to the assignment and the rubric: Commercial Outline  Commercial Rubric. Here is a link to next week's debate questions along with a planner and rubric: Political Debate #2

September Week 3 Update

This past week, students continued working on their reading, map, and paragraph writing assignments based on Quebec's New Secularism Act. Students were provided with Monday's class to complete the assignments. All unfinished work was assigned for homework and is due before the end of September. The writing portion will be graded as September's Weekend Update mark. Please see last week's post for a link to the assignment.

Students also continued working on their research outlines for the upcoming class political debate. The debate has been pushed back to Tuesday, September 24th to allow more time for groups to prepare. The research portion should have been completed by the end of Thursday's class. All unfinished work was assigned for homework. On Monday September 23rd, students will use class time to prepare a group outline and/or script with main points for Tuesday's debate. Access to the project can also be found in last week's post.

Resources for Political Campaign

See the attached link to questions for and answers from all the major (and some minor) political parties in the upcoming federal election. The questions are asked by students and answered by party leaders. All communication is via video with speaking and captions. This should be very helpful for student research: link

Also, here is a website that covers a large range of election issues from all the major political parties. It is very straightforward, yet detailed, and user friendly: pollenize.org/canada

Political Debate Questions for September 19

This week, students are beginning their preparations for the grade 9 2019 Political Debates. They will be held on Thursday September 19th. Groups will also be preparing their party's campaign posters and flyers, which are due next Friday, September 20th. This past Monday, students began working on a current event study of the Quebec Secular Act. The activities in the booklet, along with the paragraph question prompt at the end of the booklet, will be due at the end of class on Monday September 16th. Here is a link to the booklet: Quebec Secular Act

September Week 1 Update

This week, students have continued working on their Party Platforms Assignment. It is due this Friday, September 6th. Next week, students will begin prepping for their first political debate, which pertains to national issues.

Reminder: This Friday, the school is hosting a community pancake breakfast from 7:30 - 9:00am. Students and family are welcome. Breakfast will be followed by a guest speaker presentation in the Main Gym from 10am - 11am.

August Update

We have had a great start to the 2019-2020 school year. Students began this week with a weekend update paragraph writing assignment based on the news webcast "CNN10" and "CBC News the National". Here is the link to the assignment and rubric used for assessment: Weekend Update. The weekend update for this past Monday is due this Thursday, August 29th.

Students have also continued to work on their political campaign assignments. Last week, their Light Research as well as their Logos and Slogans were due. This week, students are working on the heavy research portion of their party platforms. Next week, they will use their research to build paragraphs outlining their platform for their party's blog. Here is the link to the assignment in it's entirety with assessment: Party Platforms Assignment.

I am looking forward to meeting parents this Thursday, August 29 for Meet the Teacher Night between 5pm and 8pm.

Welcome!

Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year at Ernest Morrow School. This is the blog for both 9-4 and 9-5 humanities with Mr. Duss. Check back here weekly for updates on everything that's happening in humanities, including what students are working on, due dates for assignments, homework, and links to class resources. I am looking forward to a great year ahead!

Mr. Duss