April Update and Transition to Google Classroom

Teachers have returned to work from Spring Break. During the break, administrators were developing plans for continuing the school year with an online learning platform.

For the first week back, Monday April 6th to Thursday April 9th, teachers will be contacting students and guardians via phone call to check-in to see how families are coping and to retrieve information around access to technology. Lessons and tasks will NOT be assigned this week. For the time being, independent learning activities can be accessed here, from the CBE website. Students and guardians can also access resources from the Learn Alberta Online Reference Centre. Common grade assignments will be provided next week via Google Classroom.

This week, students will be added to Google Classrooms, through the same Google platform that students have been using all year (Google Docs, Slides, Drive, etc.). Starting next week, Google Classrooms will be the main point of contact for information and all things related to school-based learning. Therefore, this blog will no longer be updated, as all information will be accessed via Google Classroom. Your homeroom teacher will contact you over the course of the next two days. If you still have questions around Google Classroom or anything else moving forward, AFTER TUESDAY, please email your homeroom teacher with any questions you have.

This is a challenging time, however, we will all get through this together.

Thank you.

Jesse Duss - Humanities - jjduss@cbe.ab.ca
Richard Pak - Math/Science - rypak@cbe.ab.ca

Suggestions for Learning from Home K-9

Children are naturally curious learners and there are opportunities at home to engage their learning. We have created a webpage that offers a variety of educational ideas to support literacy, numeracy and wellness at home for this week. The resources are meant as suggestions only. You may choose to use the links and activities as needed over the next few days as more long-term educational programming is considered.

https://cbe.ab.ca/programs/curriculum/learning-at-home/Pages/6-9.aspx

Thank you,

 Kevin Godfrey

Principal | Ernest Morrow School

Calgary Board of Education | www.cbe.ab.ca

t | 403.777.7800

March Week 3 Update

The purpose of teacher blogs is to inform students and their families of day-to-day learning and activities throughout the school year.  We will continue to communicate learning opportunities and will provide links to online learning resources through these blogs. 

Important information related to all school decisions will continue to be emailed to parents/guardians and can also be found on the CBE website (www.cbe.ab.ca). 

Thank you.

March Week 2 Update

Students continued reading working on their literacy circle assignments this past week. On Friday, they will be learning about economics for success from volunteers who are coming to us from Junior Achievement Southern Alberta. They will learn about common expenses in adulthood, affordability, and financial/lifestyle goal setting.

Next week, students will continue their literacy circles and will begin their social studies unit on immigration.

March Week 1 Update

This past week students continued reading and working on their literacy circle assignments. Students should be finishing up their section 2 work and ready for section 3 by Tuesday. Please see the February week 3 post for access to all assignments.

Students began the next RTI cycles for Numeracy (Fractions) and Literacy (Essay Writing) on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. This will continue for the next few weeks, in preparation for the start of PAT season, which starts in May.

Next Friday, March 13th, students will participate in an Economics for Success seminar, run by volunteers from Southern Alberta Junior Achievement.

February Week 4 Update

This week in humanities, students began their novel studies within literacy groups. Students were given a choice among select novels, based on their individual reading levels. Each book is broken up into sections. Students are expected to read and complete assignments for section 1 by the end of this week. Assignments for each section include: chapter questions, vocabulary, "Fakebook" character development posts, and either a summary or visual sketch of the section.  There is also a final group project which is to be completed once the group has finished reading their book and has completed all other assignments. Here is a link to all resources for each book: Literacy Circle Resources

February Week 3 Update

This past week in humanities, students finished their economic island proposals, poster maps, and presentations. Marks have been updated on Powerschool. Students in 9-5 finished the economics unit with a 20 question multiple choice test. We will mark the tests together on Monday. Students in 9-4 will do the test Monday and mark it on Tuesday. Next week, all students will begin their novel studies as part of a literacy circle: a small group of students who are reading the same book and working on the same assignments as each other. Some assignments will be individual based, whereas others will be group based. Resources for each book will be uploaded to the blog next week.

February Week 2 Update

This week, students continued working on their Island Economics proposals and maps/posters. They will present their work to their peers next week when school resumes. Please see last weeks post for links to all assignment resources. Students have an extended break from this Thursday until next Monday. Classes resume on Tuesday, February 18th.

February Week 1 Update

This past week, students worked on an "Island Economy" project, as part of the economics unit. Here is a link to all of the resources required for the project: Island Economics. Next week, students will be finishing their project and presenting their islands to classmates.

Next week, students will be in school from Monday to Wednesday. There will be no school on the Thursday and Friday due to Teacher Convention. The school will also be closed on the following Monday for Family Day, making it a 5 day break for students.

January Week 4 Update

This week, students were assigned a weekend update based on CNN10s Monday report. You can find the report in CNN10s archives Three stories included the caucus process in the United States, Kobe Bryant's tragic story from the weekend, and the power of Super Bowl ads. The three big questions that are associated with each story are:

1. How does the process of selecting a party leader in the United States differ from the process in Canada?

2. Who, in your opinion, is the greatest NBA player of all time?

3. What is your favorite commercial of all-time? Why?

A special shout out to Ernest Morrow can be viewed in Thursday, January 30th's episode of CNN10. Here is a link to the webcast: CNN10 Ernest Morrow

We also began our studies on different Economic Systems, starting with the Economy Game on Monday. Students participated in lessons and a vocabulary task throughout the week. Here is a link to the power point used during lessons: Economics PPT.

Parent Teacher Interviews are Thursday and Friday this week. Please book online through the school website or call the office (403-777-7800) to reserve a time slot.

January Week 3 Update

This week, students finished their studies on Collective Rights. We will have a multiple choice quiz on Friday, January 23rd. Here is a link to the Power Point that was used in class: Link Please see the post from January week 1 for access to the primary sources that will be used for the quiz.

January Week 2 Update

This week, students finished their New Years Resolution writing assignment. Please see the previous post for assignment details.

On Monday, students completed their first Weekend Updated assignment for January based on that day's CNN10 newscast.

They also began looking at primary and secondary sources pertaining to collective rights that are guaranteed under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Students have been creating vocabulary lists from each set of sources, for which they find definitions. These lists can be used during a quiz on Collective Rights, which will be next week. 
Link to sources: Collective Rights Sources

January Week 1 Update

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a well rested and enjoyable break. We have a short first week back.

Mr. Duss will be away until Friday, January 17th, to recover from surgery. Mr. Byrka will be in, until then.

Some students did not present their group projects on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, prior to the break. They were scheduled to present immediately upon return from break. However, this will be postponed until Friday, January 17th. Students are expected to be prepared, since the assignment was technically due December 19th.

This week, students will be reflecting on 2019, and making New Year's Resolutions for 2020. Reflections and resolutions are to be completed on lined paper or via Google Docs and sent to jjduss@educbe.ca

Some things to think about when writing:

1.     What were some good things that happened to you in 2019?

a.     Did you have control over the good things that happened?

2.     What were some challenging situations?

a.     Did you have control over the challenging things that happened?

3.     Resolution

a.     Make a resolution for 2020. Make sure the resolution allows you to have control over its fate.

b.     Provide a minimum 3-step plan for achieving your New Year’s resolution.

c.     Identify at least 1 person that can help support you in reaching your resolution. Why did you choose that person and how can they help?