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