June 23 - 27
Food Truck Fiesta will be on June 24
Calaway Park June 25
Last day, June 26, dismissal at 11:40 - Final Colour War day
Appeals day June 27
June 16 - 20
This week, students will be planning and creating their Food Truck, based on their Literature Circle book.
June 9 - 13
This week, students will participate in their second Socratic seminar.
They will be reviewing in class for their unit test on the Aztecs and Spanish, which will take place on Wednesday, June 11. A study guide is on Google Classroom.
June 2 - 6
This week, students will be creating and presenting a conflict tableaux based on key events in their Literature Circle books.
In Social, they will be working on a RAFT assignment to demonstrate their understanding on what events led to the downfall of the Aztecs.
May 26 - 30
This week, students will be completing their first Socratic Seminar for this round of Literature Circles.
In Social, continuing with the Aztec social structure and how it impacted their daily lives.
May 19 - 23
This week, students will be taking out their Literature Circles books, creating a reading contract, reading, and beginning to work on a Character Map. The schedule will be posted on Google Classroom, please check in with your student to see how they are doing throughout the unit, making sure they are able to finish their book.
In Social, we will be reflecting on the most important Aztec god and looking at their social hierarchy.
Monday, May 19, is Victoria Day, no school
Wednesday, May 2,1 is our Culture Fair from 4:15 - 5:45 pm
May 12 - 16
We will be finishing our poetry work and choosing books for our final round of Literature Circles.
In Social, we will continue looking at the Aztec Worldview and its impact on their daily life.
Open House - Thursday from 6 - 7:30 pm
No School for students on Friday, May 16
May 5 - 9
We will continue to analyze poetry in English and participate in quick writes this week. From there, we will begin writing our own.
In Social, we will start our final Aztec and Spanish unit. We will begin by looking at a map of Mexico (formerly Aztec territory), the origin legend, and the geographical features that impacted this unique culture.
Those attending will be at the Basketball Game on Wednesday, May 7.
Hats on for Mental Health, Wednesday, May 7.
April 28 - May 2
This week, we have our Renaissance Unit Test on Monday. From there, we will be looking at the perspective of a group of people "discovered" by the Europeans during the Age of Discovery.
We will continue to work on poetry in English, focusing on theme and word choice.
April 21 - 25
In English, we will be looking at poetry. Specifically focusing on analyzing poetry by looking at form, word choice, theme, and tone.
In Social, we will be wrapping up our Renaissance unit with a focus on the Age of Discovery. The unit test will be on Monday, April 28.
April 14 - 18
Continuing with Essays and Zines.
April 7 - 11
In English, we will continue with our Essays. This will focus on conclusion planning as we begin to write our essay.
In Social, we will begin our Zine assignment. Students will choose a person of interest from the Renaissance. From there they will research them and their impact on the Renaissance and today.
March 31 - April 1
In English, we will continue to work on our Essays. Our focus will be on planning our introduction and body paragraphs.
In Social, we will continue with the Renaissance. We will begin to look at the many famous people of this period and their impressive creations/discoveries.
March 23 - 27
Spring Break - enjoy your time
March 17 - 21
In English, students will continue to work on their essays. Our focus will be on identifying text evidence to support their thesis and identifying evidence from their own lives as well. Hopefully, we will get our introductory paragraph finished this week.
In Social, students will be finishing with City-State research and working on their brochures.
Parent-Teacher Conferences Thursday evening and Friday during the day. There is no school for students on Friday.
March 10 - 14
In English, we will be doing a reading comprehension task with a focus on memes. Students will also begin to write their Character Trait essay (based on a character from their Literature Circle book), focusing on the thesis. This process will be highly scaffolded to help ensure students understand the process and can apply it in the future.
In Social, students will learn what a City-State is and begin research on one of their choosing. After they have completed their research, they will be creating a travel brochure for their chosen City-State.
Parent-Teacher conferences are online next week. Please remember to book a time.
March 3 - 7
In English, students will be planning and completing their final group Literature Circle assignment, the Character Board. Students will work in their group to create a visual representation of a specific character in their book. They must be creative and use text evidence to support their representations.
In Social, we will be looking at Renaissance art in comparison to Middle Ages art. This will help illustrate the differences between the two, with a focus on how Humanist values influenced art.
February 24 - 28
In English, students will be finishing their Literature Circles book and completing a Goodreads review. In Social, we will continue to develop our understanding of Humanism by reading an article and creating a representation using loose parts.
Friday the 28th is a PD day, no school for students.
February 17 - 21
This week, students will participate in Socratic Seminars in English. They will be provided with time to prepare in class, if it is not enough time, they will be expected to finish their preparation at home.
In Social, we will review our quiz and continue with vocabulary related to our next topic, Humanism.
Monday is Family Day, no school.
February 10 - 14
In English, we will be continuing with Literature Circles. Students will be focusing on the setting. They will write a paragraph on why the setting is important to their novel.
In Social, we will continue with a review of the Black Death. Tuesday will be a review day and we will have a quiz on Wednesday.
Teacher's Convention Thursday and Friday, no school for students.
February 3 - 7
In English, students will participate in their first Socratic seminar based on their Literature Circle book. They signed up for either Tuesday or Wednesday. They will also be completing a setting assignment as a group.
In Social, we will continue with the Silk Road and then look at the Black Death, as it played a significant role in the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
January 27 - 31
In English, students will be starting Literature Circles. They choose their books and will be signing them out on Monday. This first week will focus on reading and flagging passages to use in Socratic Seminars. They will also look for evidence of a positive character trait to use in their essay after they finish their book.
In Social Studies, we will be looking at the role of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages and then going into the Silk Road.
January 20 - 24
In English, students will write a Good Reads book review for Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds as we just finished the book. Students will then select their books for Literature Circles starting on Monday, January 27.
In Social Studies, we review our Europe maps and begin looking at the Middle Ages, as this is the period before the Renaissance.
January 13 - 17
In English, we will finish our novel study A Long Way Down. Students have complete notes on each chapter and have practiced a Socratic seminar. Next week they will have another Socratic seminar and a comprehension quiz. Their elevator notes will be due on Friday, Jan 17.
In Social Studies, we will focus on European geography as we begin our Renaissance unit. From there we will look at what life was like in the Middle Ages.
September 16 - 20
In English, we will continue with our figurative language work. Our focus will be on identifying figurative language in song and explaining how it is used to create imagery.
In Social, we will focus on collective worldview and apply our understanding to build a society based on a set of given parameters. This will provide students the opportunity to problem-solve in groups while reflecting on the elements of worldview.
Our DMC Terry Fox run will take place on Friday, September 20.
September 9 - 13
We will be completing our reading diagnostic on Monday and then moving into a review of literary devices. Students were able to go to the Learning Commons so the expectation is that they bring a book to class daily.
In Social, we will focus on perspective and how it impacts our interpretation of images. This will serve to further develop our understanding of worldview and its many components.
September 3- 6
This week we will look at identity to support our understanding of worldview, the core concept of Grade 8 in Social Studies. In English, we will reflect on ourselves as readers, get books from the library, and complete a baseline writing diagnostic.