Grade 7 has their own QUIZLET section... YAY!!!!

Here you go... the link below takes you to the  two sets in your Quizlet site... just for grade 7 English....

Way to go everyone... you are becoming great collaborative learners!


http://quizlet.com/class/373745/

"The Friend Inside" Getting Ready for a Quiz

Monday, October 15th, you will write a quiz which will be based on "The Friend Inside".

So....how do you prepare? Here are a few suggestions as well as some things to think about.

1. Re-read the story.2. Note who the main characters are and their main characteristics (Jim and President Lincoln are the most important characters in the story)3. Look at your storyboard to see if you have summarized the story in six drawings. NOTE: drawing is another way our brain can remember and understand information.

Here is my storyboard. I drew it in pencil so it may be a bit difficult to see everything clearly but it will help you to see if your storyboard covers the main ideas within the story.

Things to think about:  

• What does it mean to keep "the friend inside"? 
• Is it hard for us to do that? Why or why not...
• Why was Jim was being tested? Think about the characteristics Lincoln was looking for.
• Abraham Lincoln is known for being honest. Was Lincoln being dishonest when Jim was being tested? 
• Our unit deals with the theme of COURAGE. Was Jim courageous? Why or why not?

I will see you on Monday!!!

Lest We Forget...

Many of my male relatives, both currently and from the past, have played a role in the armed forces. I am proud of my cousin who is currently serving as well as my many great-uncles who fought in the Korean War. My Grand-dad was a Merchant Seaman for the Canadian Forces and when my Grand-dad and Great-Uncle Tom on my Dad's side fought for England, they were captured by the enemy and became POWs during WW2. I am thankful that both were eventually able to return home. The world looked at war differently then; it was considered exciting to join and fight for your country and many young men even lied about their age to get the opportunity to go overseas. 

In grade 7, we have been reading the "Rememberance Times", a magazine about Canada's role in war and peace-keeping. The class was told to go through the many interesting articles and then pick out and write down ten interesting facts about the many wars and peace-keeping missions we have been involved in.

Next, each student had to create a character from WW2 who would write a letter from that time period. The character could either be someone from home, a mom, sister, factory worker etc., or someone overseas, a nurse, soldier, pilot, or other person serving. After creating a profile for their character - things like age, job, family background - students became their character and, using some of the facts found from the articles, are now in the process of writing a one page letter to someone - those overseas would write home and those at home would write overseas.  

It is so difficult for us to comprehend what it was like to be so far from home for perhaps years at a time, all to help millions of people we didn't know. And yet, over the years, hundreds of thousands have done just that. I hope that through this exercise, we will continue to learn from our past. Lest we forget...

Creative writing examples from grade 7....Autumn is arriving

Last week I wrote about my experience with the grade 7 literature class and our time outside "feeling" nature. I received some excellent reflective essays sharing what they experienced during their two minutes outside with their eyes closed, taking in the world around them. There are 19 students in the class so I could only pick a few examples but overall, I am very impressed with the creativity of these 11 and 12 year olds. I have done minimal editing...the work below is that of the students.

     "I heard the cars in the distance - a faint sound like waves, rolling over the ocean just waiting to get to the beach and be washed back out to the ocean."
     "The wind was chillingly cold as it floated through my skirt...my skin was getting prickly and the feeling of pins and needles were going down my spine."

     "I could feel the wind pressing on my back, wanting to lift me up in the air. Everything sounded so clear you could hear a stone falling on the other side of the street."

     "...then that nice, cool wind passed by again as if someone rewinded life and then clicked the PLAY button. The leaves and branches rustled and swayed more than before, and the feeling of autumn swept over me."

     "I felt the wind blowing my pants against my skin. I could feel it tickling against the back of my legs; it felt like that breeze you get as you are riding your bike."

     "I heard and felt the leaves falling of of the branches preparing for winter. I felt myself under a spell, like the wind wanted me to stay and listen. The wind gave me a breath of fresh air that calmed myself down...Everything felt so graceful and it was something that I never thought would be."

What did I feel and hear?

I just finished literature class with grade 7. We have been reading the short story, "The Most Important Day", in which Helen Keller meets for the first time her teacher, Miss Sullivan. In the story Helen learns that every thing is a thing and has a word to go with it. I shared with the class how it was beyond my comprehension how Helen lived without sight, hearing or the ability to speak. We tried to figure out which was the most important sense to have but couldn't reach a definitive agreement. During this last class we went outside, the students shut their eyes, and for two minutes listened and felt the world around us.

Even with my eyes open I was amazed at what I could hear and feel when I stood and did nothing else. I could feel the wind swishing and whirling my skirt around while biting at my fingers. The warmth from the sun managed to reach through the breeze, and I could feel the light and heat on my face and fingers. I could also feel the stillness of the class - all was still beneath my feet.

What surprised me though was what I could hear when I really focused. I heard our school flag flapping to its own rhythm in the wind. I could hear the elementary children playing in the back of the school. I could hear very clearly the cars cruising along Dunbrack Street which I did not expect because we are quite far from the highway. At one point, I heard a very young child crying inside one of the nearby homes. I could hear the sound the wind makes as it begins its yearly job of clearing the leaves from the trees in preparation for winter.

At the end of our two minutes we went inside and the class reflected on their experience. I am very interested to find out about their two minutes. If nothing else, I hope it helps to reinforce how blessed we are to have all of our senses when experiencing our world.

Extreme Organization

When I was a teenager, my room was so messy that my Mom would get to the point that she couldn't stand looking at it any longer. She would then threaten to hire in a cleaner to dig it out and take the charge out of my allowance. Of course, I would then clean it - very unhappily because I said I couldn't find my things when it was neat.

Flash forward a "few" years. I now wish I could afford to hire someone to come in and help me. Being "uncluttered" is definitely not one of my strengths and there are mornings where I sprint around my apartment in a bad mood because I can't find an important paper or my keys (even though I have a special key hook!). It really does make life more difficult.

As part of our study skills unit, the grade 7 class had a discussion about their current study environments. We then brainstormed what would make a good study environment. Then I sprung it on them....the "Extreme Organization" assignment. Everyone has to clean their room by next Tuesday. For some students this may be easy - for others (I would be one of the "others") it will be quite a challenge.

I realize that not all students study in their rooms but the intent of the assignment is to help everyone learn what a good study area should look like. Students must get their sheet signed by a parent and I welcome your reflections on the exercise -was it easy for your child, do you think he/she will be able to keep it clean, what helps your child study when it comes to the environment?

For the record...I did clean my room yesterday...I still don't enjoy it but I did it :)

A visit with my Mom

Yesterday in grade 7 we had a guest speaker - my Mom, Linda. Each year she comes in to be interviewed about what it was like in Halifax when she was growing up and what some of the similarities and differences were between grade 7 then compared to now. It is a really fun way to teach proper interview skills and more importantly, to learn about history and how each of us has a story which is an essential part of history.

Our class spent almost 1 hour and 30 minutes listening about poodle skirts and penny candy and how she got to go on the bus at a very young age all by herself. The students then asked some really great questions about technology, differences in school, cars and tv. I think the students really enjoyed hearing about her growing up years.

As the major Social Studies assignment for quarter one, I am assigning an interview to the class. All of the information will be sent home. I encourage you to become involved with this assignment, especially with choosing who to interview and the best kinds of questions to ask. The key to this assignment is that it must be someone at least two generations away (grandparent/great-uncle etc.) preferably from your family. Last year some students who did not have relatives living close by chose to do long distance phone interviews, while others interviewed a close family friend or someone from their church.

I hope they have fun with this assignment. This is the fourth time my Mom has come in and I am still learning new things about her childhood. Who knows what I will learn next year!

boring book report

Each year in literature 7 and 8, I assign a very straightforward book report. When I first show the students what I want to see in it they always have wonderful reactions to it like, "oh, no...not another one", or "why can't we do something fun"....etc. etc. etc. I have thus given it the name " The Boring Book Report".

I remember doing book reports as a young student and thought they were kind of fun. Then again, I was also the child who had at least three books on the go and if I ran out of books I would just re-read what I had. Books transported me to different places and cultures and I liked sharing about them.

This book report is meant to show me a student's writing style and their strenths and weaknesses in comprehending and then transferring that comprehension into writing. I gave a very thorough outline to help them with writing it. Hopefully they won't find it boring but will enjoy sharing each of their stories to me. I love to hear about a good new book after all!

What is your favourite book...

I was the kind of child who always had my nose in a book. If I finished a book and had nothing else to read I would just go back to the first page and read it again. I travelled to different countries, got to be different people, solved important mysteries and even managed to go back in time - all through reading books. It is difficult to pick a "favourite" book, but if pressed, I would have to say that Anne of Green Gables, is the one I remember the best.

I first read it at around 10 years of age and re-read it every five years or so. Each time I get something new and different out of it. I could relate more to Anne's best friend, Diana because of my personality and need to do the right thing, but secretly wished I could be as spunky as Anne. We do however, both share a love of books and how one could get easily lost within its pages. How beautiful  it must have been to have cherry trees blossoming outside of your window and I could understand why Anne would have such a difficult time with the Pye sisters - Josie could be quite snobby at times.

To have been able to wear the big satin ribbons in my hair (as Diana of course because as Anne I would have been stuck with horrible straight hair stuck in braids that would allow rotten boys like Gilbert yank on) and pretty dresses with calico prints seems so girly and sweet. Even though Anne had many of the same issues as we do today, Green Gables and Avonlea was set in a simpler time when one could explore the forest and have picnics in a meadow. Unlike Anne's first teacher, Mr. Philips, who refused to spell her name with an "e" at the end, I always thought that Miss Stacey would have been my favourite teacher - she was exceptionally encouraging while still requiring all of her students to work to the best of their potential.

As an adult I have many books that I have enjoyed and authors that I am drawn to but I think it is Anne that I will always turn to when I need a break from the craziness of technology and our busy society.

And so what is your favourite book? Students in our school have been asked this question and to respond in an essay of approx 250 words (no more). In addition to getting some great ideas for books to recommend for book reports, their essays will be submitted to a contest that the Chronicle Herald is running. They could win a book and a family set of tickets to a Moosehead game. I can't wait to see how they describe and explain why they like the books they do. And what about you? Make sure to share your favourite book with your child - maybe they will pick it up and like it as much as you do!