February 8th, 2010 by admin
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The 2008 Time 100 Article on Oscar Pistorius:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1733748_1733756_1735285,00.html#ixzz0ectpyLhF
The science behind the Winter Olympics
http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/dimensions/issue2/olympics.html
Photo Essay: Science of the Olympics
http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/dimensions/issue2/photoessay/page1.html
Video clip:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/05/16/sports/1194817107364/pistorius-can-spring-for-gold.html
Olympic Charter (Fundamental Principles of Olympism p 11)
http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/en_report_122.pdf
Canadian Olympic Committee Values
http://www.olympic.ca/en/about/canadian-olympic-committee/values/
We are starting our Term 2 Reading Ravens today.
Things to do:
- Log into Readingravens.ca
- Find your forum: Term 2 E8B, Term 2 R7C/R7F (boys) or Term 2 R7C/R7F (girls)
- Answer the before-reading questions about treating people fairly and treating people equally.
- Read the 2008 Time 100 Article on Oscar Pistorius
- A different critical thinking question will be posted every day. There are three questions. Answer the questions in Reading Ravens. The questions are designed to help you think about whether Oscar Pistorius should be allowed to compete as an able-bodied athlete at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.
- At the end of the week, answer the following question in a Google Doc: As a member of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), make a judgement to decide if Oscar Pistorius can compete at the 2012 Olympic Games. (See the Critical Challenge handout for more information.)
- Share your Google Doc with me before Tuesday Feb 16.
- Reading Ravens ends on Tuesday Feb 16 after the long weekend. We will be discussing the article in class.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to speak with me.
Additional Resources
Students who are on an IEP or are ESL are only required to read the 2008 Time 100 Article on Oscar Pistorius but you may also want to watch this video clip.
February 4th, 2010 by admin
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We are currently undergoing site maintenance on our class blogs over the next few days as we change servers. Some features may not work correctly. Our site might also go down temporarily.
February 1st, 2010 by admin
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On Friday, we watched a music video in class and did a “reading response” to the media text for our Media Test.
Here are some of the student responses to show give you an idea of what a level 1,2,3, and 4 looks like.
Please remember that you can get a level 4 whether you liked or disliked the music video. What matters is the quality of your thinking and your ability to prove your critical thinking statement.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to speak with me.
February 1st, 2010 by admin
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The Scholastic order arrived last Friday. If you haven’t received your order yet, please see me in class.
January 27th, 2010 by admin
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High School option forms and course calendars are going home tomorrow (Thursday). Please make sure they get returned by Fri Feb 5, 2009.
We will be starting persuasive essays very soon. Below, you can find the list of transition words we brainstormed in class today.
January 26th, 2010 by admin
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History is being taught as a semestered subject and we will be ending next week. As such, a special History mark sheet was sent home today so you are aware of how your child is doing. (Parents/Guardians who provided an email address should have received an electronic copy.)
Deadline Extension
Due to a major math test on Thursday, the deadline for the final product and research notes has been extended to Tuesday Feb 2 for both R7F and R7C.
There are three ways to improve the History mark
- Fix your research notes so that you’ve taken jot notes from the hand outs and textbook section before and after the rebellion. (For example, the Government of Upper Canada and Lower Canada, the Road to Rebellion, and Lord Durham / The Union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada).
- Do a great job on your final research product
- Do a great job on the History test next Tuesday.
History Test (Tuesday Feb 2)
Here are the two questions that will appear on Tuesday’s test:
- Think about what you learned about conflict and change in Upper Canada or Lower Canada. Identify the five most important things you learned during this unit and explain their significance on each post-it note.
- Take one item from your post-it notes. Make a connection between this item and something that is happening in the world today.
To look at examples of level 3 and level 4 answers, please look at the lesson we did on Tue Jan 5 in class: http://304.ldhss.ca/handouts-2/
History Research Project Final Product
You can either do a creative final product
- As a ___, write / perform a ___ for ___ to ____ ____.
- For example, as William Lyon Mackenzie, write a song for the legislative assembly to complain about the undemocratic government.
Or you can do the following task:
- Answer the guiding questions and critical thinking question in paragraph form. Use a pretty cover page. Make it neat. Hand it in. (Maximum mark: 3+)
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
January 25th, 2010 by admin
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Jot notes for the R7C / R7F History Research Assignments were marked over the weekend and returned today. (Students working with Ms Deme will have their notes looked at on Tuesday.)
Most students were focusing only on the one page titled the “rebellion of Upper Canada”, and didn’t research enough information from events before or after the rebellion to get the big picture.
Tonight, please take more jot notes from the following handouts (and textbook):
- The Government of Upper Canada and Lower Canada
- Road to rebellion
- Lord Durham / Union of Upper Canada and Lower Canada
Students are handing in their final projects at the end of the week. Tomorrow we will be discussing the final product in class. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to speak with me.
January 22nd, 2010 by admin
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We are beginning a new unit exploring Exposition and Persuasion in Language Arts. If you didn’t get a chance to copy all of our shared writing in class, you can print out the mind maps below.
Don’t forget, Reading Response F is due on Monday. Have a great weekend.
January 21st, 2010 by admin
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Today in the lab, we will be posting our narratives on iWrite.LDHSS.ca. The site is currently a private site which means that only students who are logged in can see student work. (Parents/Guardians/Teachers, please email me for a guest account, or ask your students to show you the site.)
The purpose of this site is to celebrate our work and to showcase examples of great student writing. On the right hand side of the iWrite.LDHSS.ca website, you can find a list of “award winning stories” that received a level 4 (4-, 4, 4+, 4++ or 80% and higher) in one or more of the following categories:
- Great Ideas and Organization
- Great Inferencing
- Great Word Choice / Voice
- Great Editing / Quotation Marks (Dialogue)
Rubrics went home yesterday to be signed. Students have until the end of Term 2 to revise and resubmit their work if they wish to improve their marks. (At the very least, students must fix all of the errors identified on the rubric. For more information, please see me during second nutrition break.)
Things to do in the lab
Part 1. Publish your narrative onto iWrite.
Publish the story you handed in to me onto iWrite without changing anything (yet). Here is an example of what your story will look like on iWrite. (You must be logged in to see it.)
- Log into iWrite.LDHSS.ca. Please do not add any personal information in your profile. Please do not change your password.
- Add New Post
- Copy and paste your narrative from your Google Docs file into your iWrite post. (You only need to copy the story. Please do not copy your name, your marks or the peer revising TAG tables.)
- Type in the title of your story into the title of the post
- On the right hand side, please click on the appropriate categories:
- Your class: E8B, R7C, R7F
- If you have an award-winning story, please click on the appropriate award(s)
- Click on the submit for review button.
- Wait for the teacher to moderate (approve) your story and publish it to the site.
Part 2. Revise your narrative based on comments from the rubric.
- You must spend time revising your stories (even if you don’t plan on handing them in to be re-marked.)
- All changes must be made in your Google Docs file. (This is so it’s easier for me to compare the two versions of your story. If you revise your story on a different piece of paper or software, I will not accept it.)
- Please make sure you fix all of the errors identified in the rubric or I will not re-mark your narrative.
- There is a separate rubric for students who want to redo their assignments. Please see me for details.
- After you have improved your story and fixed all of the mistakes, you can copy-and-paste the new version into iWrite.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me.
