Humanities 9 upcoming activities!

Today was a blast playing the Fur Trade Game...a whole lotta cheating going on though! Great lesson, Mr Merrick.

There will be a Chapter 8 quiz on Tuesday, December 13.
Newspapers will be compiled and handed in on Wednesday, December 14. No late assignments please.

Survival Scrapbooks are WAY overdue. We will expect that students will hand theirs in tomorrow, finished or not.

Humanities 8 presentations!

It's that time of year again, the grade 8s will be preparing their Religions/World Beliefs teaching presentations for next week. We have a ball every time we do this activity in grade 8. The students learn so much and have a great time. Here's some photos of past years:

Happy December!

Good morning Kingdom of Fun! Happy December! The countdown is certainly on for winter break...16 more days!

Mr Merrick is also on his countdown to being finished his practicum and graduating from University! Mr Merrick will be giving me the 8-2s on Monday, Dec 5 and he will continue with the 9-2s and 8-1s until December 9. He's had a great practicum.

Humanities 8 update:
Students are now deep into their research on their chosen religion. They are creating a note making package which they will use to study for the unit quiz and also for their teaching presentations which will happen the last week of school. The notemaking packages are due Tuesday, December 6th. We are asking that all overdue assignments for Mr Merrick be handed in as soon as possible so he is not marking over the holidays!

Humanities 9 update:
Our students are studying Colonial Canada, figuring out our roots as a country and the roots of some of our conflicts. The students will be starting a newspaper project shortly, should be some fun writing and learning! The Survival Projects are now overdue, please get them in as soon as possible. Mr Merrick and I will not be accepting them after December 12.

Parent Teacher Conferences are today!

My Parent-Teacher conferences are happening today and my schedule is chock-a-block full! If you missed out today, please email me and we can set up another time to meet.

Thank you to all the parents who are braving yet another storm to get here to meet with me.

Survival Projects!

Humanities 9 Survival Projects are due Tuesday, November 29!

Updates!

Humanities 9
There's a test tomorrow on the Aboriginal People of Canada unit! Study hard! Your projects are due next week, but today is the last class to work on them...you've had 2 full weeks in class/library to work on them. I'm looking forward to reading them!

Humanities 8
The Religions and World Beliefs unit is in full swing! Last week was a fun game that Mr Merrick ran that taught how some religions were able to spread faster than others. Now he is teaching about stereotypes and racism. The awesome student teaching presentations will be happening in December, one of my favorite projects for the 8s!

Non-report cards aka Progress Reports

Non-report cards went home on Tuesday for Humanities 8 and 9! I did do comments, but unfortunately they will not print out on the Progress Reports I sent home. Instead the comments will show up on the School Report Cards which will be going home today (Friday) at 3:20. The Report cards don't have marks on them, but the Progress Reports do...I know, could it be any more confusing?

Please find the Progress Reports, sign them and send them back to school. I've only received 8 back out of 90 so far...and I've even resorted to bribery! Bring those non-report cards back to school. Thanks and have a great weekend!

Daryle Mills guest speaker

Daryle Mills and Tundra and Warrior came to our class to talk about survival skills and dog sledding. It was a great presentation!

End of term 1 today!

Humanities 8
Trip Around the World Projects are due November 10th. We've had 2 weeks and 2 days to work on them in class, 5 of those classes were either in the computer labs or using the netbooks. If you are lucky enough to have a Gimme a Break card, you can use them on Thursday to "buy" yourself a long weekend to work on your project and hand it in on Monday.

Humanities 9
Aboriginal People of Canada chart and vocab was due today...lots of you didn't hand it in today! Eek!
Survival Project research started today, lots of great ideas already swirling about. You will have 7 days in the library over the next 2 weeks to work on this project, use your time wisely!

Term 1 is ending today, so I'm working every lunch hour with students who are behind, all of whom have received a reminder to come in at lunch to work. If you don't know if you need to attend, just ask!

Hum 8 Trip Around the World Projects are due November 10th

Yes, there is a due date and it's coming sooner that you think! The Trip Around the World Projects are due NOVEMBER 10th!

Here's a look at past projects. Click on each picture to view them bigger:

Happy Halloween!

Lots of great ghosties and goblins out and about today for Halloween. It's also Mr Merrick's first day of his practicum with my grade 8s! Talk about trial by fire.

Here's an update on what we are up to these days in Humaities 8 and 9.

8's are still working on their Trips around the World. Mr Merrick and I will come up with a due date in Thursday's class when we conference with each student. The themes this year are some of the most creative I've seen and there's been a great work ethic so far. I'm really pleased with this group of 8's.

The 9's are enjoying a number of guest speakers. We had Barbara Whyte in to talk about traditional food, herbs and medicines. Gord McMahon spoke about myths, stereotypes and the portrayal of Aboriginal people in the media. Suzanne Camp showed us how Aboriginal people made their clothes with cedar and furs. This week we'll have Daryle Mills in with his sled dogs and Suzanne Camp will be back to tell us about making traditional household goods. It's been a great learning experience for us all.

Humanities 8
We are working on our Trips Around the World!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone is so excited and inspired, some great ideas for themes this year. These projects will be due in about 2 weeks.

Humanities 9
We have just begun our Aboriginal Unit. The inquiry question we are asking is: What does it mean to be Aboriginal? We will be having a number of guest speakers coming to our class over the next 2 weeks and we'll also be working on our Survival Projects. Lots of great learning!

Humanities 9
Travel Brochures are due tomorrow (Tuesday) and Geography test is Wednesday. 5 Themes of Geography assignment is overdue!

Humanities 8
5 Themes of Geography take home activity is due tomorrow (Tuesday).

Progress Reports went home October 7th. If you haven't seen one, please ask your child for it, sign it and send it back to school. Thanks!

Have you seen the newsletter yet?

Humanities 8
Canada maps were due yesterday (Oct 5)
Latitude and Longitude activity was due today (Oct 6)
We had great fun playing Battleship today in class, using latitude and longitude skills!

Humanities 9
We are studying the 5 Themes of Geography right now, and it's going really well! Students worked on an assignment with the 5 Themes today, it's due Monday.

I sent a newsletter home with students on Monday, please make sure you see it and sign it!

Humanities 9
Geographic Regions of Canada chart is due Monday, October 3rd...October? How did that happen?

Humanities 8
Comics are long overdue. World Maps are due Friday, September 30.

Toonies for Terry

Hey, bring a toonie for Terry on Tuesday! Let's beat last year's record of $5000.... Our goal this year is $6000!

Happy Weekend!

Humanities 8
Comics are due on Monday. We'll have a cartooning quiz on Monday as well. Please don't forget your writing handbook.

Humanities 9
There is no homework for the weekend! Overdue work includes:
- letter to/from your future self
- concept map, who do you think you are?
- memory map
- dinner story

Have a great weekend!

Happy Monday!

Humanities 8
Today we complete our rough drafts for our comics. Tomorrow we'll begin our good copies. I've seen some fantastic ideas so far and some great titles. It' going to be great to see these projects completed.

Humanities 9
We worked on our dinner stories today. The rough drafts were due today so that we could get some peer feedback on them. Tomorrow the good copies are due.

A great start to our week. I'm loving the positive energy of my classes!

Homework update

Humanities 8
Onomatopoeias were due today. Course outlines and discipline plans should have been signed days ago.

Humanities 9
Memory maps are due tomorrow. Course outlines and discipline plans should have been signed days ago.

So far it's been a great start. I'm very pleased with how great my classes are this year!

First Week a Shaking Success!

Well, today was a little more exciting than usual at Mark Isfeld school. Most of my students handled the earthquake with calmness and took it seriously. I didn't feel a thing! We took cover and counted until Mr Village told us to exit the building where attendance was taken and we waited until we were allowed back in the building. And it was business as usual for my students.

The only homework we've had this week is to get the Humanities course outline and Discipline Plan signed. We've spent our time getting back into the swing of things and getting to know each other.

Monday is the beginning of Silent Reading time, so students need to come prepared with a book, magazine, textbook or comic to read.

I'm thrilled with how well this first week has gone, it's going to be a great year!

Have a great weekend.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back and a huge WELCOME to our new Isfeld students! I hope everyone had a super summer break. I'm really looking forward to this year, I feel like it's going to be a great one!

I enjoyed seeing all the grade 8's popping their heads in my room today, checking out where their classes were. I hope tomorrow runs smoothly for everyone.

Due to the current job action, we won't be having a meet the teacher night as previously planned. Parents, please keep in touch with me through email over the year. If you'd like to come in and see me, please email ahead of time and I'll be happy to see you! I'm not a real great morning person, so after school is ideal for me.

I will try to keep this blog more up to date than I did last year, so that you can keep up with what we are doing in class. Please make sure you check the school webpage for information as well: www.isfeldschool.com You can also find all the teachers' email addresses there in the "staff" section.

Here's to a great year at Isfeld!

Report card pick up

Report cards will be ready to pick up June 30 from 9-10am from your TA teachers. After 10am you can pick them up at the office. I guess I better get started writing my report cards! EEK!

Catapult FUN!

Yay teamwork!

Yes, grade 8s have exams!

Some grade 8s have been telling their parents that there are no exams for grade 8s. Sadly, for them, this is not true. All of my students have a study giude for Social Studies.

Here's the exam schedule for 8-1 and 8-2:

Monday, June 20 9-10am
8-1 English, Parsons, room 104
8-2 Math, Watt, portable 2

Monday, June 20 11am-12pm
8-1 Math, Watt, room 104
8-2 English, Parsons, portable 2

Tuesday, June 21 11-12
8-1 Socials, Parsons, room 104
8-2 Science, Watt, portable 2

Wednesday, June 22 9-10am
8-1 Science, Watt, room 104
8-2 Socials, Parsons, portable 2

Please call the school if you have any questions or concerns.

Coat of Arms Awesomeness!

Humanities 8

We are enjoying the Middle Ages these days, lots of fun! Some overdue homework to look for:
-monk/nun letter
-crusades timeline
-crusades paragraph: Were the crusades a success or a failure?
-typed memoir story
-manor map (REALLY overdue now)

Coat of Arms projects are due May 25th! Looking forward to seeing some amazing projects!

SS11
We finished chapter 6, the Cold War and are just completing chapter 8, the 3 faces of Canada. The chapter 8 test is on Wednesday, May 25th. Then we will be looking at the Canadian Government. Good times.

Catapult simulator!

Try this out, very fun!
http://www.forgefx.com/casestudies/prenticehall/ph/catapult/design-test-simulation.htm

Humanities 8

Some overdue work to look for in binders:
-wanted posters
-Feudal Warriors chart
-Manor map

We're having great fun learning about the Middle Ages!

SS11
We just finished WWII, the test was on Monday. Now we are working on post WWII and thinking about the big question: Should Canada be involved in foreign conflicts?

Overdue assignments:
-WWII notes
-WWII vocab and questions
-Box in the Attic projects

Long weekend marking marathon!

Here's a few highlights from my marking marathon this weekend...the projects are so good, its taking me so long to read them! Great job folks.

Boxes of projects, there's another box at school that's already been marked!

This one made me laugh out loud a number of times! Well done JG!

This one had lots of neat details throughout the project, lots of fun to read. Awesome JvE!

I still have many more to mark and many more highlights to come!

Happy Easter/Long Weekend!

Update!

Humanities 8

We've had a great time learning about Feudalism in the middle ages so far. Yesterday students performed skits on life of a child in the middle ages...grim. Now we are looking at the role of women.

Overdue items to look for:
-Trip Around the World Projects (2 weeks overdue)
-Middle Ages title page (1 week overdue)
-Courage poster

Tomorrow "The Role of Women in the Middle Ages" is due.

SS11
We are on the front of WWII....researching for our "Box in the Attic" projects. Next week we will finish WWII and have the chapter test. Notes and questions will be due the day of the test.

Report cards are coming home tomorrow.

Humanities Week: the Faces of Courage

This week is a very special week at Isfeld, it's Humanities Week. Our theme this year is "Faces of Courage".

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them" - Walt Disney

Here's some inspiration for our Courage projects this week:

Courageous or crazy?

http://www.ted.com/talks/ueli_gegenschatz_extreme_wingsuit_jumping.html

Dr King's famous speech.

http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_luther_king_jr_i_have_a_dream.html

An 11 year olds courageous mission: to become an organic farmer.

http://www.ted.com/talks/birke_baehr_what_s_wrong_with_our_food_system.html

We're going to need some courage if we're going to save this planet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwR44T69_Is

Trip Around the World Projects!

The projects are looking fantastic! We will celebrate our trips next week. The due date for the Trip Around the World Project is WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6th, 3:30pm.

Overdue homework...? Humanities 8

Some overdue homework to look for in binders:
-Canada Map
-Latitude and Longitude activity
-Mapping Skills package
-Vancouver Island map

We are in the middle of our Trip Around the World Projects...so far some AMAZING ideas!

Geography test is on: Thursday, March 17!

Love for Jenn

I'm sad to tell you that my dear friend Jenn lost her battle with breast cancer last night. Here's her brave story http://www.babywillyoulovemewhenimbald.blogspot.com/

Highlights from the World Beliefs Unit!

Humanities 8

Some overdue things to look for in binders:
-5 themes of Geography notes
-5 themes of Geography take home activity
-map of Canada

An interesting article from a site I love

http://www.ourbigearth.com/category/kid-led-learning/

A new unit for grade 8s!

Humanities 8

The Religions presentations are now done, what a great job students did in preparing for these fun teaching presentations.

We have begun our fun filled unit on Geography. Stay tuned for some exciting project ideas and games we are playing in class.

Some items that are overdue include:

• the 50 word mini-saga
• the audience notemaking chart from the Religions presentations
• feedback form from the Religions unit

A reminder to those doing the Heritage Fair displays: Your projects are due MARCH 1st!

SS11

We are working on WWI...research paper starts tomorrow. Should be very fun! Flag Day is tomorrow, wear your red and white for prizes.

Welcome grade 11s!

Welcome to my awesome new Social Studies 11 class! So far it's been great getting to know you all. It's looking like it's going to be a great semester.

Humanities 8
We are in the middle of some fabulous Religions presentations! The rest will be going on "stage" Feb 8-10.

X Block is now here on most Wednesdays! X-Block is a fantastic chance for students to get caught up on their work from 2:10-3:10 on most Wednesdays. The PASS program is now running on Wednesdays from 2:10-4:30.

Parsons' availability for extra help

Here's a schedule of when I'm available to help students (in room 401) who have fallen behind, or who have I forms, or who just want to earn a better grade in Humanities 8 or First Nations 12.

Monday, January 17 at lunch
Wednesday, January 19 at lunch
Monday, January 24 at lunch
Tuesday, January 25 all day
Wednesday, January 26 at lunch
Thursday, January 27, 9am-12pm

I forms went home January 10 for my First Nations class and January 13th for my Humanities 8 classes. Please check with your child to see if they have an I form, sign it and return it to me asap.

Due Dates and stuff

Humanities 8
Here's some solid due dates that we've come up with this week...we've had to be flexible due to the snow day.

January 24, Religions test and notes are due...notes can be used for the test....these must be NOTES not paragraphs/sentences, this is a NOTE-MAKING assignment.

First week of February: Religions teaching presentations

The Great Canadian Geography Challenge

Calling all grade 8s! The Great Canadian Geography Challenge is here. Meetings and practices take place in room 402 at lunch on Tuesdays, just show up and Mr Walker will help you with your geography skills.

You can get a chance to go to the Provincials and the Nationals! There's lots of fun prizes and even cash prizes.

Go for it!

Welcome back!

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a great holiday relaxing, having fun and eating good food.

The report card due date is coming up at the end of January, so I am busy marking and writing report cards at night and on weekends this month.

Here's where we're at in class:

Humanities 8
We have chosen our world beliefs to study and everyone seems to be very excited and engaged. By this Monday, all students should have 4 topics done on their note-making package. All students have their checklist in their binder. Please refer to this list for instructions.

We will finish our research this week, a due date for the note-making package will be set on Monday. Students will then have a test on the world belief they studied. After that, students will be working together in small groups to create a teaching presentation for the rest of the class. Students will be presenting their lesson during exam week at the end of January.

FNS12
Our provincial exam is RAPIDLY approaching! We are finishing chapter 6, our test will be Tuesday, then on to chapter 7. I will be available for study help at lunch January 11, 14, 21 and all day on the 25th. The Provincial exam is January 27 at 9am, you must be on time!