Mrs. Middleton's Class Website Nurturing Life-Long Learners

Jump Rope for Heart occurred this afternoon for Hillcrest. All the students headed outside for an hour to raise money and awareness for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. It was great to see the participation and hear the laughter from all the students.
1) Math - Grade 7s - no homework, get test signed
- Grade 6s - Mrs. Van - no homework, get test signed
- Mrs. Farrell - pg 193 - #1 - 6
2) Socials - watch video link below and see Comments for directions on a response.

Track and Field practises start today. It would be great to have more than 50% of our class joining up. Grab a schedule, talk to other students, and come join in this great opportunity to run, jump and throw!

Comment: After watching the video write a response summarizing this video. Why do we need laws? Who was the first to establish laws? What was an example of a law that the Mesopotamians had to follow? Continuing with our discussion today regarding the need to dig deeper, share why you think it is important that we have laws in society.

Video Link: Turning Points In History

Friday

04/11/2014

Our own Easter eggs!

Whew, I think we are all exhausted after a long and busy week. We started our day with some great debates around a couple of controversial topics. The purpose was to build an understanding of how to state an argument and back up the opinion with reasons and details. Next week students will continue to develop this skill in their writing.
I was very impressed with all of Division 1's behaviour during our fire drill today. All students took it seriously and were excellent role models for the other classes.
After recess we let our creative juices flow by decorating Easter eggs with our little buddies. Lots of bright colors and interesting designs came about.
Everyone is in need of a well deserved break this weekend. Take some time outside, run, play, have fun. Oh, don't forget to pick up a good book for some down time!

1) Health and Career - Goal Setting - use the plan we created today as an example. Redo your two personal goals with specific steps. Remember, "A goal without a plan is just a wish."
2) Bring a skipping rope on Monday for Jump Rope for Heart if you have one.

Comment: Today we debated two very good topics, one on whether cell phones should be allowed in schools and the other whether uniforms should be worn in all schools. Take some time to think about topics that are debatable/arguable/controversial. As you will be choosing a topic to write about in the near future it is time to start thinking about possible topics. Ask a parent, talk to a friend, and share what topics do you think would be good to write about in a persuasive piece.

Watch the short video below to review what is needed for a successful persuasive piece of writing.

Video Link: Persuasive Writing

Thursday

04/10/2014

Starting today with Fit Kids allowed many students the chance to burn off energy allowing each the ability to focus in on their learning. Tomorrow we will incorporate our new goal of being active 4 times a week even if it is for 15 minutes at a time.

1) Bring in a hard boiled white egg for decorating. Please make sure it is in a container that will keep it from cracking as it travels to and from school.
2) Grade 7s - complete the Year Book paragraph. Be thoughtful and ask a parent to help edit. Return for Monday.

Comment: Too often we rush through each day without being thoughtful of all we have and all we have accomplished. What is something that you are proud of learning, of accomplishing in the past few weeks in school? Remember to go beyond one quick sentence. Think about why you are proud of this and how it has made a difference for you.

Wednesday

04/09/2014

Visible thinking in Math.

I shared an article this morning that I had read recently about a 95 year old woman who is still participating internationally in track and field. This led to a talk around fitness levels for all of us and the need to take time out of our day to get outside and be active. We also talked about the importance of having down time where we can spend time with friends playing games like street hockey and kick the can, or climbing trees. Many of the students voiced they do feel their lives are over scheduled and do not have enough of this 'down time' to recharge the batteries. What a great topic to discuss at the dinner table or in the next car ride.
Digging deeper into specific inventions from Mesopotamia was the focus in Socials. Everyone was partner up and took notes on an assigned invention. Tomorrow they will be turning this information into an one page document sharing their learning.

1) Math - grade 7s Test tomorrow - study the review check ups
- grade 6s - Mr. Rayat - test tomorrow
- Mrs. Van - pg 104 #3, mark, study for test tomorrow

2) Socials - complete note taking for your partner work (invention)
3) French - emotions worksheet - Thursday
4) Fit Kids - Thursday morning
5) Egg decorating - each student is to bring a hard boiled egg Friday

Math Games - Order of Operation to practise your skills!
Math is Fun
Order of Operation - Alberta
Math Frog
IXL
Solve It

Comment: If we are to be active each day for at least 15 minutes in school time we need to gather a list of activities that would be suitable for us to do. Add your thoughts as to what games, activities you would be interested in. Take some time to look up ideas to introduce. There are many out there, we just need to learn what they are. OUr class goal is to be active at least 4 days a week during the school day. But it needs to be manageable from the teacher's view point too!

Tuesday

04/08/2014

Determining the message of an editorial cartoon.

What a fun day of learning we had. Students shared their editorial cartoons within small groups discussing the message of the illustrator. Learning how to take what you see and infer a message is a higher order thinking skill. They then moved on to a 17th century editorial cartoon and worked to determine the message as well as the reasons to support their thinking. Learning to craft a strong argument was the goal of this lesson.
In Math all the grade 7s used small white boards to show their learning which allowed me great insight with where they might be struggling and allowed them to learn more openly from their peers.
Finally, partners continued to build background knowledge of the inventions that came from Mesopotamia. Who knew so many of our modern day items such as the calendar, was thought of more than 5000 years ago!

1) Math - grade 7s - study for your test. Use the Chapter Check to guide you. Also practise the decimals to fractions and fractions to decimals in sections 3.9 and 3.10
- grade 6s - Mr. Rayat - worksheets
- Mrs. Van - worksheet, pg 100 #4 a and b, 6, 8
2) French - emotions worksheet - Thursday

Important - Friday we will be decorating Easter eggs with our little buddies. Please bring a hard boiled egg to decorate.

Comment: Now that you have spent more time on the inventions from Mesopotamia, which do you think is the best one and why? Use the skills we are building in Language Arts to help you. Remember to be clear on your opinion and use reasons and details to support your opinion.

Monday

04/07/2014

Invention of Mesopotamia.

1) Math - Math Link for Order of Operation Game: Exploring Order of Operation - Use It. All students both grade 6 and 7 are encouraged to play this game. It will help the grade 7s with a concept they have just learned and give the grade 6s some introduction before learning it this coming week.
Grade 7s - study for your test on Thursday,
- pg 136/137 #3,7,10,12,13
Grade 6s - Mr. Rayat - 2 worksheets
- Mrs. Van - pg 99, #2, play game
2) LA - Editorial Cartoon - find editorial cartoon, cut it out, discuss message with a parent, write down message, bring in - Tues
3) Goal Setting - complete 2 goals including steps to achieve the goal

Comment: So far, from what your read today in Socials with the inventions of Mesopotamia, which invention was most surprising to you? How did this impact this civilization?

Friday

04/04/2014

Two art pieces by the same artist - same learning intention, same criteria, but time to receive and apply feedback. Incredible evidence of learning.

It has been a great week with the introduction of new units and the completion of others. Students have begun to develop skills for building strong arguments in their writing as we focus on persuasive writing and have spent time wondering and marvelling as the world of Ancient Mesopotamia begins to unfold each day.
After a number of weeks learning how to use vanishing point in perspective art, students completed their second piece today. At the end of the day I spent time comparing each child's first attempt to their second and was beyond thrilled to see the improvement. The process for this assignment included having clear goals and criteria, taking time to self assess based on the criteria, using feedback from peers and myself, then making changes to improve. Each child showed improvement in their art. When we take time to learn from first attempts, we all can improve.

1) Math - Math Link for Order of Operation Game: Exploring Order of Operation - Use It. All students both grade 6 and 7 are encouraged to play this game. It will help the grade 7s with a concept they ahve just learned and give the grade 6s some introduction before learning it this coming week.
Grade 7s - study for your test on Thursday, complete worksheet 3.8
Grade 6s - no homework
2) Art - Complete reflection for perspective art (it is on google drive). Share with me by Sunday night.
3) Goal Setting Term 3 - complete draft of your two personal academic goals for the third term. Remember to include steps to achieve your goal.

Comment: Now that your art has been completed and you have had a chance to reflect on it, share what you are most proud of with this assignment. Also, what artistic cwould you like to learn how to do next?

Thursday

04/03/2014

Great learning today everyone. From the discussions around persuasive writing to debates on where the Mesopotamian civilization was located, it was evident that your brains were fully engaged in the learning process today.
We take for granted so much of what we have in our world that makes life so much easier. In the comment section share your thoughts around the development of the irrigation system by the people of Sumer (a group within Mesopotamia). Think about how your life would be different today if they had not developed this. Can you think of other inventions that came from the start of the simple system of digging canals to water crops. Remember to check for editing and be thoughtful with your responses.

1) Math Grade 6s - no homework
Grade 7s - for Monday - worksheet 3.8
- Test next Thursday so begin to work through the chapter review for extra practise.
2) Art - Perspective Art is due at the end of the day tomorrow. Bring both first and second art pieces as well as the self assessment.