 So much excitement in learning on Thursday. In the morning I shared a very powerful video on one child's perseverance and how he let his imagination and creativity flow in Caine's Arcade. Hopefully students will remember this one as they work through their Genius Hour projects starting next week. For the afternoon's Science lesson, rather than teaching concepts directly, students were given key terms and asked to make their own meaning through research, watching videos and using the textbook. I loved hearing the many conversations as partners tried to help their peers develop an understanding of plate tectonics. What a great day for learning! Homework 1) Lit Circles - Venn Diagram due Thursday 2) Math - grade 7s - quiz on Monday - grade 6s no homework 3) Holocaust notice due ASAP 4) Grade 7 year book notices due Monday Important Dates. Share with your parents! ProD Friday, May 6 May 12th, Dance May 12 (8:30-9:30) May 26th, Dance on May 26th (10:30-11:30) May 13th Bake sale Think We May 20th Western Day May 25th Band Performance May 30th ProD, no school June 1 Parent Tea June 3 Hot lunch June 8th District Track Meet June 10th Sports Day June 16th Fun Night June 20th Gr. 7s Playland June 21 Gr. 7s Pancake Breakfast June 22 Gr. 7 Clayton Heights Scavenger Hunt 9:50, Celebration Assembly 12:30 p.m. June 23 Year end assembly, last day Comment: How do you plan to show your mom how much she means to you on Sunday? Riddle: I am used to bat with, but I never get hit. I am near a ball but it is never thrown. What am I? Tuesday's answer: A mirror
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 Collaboration during GH; students helping each other learn new things. The days seem to be flying by now; there never seems to be enough time in a day to do all that I would like. Today was no exception.
Students started their day on Genius Hour projects. With one more in-class session, before sharing occurs, the students should be working on this at home. It has been inspiring to watch the teamwork and collaboration occurring as some students have chosen to pursue a topic together. Many valuable skills such as communication, collaboration and critical thinking are constantly being developed. 1) LA - 100 WC - Complete revisions and post to Kidblog tonight. 2) Math - Grade 6s Mrs. Van - worksheet - Friday Mr. Rayat - pg 307/308 #3,5,6,7,11 Grade 7s - no homework 3) Science - complete the cell worksheets - Friday 4) Genius Hour - complete GH day 3 Reflection - Friday 5) Talent Show - participants need to make sure they are prepared with their supplies and practise their talent tonight. Think We Bake Sale on Friday. Bring your toonies and loonies! Comments: Cloud Burst, the story I am reading to you out loud, has left a powerful impact on many of us. Write a reflection of how this has made you feel and what you have been left wondering or questioning. Think about not only the main characters but also about how this story impacts you especially as you enter the teenage years.  It was nice to see the sun again allowing the kids one more day to enjoy the snow. Students had a chance to begin a self reflection on their Social Studies projects. Using a rubric students worked through their projects looking for evidence of their learning. Almost every aspect of this assignment is now on their drives allowing for easy access for student, parents and myself. I just love technology. 1) Math: grade7s - 3.3 worksheet grade 6s - Mr. Rayat 298/299 #2-4,6,8,9,15 - Mrs. Van - worksheet 2) Science Quiz tomorrow - study the microscope and wet mount sheets. 3) French - complete first 3 questions from the postcard 4) Socials - Self reflection - complete and save to your Culture Project file on google drive. Email me once done so I can email you the assessment I have done. 5) Genius Hour - next work session Thursday morning. Be ready to fill in the first parts of the KWL Chart. 6) Swimming Notice 7) Raffle tickets due soon. Please return if you have not already done so.7) Boys check what snow pants you took home - someone has Artemis' snow pants. Comment and Video Link - Grade 7s - this made an incredible impact on you last year, it has left a lasting impression and many have asked me to repost. Grade 6s - this is so very important filled with messages that speak to each of us directly. Please respond to this video. Watch it carefully. What do you learn from it? What message(s) does this share about how we can change bullying? Remember to edit before you hit publish! Anti bullying Day tomorrow - Wear PINK!  Creativity requires time! This afternoon students were led through an activity that showcased the importance of time for creativity to happen. This was the lead in to Genius Hour #2. The first photo is of a product a student was able to create in ten seconds where as the second photo allowed the student 10 minutes for draw time - quite a difference on the level of creative thinking. If we are to think outside of the box and be creative in our approach to learning, we need time to do so. That is why, in genius hour, students are given chunks of time to dig deeper into what they are passionate about. 1) French test - Tuesday 2) Genius Hour - Plan is completed and ready to be signed off for Monday. Please share your plan and your question with a parent this weekend and have them sign the planning page. 3) Raffle tickets - please see and return as soon as possible. More tickets can be picked up if you wish. Please return any unsold books. 4) Comments - Now that you have had time to think more critically of the question you wished to ask in Genius Hour, share this question. What other sub questions have you also realized that you will need to learn about? What are you most excited about with this GH session? Last Minute Decision: For the last hour of the day tomorrow we will play board games. If you have one you wish to share please bring it along. Video Link: Creativity requires TIME  Snowmen Christmas craft. A huge thank you to the moms who were able to come in today to help out with the Christmas craft. There is no way I would have had any hair left on my head if it were not for you! The students all created very adorable snowmen which will be cute in all of their new homes. What an exciting day we had at Hillcrest. Starting with the Christmas concert, some of our grade sevens displayed their musical talents in the band, and then a couple of our grade 6 girls had a chance to show off their skills on the recorder. After the concert students got crafty making their snowmen; they were so cute. Finally, it was Genius Hour share day. Everyone shared their learning with some grade 3 visitors as well as other grade 6 and 7 students. I very much enjoyed hearing about the projects and listened to the knowledge gained as they followed their passions. The cake that Hannah made was so yummy. Everyone would like her to do her next GH project on this again :) Check out the Genius Hour tab for a gallery of pictures from today. A late shout out to two of our students for making the week 15 100 Word Challenge Showcase. Congratulations to Tak and Jazzy Pants! 1) Genius Hour - complete the reflection sheet with thought and care. You all loved working on Genius Hour so make sure to reflect your learning in your reflection. Due Friday. Take your time and be very careful with printing; you can type this up if you would like. 2) Aquarium Trip - please be at school before 8:30. Bring a bag lunch. Also, bring a device that can take pictures. This is important! I have a cameras for those who do not have a device such as ipod, phone, or their own camera. 3) Friday activities -
Parents who are driving to the aquarium - with the new forms that we are using I will need to see your insurance papers to confirm information. Please bring your papers in when you arrive so that we can complete the paperwork. Sorry for the inconvenience but these new forms just came out from the school district.   Learning about catapults - Genius Hour Such an awesome start to the week. Students were highly focused this morning as we looked at 100 WC writes, discussing strenghts and areas of improvement. Point of view was introduced today as well and everyone chose which form they wanted to take for writing their pieces this week.
In Math, a review of fractions was introduced. Students used mini white boards to share their knowledge of what fractions are, what they mean, and different forms of representation. Finally, the best part for all was the afternoon spent on their Genius Hour projects. It was day one of full work mode and you could have heard a pin drop as each student was fully immersed in the learning process of their chosen question. I cannot wait to see what transpires on Wednesday. Parents, check out your child's Genius Hour tab on their website for a reflection of the first two days of passion based learning. 1) LA - type up the 100 WC on a word doc or google drive. If on a word doc, either email it to yourself or use a USB so that you have access to it tomorrow. 2) Genius Hour - continue to work on your projects at home. Complete your reflection if not done in class. Please see the GH tab for the reflection guiding questions. 3) Report Cards - please have your parents sign and return the report cards |
Mrs. MiddletonI am a grade 7 teacher who has been teaching in the Surrey School District for over 28 years. I love to read, garden, walk, and spend time with family, friends and my golden retriever Kona. 
 Useful Links Copy Free Images Pixabay You can also use Google, just remember to set up your advanced settings to allow free or commercial use images only Language Arts Word Clouds: Wordle Tagxedo Math Fractions Fraction Monkeys Find Grampy Find Grampy Difficult Multiplication Math Trainer Multiplication Man Batter's Up Baseball Cone Crazy Divisibility Decimals: Grade 6: Division without decimals Grade 7s Rounding Adding Decimals Subtracting Decimals Multiplying Decimals Dividing Decimals Percents: Math Antics - Percentages Finding a Percent Percent Word Problems Percent of a Whole Number Khan Academy - more on Percents Science Parts of A Microscope Wet Mount Microscopy Biology Taxonomy San Diego Zoo Gorillas in Rwanda Classification of Life Social Studies Vancouver Sun The Province CNN for Kids Time for Kids Digital Diaries Art Graffiti Creator Pencil Crayon Shading and Blending Genius Hour Creativity Requires Time Moon Shot Thinking Obvious To You, Amazing To Others A Pep Talk from Kid President Archives
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