December 22, 2011

Today was a day to finish up last items.  All classes have finished tests, marked them and they should be on HomeLogic by the end of the day Friday.



I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday with their friends and families!

December 21, 2011

My homeroom is having a pizza party on Friday.  Students who wish to order pizza need to bring in their money by Thursday.  We will be watching a movie and doing a gift exchange ($15 limit).  Only those students who want to participate in the gift exchange need to bring a gift.  We will be cleaning out lockers and cleaning up the classroom Friday morning.  Students have a dance in the afternoon.

Social Studies 7

Students wrote their chapter 2 test today.

Social Studies 8

Students finished writing their chapter 2-3 test today.  They began reading chapter 5 and the reasons for exploration.

Health 8

Students worked on their My Digital Identity posters today.

December 20, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students will write their Chapter 2 exam tomorrow.  Originally I had planned to have one class write today, but our Advent mass is actually block 2 tomorrow so this made it possible to have both classes write on the same day.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students wrote their Chapter 2-3 exam today.  For those who require it, they will have time tomorrow to finish it up.

Grade 8 Health

Students finished up the processing phase today.  They need to have all their materials to make their posters ready for block 7 tomorrow.

December 19, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students used the class today to study for their Chapter 2 exam and ask questions.  The exam is open book.  Students can use their textbook, notes and study notes.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students completed their Chapter 4 Assessment in class.  Anyone who did not hand in their paragraph needs to hand it in prior to the test tomorrow.  Chapter 2-3 test is tomorrow in class.  This is a closed-book exam.

Grade 8 Health

Students worked on the Processing Phase of the project.  Students should be doing an activity sheet at home with parents as part of the assignment.

December 16, 2011

Alberta Winter Games Volunteers

Please check with our office if you are interested being a volunteer for the Alberta Winter Games.  We are still looking for volunteers.

Grade 7 Social Studies

European explorers[1]

View more presentations from kscheidy.

Students completed reading chapter 2 today.  They read about several explorers (Frobisher, Hudson, La Salle, La Verendrye).  Students have a chapter 2 review sheet they are working through this over the weekend.  If they complete the study guide they will have reviewed all material necessary for the unit 12 exam.  Students are allowed to bring study notes, textbooks and class notes in to use with the exam.  We will review any outstanding questions students have on Monday in preparation for the test on Tuesday.

Grade 8 Health

Stand Up to bullying: Day 4 Presentation

Stand Up 4 on Prezi

Guest Speaker:  Mark Brown

Here is one of his videos:



Grade 8 Social Studies

Students watched a video on Science and Technology in the Renaissance period.  They then were assigned an assignment to work on from the chapter 4 materials.  They will have a chapter 2-3 test on Tuesday.

The Renaissance

View more presentations from tkester

December 15, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students participated in a Socratic Debate today to defend, with evidence from the primary sources in their textbook, the position of the speaker which they felt most closely matched their own beliefs.  Students participated in some rich discussion about issues we face in society, such as how to deal with historical events that are not acceptable in our society today.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students finished looking at the art, sculpture and literature of the Renaissance period.  Tomorrow, they will explore the inventions and technology that rose from this era.  There will be an assignment for the assessment of Chapter 4 material (given tomorrow in class) and a test on Chapters 2 and 3 on Monday.  Students will need to have all materials in class tomorrow.

Grade 8 Health

Students began collecting information for their digital identity poster.  This is the more enjoyable point in the project because students generally feel like they are getting to the interesting "stuff".

December 14, 2011

Social Studies 7

Students read through the journal excerpts from Samuel de Champlain's voyage in 1604.  They analyzed the entries to determine the motives and means for this voyage and contacts they made as a result.

Students are using the primary sources to support their opinion of  these first contacts.  They will share their responses tomorrow in class.

We are finishing the chapter 2 concepts this week and a Unit 2 exam will be given on Tuesday next week.

Social Studies 8

Students finished exploring concepts such as civic humanism, humanist education and how this fit with religion during this era.  Students will be learning about at the inventions of the Renaissance era during class tomorrow.  They will have a Chapter 2-4 test on Tuesday next week.

Health 8

We are collecting the last pieces of the first two phases of the My Digital Identity project.  All elements are required tomorrow or students will be asked to attend homework room at lunch time to finish these first two phases.

Parent Volunteers for Alberta Winter Games

We are looking for extra volunteers to supervise students in the school during the games.  A criminal record check will be required.  Please see the office for details.

December 13, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students re-wrote the primary source for the death announcement of Shawnadithit.  They incorporated their understanding of aspects related to the historical context in their version of the announcement.

Students then began working with primary sources from the journals of Jacques Cartier.  Students are interpreting the information he recorded in his journal and applying their knowledge of the historical context to their interpretations.

Grade 8 Social Studies

We finished going through the Renaissance Art and the characteristics that were common of artwork produced in this era of history.  We then defined what a humanist thinker is and the beliefs and values they held.  Tomorrow we are going to introduce some of the humanist thinkers and explore some of the inventions that emerged from this era.  Students will examine the effects this had on society.

Grade 8 Health

In preparation for Stand Up to Bullying day on Friday (wear your pink shirts!), students watched and discussed three presentations on bullying.

Stand Up 1 on Prezi

Stand Up 2 on Prezi

Stand Up 3 on Prezi

December 12, 2011

Christmas Hamper

Thank you to everyone who donated to our 8C Christmas Hamper.  We filled it with food and gifts for the family.  There were wonderful food items, as well as some beautiful gifts. 

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students corrected their current events packages today.  They have now covered the following current events topics and have demonstrated a good understanding of the following issues/topics:

• Alberta Oil Sands Mining Dilemma
• The Occupy Movement
• World Population
• Seniors in the Workplace
• Electronic Waste Disposal
• The Season of Giving

Students will continue with their exploration of Jacques Cartier and Primary Sources tomorrow.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students completed their Italian City-States booklets today.  We began looking at the art work of the Renaissance.  We will be exploring the humanist thinkers and their contributions to society.

Grade 8 Religion

Students participated in a celebration for the third week of Advent.  We watched a great Charlie Brown clip on the true meaning of Christmas.

Grade 8 Health

We debriefed the first two phases of the project.  Tomorrow students who are finished the planning and retrieving phases of the inquiry project will begin their processing phase.  This is where the interesting work begins.  Students have been shown several resources to explore on digital identity and how to manage it.  Students will also gather information about their own digital identities.  It will range from little or not digital presence to significant digital presence.  They will consider the how the digital identity they have will impact them as they continue to grow and evolve in our society.

My Digital Identity

December 8, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students worked on their current events booklets today.  We will mark them Monday.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students reviewed the spread of Renaissance across Europe.  They continued to look at the Italian city-states and the major themes of the Renaissance.  Students also worked on their current event packages which are due Monday.

Grade 8 Health

Students continued working on their Digital Identity projects.  Tomorrow we will make sure everyone is done the first two phases before beginning the processing phase on Monday.

Christmas Hamper

Tomorrow is the last day to send gifts or food item for our Christmas hamper for a local family.  It includes a mother, father, 16 year old boy and 12 year old girl.  We have received some wonderful donations.  The box is about 3/4 full.  If you have an extra gift that would be appropriate for the mother or father, it would be a wonderful addition to our hamper.  Even gift cards for grocery stores or similar are great items.

Thank you for your generosity.

Food Hampers and Santa Clara Shoe Boxes

On last call...please remember to send in items for these boxes.  The food hamper and shoe boxes are being picked up on Monday.  Our girls ages 2-4 shoebox is filled but could use a few more items for the other boxes.  Our food hamper for the family is only about half way filled so far.  Every donation is appreciated.  Your generosity is a gift to others during this season!

Have a wonderful weekend!

December 2, 2011

Social Studies 7

We discussed the Pocahontas movie questions to gain a better understanding of the accuracies and inaccuracies in the portrayal of the relationship between the First Nations and explorers.  We discussed stereotypes and exaggerations that were evident in the movie.

Students then completed a push/pull activity.  They read pages 39-43 in their textbooks and looked at what pushed the Europeans to explore, and what pulled them into exploration.  If students have not finished this activity, they need to finish it for Monday.

Social Studies 8

We corrected current events.  I extended the textbook questions until Monday due to some questions that were still outstanding regarding which pages to do or for questions which needed further clarification.

Health 8

Students finished their Planning Stage for their Digital Identity Project.  They are ready to begin retrieving information about their digital identities on Monday.

December 1, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students finished watching Walt Disney's Pocahontas.  They are to complete the questions for homework tonight so we can review them in class tomorrow.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students worked on the assignments that have been distributed over the last two days.  We will be marking the current events and questions from the textbook tomorrow.  They will have the remainder of class to work on the Italian-City States and Definitions handouts tomorrow.  These will be due Monday.

Grade 8 Health

Students completed the planning stage form in class.  The remainder of the class was used as a homework block.

November 28, 2011

Santa Clara Shoeboxes and Kinette Christmas Hampers

Our first donation arrived today.  Thank you for your generousity!

Social Studies 7

Many students did not have the current events completed, so I extended it to tomorrow.  It will be marked for sure tomorrow.

We began unit 2 and looking at exploration.  Students discussed four questions regarding space exploration:

1. If you were to explore space, what might be your reasons?
2. What would worry you most about space exploration?
3. What would intrigue you most?
4. You might be gone for months or years.  As you plan for such an expedition, what would be your top priority preparations?

The answers the students provided were very similar to what motivated the European Explorers to travel to new lands.

Social Studies 8

We corrected the Daylight Savings Time current events.  This included two additional topics: Alberta Elects New Premier, and Canada Has World's Best Reputation.

We then looked at reasons for exploration.  One explorer, Marco Polo, had a different worldview than many other Europeans of the time.  We discussed the geographical influences and then assigned pages 44 and 46 in the textbook to further explore factors that led to the rise of trade.

Religion 8

Students participated in an Advent Celebration today for the beginning of class.  We are asked to remember to keep Christ in Christmas and what Jesus gave us at this time.

Health 8

Students worked through the beginning of the My Digital Identity project.  Students explored what an identity is, what a digital identity is and what they think their digital identity currently is.  We then came up with a list of questions students would like to know about their digital identities:

• Can you ever delete your digital identity?
• Would people want to hack me for personal information?
• Will my texts be seen on Google?
• What other supposedly private things end up on Google?
• Is it bad that I have a small digital identity and can find much about myself?
• What else is there out there about me that I don't know about?
• How many/who can see my information?
• Do the emails I send end up on Google or Bing?
• What happens when I go on chat sites? 
• How do you cover up a post or a picture that wasn't intended?

As we explore digital identity over the next few weeks, students will hopefully find answers to some of these questions as well as come to understand what digital identity they currently have created.  They will come away from the project with ideas on how to create the digital identity they want.

November 25, 2011

Kinette Christmas Hampers and Santa Clara Shoeboxes

I have put lists on the side of my blog giving ideas of the types of items that can be sent in. 

We have one Kinette Christmas hamper to fill for a local family.  Please send in items to help them with their meals over this Christmas season.



 

We have four Sanata Clara shoeboxes to fill; a boy and girl for ages 2-4 and ages 12-14. 

I will update the lists of items if we are receiving to much of certain items.  Thank you in advance for your generosity during this time of the year.  It is always a busy time.  It warms our hearts to help those in need and helps to spread joy to others.We have four Sanata Clara shoeboxes to fill; a boy and girl for ages 2-4 and ages 12-14.

November 24, 2011

My apologies for not updating the blog this last week.  Report card time is always a busy season!

Here we go for the weekend!  Trying to keep it light with the beautiful weather we are getting.  Prime weather for putting up those Christmas lights!

Social Studies 7
Students completed their tests for Chapter 1.  They were also assigned a current events article on the Eurozone Crisis.  They were given the remainder of time in class to work on.

Social Studies 8
Students began Chapter 2, 3 and 4 material this week.  We will be working through these chapters as a section and students will be tested at the completion of these chapters.

We began with watching a clip titled Humanism Triggers the Renaissance.  In this brief clip, students were given a taste of what we will be covering in this next section.

History.com: Hummanism Triggers the Renaissance
We then looked at an example of an idea revived due to humanism.  Students watched The Cave: An Adaptation of Plato's Allegory in Clay.  We talked about how that idea relates to knowledge today.

Finally, today we discussed the Crusades.  Students read pages 41-42 in their textbook and watched the following video:

Students explored why the Crusades happened, why knights were eager to participate, and the effects this had on European society.

Students were asked to read pages 39-40 and 42-43 to further explore the connection to trade. 

Grade 8 Health

Students are beginning a new inquiry unit.  It is called "My Digital Identity".  Students will be exploring what their digital identity is, how it is created and how to create the one they want.  Today we discussed why it is important to know what digital identity is and how it can affect us in the future. 

You can access the project at the following site:

My Digital Identity

Parents will be asked to help students with aspects of the project.  Information to support the project can be found on this site.

November 18, 2011

Students were given their progress reports.  All students were asked to look over their progress reports to ensure all marks were recorded correctly and to note any missing assignments.  I will accept late assignments until Tuesday, but the student needs to come at lunch time to mark the assignment with me.

Social Studies 7

Students continued to categorize the roles of men and women in the decision making process, the use of the land and technology for the three Aboriginal groups.  We will complete the chart on Monday to prepare students for the open book exam on Tuesday.

Social Studies 8

Students corrected their current events on the Eurozone Crisis today.

Health 8

Students presented their Study Skills projects today.

November 16, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

We finished going through the Mi'kmaq information and summarizing the role of men and women in decision making, technology and their use of the land.  Students will begin the process for the Anishinabe tomorrow.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students worked on their next current events article, the Eurozone Crisis.

Grade 8 Health

Students are completing the creation of the presentations for Study Skills.

November 15, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students went through the story summary process for the Ehep Legend.  They are encouraged to use the story summary process when studying the Mi'kmaq creation story for their unit test.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students wrote their Chapter 1 test today.

Grade 8 Religion

Students began watching Father Catfish's homily from Sunday and wrote five sentences to summarize the lesson. 

November 10, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

We went through the review for the test next week.  I have tentatively set the date for Thursday, but will adjust if necessary to make sure the pace of the material we cover next week is good for the students.

This is the PowerPoint we have been working on in class.  Students have a handout to go with it.  If they are missing any details on their handout, they can update their information using this:

Aboriginal societies

View more presentations from kscheidy

Grade 8 Social Studies

We corrected the definitions and effects handout.  We went through the review to clarify and see if students had any questions for the test on Tuesday.

Homeroom

Students had Daily Physical Activity today.

November 9, 2011

Social Studies 7

Students began reading through materials on the Mi'kmaq and their creation story to understand the following elements of their group:

1. Technology
2. Social Structure: decision making
3. Social Structure: government
4. Social Structure: roles of women
5. Use of Land
6. Creation

Students will continue with this tomorrow and complete the process for the Anishinabe and Haudenosaune next week.  Students have also received their review guide, or will receive it tomorrow to help them prepare for the Chapter 1 final next week.

I will post the PowerPoint tomorrow.

Social Studies 8

Students continued to work on their reviews and assignments.  We will go over them in class tomorrow so they have all their materials to study over the weekend.

Health 8

Some groups began creating their presentations today.  Some are still trying to finish their research.  Students will have tomorrow and Tuesday to finish their creations.  We will present on Wednesday.

November 8, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students marked The Occupy Protests today.  We spent the entire class discussing the division of wealth, the reasons why some businesses are bailed out and others are not and how the 2008 housing crisis occurred.  We also went over the analysis of the protester picture, clarifying what is an observation (clue) and what is a conclusion (inference).  Some students chose to take the current events home today to "tweak" their answers for this part of the assignment.  They are due tomorrow.

Grade 8 Social Studies

We discussed The Occupy Protests current events assignment today.  We clarified what a "clue" (observation) is and what a "conclusion" (inference) is.  Students often mixed these two items up when completing the assignment.  We will continue to work on this critical thinking skill as the year continues.

We also went through a PowerPoint presentation to summarize/review the key points in the second half of the chapter.  Students have copies of the PowerPoint and were encouraged to make notes from our discussions in class.  This is a good study companion for the upcoming unit 1 test, which I have now moved to Tuesday.  I gave the extra time so we could review more in class.

Medieval ages

View more presentations from kscheidy

Grade 8 Health

Students worked again on their research for their health inquiries. Their research is due tomorrow and they will begin creating their group presentations.

November 4, 2011

Social Studies 7

We did not run our regular class due to the volleyball pep-rally.  Go TIGERS!

Social Studies 8

Students worked on the assignments that are due next week.

Health 8

We did not run our regular class due to the volleyball pep-rally.

November 3, 2011

Social Studies 7

Yesterday we had Adrian LaChance, an Elder's helper from the Plains Cree, come to speak to us about the culture of his group.  He shared with us a lesson on The Circle of Life and performed a dance for us.  Mr. LaChance spoke about the relationship with the land and how the Plains Cree view everything as a gift that they are given from the Creator.  He spoke of Mother Earth and our responsibility to Her; how water is viewed as medicine and they don't use it wastefully, how we need to unconditionally love each individual for their talents, as well as many other lessons.

Today we talked about his presentation.  Students identified what they liked, what they learned, and what they would have liked to see to make it more educational for them.  We then began a review of key concepts Mr. LaChance covered in his presentation, such as culture and pluralistic societies.  When we have completed the PowerPoint presentation I will embed it in the blog.

Students continued to work on the current events about energy drinks.  For those who finished they began the next article on The Occupy Protests.  This one is due Monday.

Social Studies 8

Students were given review packages for unit 1.  The unit test will be next Thursday.

Health 8

Most students have handed in their pathfinders for their research on study skills. They have now started their research.  The research will be due Tuesday and they will begin creating the group presentations on Wednesday.





November 1, 2011

Social Studies 7

Students were assigned a new currents events reading on energy drinks.  They are exploring what the manufacturers, experts and society in general say or feel about them.  They are also looking at what Health Canada is recommending to change in regards to them.

Students worked on creating powerful questions for our guest speaker, Adrian LaChance.  The have been asked to create questions which focus on the economics and social structure of Plains Cree tribe, their decision making processes and how Confederation impacted them.  The criteria the questions should meet is as follows:

• gives you lots of information
• specific to that person
• open-ended
• may be unexpected
• not easy to answer
• respectful

The students are coming up with great questions.

Social Studies 8

Students were assigned a new currents events reading on energy drinks. They are exploring what the manufacturers, experts and society in general say or feel about them. They are also looking at what Health Canada is recommending to change in regards to them.

Students are working on defining the rights and responsibilities of the different social classes during the medieval period.  They are then looking at their own rights and responsibilities in the home, school and community.  Students are also composing a poem about the life of a commoner during the medieval era.

Health 8

Students continued working on their pathfinders for the Health inquiry on study skills.  We are finishing the retrieving phase of the inquiry model and moving into the processing phase.  This is where students are beginning to gather the information from their resources to answer their questions.

October 31, 2011

Nothing has changed since last week due to Halloween festivities.

Have a Happy Halloween!

 



October 28, 2011

Grade 7 and 8 Social Studies

Students marked their current events today.

Grade 7 Social Studies

We will have a guest speaker on Thursday, November 3.  His name is Adrian LaChance.  He is an elder's helper from the Plains Cree.  He will speak about his experience of a First Nations person in Canada.  Students are preparing for the visit by creating powerful questions for Mr. LaChance.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students watched a video on how industrialization affected population and wealth over the last 200 years.  Students considered how western worldview dominated up until this point and how other worldviews are beginning to impact our world.

Grade 8 Health

Students worked on their pathfinders again.  We will continue on Tuesday and these are due Wednesday.  Students will begin researching on Wednesday.

October 26, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

We finished reading and analyzing the creation story for the Anishinabe.  We then began reading about their relationship with the land and the roles of women in their society.  We will continue with this exploration tomorrow.

Grade 8 Social Studies

We read an article from the Globe and Mail titled Black Death bug hasn't changed, but we have.  This answered questions about if the pandemic could happen in contemporary society.  We then watched a YouTube video on The Plague:

We discussed what effect The Hundred Years war followed by The Black Death had on the feudal hierarchy and why this system began to crumble.

Grade 8 Health

Students used this block for a homework block.

October 25, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students worked on current events for the beginning of class.  They are completing a map of Libya to support the current events for this month.

They then began an analysis of The Anishinabe Creation Story.  This is a primary source students are looking at to establish an understanding of the values and beliefs that are revealed in the story of their creation. 


Grade 8 Social Studies
Students worked on current events for the beginning of class.  They are completing a map of Libya to support the current events from this month.

We then looked at two articles from contemporary times regarding our judicial system.  We completed a discussion of why there were such differences in the results of the judicial system and the reporting of the cases in the media.  We tied this back to how worldview plays a part in both these areas.

We then looked at the challenges to the Feudal system in the medieval ages.  We looked at the hierarchy and the division of wealth.  We began speaking about The Hundred Years War and the peasant revolts.

Grade 8 Health

Students worked on their pathfinders today.  These are due Thursday.

October 24, 2011

Grade 7 and 8 Social Studies

Students worked on the next part of the current events packages; crossword, political cartoon and mapping activity.

Grade 8 Religion

Students watched Father Catfish today and began a discussion on "613 Rules".

October 18 - 20

Wednesday is Jersey Day

I am away at a conference for the remainder of the week.  The homework will not be updated for these days so please check your child's agenda if you are looking for daily assignments.

Social Studies 7

We are stepping away from the inquiry project in order to build some background knowledge on three Aboriginal groups: Mi'kmaq, Anishinabe, and Haudenosaunee.  Students will be reading three different articles and completing an organizational form in order to compare how each group used the land, technology,  made decisions and the roles of men and women in the decision making process.  This will give more of a foundation for when we return to their inquiries.

Social Studies 8

Students used critical thinking and historical thinking skills to analyze a painting from the medieval period.  The looked at details to help them identify bias, purpose,  and continuity and change to help them make inferences about the era.

Health 8

Students began identifying which resources they are going to use in their inquiry.  They are to consider which resources they may use, scan through them to see if the resources will work to answer their question, and then identify which resources they will be using for certain.

October 17, 2011

Social Studies 7

Students spent the first 10 minutes of class working on their current events due tomorrow.  All students who were missing assignments were advised and asked to hand in assignments.  Please check home logic to see how your child is doing.  I will be sending interim reports home by the end of the month and contacting parents as necessary.

We then began organizing our groups for our inquiry projects.  Students met in their groups to plan the presentation.  Tomorrow they will work on designing their own plan to complete their inquiry question related to the group's topic.

Social Studies 8

Students corrected their current events on Steve Jobs and All Hallows Eve.  We will mark their second booklet on Wednesday.

Students were introduced to critical and historical thinking skills to use when analyzing an image.  We are going to continue with the example tomorrow and then students will have to show their skills in an activity on Wednesday related to this.

We will also begin looking at the challenges to the Feudal System tomorrow.

Health 8

Students organized and finished planning their projects with their groups.  Tomorrow they will complete the final steps in the planning phase.

October 14, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

We corrected current events on Steve Jobs and All Hallows Eve.  Students have another few short current event articles due for Tuesday (Distracted Driving, Hurricane Season, Gaddafi).  On Monday we will begin our grouping for our Inquiry Project.  We have decided to create a Wiki to organize the information the student's gather on the pre-confederation Aboriginal groups.  The four areas students must answer in their research are:

1. Social structure (roles)
2. Decision making process
3. Contact with French/British
4. Challenges of co-existence

Each student must then design a research question they are interested in investigating further regarding the Aboriginal Group they chose.

Grade 8 Social Studies

8A marked their first set of current events today.  8C will be marking these current events on Monday.  These two articles covered Steve Jobs and All Hallows Eve.  Tuesday we will be marking the second portion of the book which covers Gaddafi, Distracted Drivers, The Future of the NDP, and Hurricane Season.

We compared and contrasted the Country and Town Life of medieval Europe today.  Students discussed the positives and the negatives of each life style.  They identified and justified which setting they would have preferred to live in had they lived during the medieval times.  On Monday we will begin looking at the Feudal system and the challenges it faced.

Grade 8 Homeroom

Students used this as their study block for the week - they were preparing for their Language Arts test, organizing their lockers and working on Social Studies homework.

Have a nice weekend!

October 13, 2011

Grade 7 and 8 Social Studies

Current Events packages.  We will look at them on Friday to determine how much more time is needed to complete the packages.

October 12, 2011

Social Studies 7

We worked on current events for the first part of class, and continued with our research on the pre-confederation First Nation groups.  I am away for professional development tomorrow, so students will have another class to work on their October current events.  On Friday we will return to the exploration of the pre-Confederation First Nation groups.

Social Studies 8

Students attended the University of Alberta for a presentation on Historical Thinking Concepts.  Our arrival was delayed due to some busing issues, so part of the presentation will be covered with their social studies teachers at a later date.  I am away for professional development tomorrow, so students will be working on their October current events package.

October 6, 2011

Thanksgiving Celebration

Thank you to everyone who donated food for our food box.  It was completely full and then some!  There will be some happy families with the food provided.

Grade 7 Social Studies

In 7A we continued investigating which Aboriginal groups we will use for our first inquiry.  Students did a great job in finding details about the Confederation of Canada.  They will now look at the economic and social structures of different Aboriginal groups and their decision making processes.  We will then explore events that theses groups were involved in leading up to Confederation.  In 7C we finished correcting our current events.  This class will continue with the same process as the 7A group on Tuesday.

Grade 8 Social Studies

We began looking at the Renaissance period.  Students read about the Black Death (bubonic plague) and discussed how losing half the population would affect our worldview.  We will continue with this on Tuesday.

Grade 8 Health

Students began the planning stage of their inquiry on Study Skills.  The students are coming up with wonderful questions. 

October 5, 2011

Thanksgiving Food Donations

Thank you to everyone who has sent in food!  Your generosity is greatly appreciated. 

Thanksgiving Celebration

Our Thanksgiving Celebration is in the gym tomorrow from 9:30 - 10:15 a.m.  We will be offering our food donations at this time.

  

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students corrected current events today.  Please return field trip permission forms as soon as possible.  We are beginning our unit on the Renaissance tomorrow.

Grade 7 Social Studies

7A students corrected current events today.  There were numerous students away on the Grade 7 Field Trip today, so the 7C group was missing too many students to mark today.  The remaining students began exploring Aboriginal groups in Canada prior to Confederation.

Grade 8 Homeroom

Students used today as their homework block for the week.  Tomorrow we will continue with the Health inquiry project on study skills.

September 30, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students began building background knowledge on Confederation in Canada.  We will continue to explore this topic on Monday to get a basic understanding of this topic.

Grade 8 Social Studies

We explored a primary source today and applied critical thinking skills in analyzing.  We will continue with this on Monday.  We will also begin our Renaissance unit on Monday.

Grade 8 Health

Students were assigned their groups based on their area of interest for study skills.  On Monday students will meet with their group members to collaborate on their presentation and begin the planning phase of the inquiry model.

Please remember to send in Thanksgiving food donations if you can spare anything.  The box in the classroom is very bare right now.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend!

September 29, 2011

Thanksgiving Food Bank

We continue to collect food donations for the food box in our room.  Any non-perishable items would greatly be appreciated!

DPA Forms

There are still 8 students who have not returned their DPA forms.  Remember to bring them in ASAP so we can get out there and enjoy these beautiful fall days with a variety of activities!

Social Studies 8

Students are working on their final assignment for the introduction to worldviews.  They are to complete the handout that accompanies page 13 in their textbook.  We will be discussing in class tomorrow and students will be handing in for marks.  The unit test for the introduction will be on Tuesday.

Social Studies 7

We completed going over our example of the inquiry model today.  We began looking at our first inquiry project for Unit 1.  Students have identified the following questions to answer in order to build the necessary background knowledge for the inquiry:

1. What is Confederation?
2. Who are the different Aboriginal groups involved in events leading to confederation?
3. What are the events leading to confederation?
4. What are the social and economic structures of the Aboriginal societies.
5. How did the structures of the Aboriginal societies affect decision making in that society? (i.e. roles, consensus building, etc.)

Students will begin working toward finding the answers to these questions over the next several classes.

Health

Students chose to use this as a study/homework block.  We will begin the inquiry unit tomorrow.

September 28, 2011

I missed updating posts on Monday and Tuesday due to my absence.  Students in both Grade 7 and Grade 8 Social Studies were working on their current events packages.  They will continue to have the first ten minutes of class to work on these packages, which are due next week.

Grade 7 Social Studies

The grade seven students were gone in the morning to Wagner Bog (which I joined them for).  We had a wonderful morning in this beautiful fall weather.  Wagner Bog is beautiful!  Students did a great job conducting their observations and completing their data collections.

Grade 8 Religion

Students read today for the beginning of class.  We then watched Father Catfish and discussed "Good Old Darth Vader".  The discussion was about confession and admitting our mistakes, which can be hard to do. 

September 23, 2011

Grade 8 Religion

We continued our discussion activity for our first unit.  Students continued to consider "expectations" and answered the following questions:

• What do you expect from parents, teachers, friends, God?
• What do (parents, teachers, friends, God) expect of you?
• What do you expect of yourself?

Students came up with great answers for all of these that would make you proud!

We then discussed the following questions and will continue during next class:

• What are expectations?
• How do they arise?
• Are all expectations realistic?  Explain.

A great discussion for the dinner table!

Grade 7 Social Studies

Students finished watching the video The Challenges of Change. 

Terry Fox Run

Thank you to all students who participated in the run and brought in donations.  Our class raised $228.  It is great to see so many students support their community and the good cause.  Without support, cancer research would not be able to make the advances it does.  As we discussed in classs, cancer is something that touches most of our lives at one time or another.

Thanksgiving Food Boxes

We have a box in our classroom to collect food to provide others with a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.  If you have any non-perishable items to donate, please send them in.  We are looking for canned goods, such as vegetables and fruits, and well as boxed foods, such as mashed potatoes, rice and pastas.  Also, any desert items, like pie filling or cake mixes would also be wonderful. 

September 22, 2001

Social Studies 8

We corrected the current events package today.  We covered several topics:

• Overview: Alberta
• 9/11: Ten Years Later
• Somalia Drought and Climate Change
• Oh Canada
• Species Invasion Across the Northwest Passage

Social Studies 7

We finished going through the Inquiry Model today.  We have now begun an example so students can see how an inquiry project would fit into the model.  We are planning a hypothetical Pizza Party in 7A and a hypothetical trip to Montreal in 7C.  We will continue with this on Tuesday.  Monday will be a new current events article.

Homeroom

We finished watching the Terry Fox video in preparation for our Terry Fox Run tomorrow.  Please send in any donations and dress for the weather!

September 21, 2011

Social Studies 7

We began reviewing the Inquiry Model today.  This is to prepare us for our first inquiry project as we begin our study of the First Nations.  We covered Planning, Retrieving, and Processing today.  We will continue with Creating, Sharing and Evaluating tomorrow.  We will follow this with an example from students' own lives.

Social Studies 8

We reviewed critical thinking in the context of social studies, which is really about being able to be aware of our own worldview when we look at historical events.  We examined how the Inquiry Model is part of the Social Studies textbook for both grade 7 and 8.  Finally, we began looking at primary sources.  Tomorrow we will correct current events and continue looking at primary sources.

Primary documents

View more presentations from kscheidy

Homeroom

Students watched a video about Terry Fox in preparation for Friday's Terry Fox Run.  Please remember to bring in permission forms and any donations.

September 20, 2011

Social Studies 8

We completed reviewing the formula for looking at pictures (pictures > words > questions) and shared the questions we developed for the photographs on page 7 of the textbook.  We then classified the questions as either a point of view, perspective or worldview question.  Students seem to developing a good understanding of these terms.

We then explored employment standards for youth today as compared to 100 years ago.  We discussed how worldview changes over time and how it is represented in changes in our laws.  Tomorrow we will be exploring critical thinking as related to the social studies program.

Social Studies 7

In 7C we corrected the Jack Layton current events and discussed political cartoons.  In 7A, students viewed a video on the Challenge of Change.  This is a great video which demonstrates how peoples' reactions in the light of hardship can help them overcome obstacles.  I have asked students to consider the perspectives of the explorers and their reactions in light of the hardships they endured.

Magazine Fundraiser Assembly

We kicked off our Magazine Fundraiser today with an assembly for the last block and a half of the day.  This is a huge fundraiser for our school.  Please support if you can!  There are great magazines for a very good price.

September 19, 2011

Social Studies 7

7A corrected Jack Layton current events today.  We discussed the editorial cartoon and the techniques editorial cartoonists use.  Again, we will be looking into these techniques throughout the year.

7C was a away on a field trip this afternoon, so we will be correcting current events tomorrow.

Social Studies 8


Students were introduced to the formula for exploring pictures:

Pictures > Words > Questions

They then practiced the technique with pictures on page 7 of their textbook.  Students recorded their questions and then categorized the questions into one of three categories: point of view, perspective or worldview.  Often more than one category can be used depending on how the question is interpreted. 

Religion 8

Students read, prepared their agendas, watched Father Catfish's homily "Deserves Got Nothing to Do With It" and prayed at the end of the day.  We then discussed the questions following the homily.

September 16, 2011

Social Studies 7

Today we finished analyzing our first primary source.  Students were able to gain insights about the relationship between the First Nations and Samuel Hearne, an European explorer, by looking for evidence in a page from Samuel Hearne's journal regarding his journey from "Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to The Northern Ocean" (London, 1795).  Students practiced making inferences from the evidence they found in the entry from November, 1769.

Social Studies 8

We continued to work through the seven elements of the worldview icon.  Students presented several examples for each element to establish what the Canadian (Western) worldview is.  The purpose of this activity was twofold.  Firstly, students further developed their understanding of what a worldview is.  Secondly, students began to define the current Western worldview, which we will be referring to throughout the year.

Homeroom

Students were given a homework block at the end of the day.  Unfortunately, I was unable to update the homework on the blog before I left school today, so students will have to rely on their own agendas (which we continue to do daily at the beginning of homeroom block).  However, for social, students have current events due on Wednesday.

Have a great weekend!

September 15, 2011

Grade 7 Social Studies

Today we worked on a current event article.  Students are to leave tracks of their thinking as they read (use symbols and words to reveal the connections they make as they read through the article).  The political cartoon is an activity to guide them through understanding the techniques the artist uses when creating the cartoon.  A political cartoon is a great primary source.  We will be discussing this more in class.

Grade 8 Social Studies

Students were given a current event package to work through this week.  We will be correct the current events beginning Wednesday next week.

Health

Today was a Daily Physical Activity (DPA).  Students read for the first part of class.  The new student planners were delivered today, so students transferred over items from their old planner (which we are returning to the distributor). 

September 14, 2011

Facebook in the Classroom

I have set up two homework classrooms on Facebook.  It is not a requirement of the course for a student to have Facebook.  However, if students do have a Facebook account, they can request to join the Scheideman Social 7 or Scheideman Social 8.  It is an extension of the classroom, and I have gone through the proper usage and expectations with the students.  I see everything that is posted and who posted it.  This site is meant purely for a place to seek assistance for homework or content being covered in class, a place to collaborate with others or a place to post questions. 

Grade 7 Social Studies

We began analyzing our primary source today.  Students used cue cards with exploration prompts to guide their analysis, similar to how a historian would look at the document.  Tomorrow we will be working on a current events piece, and then Friday we will return to the analysis of the document.

Grade 8 Social Studies

We continued our exploration and development of our understanding of the seven worldview icons.  Students are now working to create a framework for what the Canadian or Western Worldview would look like using those seven elements.  Tomorrow we will be working on current events, and then on Friday we will return to the exploration of the seven elements of worldview in the Western Worldview context.

Grade 8 Health

Students submitted their questions for our first Health inquiry project.  They are in the first phase of the inquiry model, the planning phase.  Students will continue planning tomorrow.