This week will certainly be exciting, as we get ready to celebrate Halloween together on Friday. Students are permitted to wear their costumes to school on that day, but are reminded that weapons and masks are not allowed. As well, we will be treated to some spooktacular activities that afternoon from our Grade 9 Student Leadership team 🙂

We are excited to have a full week of school! Let’s take a peek at what learning will take place over the next five days….

Dictée-For our dictée this week and next we will be studying adjectives. It is important that students remember that in French adjectives change according to gender and number and that their placement in sentences is often different than in English. Daily practice will be assigned each evening and students will have a copy of their “dictionnaire des adjectifs” both at home and at school to help in this process.

French-During our Reader’s Workshop this week, we will shift our focus from reading out loud in French to thinking about ways to improve our comprehension if we find parts of the text difficult to understand. We will also continue to work in our guided reading groups and at creating improving our written responses; paying special attention at varying our responses according to our book and at developing them with lots of examples from the text. We have also started our new read aloud novel “Julie le visiteur de minuit”. This book is part of a series of books by Martine Latulippe based on Quebec myths and legends.

In Writer’s Workshop we will continue to explore the components of a good paragraph. We have looked at lots of wonderful paragraphs using our mentor text ““Bienvenue à la Monstrerie” and examples of texts written by other students. In Art with Mme Caissie, students have been working to create their own monster, and this week we will work in French class to write a well developed paragraph describing him/her. This is an exciting project and a will help us to celebrate Halloween with some spooky and funny creations.

Math- Last week, we were introduced to the concept of equivalent fractions, our first foundational outcome of the Grade 5 program. Students will continue this week to solidify their understanding of what equivalent fractions are, using pictures, and we will then move to using multiplication and division to help us find equivalent fractions. Finally, we will use common denominators to help us compare sets of fractions and place them in ascending or descending order. As I mentioned in last week’s post, once we’ve completed this first foundational concept, individual practice will be sent home to encourage further development at home on these important concepts.

Science-This week we will continue to look at why humans and animals hear sounds differently and at some interesting professions that rely on sound, such as sound effect makers and sound engineers.

Grade 7 Science
We continue our exploration of rocks and minerals. This week, we will look at the rock cycle and how different types of rocks are formed.

Grade 8 Science
This week we will have our summative assessment on the density property and we will start to explore buoyancy and pressure.

Have a fantastic week and a safe and happy Halloween!

Mme MacNevin

It is hard to believe, but we are now more than halfway through the month of October! Times sure flies when so much learning is taking place 🙂

This will be a short week for us here at Gulf Shore, as teachers and support staff will attend their annual conventions on Thursday and Friday. Thus, there will be no classes on those days. As there is no school on Thursday, there will be no pizza orders this week. Also, I will be away from school at a workshop on Wednesday, so Mme Moase will be spending the day with my students.

We will attempt to maximize our short time together this week with as much learning as possible! Here is a quick snapshot of what our week looks like so far:

Dictée-This week we will finish our review of different types of sentences that we can create in French. We have been forming sentences together and making sure they make sense and contain a subject, a verb and a predicate. Review is encouraged at home on these concepts to prepare for our dictée quiz which will happen later on in the week.

French-During our Reader’s Workshop this week we will continue our focus on reading out loud. We have been working on specific word sounds and on word endings and their importance when reading aloud in our mini lessons together and in our guided reading groups. We will also continue to improve our responses to the books we’ve read and to recommend great books to others. I am so pleased with how well the students have been sharing their “coups de coeur” with others in the class. Great readers always share their love of books with others, so keep up the great work everyone! 🙂

In Writer’s Workshop we continue our foundational learning on paragraphs. We have been reading, and will continue to read, examples of great paragraphs together and we are in the beginning stages of writing some of our own. We have been using a series of mentor texts by Elise Gravel called “Bienvenue à la Monstrerie” and have worked together to establish a list of what makes a good paragraph.

This week we will finally finish up our read aloud novel “Moi, Zèbre Bouchard” and will start our next novel “Julie et le visiteur de minuit.” This novel is one of my personal favorites and it a great fit as we get closer to Halloween 🙂

Math- In math this week, we will continue our unit on fractions and decimal numbers, as we discover our first two foundational learnings on comparing fractions and changing fractions to decimals. These concepts can be challenging for some students and practice at home will help solidify these concepts for all. I will be sending home some individual practice problems for continued work at home in the coming days, so be on the lookout for them next week 🙂

Science-This week we will look at why humans and animals hear sounds differently and will learn about some interesting professions that rely on sound, such as sound effect makers and sound engineers.

Grade 7 Science
This week we will shift our focus from tectonic plates to rocks and minerals. We will explore properties that help us to identify rocks and minerals and at how we go about digging into the earth’s crust to find them 🙂

Grade 8 Science
This week we will finish up our study of the density property of fluids and we will prepare for our summative assessment on these outcomes.

Have a great week!

Mme MacNevin

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We certainly have a great deal to be thankful for here at Gulf Shore and while is a short week, it will still be a busy one 🙂

If you haven’t already passed in your Terry Fox pledge sheets, please do so as soon as possible, as they are now overdue. Mme Larkin is hard at work counting all those donations and we hope to have a total announced in the coming days.

Now let’s take a look at what’s happening this week in our classes….

Dictée-This week we will be looking at different types of sentences that we can create in French. We will also pay special attention to our sentence structure, as it differs from the sentence structures we often use in English. Practice activities will be sent home on Tuesday and students should spend some time reviewing these at home, in addition to our work in class on these concepts.

French-During our Reader’s Workshop this week we will be focusing a lot on reading out loud in French. We will discuss how pronunciation, expression, and fluency are important when reading a text aloud and we will spend some time practicing these concepts in small groups. We will also continue to respond to the books we’ve read in our “Carnet de lecture.” I would remind students to remember to take a look at our schedule to see which day of the cycle their letter is due 🙂
In Writer’s Workshop, with our first written texts now published, we will be spending some more time this week looking at developing paragraphs that have a well defined topic sentence, are structured properly in French with have three to five supporting sentences, and have a concluding sentence. We will examine some paragraphs written by others together, write some as a class, and will then develop a list of what makes a good paragraph, before choosing our own topics for writing. Additionally, we will continue our Reader’s Theater with Mme Cynthia and we hope to finish up our read aloud novel “Moi, Zèbre Bouchard.”

Math- We are well into our unit on fractions and decimals and have already been working on N8-Representing and describing decimal numbers to thousandths, and N10-Comparing and ordering decimal numbers. Later on this week, we will begin to explore the first two foundational learnings at the Grade 5 level: N7-Comparing fractions and N9-Changing fractions to decimals.

In this unit, your child will:
• Model, compare, and order fractions and decimals.
• Explore equivalent fractions and decimals.
• Relate fractions to division and to decimals.
• Use decimals to record measurements.
• Pose and solve problems involving fractions and decimals.

Fractions and decimals are used and encountered frequently in our world. For example, prices on grocery and other store advertising flyers typically show decimals and special sales announcements that include fractions. Fractions and decimal numbers can sometimes be a difficult concept for students to grasp. There are however, lots of ways however to help support your child’s learning at home. Encourage your child to look for such examples and to use fractions and decimals at home. If you are dividing something into equal pieces, such as an orange, have your child name fractions that describe the pieces. For example, if the orange is divided into 8 equal pieces, each piece is one-eighth of the orange.

Science-This week we will continue to experiment to discover why different sounds have different pitch and tone. If time permits, we will also start to examine how animals and humans hear sounds differently.

Grade 7 Science
This week we will finish up our review of tectonic plates, earthquakes, mountains and volcanoes, and we will have a summative assessment on these concepts. Extra help is available in my room at lunch time and extra review is encouraged at home in preparation for this evaluation.

Grade 8 Science
Last week with our trips to Evangeline and to the Devil’s Punch Bowl, we missed a few science classes. This means that this week will we will work extra hard to make up for lost time, as we continue to discover the density property of fluids 🙂

Have a marvelous week!

Mme MacNevin

Book orders went home today. There is no obligation to purchase books, I simply wanted to pass them along in case anyone is interested. The prices are usually quite comparable and sometimes much cheaper than in retail stores. If you are interested in buying any books, please send the order forms and either cash or cheque back into me by Friday.

Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

Mme MacNevin

Autumn has arrived and we are well into another year of learning here at Gulf Shore. It’s amazing to see how much progress has happened in the last month 🙂

Just a reminder that Terry Fox pledge sheets are due to Mme Larkin this week, so keep working hard to collect as many donations as possible!

Also, please don’t forget to continue to adopt our school in the Indigo Adopt-a-School program, each day this week, to help Gulf Shore earn new books for our school library 🙂

Now let’s take a look at what’s happening in our classes this week….

Dictée-This week we will finish up our review of the verbs être and avoir in the present tense. Once again, I would remind everyone of the importance of reviewing these concepts at home each night in preparation for our dictée quiz later on in the week.

French-During our reading blocks, we have been responding to the books we’ve read in our “Carnet de lecture.” I am very impressed with the letters I’ve received thus far, and I would continue to encourage students to include as many supporting examples and details from the texts they read as possible when writing these letters. This week, we will look at how to share our recommendations for books with others and how to chat about books we’ve read with our peers. During our Writer’s Workshop this week, we will be focusing on some of the mechanics of writing a well developed paragraph in French, using proper sentence structure, and we will also finish up publishing our first written piece of the year. At snack time, we will continue our read aloud book together entitled “Moi, Zèbre Bouchard” and we will work on our fluency and expression, through some reader’s theater with our French monitor Mme Cynthia.

Math- This week we will finish up our evaluation on representing, saying and describing whole numbers up to 1 000 000. We will then start to explore how to represent, say and describe decimal numbers to thousandths. We also continue to review our multiplication and division facts, continually improving upon our speed and accuracy.

Science-This week we will continue our look at how the human ear works to hear sounds. We will also begin to experiment with sound pitch and tone.

Grade 7 Science
This week we will continue to examine how mountains and volcanoes are formed and the relationship between their formation and the movement of tectonic plates. We will also begin to prepare for our first formal evaluation of the year on these topics.

Grade 8 Science
This week we will continue to discover the density property of fluids. We will create “density towers”, as we calculate the density of different fluids we use in our day to day life.

Have a wonderful week and a safe a happy Thanksgiving!

Mme MacNevin