As hard as it is to believe, we have arrived at our final school week of 2017. There is a great deal of excitement in the air, and we will surely have lots of fun over the next couple of days together, as we wrap things up before Christmas vacation.

Spirit Days-This week is Spirit Week and we will have special theme dress-up days each day. Tomorrow will be Tropical Tuesday (students can dress in their craziest tropical clothes and colours). Wednesday will be pj day (students can dress in their pajamas). Thursday will be twin day (student can dress alike) and finally Friday will be Christmas day (students are encouraged to dress in Christmas sweaters or colours).

On Thursday evening we will have a Christmas themed social from 7-9pm for our Jr.High students.

On Friday, our last day, we will have no regular classes. Students will spend the morning in their homeroom classes cleaning and celebrating together. After morning break, we will have a school-wide carol sing and finally in the afternoon our Student Leadership students have organized our annual Yuletide Yippee activities.

Here is a snapshot of the learning that we will finish up this week….

French- We are now halfway through our novel “Le complot.” There are many interesting themes in this story that tie in perfectly with our unit on equality and justice. We are enjoying many discussions around these themes and are learning new vocabulary along the way. Students are reminded to keep on top of their readings and to re-read any parts that they may not fully understand. We will also finish up our oral presentations for our “prix d’équité” and our warm-ups and instant challenges this week will most definitely be holiday themed 🙂

Social Studies-This week we will finish up comparisons of the political, economic and social structures of Medieval Europe with those of modern day Canada. We will also take a look at what Christmas was like during the Middle Ages and discover if any traditions or customs from that time period are still practiced today.

Science-As we continue to move along in our study of how human life is created, this week we will have a quiz on the parts of the female and male reproductive systems (Tuesday, December 19th) and we will continue to discuss the stages of development during pregnancy.

Grade 9 Science- We will continue to explore the respiratory system over the next few days.

Grade 7 Science- Moving along with our unit on ecology, this week students will spend time discussing habitats and will learn about different populations. They will also complete a case study about different species of trees, as they show what they’ve learned over the past few weeks about how living things are classified.

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season with their families and friends. I look forward to hearing all about your adventures when we return to school on Wednesday, January 3th, 2018. Joyeux Noël!

Mme MacNevin

On Friday, December 15th, Grade 7-9 Immersion classes here at Gulf Shore will be travelling to Summerside for a cultural immersion experience.

We will be leaving the school at approximately 12:00pm to travel to Centre Belle-Alliance. There, students will have an opportunity to be treated to a performance from the Acadian musical group “Les Gars du Nord”. This interactive holiday concert will touch on outcomes related to our French Language Arts curriculum.

Students will eat their lunch before heading to Summerside. They will return to the school in time for usual dismal at the end of the day.

Please feel free to contact the school if you have any questions or concerns regarding this activity.

I was so very proud of everyone last week and their performance in the band concert, especially in the dark ;). What wonderful musicians we have here at Gulf Shore, who can preservere and put on a great show by cell phone light! It certainly put me in the holiday spirit 🙂 Things will continue to get busy this week as there are only 10 more school days until we break for Christmas vacation 🙂

On Wednesday, December 13th, we will be treated to another concert here at Gulf Shore as classes showcase their talents on stage during our annual Christmas Concert. The Grade 8 class has once again taken the initiative (on their own, I might add) to take part :). We will have our dress rehearsal in the morning and two shows for the public at 1:00pm and 7pm. Students participating in the show should arrive at school for 6:30pm.

Now let’s take a look at what will be happening in our classes during the week ahead….

French-This week, students will finish and, later on this week or early next, present their final projects for our unit on justice and equality entitled “A trophy for equality.” I look forward to hearing all the great reasons that everyone has chosen for their awards. They will also publish and submit their biographies.

Last week we began our novel “Le complot.” As this story was written in the late 1980’s, we’ve been having fun not only reading and predicting, but comparing and relating what life was life for the characters in this novel with our lives today 🙂 This week we will continue to put our reading strategies to good use, as we read together as a class, in small groups, and on our own.

Social Studies-This week students will finally finish up their “bourg” projects and share their findings of what life was like in these cities with their peers. We will also begin to take a deeper look at how life during the Middle Ages compares to life today.

Science-In Science, we continue to move through our unit on human reproduction. This week we will finish up our look at the physical parts of the male and female reproduction systems. We will then move our discussions to menstruation and pregnancy.

Grade 9 Science- I was very pleased with the creativity and understanding shown through our digestive system models (be sure to take a look at the pictures below :)). Tomorrow we will write our quiz on these concepts before beginning exploration of our third human body system: the respiratory system. This week we will begin to discuss its parts and their functions.

Grade 7 Science-In our discussions around taxonomy this week as part of our biology unit, students will learn about the ways living things are categorized. We will then start to classify samples of organisms we have preserved in our lab.

Have a fantastic week!

Mme MacNevin

Happy December! We have officially kicked of the month of December and a very busy couple of weeks leading to the end of 2017 🙂 Even though this is a very busy month and there is a great deal of excitement in the air as we prepare for the holidays, there is still a lot of learning left to take place before our vacation 🙂

On Wednesday, December 6th band students will perform their annual Christmas Concert for the student body in the afternoon (1:45pm) and again for the public that evening (7:00pm). I am very excited to hear what my students have been working on in music class over the past few months 🙂

On Friday, December 8th learning reports will be sent home with your son/daughter. Please take the time to review these reports, celebrate in your child’s success this term, and discuss areas for improvement. Parents may keep the report card, but are asked to send the signed envelope back to school with their child indicating they have seen the report and so that the envelopes may be recycled throughout the year.

Here is a quick snapshot into the learning that will take place in our classes this coming week….

French-This week we will finish up revising, editing and eventually publishing our biographies. We will also continue to work on our oral presentation entitled “A trophy for equality.” Students will put together their arguments and decide on ways to present their opinions to the class. We will also begin reading “Le complot.”

Social Studies-Along with their biography project, this week students will finish their look into what life was like in the “bourgs” (large cities during the Middle Ages), as they work in small groups to present a particular city to their peers.

Science-This week we will wrap up the first chapter of our biology unit on cells, chromosomes, and how substances move between the cell and its environment. Later in the week, we will begin our second chapter in this unit, as we discuss the stages of human life and reproduction.

Grade 9 Science-This week we will finish up our discussions and projects on the parts and functions of the digestive system. Students will then begin preparations for a short quiz on these concepts.

Grade 7 Science- Tomorrow students will write their final assessment for our chemistry unit on mixtures and solutions. Later on this week we will begin our biology unit starting off with discussions around the basics of ecology.

Have a wonderful week!

Mme MacNevin