What a blast we had today! I’m sure everyone will sleep well tonight 😉

This morning we admired our beautifully decorated door and used the maker cart to make fantastic gingerbread villages that lit up and sang.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas vacation! Joyeuses fêtes!!!!

Mme MacNevin

As much as I can’t believe it, we have arrived at our final school week of 2018. 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 wrapping things up before our Christmas vacation.

Report cards were sent home on Friday. Please sign and return your envelope to the school before the Christmas holidays.

Spirit Days-This week is Spirit Week and we will have special theme dress-up days each day. Tomorrow will be Twin Day, Wednesday will be Christmas Sweater/Colour Day. Wednesday evening there will also be a “quarter formal” for students in Grades 7-9. It will run from 7:00pm-9:00 pm and the cost is $7.00 or $5.00 plus a donation for the food bank. Thursday will be Winter Sports Day and finally Friday will be Pajama Day.

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- This week we will finish up revising and editing our biographies. We will also prepare and present our “equality” prizes to the class, as students share their biographies with their peers. As you can imagine, our instant challenges this week will focus on the upcoming holidays 🙂

Science-As we continue to move along in our exploration of how human life is created, this week we will finish up our study of the parts and functions of the male and female reproductive systems. We will also take a look at how an egg is fertilized. As this unit is rich in new vocabulary, before departing for the break when the information is fresh, students will write a short quiz on these concepts.

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.

Core French 4-9- This week, as we continue to discover some new vocabulary surrounding the holiday season, students will create a fictional snowman and describe him to their classmates. We will also practice our new vocabulary through a game of Christmas bingo.

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 Thursday, January 3rd, 2019.

Joyeux Noël!

Mme MacNevin

Pictured below are some of the fantastic digestive system products my Grade 9 class presented today. I am so proud of all their hard work! Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Today with our book buddies in Grades 4 and 7 we read a story and made a digital snowman. After our snowmen were complete, we described them and shared our pictures with other groups. What fun!

It is hard to believe that there are only two more school weeks in 2018! Our first few months together have certainly flown by!

A big congratulations to everyone who performed last Wednesday as part of our annual band concert. It is always special to hear those sounds of the season from our fabulous bands here at Gulf Shore.
This week is another concert week, as we hold the 2018 Gulf Shore Christmas Concert. The Grade 8 class has once again put together a fantastic self-directed skit that they look forward to sharing along with our other GS classes on Wednesday, December 12th. Dress rehearsal is in the morning. Public performances will begin at 1:00pm and again at 7:00pm. Students are asked to arrive at the school by 6:30pm to get ready for the show.

Learning portfolios and reflections letters were sent home last week. Please send them back as soon as possible. I hope everyone enjoyed hearing all about their child’s learning. Report cards will be sent home on Friday, December 14th. Please sign and return your envelope to the school before the Christmas holiday.

Let’s take a look at what we will be working on during our classes together this week….

French- Everyone is now well into the rough drafts of their biographies and preparing to revise and edit. Later this week, we will start to work on our final project for this unit. Instead of simply reading their biographies to the class, students will then create an award for that person, name the award, and prepare a presentation on why their recipient deserves their prize. This project will touch on two of our Grade 8 foundational learnings: knowing and defending their point of view and preparing a formal oral presentation.

Science-Once our Chapter 3 assessment is complete, we will move on to the second chapter of our biology unit on human reproduction. This week students will learn about the parts and functions of the female and male reproductive systems.

Grade 9 Science- Over the next few days, students will prepare and present their digestive system models. Once the presentations are complete, we will next move on to our third human body system; the respiratory system.

Grade 7 Science-During our classes early on this week we will finish up our chemistry unit, revising our evaluations and wrapping up our mixture separation lab. With that complete, our focus will shift to our biology unit and its first section on ecology.

Grades 4-9 Core French-This week will take another break from our unit on sports and hobbies, as we discover some new vocabulary surrounding the holiday season 🙂

Have a marvelous week!

Mme MacNevin

Today we finally got the chance to explore the Maker Cart. After being split into two teams, students set out to get our classroom ready for the holidays. One team was in charge of making our class tree and the other the decorations. The result: a moving lego tree, a series of microbit and copperwire circuit decorations, and even a felt snowman. I was very proud of how my students met this challenge with such open minds and curiousity. They are already asking when the cart will make another appearance in Grade 8 😉 We are all makers!

Yesterday, my class got their first introduction to the “microbit.” This small device can be coded to flash lights and words, make noise, and even radio other devices. Students discovered the “bits” and got to try out their code to test if they sucessfully programmed their device. A few students coded their bit to flash rock, paper or scissors and then used their device instead of their hands as they challenged their friends to a game. As this week marks the annual “Hour of Code,” many activities like this will be happening throughout the week 🙂
Exciting times!!

Merry December! We have officially kicked of the month of December and a very busy couple of weeks leading to the end of 2018 🙂 Even though this is a 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 🙂

I guess Mother Nature wasn’t our side last week. I hope everyone has power’s is finally back on and that you all stayed safe and warm during our few days without electricity 🙂 Learning portfolios and reflections letters will be sent home today. Please take the time to listen to your child present, and celebrate in all their success over these past few months. I’m asking that letters and portfolios be returned to the school no later than Friday, December 7th. As always, your support in your child’s learning is much appreciated 🙂 If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

On Wednesday, December 5th, band students will perform their annual Christmas Concert for the student body in the afternoon (1:30pm) 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 🙂 I hear they will even be playing a selection from one of my favourite Christmas specials 😉

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

French-As you will hear during your child’s conference, we are now well in the process of researching and drafting our biographies. As most of the events we will be writing about have already happened, we will this project to work on conjugating verbs properly in the past tense.

We will also work on our oral language goals through an exciting new initiative here at Gulf Shore: The MakerCart. My students are already very familiar with using a variety of materials to solve a problem during our instant challenges. This week they will add another layer into their solutions; using our new cart full of both technological and artistic tools in their solutions. These challenges touch on many speaking and listening outcomes in our French program. Be on the lookout in the coming days for some photos of our first “Maker Challenge”

Science-This week we will finish up section 3.4 and then prepare for our unit assessment which will take place on Friday, December 7th.

Grade 9 Science- Over our classes together this week, students will finish up their study of the parts and functions of the digestive system. They will create a 3D model and prepare for their written assessment which will take place on Friday.

Grade 7 Science- Today we will complete section 2.3 on separating mixtures and solutions, and thus conclude our chemistry unit. Preparations will then commence for our chapter assessment which will take place on Friday, December 7th.

Grades 4-9 Core French-As we continue our units on hobbies, this week students in Grades 7-9 finish up their promotional posters for clubs promoting their interests. In Grades 4-6 we will continue to talk sports, as students learn new vocabulary around team and individual activities and in what seasons of the year we participate in certain events and sports.

Have a fantastic week!

Mme MacNevin