Pig Dissection

Today was the day many of our Grade 9 students have been looking forward to all year: our fetal pig dissection. Their engagement was outstanding and it was wonderful to see all their learning over the past few months come to life. We had so much fun!

Week of March 25th-March 29th

I hope that everyone had a fantastic March Break and is refreshing for full week of learning. Our warm-up today in French class will give students the opportunity to share what took place during their time away from school.

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone for their kind words and notes following the announcement that I am the CPF French Educator of the Year. I am very honoured to belong to such a supportive school community here at Gulf Shore. It warms my heart to be recognized in this way. I sincerely appreciate everyone who contributed to my nomination. Merci beaucoup!

The PEI Provincial Science Fair will take place on March 27th at UPEI (Storm Date: March 28th) A note regarding specifics of the fair for those continuing on was also sent home before the break. Mme Vickie and I will be chaperoning the event. We have 8 projects presenting at provincials and we wish all those participating the best of luck. I know they will be excellent representatives for Gulf Shore 🙂

We will definitely be diving right back into our learning. Here is a look at how this week is shaping up so far…

French-As we traval through our unit anthology unit “L’art de image” this week we will return to completing our criteria of what counts in an interview. Students will then create questions for, and then interview their Grade 4 book buddy, eventually creating a synopsis of the interview, as modeled in the texts we read before the break.

Students will also have the chance to revisit their “texte ludique,” taking the time to revise and edit their work and put into practice many of the goals they set out for their writing before the break.

Finally, we will be introduced to “les verbes pronominaux.” These verbs are used to describe actions related to our daily routines.

Science-This afternoon, students will begin their unit on Space. Students will work in groups over the next few weeks to complete eight different activities related to the outcomes for this chapter through a series of learning stations. These include: making playdoh planets, drawing comets and finding photographs and videos to help explain why we can sometimes see the Northern Lights.

Grade 9 Science-While we had every intention to wrap up our biology unit before the break, the excitement of French week and the many concerts and presentations that came along with it put us a few classes behind. Thus, our main focus these next few days will be our dissection of a fetal pig. Once this is completed, we will begin our chemistry unit. A review of the Periodic Table of the Elements will be the starting point of Chapter 6, as we discuss the differences between elements and compounds, review the particle theory, the three states of matter and the differences between homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures.

Grade 7 Science- Today we will jump into the final section of our biology unit. Over the next few classes we will continue to explore how sexual and asexual reproduction occurs in plants and animals. We will then begin preparations for our unit assessment on chapter 4.

Core French 4-9-Before the break, students in Grades 4-6 finished up writing and performing their raps on the different types of music they enjoy. Sticking with the music theme, this week we will listen to some pieces of music from the group Swing, as we sing about our favourite pastimes.

In Grades 7-9, we will begin the second section of our unit “On est capable.” To start, we will discuss the popular adolescent pastime of using technology, as we read about a group of students who attempted a “défi sans écran”-a screentime free challenge.

Have a marvelous week!!

Mme MacNevin

Week of March 11th-15th

I want to thank everyone for your participation in last week’s Student-Led Conferences. It is always a pleasure to share in your child’s learning and to hear my students articulate their goals for the coming weeks. We will be revisiting these goals after the March break to make sure everyone has the tools they need to finish off our final few months together on a high note 🙂

Our Science Fair last week was a huge success. A big congratulations to all our winners. Students who are moving on to the Provincial Science Fair at March 27th at UPEI should have now completed their registration. A note regarding specifics of the fair was also sent home late last week. Mme Vickie and I will be chaperoning the event.

To say that last week was busy would have been an understatement and this week is shaping up to be just as busy. Please take a minute to read about all the events taking place over the final week before March Break….

This afternoon we will be treated to a performance from Mr. Roland Bibeau. This entertaining musician’s goal is to help students learn language through song. He was translated and re-written many of today’s hits to share with students across Canada. He will present to our Core French and Immersion Students in Grades 7-9 at 1:30pm today. We have been sampling some of his music during our classes and I know we are in for a great treat!

Tuesday afternoon students in grades 8-9 will attend a presentation from MADD Canada. The sensitive, yet very important topic of driving while impaired by drugs and/or alcohol will be the focus of this event. This presentation can often stir up a great deal of emotion. Please take a few minutes to chat with your child before and after about their feelings surrounding this topic. We will also have some discussions in class and as always, our school counselor, youth worker and student well-being team are available if you have any specific questions/concerns.

Vishten!!! On Wednesday morning Grades 7-9 Immersion students will board the bus just after morning announcements to head to Summerside (Centre Belle-Alliance) for a show from the popular Acadian group “Vishten.” This group has been nominated for many awards including many ECMAs and Junos. It is a rare opportunity that we have 2 concerts in one week that allow for students to have fun and see the French language come to life 🙂

The Ski Trip has also been rescheduled for this Wednesday. Fingers crossed for some good weather 🙂

What a week it will be!! Now here is a quick snapshot into what else we will be working on during our last few days together before everyone takes off for some much needed rest and relaxation over the March Break…

French-The storms, our preparations for conferences, Band Days and the Science Fair have put us a little behind. So this week, as we work through our unit “L’art de image” we will finish reading through some interviews as we continue to discover and to form our success criteria for what counts in this text form. We will also finish drafting our “texte ludique” and find a new novel for independent reading (and maybe even start it over the break ;))

Science-Today we will wrap up our review of Chapter 5 on rocks, minerals, soil and energy. The final assessment on these concepts will be written on Day 6. Our last few Science classes before the break will be spent participating in an innovation challenge, as we work to create a device that will help to accomplish a problem students have identified throughout our study of the Earth’s Crust. We will then roll in the Maker Cart on Friday to create our devices and show them off, as we film our creations for the first annual PEI Virtual Maker Fair which will happen at the end of the month.

Grade 9 Science-As we work towards our goal of wrapping up our biology unit before the break, this week students will work in groups to explore a case study on organ donation. As I’ve explained in previous posts, this activity will bring together all the outcomes we’ve been working on over the past few months on body systems and biotechnologies and will serve as a summative assessment on these concepts. We will also begin the final preparations of our pig dissections which will take place on Friday.

Grade 7 Science- Today we will wrap up our discussions on the differences between sexual and asexual reproduction, as we define and explain each method. We will then look at how animals and plants reproduce through both thes methods; starting with plants.

Core French 4-9-In Grades 4-6, students will finish practicing and presenting their songs expressing their musical preferences to the class. We will even add in some musical instruments and sound effects to our raps.

In Grades 7-9, students will finish present their recordings on their clubs to the class and we will reflect on the Roland Bibeau concert. Both Core French classes will also see some new vocabulary surrounding St Patrick’s Day, which we will celebrate a few days early, as it falls on a Sunday this year.

I wish you all the luck of the Irish and a fantastic March Break! I cannot wait to hear all about it when classes resume on Monday, March 25th.

Mme MacNevin

Week of March 4th-March 8th

One of the busiest weeks of the year is upon us. Mother Nature has certainly been making her presence known this winter. I hope tahat everyone takes advantage of the unexpected long weekend to practice for tomorrow’s Science Fair 😉

Speaking of the Science Fair…… Students will present their projects to volunteer judges in the morning. Parents are welcome to come check out the fair starting at 10:50am, but we’d ask that the public refrain from coming in before this time to allow judges to properly assess and for students to present their projects without any distraction. ***In the event of an hour delay tomorrow morning, the fair will begin at 9:50am. It will open to the public from 11:30am-12:15pm and students will have a late lunch break. If there is no school tomorrow, the fair will take place on Thursday.***

On Wednesday, March 6th, our intermediate band students will travel to Charlottetown to participate in the annual PEI Band Days. They will depart the school after morning announcements and will return by 12:30pm. We wish them the best of luck 🙂

Parents are reminded that learning conferences will take place this week. If you haven’t already confirmed your conference time by signing up online, please do so as soon as possible through the tab on our school webpage. There will be no classes for students on Friday, March 8th. Our semi-annual book fair will also take place on Thursday and Friday. Come check it out before or after your conference 🙂

Now here is a look at what else this week will hold…

French-As we work through our unit “L’art de image” this week we will begin to form our success criteria for what counts in an interview. Preparing questions for and then interviewing their peers will give students the opportunity to practice both their writing and oral language skills. This will be our focus over the next cycles.

We will also continue drafting our “texte ludique.” Students will also head to the libary to choose a new novel for independent reading. Finally, we will complete our learning portfolios which we look forward to sharing with you during conferences 🙂

Science-Following, the Science Fair, we will return our attention back to Chapter 5 as we wrap up the “Earth” portion of our unit on Earth and Space. The final assessment on this unit will be held on Day 4 (early next week).

Grade 9 Science- Discussions will continue this week around new advancements in biotechnology and controversial topics related to human body systems such as designer babies, genetically modified foods and cloning. Later on this week we will really dive into our case study on organ donation, as we put all the pieces of our biology unit together. We will also set the date for our fetal pig dissection.

Grade 7 Science-Later on this week, following the Science Fair, we will jump back into our study of cells, reviewing the results of last week’s quiz on organelles and beginning discussions between sexual and asexual reproduction.

Core French 4-9-In Grades 4-6, students present their songs expressing their musical preferences to the class. We will also play some new games as students express their interests in collections and sports to their peers through play.

In Grades 7-9, students will finish preparing their final projects for the first part of our unit on pastimes. Each student will prepare, record and present a small advertisement promoting the club they have created.

Have a wonderful week! I look forward to seeing everyone at our Student-Led Conferences!

Mme MacNevin