On Tuesdays after school from 3:00-4:30pm, students are invited to stay after school to work on their projects. Science teachers will be around to answers any questions. This is a great opportunity for some extra support outside of class time.

I wanted to take a minute to share with you all some excitement from the past few weeks.

My Grade 8 students are currently helping introduce their Grade 5 buddy to the steps of the scientific method. Last time, students worked to see if it was possible to create a device that would keep a cup of hot chocolate piping hot after being place outside in a snow bank. Here are some of their creations.

In Grade 9, as we study blood and the circulation, students simulated different blood types to see if they were compatible as donors.

Finally, as last week’s instant challenge warm up, my homeroom class was tasked with creating a free standing tower made from craft sticks, binder clips and clothes pins.

Learning is so much fun!

Believe it or not, we have arrived to the last week of January. Wow does time ever fly by!

This last week of the month will be jam-packed. Take a look…

French-With our oral presentations and biographies wrapping up last week, this week we will dive even deep into our novel “Le complot.” We will put our reading strategies to good use as we predict, make connections, makes inferences and discuss the themes, characters and messages of this book. We will also continue to compare and contrast the lives of the two main characters and our own.

Building upon the feedback following last week oral presentations, students will set their language goals for the next few weeks. We will also practice the skill of presenting, rather than simply reading or speaking at a group, through some short and informal presentations as part of our warm-ups this week.

Science-Over the next few classes we will finish out our unit on the living world with our review and assessment of Chapter 4 on human reproduction.

Everyone should now have a topic and questions for their science fair project. This week our focus will be on doing some background research to form a hypothesis and begin to construct the list of materials necessary to conduct our experiments. A reminder that Day 6 of each cycle from now until the fair is reserved for in-class preparations.

Grade 9 Science- If all goes as planned, we will mark the moment many Grade 9 students have been waiting on since September: our first dissection. First, students will write their final assessment on the circulatory system. Then, later on this week or early next week, we will dissect a mammal’s heart, as students work to identify its structures and discuss its functions. I look forward to sharing some pictures with you following this exciting project 🙂 After our dissections are complete, we will begin to look at the excretory system. Another dissection will accompany this system! More details to follow 🙂

Grade 7 Science- Over our next few classes, students will finish up presentations of their animal research projects to show their knowledge of the ecology concepts presented in Chapter 3. We will then begin to dive into our second section of our unit on the living world, starting with the characteristics of living things.

Day 2 has been reserved as our class to work on our projects here at school, and students should bring any materials they may need to class with them on that day each cycle between now and the fair. This week’s focus will be on solidifying our questions and beginning to develop an informed hypothesis.

Core French 4-9- My grades 4-6 students will wrap up their look at the short text entitled “Bienvenue à la fromagerie.” This story explores how cheese is made, as we finish our study of food and items in our lunch boxes.

In Grades 7-9, students will finish placing orders using the menus they’ve been creating over the past few weeks. We will then continue exploring a new chapter in our unit “On part à l’aventure”-planning an outing en français.

Have a fantastic week!

Mme MacNevin