Week of February 28-March 4

This week, as we prepare for learning conferences on Thursday and Friday, students will reflect on their progress these past few months. I look forward to discussing that progress with you later on this week. If you have not yet signed up for a time for your child’s conference, please do so as soon as possible. Due to these conferences, there will be no classes for students on Friday, March 4th.

French-Our main focus this week will be preparing our learning portfolios. This work will include some short assessments in reading, writing, speaking and listening and goal setting for the term ahead.

We will also wrap up our novel “Mamie Gangster” with some final discussions and reflections and prepare to move into a new unit on conducting interviews.

Science-As we move along throughout geology unit, we will spend time this week finishing our look into minerals, using a key to identify them, and begin exploring soil and its layers.

Grade 9 Science-Our focus these next few days will be on cell division, as we explore the reasons cells divide and the steps they take when dividing. This will lead up to our discovery to the two cell division processes of mitosis and meiosis. Students are reminded of the importance of frequently reviewing biology terms and new concepts, so that they are not cramming before an assessment.

Grade 7 Science-We will continue our discussions this week of ways living things reproduce, both asexually and sexually, beginning with a look at plant cells.

Grade 9 English Science-Students will write their assessment on compounds on Day 5. With that completed, we will spend some time working through a case study on salt and sand used on Island roads, before finally preparing our final unit test on the chemistry concepts studied this term.

Have a wonderful week! I look forward to speaking with you all on Thursday and Friday.
Mme MacNevin

Week of February 21-25

I hope that everyone had a great long weekend and took some time to celebrate this beautiful place we call home 🙂

Our final week for the month of February has begun. It is hard to imagine, but our second term is quickly coming to a close. With that, it is time to choose a slot for your child’s learning conference. Please visit the link below to sign up for a time to discuss your child’s learning. We will be using the same format as in the fall. Students may attend their learning conference with their parents, or parents can attend alone. Either way, each of your children will present their learning portfolio and their goals for the last term of their Grade 8 year. PEI Vax passes will need to be shown and masks will be worn by all entering the school at all times. Should none of these times work for you and your family, reach out and we can make arrangements to meet at an earlier/later date. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A084AAEAA2CABF85-grade4

Here is a look into the learning that will take place over this four-day week….

French-This week we have a few main goals. Our first is finishing up and presenting our travel journal projects. I’m excited to see the finished results of these projects, which students have been working on these past few weeks.

Our second goal is to finish reading the last chapter of Mamie Gangster and reflect on what we’ve read.

Finally, as we prepare for our learning conferences and report cards over the next few weeks, students write their DELF assessment, where they will be evaluated on their progress in reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Science-Our unit on geology continues. This week we will “mine” a chocolate chip cookie, looking for minerals and learning about their traits. We will also learn how to use the Mohs scale and an identification as we “hunt” and identify popular minerals found in Canada.

Grade 9 Science-This week officially kicks off our biology unit. We will begin by taking a closer look at DNA. Students will “make” their own DNA molecules using twizzlers and mini marshmallows, “extract” DNA from a strawberry, and begin to learn about the importance of DNA in the body’s cells.

Grade 7 Science-Tomorrow, students will write their assessment on the parts of the cell. Today we will spend time reviewing those parts as well as the characteristics of living things. With their quiz behind them, for the remainder of the week, students will begin to study sexual and asexual reproduction, as we compare the two and learn about different organisms that use each of these ways to reproduce, beginning with asexual reproduction in plants.

Grade 9 English Science-This week we will wrap up our look at ions and compounds. We will also begin to prepare for a quiz on these concepts that will take place on Day 4.

Have a marvelous week!

Mme MacNevin

Week of February 14-18

Happy Valentine’s Day! As we continue to celebrate the Olympics, our fabulous leadership team has come up with some great ideas for a spirit week these next few days. Here is the schedule of events:

Tuesday-Olympic rings
Wednesday-Come to school “sporting your favorite winter sport”
Thursday-Canada Games 2023 Day-Wear colours of the Canada Games (blue, orange and green)

Friday, February 18 will be a professional development day for staff. There will be not classes for students on Friday. Additionally, Monday, February 21 is Islander Day, so there will also be no classes on Monday.

Now here is a look into what will be taking place over this now three day week….

French-This week we will wrap up our travel journals. Students will spend time revising and editing their entries before piecing everything together in a creative way.
We will also read the last few chapters in our read aloud novel “Mamie Gangster” late this week and look towards beginning next week with a reflection on this story, as we make connections to and opinions about it.

Science-We continue to “rock” the rock cycle, as students are busy working on some original compositions to help retain this important information. We will also begin to take a closer look at minerals later on this week.

Grade 9 Science-Tomorrow, students will write their assessment on waves and fluids. This will conclude our “univers material” unit on chemistry and physics. With this behind us, we will begin our biology unit, starting with a review of some of the important concepts studied in Grades 7 and 8 including the parts of the cell.

Grade 7 Science-As we continue our look at cells and their organelles, students will spend some time this week looking at cells under a microscope, taking note of the organelles that are visible, and exploring the parts of this important tool in the lab.

Grade 9 English Science-As we inch closer to the end of our chemistry unit, students will learn more about ions and explore why and how they combine. We will also start to look at how to name compounds.

Have a wonderful week and a fantastic long weekend!

Mme MacNevin

Week of February 7-11

I hope that everyone enjoyed another stormy weekend. The month of February is now in full swing as are the Olympic Winter Games. There will be lots of eyes on Team Canada I’m sure and I plan to find some ways to integrate this exciting and special time into our learning this week.

Here is a snapshot into what will be taking place during our classes together…

French-The time has arrived to start to put together our “Carnet de voyage” (Travel journals). We will spend some time revising and editing our steps from the last few weeks, paying special attention to the passé composé verb tense, as we pull the pieces together to retell the story of a special trip we’ve taken.

We will also spend some time working towards the last few chapters of our read aloud novel “Mamie Gangster.”

Finally, as I stated in earlier, many of our warm-ups this week and then will have an Olympic and sport theme as we cheer on Team Canada.

Science-As we learn about the rock cycle, this week in the lab, students will use starburst candies to “experiment” to show how rocks transform from one form of rock to another. We will also work in groups on creating a song to help others understand the key concepts of how rocks are formed. I look forward to sharing these selections with you in the coming days.

Grade 9 Science-This week, as we wrap up Chapter 8, students will finish up their look at waves. This includes exploring how light travels in waves as well as the concepts of reflection and refraction.

Grade 7 Science-Cells, cells and more cells! That will be our theme over the coming week. We will look at the characteristics of cells and then begin to study the part of both the plant and the animal cell as well as the differences between them.

Grade 9 English Science-In the lab this week, we will finish up our look at chemical and physical changes in matter and learn how to draw Bohr diagrams for ions, exploring how they differ from those we have previously drawn for atoms.

Have a fabulous week! Don’t forget to test today, Wednesday and Friday. Stay safe 🙂

Mme MacNevin