Week of March 27-March 31

It is always such a pleasure to share with you all your children’s successes during learning conferences. Your children and I appreciate your continued support as we head into the final term of the school year.
If you have not yet returned your child’s signed report card envelope, please do as sometime this week, so that we can recycle them for June.

On Thursday, March 30, we will will head to the Confederation Centre to see the Colonel Gray production of “Newsies” which our students in grades 4-9 will be taking in together. Please return the signed form and the $12 fee as soon as possible if you have not done so already. We will leave the school around 9 and will return for lunch.

Now here is what will be happening during our classes together….

French-This week students will finish and present “The Great Book Debate.” Similar to “Canada Reads” students will participate in an event to defend their book and promote it to their peers. We will also continue our read aloud called “Noémie: Le secret de Mme Lumbago and our oral language warm ups. Finally, we will begin our second unit in our learning resource #LaClasse, where we will look at the work of a journalist.

Science-During the next few classes we will continue our look at rocks and mineral and the work of a geologist.

Grade 9 Science-We are nearing the end of our first section of biology. This week students will discuss the differences between cells, tissues, organs and systems and begin their review of the concepts covered in chapter 1 in preparation for their assessment on those outcomes.

Grade 7 Science-Now that students have a good understanding of the parts and functions of the cell, we will move our focus this week into reproduction. We will begin looking at the general similarities and differences between asexual and sexual reproduction, before exploring each in more detail.

Grade 9 English Science-This week we will wrap up our look into the chemistry outcomes of this course. Students will begin preparations for their unit assessment which will take place later on this week or early next. Review materials can be found in Google Classroom.

Have a marvelous Monday and a great week ahead!

Mme MacNevin

Week of March 20-24

If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for your child’s learning conference. Your child is welcome to join you to share in our discussion. Please follow the link below to sign up. Due to learning conferences, there will be no classes for students on Friday, March 24th.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A084AAEAA2CABF85-march1

Later on this week, your child’s report card will go home. Please take some time to review it with them and bring any questions/concerns with you to your conference. Your family can keep the report, but if you would kindly return the signed envelope back to me as soon as possible, we will reuse them in June for the final report.

During our conferences our school book fair will be open. This fair provides families the chance to pick up some new reading material, while helping our library and classrooms attain more books as well.

Finally, last week two permission forms went home. One is for the Colonel Gray production of “Newsies” which our students in grades 4-9 will be taking in later on this month. Please return the signed form and the $12 fee as soon as possible. There was also a permission form sent home from Ms. Coady about a research survey that students will be participating in during their health classes tomorrow.

Let’s take a look at what else will be happening at Gulf Shore this week…

French-We are nearing the end of our book club discussions and we will soon begin “The Great Book Debate.” Similar to “Canada Reads” students will participate in an event to defend their book and promote it to their peers. We will also continue our read aloud called “Noémie: Le secret de Mme Lumbago and our oral language warm ups, and spend time finishing up our learning portfolios to present during our conferences.

Science-This week students will present their rock cycle compositions and begin to look at minerals and their characteristics. We will “mine” a chocolate chip cookie to find some “minerals” as well.

Grade 9 Science-Over the next few days we will wrap up our look at how cells divide through mitosis and meiosis. Students will work on an assignment where they will use their knowledge of these processes to find a mystery image and begin to compare the two processes through a Venn diagram.

Grade 7 Science-This week we will wrap up our look at the cell, as students will present their cell models and we will take a look at what cells look like under the microscope. We will then begin to prepare for their quiz on these concepts which will take place later on in the week.

Grade 9 English Science-Our work continues on ions and compounds. Students will make models ionic and molecular compounds and discuss why they combine in each way.

Have a great week! I look forward to seeing you all during our conferences.

Mme MacNevin

Week of March 13-17

March is already halfway over! 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 be on the lookout this week for the sign up link to set up 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. Please let me know if none of the times are work and/or if you have any questions.

Now here is a look into what will be taking place during our classes together this week…

French-This week we will continue our book club reading and discussions. wE will also keep moving along with our read aloud called “Noémie: Le secret de Mme Lumbago and our oral language warm ups will focus on the verb “aller.” Finally we will spend some time beginning to prepare our learning portfolios that we will share with you next week.

Science-We continue to “rock” the rock cycle, as students are busy working on some original compositions to help retain this important information.

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-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-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!

Mme MacNevin

Week of March 6-10

I hope that everyone had a wonderful break. I cannot wait to greet my students this morning and hear all about it. There was definitely a lot of excitement around the Island these past few weeks, but it will be nice to get into our normal routines again.

Here is a snapshot of what we will be working in this first week back from the break….

French-Today we will kick a new read aloud called “Noémie: Le secret de Mme Lumbago” and we will also start our book clubs. Students will have the opportunity to “taste test” several different books before making the choice of the novel they would like to read over the next few weeks. We will also begin our second unit in #LaClasse on interviews. As always, our warm-ups will allow us to practice our oral language skills and goals leading up to our learning conferences at the end of the month.

Science-Before the break we completed our second section of the year on biology and will now shift our focus onto geology. We will start by reviewing some of the concepts we learned during this section last year including the layers of the Earth’s crust, before moving into our new learning about the rock cycle.

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-This week we will begin to look into the next section of our biology unit, beginning with the characteristics of living things and the part of animal and plant cells.

Grade 9 English Science-Our lessons this week will focus on chemical and physical changes in matter and the differences between atoms and ions.

Have a fantastic week!

Mme MacNevin