Pottermore - July 31st!

Now is time to start learning how to use your Google Calendar! There is an important to date to remember. See video below...

Berries

When walking through the forest today we found some delicious salmonberries. As a friend described it to me once, "When salmonberries are out, it means school is almost over!"

To celebrate the end of the school year and because I'm a big fan of berries, we are planning on going strawberry picking tomorrow morning. As a kid, it was one of my favorite activities to do and I would like to pass this on to my students.

The farm we will be visiting is located in Richmond. Let's hope the weather cooperates and I can find enough parent volunteers! I will call the farm tomorrow morning at 8am to know if they're open.

http://www.wafarms.ca/

Photos from last year:

Message Important - 7ème année

Il y a deux semaines, quelques élèves de 7ème année ont vendu des Mr Freeze afin d'acheter un cadeau de départ (un arbre) pour notre école et un bouquet de fleurs pour Mme Stephens.

Comme il y a un surplus d'argent, M.D, Mme Eve et moi avons pris la décision de faire un don à un organisme local. Nous aimerions avoir votre opinion.

Build television sms voting polls at Poll Everywhere

 

Division 3 students can write!

Awhile

This is what I see when one of you takes awhile to remember how to spell a while.

Merci à Jacqueline pour le joli dessin!

Proud!

I'm so proud of all my Grade 7 students! You all looked amazing this evening. Beautiful dresses, shirts and smiles, inspiring and touching speeches. Thanks to all the Grade 6 students who chose to help and donate their time. You rock!

Of special note this evening:

1. Worldometers

2. Build Your Wild Self

3. Ninja Words

4. Wolfram Alpha

5. Phras.in

6. Tip of My Tongue


I have a special surprise for you tomorrow. The event will take place between lunch and recess...

Skateboarding Day - June 21

 
http://www.goskateboardingday.org/

Alot of Talking Dogs?

Today in class we discussed skateboarding in Afghanistan. This site will give you alot of information on the subject.

There are alot of other things I'd like to say this evening but it will have to wait until another time as I have alot of work to do!

Here's a little something from Aidan...

Don't forget to vote!

Question: If you knew someone who participated in last night's riot, would you report them to the police?

Visit this site: http://poll4.com

If you say yes, enter 168739

If you say no, enter 168745

If you are unsure, enter 168746

You will not be required to provide any personal information and can only vote once!

Current Events - June 16

Get ready to discuss this article in class. If you have time, print the article and highlight all the new words.

Current Events

Of special note:

Biggest Whale Shark "Swarm" Found

"Vampire" Stars Found

How cool is this? :-)

No Late Work, Please!

This week is students' last chance to shine before I take one last snapshot of their learning.  Please everyone, submit your work on time!  In high school no one will be chasing you down the hallway like I do to remind you that your work is long overdue.  Start practicing now!

Overdue:
-Compte Rendu - Martin Lachance

Due anytime now (if you want your work to be published - not used for evaluation purposes):
-Personification text

Art Work:
-Your material must be brought to school.

This week we'll be finishing up your piece of art so make sure to have all your material to school.  The work will be on display next week, all around the auditorium, so your parents can enjoy it.  If it's not completed to your liking, it will still be going up!  Once the creating part is completed everyone will need to write their own artist statement.


I leave you with another crazy video found on the internet a few years ago.

Google Homepage - Thursday June 9

If you can tell me why there is something special about this page today, you will be eligible to win a prize! Please write your answer on a post-it note and leave it on my desk. The more info you give, the better the prize will be!

Don't forget to play with it! Good luck...

What does a teacher's life and this video have in common?

Current Events - Puyehue, the Volcano

I came across these pictures as I was searching for a few articles for tomorrow's discussion. Enjoy!

Pictures for School Leaving Ceremory + Other Stuff

Good afternoon everyone! It's Monday, the sun is out and the Canucks are playing! I hope everyone is well rested and ready for another very busy week. Thank you for keeping your child in school. We are in the middle of doing evaluations and your child's presence is important.

Of special note this week:

1. Poetry presentations are taking place between Monday and Friday. A Google Doc has been sent to all students to inform them of the presentation dates. I've also created another Google Doc to share the rubric I am using to provide feedback.

2. We are starting to work on a super fun and cool art project. As homework this evening, students are asked to make a list of possible material that could be used to create a self-portrait. The rule is that nothing can be purchased, it has to be something found either in the outdoors or around the house. Reusing junk material is fun and students are always very creative with these kinds of challenges.

Please note: No one was asked to take anything to school tomorrow but should there be some material you would like to get rid of, feel free to send it my way. The art will be hung on the walls so anything that is too big and heavy will probably be a bad idea.

3. There will be a Math Celebration this Wednesday. 

-Grade 7 students: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4

-Grade 6 students: 6.2, 9.1, 9.2, 9.4, 9.5

4. We have begun discussing current events (in French). Each day for the next two weeks students will be given an article to discuss with a partner. I select three articles per day (regional, national, international) and after reading the articles three groups are responsible for presenting the article they were in charge of reading to the rest of the class.

If you would like to do the same at home these two sites may be of interest to you (great exercise for encouraging critical thinking!).

6 Q's About the News

The Big Picture

A few important reminders before I post the obligatory video:

1. All Grade 7 students must bring one or two baby pictures to school (preferably between age 2-3). Any format is fine. The deadline is Friday June 10.

2. Some of you may find books at home that belong to us. If you notice anything that may belong to the library or to me, please return them to school ASAP. Every year I lose books to this so any help in searching for them is greatly appreciated.
3. There will be a Grade 7 student orientation session Wednesday afternoon for all students going to Byng next year.




Thanks to Max for sharing this video with us. This is perfect timing since students are learning about circumference and area of a circle!

Wordle

This is what happened when I put the url of our blog into Wordle. Cool, isn't it?

French Canadian Accents & Engineering

Ça y est!  It's really happening!  Students have started speaking the French Canadian way!  I was starting to think it wouldn't happen this year but I heard it.  Oui mes amis.  A few words came out.  Yesterday... and today!

In case you've been wondering why D and T sound different in Québec, I've included a link that might help some of you.

On a different note, I'd like to share two new discoveries.  Our "Défis Techno" inspired me to search the internet for some fun stuff.

1. Discover Engineering

and...

Don't forget to enjoy the sunshine tomorrow.  You'll need plenty of Vitamin D for the week that's ahead of us! :-)

Poetry + BuiLD YouR WiLD SelF

(In class) poetry projects are to be printed and brought to school tomorrow (Thursday). Don't forget your markers and glitter as tomorrow we'll be working on the presentation of your work. I can't wait to see the final version of it!

Feeling bored? Don't worry, I have something for you to do. Check this site out. I'm sure many of you will have fun playing with it. I know I did!

Cloud Computing & Chromebooks

"Have you (ever) used Google Docs, Evernote, or Dropbox?  If so, you've experienced Cloud Computing, which refers to using services or applications online, instead of using programs installed on your computer."

(to continue reading this article, follow this link)

That's exactly what Division 3 students have been doing lately.  Cloud computing!  Everyone with a Gmail account** has been learning how to use Google Docs as a way of communicating with each other and sharing their work.  If you'd like to learn how to use this great tool, ask your child.  I'm sure he/she will be happy to teach you how it works!

I've also been reading more about technology and education this past week and came across this interesting advertisement (see video below).  More info can be found here.

**Students without a Gmail account can still submit their responses via regular email or by typing it on a computer at school. All work gets added to the Google Doc by myself or a friend.