Juggling

We are going to be working on a short juggling unit this week.   While we will have plenty of equipment for learning at school, students may want to practice at home.  This video shows a good way to make decent juggling balls at home.  The video shows flour as the stuffing, but rice and birdseed are also good.

December Hot Lunch

December's Hot Lunch is from Boston Pizza.  Orders need to be in by Friday, December 9.  The lunch is on the 16th.  If you need another form, it can be reprinted from the Shared Documents link at the bottom of this page.

St. Dominic Christmas Pageant

The students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 will be celebrating "100 Years of Catholic Education" with a narration of the Christmas story.  The students will be performing traditional Christmas carols Wednesday, December 14.  There will be a 2:30 matinee and a evening performance at 7:00 pm.  Because this is a K-8 performance, if you can make the matinee instead of the evening performance, please do so.  Space will be limited.

Students are asked to dress in their "Sunday best" for the performances.

A food or money donation will be accepted at the door (both performances) for anyone wishing to donate to help out those less fortunate in our city.

Doors open at 6:30.

Skating.

We are going skating this Wednesday.  Having trouble finding skates?  Send me a message - dgallays@scs.sk.ca - with the skate size, and I will see what we can come up with.  Perhaps you have skates sitting around that you wouldn't mind lending out?  Let me know that too!

Don’t forget that helmets are mandatory.  The school has a limited number available, but certainly not enough for all students.  If you have one, BRING IT.

Career Education

Because of a seasonal activity that we are working on, (the elf job application letter) we will not be starting the Real Game until after Christmas.

Career Education 7

This coming week we will be starting "the Real Game Online" as part of Career Education.  The following is the parent letter from the Ministry of Education:

Your son or daughter is participating in an innovative career exploration program called The Real Game - Saskatchewan.  It is the newest program in The Real Game Series (www.realgameonline.ca) developed over the past 10 years by the National Life/Work Centre (www.lifework.ca). Saskatchewan is the first province to collaborate with National Life/Work Centre to create its own provincial version that reflects the realities of living and working in our province. The goal is to help young people prepare for success in the workforce of the 21st century, and in adult life.

Your child may bring home exercises with which you can help. You may also be invited to attend class events.

During the curriculum, students will:

•                Role play adult roles, based on contemporary Canadian workforce realities

•                Learn about many aspects of real life that you and all adults face regularly

•                Hold a job, and balance work and other aspects of their character’s lives

•                Budget for housing, groceries, transportation, and other needs

•                Learn time management, goal setting, and problem solving

•                Learn skills they will be able to use throughout their lives

§     Learn about small business and entrepreneurship

Participating in The Real Game – Saskatchewan allows your son or daughter to:

•                Assume an adult work role and explore aspects of adult life in a safe, supportive environment

•                Realize the importance of mastering essential workplace skills, knowledge and attitudes

•                Emphasize the value of work and the importance of lifelong learning, teamwork, and positive attitudes

•                Learn how success in school will impact future life and work options and roles

The involvement of community members, particularly parents and guardians, is a key element of The Real Game - Saskatchewan. You are living the adult reality your son or daughter will soon be navigating independently. Any support you can provide will help reinforce the issues and lessons the program introduces, and will help prepare your child for the future.

If there is anything you would like to discuss about The Real Game – Saskatchewan, your child’s progress, or your participation, please contact me. 

Math Manipulatives at Home

If you are working on multiplication and division of decimals at home, it can be difficult to use all of the techniques we use at school as you probably don't have a set of math manipulatives.  This online tool is similar to (possibly better than) the one we use on the SMARTboard at school.

http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/mathematics/ebook_assets/vmf/VMF-Interface.html

Select "Base Ten Blocks" from the "Manipulatives" menu, and you now have a set of virtual manipulatives.

Phys. Ed. Field Trips

The Grade 7s and 8s will be going on a number of field trips over the next few months in order to achieve Physical Education curriculum objectives.

            Swimming at Lawson Civic Centre – Tuesday, November 22

            Skating at Cosmo Civic Centre – Wednesday, December 7

            Swimming at Harry Bailey – Monday, January 23

            Skating at Cosmo Civic Centre – Wednesday, February 8

Students will be bringing home a permission form.  If you don't get one, they are available from the "Shared Documents" link at the bottom of this page.

Safeway Gift Cards

The Community Council is selling Safeway Gift Cards as a fundraiser.  If you haven't seen the form, there is one available for download under the "Shared Documents" link.

Field trip permission forms

If you have not yet signed one of these, please do so ASAP.  Our first field trip is MONDAY.  If the form didn't make it home, you can print one from the Shared Documents link at the bottom of this page.

November News

November 4, 2011

Dear parents,

Just a note to keep you up to date with what is going on in grade 7…

Academic stuff:

Math:   We have started unit 3: Fractions, Decimals, and Percents.  Our test on the unit should fall in early December.   Additional review materials can be found at: www.pearsoned.ca/mathmakessense/student (there is a link on this page) or on CD-ROM available for loan from the school.

Our next unit is “Circles and Area”.

Language Arts:          

We are currently working on a unit called “Sending a Message”.  We are taking a look at a variety of ways that we use different media in order to communicate.  Students are currently creating “zines” about an area of personal interest.

Social Studies:

            We are wrapping up the “Location” unit and will soon begin the “Resources” unit.  Students will be working on projects that use diverse resources to meet their wants and needs in survival-type situations.

Health:

            We have completed the “decision making” unit and have started the “Assertiveness Skills” unit.  Students will be learning about positive, respectful conflict resolution through role play and class discussion.

Religion:

Unit 3 “We believe in God the Father Almighty” is our current unit.  We are exploring the themes

-          Who loves me?

-          It’s a “free country.”

-          Who’s in control?

Other news:

- Our first field trip is Monday, as we travel to TCU Place to participate in the "Mining for Society" presentation.

- We will be going to a “Drug Awareness and Healthy Lifestyle” presentation Wednesday, November 16^th at Prairieland Park

- Our class is currently responsible for Morning Prayer.  Advance preparation is encouraged.

- Report cards and portfolios go home November 21^st.  See you at three-way conferences later that week.

Thanks,

D. Gallays

dgallays@scs.sk.ca

659-8451

Upcoming field trips

This month, we will be going on a couple of educational field trips.

The first one, related to the grade 7 science curriculum, is a presentation from the Saskatoon Industry Education Council called “Mining for Society”.  It will be held Monday, November 7^th at TCU Place from 9:00 to 11:00.

The other field trip, put on by a variety of agencies in the city, is the 4^th Annual Drug Awareness and Healthy Lifestyle Presentation at Prairieland Park.  This takes place November 16^th from 12:00 (pickup) to 2:45.

Please sign and return the permission form by Friday, November 4^th.  The permission form didn't make it home?   I have added it to the Shared Documents link.  You should be able to print one from there.

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something.

It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”

- Steve Jobs

We have started to look at the synthesis of prior knowledge and new learning as we read.  We will be applying this in an upcoming "zine" project.  Check the "shared documents" link for more details.

GSCS Parent, Guardian and Student Mathematics Learning Community

Join the Mathematics Learning Community for GSCS parents, guardians, and students and gain access to the student textbooks (Grades 3-9) and Student Practice and Homework books (Grades 1-9).

To register for this learning community, visit the cyber school website: www.scs.sk.ca/cyber and scroll down to the bottom of the page.  Under "Stuff" select "Math Learning Registration".  Scroll down on this page and select "I Agree".  Fill out the registration form and within a few days you will be emailed a user name and password.

Once you have your user name and password, you can access the learning community by going to the cyber school website: www.scs.sk.ca/cyber and logging in under WebCT Log In.

Education Week Activities October 24-28

In the spirit of celebrating our efforts to educate the whole child (spiritual, emotional, physical and mental), special events have been planned each day to draw attention to the gift of education.

Monday, October 24: Physical: 100 Quick Exercises

Tuesday, October 25: Intellectual: Author Read Book

Wednesday, October 26: Spiritual: Decade of the Rosary

Thursday, October 27: Intellectual: 100 of something project

Friday, October 28: Social: Classroom Potluck 

Welcome to tenfortyfour!

I am excited to have this blog up and running.  Please bookmark it and check back often.

Today we had a class discussion about what students would like to see on their class blog.  They had a ton of great ideas, and we have established a team of students to help realize their plans.

While I see this as, primarily, a communication tool to keep students and parents current about homework and school events, there is a lot of potential for it to be an excellent resource in other ways as well.

The October news letter that has been in limbo for two weeks...

October 4, 2011   (This stuff was TOTALLY current when I wrote this, then I changed blogs...)

Dear parents,

Just a note to keep you up to date with what is going on in grade 7…

Academic stuff:

Math:   We have recently come to the end of the “Patterns and Relations” unit.  There was a test on the first unit’s material on Friday.  Several students have elected to take a retest.  In order to qualify, students need to complete at least two review sheets.  Review materials can be found at: www.pearsoned.ca/mathmakessense/student or on CD-ROM available for loan from the school.  I would like to have retests completed by the end of the week, but if students are actively preparing and require more time, that is fine too.

Our second unit, begun Monday, is “Integers”. 

Language Arts:          

We are currently working on a unit called “the Unexplained”.  Students are reading from the Explore the Unknown anthology.  They have also recently finished reading and discussing novels related to the theme.

Guided reading is ongoing.

Our current writing assignment focuses on descriptive writing with a scary theme.

Social Studies:

            We are in the middle of our “Location” unit.  We have been familiarizing ourselves with our atlases, and have an open-atlas a quiz scheduled for Thursday.

Health:

            We have started the year with the Decision Making unit that will continue for the next few weeks.  Students are analyzing their own habits and learning to make healthy decisions.

Religion:

Unit 1 “I…We” is our current unit.  We are exploring the themes

                                                Who am I?

                                                Am I normal?

                                                Do I belong?

            We will be starting unit 2, “We believe in God” later this week.

Other news:

-Our class will soon responsible for Morning Prayer.  Advance preparation is encouraged.

Finally…

            Please take a minute to email me with your name and your child’s name, so that I can add you to my contact list.

With the classroom blog, I am hoping to go paperless for most communication.

Thanks,

D. Gallays

dgallays@scs.sk.ca

659-8451