Learning Intentions: I can experience and interpret the local environment.
Last Friday we took a trip to one of the world’s most ecologically unique ecosystems... which happens to be the local Burns Bog! Our tour addressed our grade 6 and 7 specific Prescribed Learning Outcomes such as Plants and Animals, Habitats and Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Species at Risk. We also combined this trip with a photography assignment. One app I recommend to use to help edit your photos is "Snapseed". You may email these to me @ [email protected] (make sure to include your name so I know who you are!) Learning Intentions: I can experience and interpret the local environment. Video Links:
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Student Vote is a parallel election for students under the voting age, coinciding with the federal election. The purpose is to provide young Canadians with an opportunity to experience the voting process firsthand and build the habits of informed and engaged citizenship. Learning Intentions: I can ask questions and offer judgments, conclusions, and interpretations supported by evidence I or others have gathered. I registered our school in this special program so that we could participate. There's at least 1 school in each of the 338 ridings registered! Students learned about government and the electoral process, researched the parties running in our riding, our candidates and the issues, and talked a lot about the upcoming election! On vote day, we had polls clerks helping run our station, and we took turns casting ballots for the official election candidates in our South Surrey-White Rock riding. The results will be tabulated nationally and by riding, and shared with media for broadcast and publication.
Last week we celebrated creativity with Global Cardboard Challenge. Global Cardboard Challenge not only lets students explore their interests and passions, but also teaches valuable "21st Century" skills like critical thinking, resourcefulness, perseverance and teamwork. Divisions 1 and 2 collaborated together to create these fabulous projects. It was a fabulous (and messy!) day. Learning Intentions: I can get new ideas or build on or combine other people’s ideas to create new things within the constraints of a form, a problem, or materials. Here is a short film about nine year old Caine Monroy’s arcade made of cardboard games. This is the inspiration behind the Global Cardboard Challenge. Both grades designed their own science experiments this week. It was a lot of hands on fun! The grade 7s were determining what factors limit yeast growth. They tested their hypothesis by planning and conducting an experiment that controls for two or more variables. Yeast is a single-cell fungi that will rapidly reproduce in the right conditions. It requires a form of sugar as food and a moist environment in which to grow. The best temperature for yeast growth is about 43-46 degrees Celsius. Learning Intentions: I can measure and control variables through fair tests. The grade 6s were determining what factors affect the growth of a potato by manipulating and controlling a number of variables in their experiments. Tubers, the edible part of the potato, consists of about 80% water and 20% primarily solid starch material. Tuber growth depends on the right environmental conditions. Potato plants have a quality called tropism. They will grow toward light, toward water, and upward to break through the soil. Please remember to return your Burns Bog field trip permission slips, due Wednesday, October 14. This field trip will be an excellent hands on experience that will enhance our ecosystems and living things units. It will take place rain or shine so make sure you are dressed appropriately for the weather and wet bog environment! As you may have noticed, I love photography, and this will be a great opportunity for you to practice your photographer skills in a beautiful, natural environment. We will be taking photos for a mini photography unit. You will be allowed to use your own cameras and personal devices to take photos at various times during the field trip. Afterwards, we will be editing the photos. I recommend the app 'Snapseed'. You can download and play with this app now if you like. :) Please check to see if your parents are available to drive on Friday, October 16th. We will be leaving the school at 9:30am and returning for lunch. I am really looking forward to this field trip!
We had a lot of fun trying to solve our first 'Math Challenge of the Week' last week! Learning Intentions: I can use technology appropriately to record, communicate, and represent thinking Here was our first problem: Thank you to Aryan for helping us to solve this week's problem! You can see his solution in the video below. WOW, I can't believe it's already October! Time sure flies when you're having fun! Thank you everyone for returning your consent forms so quickly!! You are all awesome! Please take the time to explore, fill out the Parent and Student info forms, and check out what's going on with Division 2! Science Both grades have been learning about Earth Sciences, with a focus on organisms and ecosystems. We are so blessed to be living in this beautiful environment and took the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. We explored the local organisms and ecosystem, making what we are learning in class more tangible. I can't wait until we go to Burns Bog later this month to further strengthen our connections! Learning Intentions: I can make observations aimed at identifying their own questions about the natural world. Social Studies The grade 7s have begun their Early Man unit, starting with learning about archaeology. We created our own excavation sites and buried artifacts for eachother to dig up. We learned we had to be patient and take special note on coordinates and depth in order to give us more accurate clues on how old these "ancient artifacts" were. Meanwhile, the grade 6s have been going on a "virtual safari" to Kenya (where the Lion King takes place!) and had the opportunity to listen to our very own Ms. Kilbride's stories and photos of her journeys there. How lucky is that!? Fun fact: The oldest stone tools and first humanoid fossils have been discovered in Kenya! I wonder what other connections the 6s and 7s will make with eachother... I can't wait until we all share our final projects at the end of the term. Learning Intentions: I can use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions, gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions. Language Arts We have been concentrating on writing mini stories with a focus on connecting to our readers. We have learned that one of the purposes of writing is communication and that authors write in order to connect with their readers. We have been focusing on using more detail and voice in our pieces, and experimenting with similes to keep our readers interested. The students have been enjoying the student lounge during our writing sessions, and we played relaxing instrumental music to help keep us focused. When the nurse visited us this morning, she commented on how lovely it was! We think so too! Learning Intentions: I can use writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create engaging and meaningful literary and informational texts for a variety of purposes and audiences. We have been hired into our team jobs and have been busy deciding how we will work together to keep our classroom community running smoothly while giving us independence and a sense of responsibility. I saw some great leadership from the Health and Wellness Committee today during P.E. They ran our stretches, set up our equipment, and taught us a really fun new game! I have also noticed how nice and organized the class is becoming, a special thank you to our Sanitation Commissioners for re-educating us on our new recycling program, and to everyone for remembering to change into your indoor shoes. Learning Intentions: I can contribute to group activities that make my classroom, school, community, or natural world a better place. Terry Fox Run Unfortunately, I was at a workshop at the Surrey Teachers' Office and had to miss out on the Terry Fox Run. I was super disappointed as I believe this is an amazing cause and one I would have liked to support in person. Cancer is too rampant these days and seems to have touched many of us in one way or another. I truly believe that one of you could discover the cure for this nasty disease one day if that's what you want to do. THANK YOU to the extremely talented Caroline Vasica for taking these amazing shots during the event! Learning Intentions: I can identify how my actions and the actions of others affect my community and the natural environment and can work to make positive change. |
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Welcome to Miss Marcakis' Grade 6/7 Class of 21st Century Learners. Archives
June 2016
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