March 6 Updates!

Hello everyone! I hope that March has found you all doing well. We have had a crazy busy February. Now that we're into March, a few updates. ELA: We'll be starting our next big adventure next week when we begin our Resilience Cafe unit. There will be some research that students will be bringing home to complete with families, but I'll send more info when we get there. Our mystery collection books that we are publishing hopefully will be approved by the publisher this week or early next, and once everything is finalized I'll send you an email link, in case you are interested in purchasing a copy! Reading Projects will be DUE on March 26th, that is 3 days before Easter break. If holiday trips are starting before the actual break begins, please remind your child that they should be handing in the project BEFORE they leave. They have known about this project for about 3 weeks now. If they are not at least halfway done their novel, they are behind, and should make sure that they are dedicating time at home to work on reading and completing the project. SOCIAL: We are into our Power & Government unit, and will be having a midpoint QUIZ on Friday March 15th. This will be regarding Forms & Sources of Power, as well as the power of nations. We will be finishing with power of nations on Monday and Tuesday, and reviewing on Wednesday. PERFORMING ARTS: We are into our next big project. Students will be choreographing and planning a music video, that will be shot in small groups to showcase their dance skills, camera skills, and video editing skills. You'll be able to check out most of their work when they're done on my youtube channel: http://youtube.com/dah265 Enjoy the long weekend!

Movember 26th updates!

Hello all! A few updates today:

1. If you students want to order BLMS Lancer school clothing, order forms went home today. They are due back THIS FRIDAY NOVEMBER 30TH. It's a tight turn around, so I've attached the order form as well as the clothing options in case your student has misplaced theirs.

2. The December Scholastic order is due this Friday to ensure that books show up before the holiday break, so if you are wanting to order any books, please make sure that the order is in before Friday.

3. This week is spirit week. The days special events are as follows:
Monday: Wacky Hat/Hair day
Tuesday: Identical day (Dress as a twin, triplet, etc.)
Wednesday: Dress as something that ends in "er" day
Thursday: Wear clothing that clashes day.
ALSO: Thursday is our dance. Students need to be in attendance all day in order to attend. $10 Admission at the door. Doors open at 6:30. The dance goes until 10:00

Friday: Pajama Day

4. The BAND concert is coming up on Thursday, December 6th. More info to come on that from Mr. Swendsen

5. B Basketball is beginning this week. If your child is interested, boys practice tonight after school and girls practice tomorrow.

6. If there are any family trips that will cause students to leave early before the break, please let Ryan and I know as soon as possible so that if we are planning any events we can try to ensure that as many students as possible are able to be present for them.

7. In ELA we have just finished reading Wonder as a class. Take a moment to ask your child about it and what they thought. We are completing a Persuasive writing piece discussing courage in Wonder. Rough copies of this writing is due TOMORROW, Tuesday November 27th. We have had classtime to complete this today. Any students that don't finish in class should work to complete them at home tonight. We will complete our good copies in class on Wednesday, and then move on to our next unit of study: Mysteries and the Unexplained.

8. In Social Studies we have been engaging in Global Government Simulation where students have been running their own countries. We're taking a break from that now to move on and finish looking at mapping and location and move onto cultural contact.

9. In Performing Arts, Miss Dogniez, our intern, has been working with students on creating characters, writing scenes, and improvisation. Their final project for this unit will be to write and perform a 1 minute monologue.

That's all for now!

A Very Short Week

Okay! So this week we only have two days. Wednesday and Thursday are Professional Development days for LPSD staff, and Friday will be our Day in Lieu for parent teacher interviews.

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out to interviews. I think it was very beneficial for all students, parents, and myself. It was great to see everyone and touch base on our goals for the next few months.

Many people had commented that they would love to have access to the blogs that we are working on, and I think we now have that ability. If you would like to visit your students blog, check out the kidblog site:

7-5: http://kidblog.org/Hyland75/

7-6: http://kidblog.org/Hyland76/

At the bottom of the list of names, you'll see "Parents". You can feel free to sign in, using the password: blms. Once you're signed in, you'll be able to read the blogs and comment on them! As there is only one generic parent account, if you're commenting on blogs, You will need to put your name in above the comment. It'll look like this:

Then you can comment away on as many blogs as you're able to read! Thanks in advance for any time that you have to blog on our writings. 

We have another blogging challenge this week that will be due the Monday that students return from their 5 day weekends, so a little reminder will be helpful for them. 

More to come, but that's it for right now! 

Blogging, Global Sim and Interviews, Oh My!

Good day all! It's again another busy week. I hope that everyone enjoyed a restful and food-filled long weekend. Students just finished creating their "Cardboard Challenge" creations last week. 7-5 was interviewed by NewCap. Check out their promo video here on YouTube. We have been blogging about our experiences. Blogging Challenge #4 is due by the end of the day tomorrow. 

In Social Studies today we began our Global Government Simulation, where students are dealing with the pressures and excitement of running one of the world's countries. We will explore a few sections of the Social curriculum through the Global Sim. We'll work on it on and off throughout the year as it connects to other things that we are doing in class.

Students have been handed back their Canada Maps with feedback on changes to make, as many expressed confusion with the expectations, as I was away while they worked on the maps. The changes are due back tomorrow, and I will re-mark the maps. I am expecting that all students should take the time to review my suggestions, make changes, and hand the maps back in. These map changes are due back tomorrow in class. 

We finished our Common Formative Assessment writings in ELA, and will be reviewing them tomorrow in class. We will be working on developing the mechanics of our writing as well as backing up statements with facts and evidence.

A few other notes:

• This Wednesday is early dismissal. Students will be dismissed at 2:00 p.m..
• Interviews are Thursday October 11 and Tuesday October 16. We expect that students are at all interviews.  If this doesn't work, please let us know so we can reschedule. 
• OLIE (Outdoor Ed Club) members are going on their first camping trip of the year this weekend, leaving Friday after school and returning Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. We have an OLIE meeting Wednesday at 4:15-5:15, and a gear check Thursday at noon. All students must have their gear with them Thursday for the check. 
• Start thinking about holiday plans: Reminder that there is no school on October 24-26, due to PD days for staff and a day in lieu due to interviews. Mr. Sklapsky and I will be sending out our gift requests for students taking holidays. (Just Joking). 

Interviews, Cardboard Challenges, & more!

Hello everyone!

We're back in another week, and it is very exciting. Our class has ALMOST had everyone hand in their chocolate money, and that means that we are nearly there to win a giant 5 pound chocolate bar. We are also currently third in total chocolate sales, meaning that if we keep selling the way we are (a few students are well into their second and third cases sold), that we could win the Subway lunch party. Great work everyone! If you need more cases of chocolates to sell, just let me know!

Nextly, interviews are coming up. Our class interviews will be on Thursday October 11, and Tuesday October 16. For 7-5, I am test driving a new way of interview sign up. If you click on the button below, it will take you to a page where you can choose the date and time of your interview. It will ask you for your name and phone number, as well as your email address. This will all be kept confidential and not broadcast on the site. We are piloting the program, so there may be a few glitches, but I have heard good things about it, so hopefully it works. ***Note: Please make sure that your student is available when you sign up for a time slot. It is essential that the students are at the meetings, so all of us can discuss the year so far. It only takes a few moments to sign up for an interview time. Here's how:

1. Click on the link below to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot (7-5 only)!
2. Enter your email address (You will NOT need to register an account on VolunteerSpot).
3. Choose your interview time and sign up. You should get an automated confirmation and reminder messages. Easy! 

If for some reason it doesn't work out for you, just contact me and I can set it up for you manually.

On Wednesday, we will be participating in a cardboard challenge.  I have challenged students to create something useful, beautiful, or entertaining using cardboard, tape, and a few other supplies. IF you have connections to cardboard and can send it to school, it would be very much appreciated. If you would like me to come and pick it up from your home or business, send me an email: derek.hyland@lpsd.ca, and I'll arrange for it! If you're interested in seeing our inspiration for this challenge, check out the two videos at http://cainesarcade.com/.

Also in this update, On Wednesday, October 10th, 7-5 will be travelling to Lakeland College for a Tipi raising. More info on this will be sent out later in the week!

That's all for now! Enjoy your week!

Blogging & Maps

Good morning!

A few reminders today for Monday.

First: Your maps are due for social. Make sure to follow the guidelines below!

- Your jobs is to create an ACCURATE map of Canada that we will use as a reference for the rest of the year. 

- You NEED to have: 

• a compass rose 
• the scale (the scale on these maps is 500km = 1 inch)
• a title (Should be at the top and in all capitals)
• a key
• THE DETAILS:
  • Provinces & Territories (NEED to be labelled in ALL CAPITALS, horizontally)
  • The Capital of Canada
  • Capital Cities (Should have the first letter capitalized, horizontal)
  • Oceans (should be 3) (First letter Capitalized, Horizontal)
  • Hudson Bay (First letters capitalized, horizontal)

Where do you find the information for these? 

- Agenda's

- Atlases

- Social Textbook

- The Internet. 

Make sure that your information is ACCURATE, and NEAT. Please colour in the bodies of water as blue. Make sure that all of the capital cities are marked in the correct place. 

Second: Your blog posts are due tomorrow morning for the 2nd Blogging Challenge. Make sure that you have gone to your blog and answered my questions on your blog. The links are: 

7-5: http://kidblog.org/Hyland75

7-6: http://kidblog.org/Hyland76 

We are just finishing up our common formative assessment on Monday and then we'll be on to bigger and better things! 

PA students, make sure to remember your homework of watching people for interesting character traits. We'll share your research in class on Monday. 

Updates!

Good evening all!

A few updates for this week:

Picture day is Friday September 21. Make sure that everyone comes with their hair done. (I'll bring some extra Brylcreem and comb for the boys, just in case).

The Fall Dance is Thursday September 28. Tickets are $10 at the door. It will run from 6:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Our dances are always a lot of fun. If parents have some dance moves to show off, or just want to experience a middle school dance all over again, we are always looking for chaperones. Send me an email if you're interested, and I'll forward you to the right people.

This week we will be doing some Common Formative Assessments with all of the Grade 7s in ELA. These will be writing based and students will respond to a prompt. They will be used to give us some guidance as to where students are at, and to help us guide instruction. We will be doing another one near the end of the year, and it's also useful to use this as a guide to measure the growth between September and May.

We have started up our use of Edmodo and Kidblogs. Information about it should be in your Inbox. If you'd like to know more about it, as your child, or send me an email or phone call! We would LOVE to have you comment on our blogs! Our second blogging challenge is up, make sure to check my blog on the Kidblog page for the details.

All of the clubs have started to get rolling at Bishop. If you (students) have signed up for any clubs, make sure to listen to announcements to keep up to date with what is going on. (For example, Outdoor Ed club will meet Monday's after school, 3:15 - 4:45ish. Starting next week!)

I will be gone on Thursday for a WE Team (formerly Leadership) planning day & mini-conference, BUT you all will be in good hands with our sub.

That's it for today!