We Were Children

Over the next couple of days, 7-3, 7-4 and 7-5 will be watching a clip from We Were Children, which is a film created by the National Film Board to tell the true stories of two residential school survivors. Parents: you should know that, while we will not be watching any of the scenes in question during class, this film does contain difficult and mature content. Students have been made aware that there are mature themes later in the movie. If you feel it is important for you and/or your child to view the film in in its entirety, or if you have questions or concerns, please feel free to email me for more information, or just Google the film. We will only watch the first 25 minutes in class.

*Update (Friday June 14): Students in all three classes have been asking to watch more of the film.
7-5 has now also watched the last 30 minutes of the film (I omitted the middle section, with the most difficult content).

Indigenous Studies

Indigenous Studies

We have been exploring elements from a variety of indigenous cultures around Canada. For each experience, you should have included at least one piece of written text and one visual within your collage. As of Wednesday June 5th, we have completed the following experiences:

- Blackfoot language at the Glenbow
- Borders (short story by Thomas King)
- Squamish Nation pow wow
- A Tribe Called Red (7-4 and 7-5 only)
- Indigenous Discoveries (7-4 and 7-5 only)

Links:
*Not all experiences can be repeated outside of school. Here are the accessible pieces.

Idle No More Introduction (Videos)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYf75dKON6k    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzXI7aznBtc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvwAt9MRW-0

Turtle Island Map
http://www.onepalestine.org/graphics/Turtle_Island.png

Map of Europe
http://www.globalsupportinitiative.com/northern-europe-map-with-capitals/europe-map-with-capitals-for-kids-popular-printable-northern-valid-africa-of-9/

Indigenous Discoveries
https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1302807151028/1534952294430

A Tribe Called Red (music video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAEmjW9J3_o

Squamish Nation Pow Wow Intro (if you were away- we watched this one in class)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcnA5nUNSE4

CBC What is a pow wow?https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/do-you-know-what-a-powwow-is

A guide to taking your family to a pow wow for the first timehttps://www.cbc.ca/parents/learning/view/powwow-guide

Update

This week we have finished our silent film essays! 7-4 students' essays have been self- and peer-assessed in class today, and 7-5 will complete this process on Monday. Essays will be considered overdue after Monday, June 3rd.

Also, marks have been posted in PowerSchool for RR5 (7-4 will be posted by Monday) and our Glenbow reflection (7-4 and 7-5 only).

This is a very busy time of year! Over the next three weeks, we will be learning about indigenous cultures and history, looking at poetry, and exploring current events. We will also complete RR6. Students and parents, please let me know right away if you are struggling with deadlines. I can only accommodate busy schedules if I know about them!

Essays & RR5

Essays:
Most students started drafting their silent film essays today, and are making excellent progress! If your essay planner is overdue, it MUST be finished by tomorrow, so you don't fall further behind. I think we should be able to finish the first drafts of our essays by the end of the week. Final edits and revisions will be made next week.

Reading Response 5:
RR5 should now be complete (art pieces are due tomorrow). Due to our upcoming field trips and track and field day, we will not be able to complete classroom presentations. Instead, I have asked all students to include a photograph of their art piece and 3-5 sentences explaining how their piece illustrates their novel's theme(s) at the bottom of their written work. Class time was provided for this work today, but some students may need to photograph their art pieces at home after they have competed them.

Homework

Students, please make sure your reading response #5 (written work only) and silent film essay planner are complete by Tuesday, May 21st. Please see the previous post for more information.

We'll work on our reading response 5 art pieces during both periods on Tuesday. They will be due on Thursday.

Essays!

A reminder that our Silent Film Festival will take place on Wednesday evening, from 7-8 pm. There will be a concession and music in the foyer, and the films will show in nearby classrooms.

Silent Film Essays:
Today we started work on our first five-paragraph essays! Students have been asked to address changes that have occurred in Canada since Confederation, including social, political, economic and demographic changes. In order to be eligible for a 4, an essay must include at least two historical events. 

We compared basic essay structure to paragraph structure, as follows:

Paragraph Structure:
Sentence 1: topic/introductory sentence
Sentences 2-4: supporting details (facts, ideas, examples, etc.)
Sentence 5: concluding sentence

Essay Structure:
Paragraph 1: introduction (includes thesis)
Paragraphs 2-4: body (supporting ideas, facts, examples, evidence, etc.)
Paragraph 5: conclusion

As a class, we brainstormed several possible arguments. You may choose one of these, word for word, for your thesis. You are also welcome to create your own thesis, or to reword one of these.

- Event is historically significant because it changed Canada dramatically. (This is the simplest thesis)

- Event is historically significant because it caused other events that changed our country.

- Event is more historically significant than event because it caused greater change.

- The economy/politics/social conditions/demographics has been the driver of change in Canada since Confederation. (This argument needs more than one event to support it)

All students need to complete the graphic organizer we started in class today before beginning work on their essays. I will review the organizers before we begin writing so I can make sure everyone's on the right track.

Update

We have finally finished our silent films, and can't wait to share them during our film festival on Wednesday night! This week we have settled back into our usual routine, and have begun work on reading response 5, which will focus on theme.

Reading Response 5:
- Retell: identify one or two main theme(s) of your novel. Then provide basic information about the characters and events the author has used to address the theme(s) you have identified. This should be a short paragraph (3-5 sentences, no more).

Sample opening sentence: "Harry Potter is about friendship."

- Relate: connect the theme(s) you have identified in your retell to your own life and experiences. Do you have personal experience with the theme? Have you seen it in another book or movie, or in the news? Provide detailed examples and a quote, just like you would normally do in your relate.

- Reflect: share your own opinions about how the author has dealt with the theme(s) you have identified. Do you think they presented the theme(s) in a believable and effective way? Did your own ideas about those theme(s) change or develop as you read? How? Provide details, examples and a quote, just like you would normally do in your reflect.

To see our standard reading response format, please click here.

Silent Films!

This week we are busy filming our silent films! Everyone has brought beautiful props and costumes and we are highly engaged in this work. We'll have more time to film on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Please remember to keep up with your daily at-home reading throughout this process!

Also, we will be hosting a Silent Film Festival on Wednesday, May 15th from 7-8pm. There will be music and a concession, and the night will celebrate our hard work on these films. We hope to see you all there!

Hi 7-4 and 7-5,

I'm away with a bad cold today, but we need to get going on our silent films! Mr. Falconer will hand out your booklets and tell you your groups if you don't already know them. Directors: it's your job to make sure those folders are handed back at the end of every class.

For today, you have 3 priorities:
1. Vocabulary: there's a vocabulary page (Station 1) at the front of the booklets in your folders. Please complete it with definitions in your own words. We'll have some conversation about this tomorrow.
2. Review your topics: there are topic sheets in your folders. Please read through them and identify 5 important facts. You can do this in highlighter or underlining directly on the page, or you can write them as notes.
3. Begin your research: there are sources on the back page of your topic sheets. Most students should begin with the textbook and concentrate on Stations 4, 5 and 6 in your booklets. Please use 3-word note structure for your notes (but use more words as needed).
*The FLQ/October Crisis is not covered by the textbook - jump straight to online sources.

Please note that today's assignments are to be done individually in your booklets. Group conversation is okay, but your work should not be identical to your classmates' work.

Thank you for working hard while I'm away. I'll see you tomorrow!

-Mrs. Wesley

It's Almost Spring Break!

Thank you to all of the students who have checked in to get homework for absences surrounding spring break! This is an important time of year, so if you are missing more than a day or two, it's important that you see me about catching up.

This week, students have been gathering background information about changes in Canada after Confederation (1867 until approximately 1970). We have split the work up, so that groups of students will be able to present on specific time periods and topics. Before spring break, students need to complete their notes for their assigned chapter, so they are prepared to begin planning a presentation with others when they return from spring break. Students have been invited to sign out textbooks so they can finish the work at home if necessary. 

You can access the necessary textbook chapters here.

Hopefully, this work is finished so you can enjoy your spring break! I hope you will read a great book and enjoy some time with your family!

Canada: A People's History

Link to Google Folder

Silent Film Background Assignment

We are currently doing some textbook work in preparation for our work on silent films. Students have been assigned one textbook chapter each, and have been asked to complete 3-word notes to help them learn that content. When they have completed their notes, they will work in groups to create presentations for their classmates. Students will also be asked to take notes on the presentations they watch. This way, we will all gain a broad understanding of 20th century Canadian history in preparation for more specific research.

If you have been absent, please see me for your textbook chapter. You will likely need to sign out a textbook so you can catch up at home.

Short Story Reflection Assignment
Due Wed. March 13th

• 2 complete paragraphs
• How are you different now than you were at the beginning of our work on short stories?
• I used to _______ but now _______.
• Have you thought about short stories in other media before? How does the medium influence the story?
• Did you understand theme before? Where are you now in your understanding of theme? Can you apply what you've learned to your current novel?
• What have you learned about characters, plot elements, and emotions in stories?
• Was there any story, character or situation that you related to strongly? Did you recognize any common elements from other stories you've read, heard or watched?
• Key vocabulary to include: theme, plot, character, protagonist, antagonist, character development, exposition, initial incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution

Update: March 4

I hope you all had a great weekend! This week we are presenting our reading responses and continuing with in-class work on short stories. Students, if you've missed more than one day of short stories, please find out what you've missed so you can catch up. You will need the work from each short story for a final creative piece.

Update: February 26

Here's what we've been up to:

- Reading Response 4: written work should now be complete, art pieces will be completed shortly.
- Map Quiz: students completed a quiz to demonstrate their knowledge of Canadian political and historical geography. The two portions of the quiz have been marked separately so students and parents can see areas of strength and areas for growth when viewing marks.
- Persuasive paragraphs: completed before Teachers' Convention, marks to be posted asap
- Short stories: students have begun in-class work on short stories, which will continue for the next couple of weeks.

* Students and parents, I apologize for the delay in some of my marking. I was away last week with the flu, but I'm working hard to catch up. Thanks for understanding!

Update: February 11th

Wrapping Up: Pre-Confederation History

Persuasive paragraphs: 
From your ten historical events, choose the ones you believe are the most and least historically significant. Then write retell and reflect paragraphs for each event.
Retell: 5-7 sentences. What happened? Give key people, places, dates, events
Reflect: 7+ sentences. Why is that event the most/lease historically significant? Convince us!

Map Quiz: Wednesday February 13
You should be able to label the following on a map of Canada:
- Provinces & territories
- Capital cities
- Bodies of water, including the Great Lakes
- The locations of the 10 historical events you studied
- The date of Canadian Confederation (July 1, 1867)
- Upper and Lower Canada

Influential Canadian Scavenger Hunt Links

The following links are for an in-class activity:

7-4 Scavenger Hunt

Update: February 7

A reminder that parent teacher conferences are tonight and tomorrow. I look forward to meeting you all!

This week we've been working hard to integrate our understanding of historical events with our knowledge of Canadian political geography. We've done several mapping activities for practice, and we will have a quiz next week to finish this work (probably on Wednesday, but I'll confirm this shortly). 

As well, marks are posted for RR3 and 3-minute doodles, and students were given one period of catch-up time this morning. We will begin work on RR4 next week.

Reminder: all students should be reading 20 minutes each night, 5 nights per week (or equivalent, if schedules are busy).

Update: Jan 30

This week, we have worked on 3-minute doodles of the Canadian events we've been studying, to help students combine the facts they've learned to form a complete story of each event. These doodles have been done in class, and students will submit their best three for marks tomorrow.

At the same time, we've been using a giant map in the learning commons to explore the historical geography of Canada. Students will be completing their own paper maps to demonstrate their understanding; these will be due next week (date TBA).

Marks have now been posted for 7-5's reading response 3, though many students have not shared their work with me in Google. These students need to let me know when they have shared their work so that I can mark it. Marks for 7-4 will be posted by Friday.

*Parent-teacher conferences are next week, and bookings are now available through the school website. I look forward to finally meeting all of you!

Update: January 21st

I hope you all had a great weekend! Just a few quick reminders:

- Reading response 3 (written, visual and presentation) should now be complete.

- Historical events assignment is due tomorrow. Please see previous post for assignment handout.

- Report cards go home on Friday.

Have a good week!

Update: Jan 16

Reading Response 3: students should be finished their written work for reading response 3. We are working on art pieces for one more period today, and they will be presented on Friday.

Canadian Historical Events: Yesterday students in 7-4 and 7-5 completed a timeline challenge to review the historical events we began studying before the holiday. Today we will return to that work in earnest. (7-3 has been working on historical events notes this week. 7-3's notes are due on Friday.)

Assignment Links:
Determining Historical Significance handout
Reading response handout

Welcome Back!

It was great to see you all today and hear about your holidays! Today we began work on Reading Response 3. All students should be finished their retell, and should be able to finish their relate and reflect tomorrow. The written portion of the response should be completed by Friday.