We have been keeping busy this month, trying to take our minds off this cold weather that won’t seem to leave us alone! Our class has started a bunch of new projects and activities across all subject areas.  We are working tediously at our Ancient Egypt Scrapbooks, researching all aspects of this fascinating civilization – we can’t wait to see the finished products.  We are also reading a new novel, Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. This novel has peaked our interests so much that we get often get carried away and spend a really long time reading it as a class! It has also generated numerous conversations that are critical to grade 8, like bullying, self-esteem and taking responsibility for ones’ actions.  We are also studying The Book of Awesome, by Neil Pasricha. This book reminds us that the best things in life are free! It also helps us remember that despite the overwhelming amount of negativity we sometimes hear about, there are some really awesome things around us, we just need someone to point them out to us! Our class is writing our very own Book of Awesome, with our own ideas of what awesome feels like! Something else awesome our class is participating in at the moment is an engaging challenge through Destination Imagination. This program focuses on four very important skills students need to develop and practice. These skills are collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity. Through this program students learn how to better use all these skills.  The challenge we are working on currently is called “Card-iology”, students are responsible for building the lightest yet strongest structure out of only playing cards and glue. They are working in groups to complete this challenge and they also must come up with a story to accompany their structure, with props! It has been an exciting opportunity for students to challenge themselves to work collaboratively, and creatively while thinking critically and communicating with their group members. We are really looking forward to testing out our structures!

We learned about a new program our division is using called Destination Imagination on Friday. This program helps students become better at the '4 C's' in which employers see most important when hiring. These 4 C's are: Collaboration, Creativity, Creative Thinking and Communication. On Friday we worked in groups to complete 2 tasks from Destination Imagination. Our first task was to build the tallest free standing building using only Styrofoam cups and plates as well as plastic forks.  The second challenge was to create costumes and props along with a skit for people who are sick in the hospital. The catch was that they could only use newspaper. Students worked really hard at these challenges and they really used the 4 C's effectively throughout. We look forward to our next challenge using Destination Imagination!!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year!! Welcome back to a very chilly start to the second half of our school year.  Thank goodness the cold is giving us a break over the next few days.  It's really important that everyone comes to school dressed properly. Unless it is -27 students are expected to go outside, so make sure students have proper jackets, toques, mittens, etc!

Our class has been really busy lately. We have been working diligently on our Media projects and students are currently making their own commercials for fictitious products. We are really looking forward to seeing the finished products next week! We are also beginning our new novel in ELA, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. This novel deals with some really important messages, bullying being one of them. The novel is about a young girl who commits suicide, partly because she was bullied in school. I have sent home a letter regarding the novel and I have also attached it in "important notes and outlines".  We are reading the novel as a class every day and I look forward to the class discussions that will emerge!

Math has taken us into Ratio, Rates and Proportional Reasoning. We have noticed that this concept is very similar to Percents, Fractions and Decimals.  We have been solving some real-life problems in regards to Ratio and Rate, we are really beginning to understand these concepts!

In Social Studies we are beginning to learn about Ancient Egypt.  So far we have been reading up about his ancient civilization. We look forward to learning more about the famous pyramids, pharaohs and their unique style of writing!

Science has us studying the world of Fluids. We are learning about the properties of a fluid, the viscosity of different fluids and flow rate. We look forward to doing experiments to learn even more!

Happy first week of December! Our class has been keeping busy as usual with a number of different projects on the go.  We have actually finished our second novel, We All Fall Down, by Eric Walters and many are eager to read the sequel, United We Stand! We are in the midst of a final project on this novel and hope to have it done by December 16th.  Also in ELA we have began a Media Awareness unit, we have looked at the many ways media tries to persuade us into buying products. We learned about many propaganda techniques and are currently creating our own magazine ads for fictitious products.  We look forward to creating our own commercials soon!

In Math we are finishing up our unit on Percents, Fractions and Decimals. We are currently learning about how to use taxes and discount. Mr. Mills had us on a 'murder mystery' by solving percent questions to find out clues to the mystery. The test for this unit will be sometime before the holiday break.

In Social Studies we have started discussing ancient civilizations. We look forward to learning about Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, but right now we are just creating our own civilizations in groups of 2 or 3.  We are presenting these civilizations on Monday, December 9th. 

Finally, in Science we are finishing up our unit on Cells. We just learned about the circulatory system and how our heart is the hardest working muscle in our bodies.  We will be onto a review for the unit in the very near future and hope to have a test before the holiday break as well.

Our class is also introducing a new fundraiser to DGJMS called 'We Create Change'. This is a campaign where students are trying to raise money to build schools in areas of the world where education is not a priority. Free the Children is the organization that supports this campaign. Students have taken it upon themselves to spread the word about this cause to other classrooms at DGJMS. Students are asked to bring in any change they have for this campaign. $20 in change is enough for one brick and 500 bricks will build a school. Stay tuned for upcoming fundraisers!

November is upon us and so are many things on our busy agenda in Grade 8. Student led conferences were great, everyone made it to their appointments. It was fantastic to meet everyone and for students to share with their parents what they have learned so far this year. Report cards are quickly approaching, they go out on November 29 to all students.
In ELA we are starting a new novel, We All Fall Down by Eric Walters. Students are looking forward to reading this novel that looks at the events of 9/11.  We have also finished up our writing portfolio and are soon to be beginning a new unit in ELA on media awareness for teens.  Math has our class learning about percents, decimals and fractions.  We are learning how these concepts are all related and how they are very much related to our every day lives.  Social Studies has us finishing up our unit on Early Peoples, we have learned a lot about how we have evolved into the complex human beings that we are today.  In Science we are learning about osmosis and diffusion and how the cell requires these processes to live. 
Finally, if students can please bring in their donation to our class basket for the PAC Craft Fair which is Saturday, November 23 that would be great. Our basket is a movie-night theme and any donations would be greatly appreciated!!
Have a great weekend!

Way to go to all the students at DGJMS who participated in We Scare Hunger!!! Our school raised 635.8 lbs of food for Evergreen Basic Needs. That is fantastic!! You should all be very proud of yourselves for this wonderful accomplishment. Below is a picture of all the food that students from DGJMS collected. Our class carried it out to be taken to EBN, but many more are responsible for such a huge amount of non-perishable items that were collected. Way to go DGJMS, way to show compassion!!!

Happy Halloween from all of us in Mrs. Cain's grade 8 class!!! Be safe trick-or-treating and remember to trick-or-treat for non-perishable food items to scare hunger away!!!