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!!!

Welcome to the middle of October! We have been really busy these last few weeks.  Our class has finished our novel, The Hunger Games  and are going to be watching to movie to compare the two. We already know the book is going to be much better than the movie (as it usually is)! Our class has started talking about compassion, as this is something our school finds really important. We are a compassionate school, our class named a number of things we do that falls under the category of being compassionate:

• Food Drives
• Cleaning up the playground
• Saving aluminum for a person in need of a wheelchair
• Breakfast program
• Reading with younger students

Those were just a few that we came up with as a class, but it shows that our school knows how important it is to understand and show compassion.  We are also going to set some goals as a class to be even more compassionate.
Our class has begun looking at early people in Social Studies, we have learned about Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens. We are now talking about interesting historical mysteries such as the Nazca Lines and Stonehenge.  In Science we are continuing to study cells and took some time to use the microscope in class.  Math has us finishing up Integers, we are looking forward to the next unit!
We Day is coming up on October 30th. For those that don't know what We Day is, it is an educational event that focuses on young people 'being the change' for the future. It is a day-long event that spends time talking to youth about the many positive things that are happening in our world thanks to them and also about the many positive things young people can do to help make our world a better place. We only have a limited number of tickets, so unfortunately not everyone can go. Students who are interested in going are asked to submit an essay on why they think they should go to We Day, how they will help others and how they plan to make a difference in our school, community or world! The deadline for We Day essays is Friday, October 18th. 
The Halloween dance is also coming up, it is on Thursday, October 31st in the afternoon. Students are welcome to take part in the dance, watch a movie or enjoy time on the computers on this afternoon - if they are all caught up on their work.  Students must be caught up in all subjects in order to take part in this fun afternoon. 

Finally, our school is taking part in "We Scare Hunger" this year. This is where students will have an opportunity on Halloween to take action and collect non-perishable food items at either our school and in the community.  Students would be responsible for going trick-or-treating to collect as many canned goods as they can to help support our local food bank and raise awareness about local hunger. All food donations will be given to Evergreen Basic Needs to help those in need in our community. For more information about this cause please check out: http://www.freethechildren.com/get-involved/campaigns/we-scare-hunger/ 

It's really hard to believe that the end of September is upon us! One month of school has flown by! Our class has been really busy in all areas. We are right into the novel, The Hunger Games and have been doing many activities related to the book. We look forward to learning more about Katniss and Peeta. It's really important that students keep on top of assignments and hand them in when they are due. It's easy to fall behind and we don't want that to happen.  We have dived deep into the world of cells in Science recently, we are learning about what cells are made of and what things are made of cells. Our first experiment in class was a huge success, students worked cooperatively to solve a scientific problem.  Social Studies has us turning into archaeologists - we are creating our own site map for people to discover hundreds of years from now. Students have to come up with 10 artifacts that would be found in their site and carefully describe them. Time flies when you're having fun - that's certainly the case in our classroom.
All the grade 8s travelled to Camp Arnes on Thursday, September 26th for some team-building activities. It was a great day! All the activities we completed involved working together cooperatively. We did some initiative tasks which included climbing through ropes and getting out of 'jail', we climbed high ropes and played human foosball! It was a fantastic day of working together, making new friends and having fun!!! Check out the photos below!

It's been a fantastic start to the year so far! We have been keeping very busy in our classroom with new projects popping up in every subject. Math has us reviewing past concepts, important to remember that the 'Summer's over' Review is due Tuesday.  In Social Studies we began discussing how and why history is important! In Science we discussed the scientific method - which is the basis for our grade 8 science concepts. In ELA we began reading The Hunger Games, students should be up to chapter 5 by Monday. This book has already sparked some great conversations.  We look forward to reading more!
Today was our annual Terry Fox Run at school, our class spent some time watching a documentary on Terry Fox and we spoke about how inspirational he was. Our class also discussed the many positive characteristics Terry possessed and that he was truly a hero. It was great to see everyone participating in the walk today and many wore their new school shirts!
The grade 8s are taking a field trip on September 26th to Camp Arnes. This trip is a way to kick off the year in a positive way, build relationships and to work at some team-building skills! All letters and permission forms went home today. Please bring back your signed permission form, along with $12 before September 24th!
Don't forget, next Friday, September 20th is the first of our 2 day long Strong Beginnings here at DGJMS. All forms have went out to students, so everyone should know their scheduled time to come to the school on either September 20th or September 23rd.
Have a great weekend!!!

Welcome!

Welcome, Parents and Students to Grade 8 at Dr. George Johnson Middle School!!
My name is Mrs. Shawna Cain and I will be teaching grade 8 for the 2013/2014 school year. I grew up in Winnipeg Beach and attended school there. I graduated from Gimli High School and continued my education at the University of Manitoba. I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts in 2009 and went on to graduate with my Bachelor of Education in June of 2011. I student taught at Winnipeg Beach School and at Dr. George Johnson Middle School. As well, I taught grade 8 at Dr. George Johnson Middle school for the months of May and June in 2009. I spent my first year teaching at Arborg Early Middle Years School and my second year here, at Dr. George Johnson Middle School.

I look forward to building a positive environment in the classroom in which I am certain every student will be successful. As the teacher it is my responsibility to provide a quality education for each and every student. It is the student’s responsibility to put forth their best effort towards learning. Respect is something that works both ways. Dr. George Johnson Middle School’s motto is to “Respect yourself, Others and Property”, as a class it is important that we follow this motto and remain respectful at all times. I believe that a positive attitude can go a long way. Staying positive throughout the year will be beneficial to everyone within the grade 8 classroom.

Parents / Guardians, please do not ever hesitate to contact me if you have and questions, comments or concerns. The phone number at DGJMS is (204)642-8581, my e-mail address is scain@esd.mb.ca I intend on using this blog as a tool to communicate with both students and parents / guardians. This site will be designed so that parents / guardians can get a glimpse of what is going on inside your child’s classroom on a regular basis. Students can use it as well as a reminder of upcoming dates as well as homework assignments. I look forward to a great school year and to meeting all of you! The following link will take you to a site where you are welcome to download the class outlines for Social Studies, Science, Math and ELA.  http://classoutlines.wikispaces.com/home