February 9th, 2017

A special thank you to students, staff and parents for such a wonderful year thus far. It has been a pleasure working with you.Thank you for your support as I make the transiton to my new role at the Department of Education.

A warm welcome to Ms. Maureen who has assumed my duties, caring for my four classes the remainder of the year. I wish her every happiness in her new role and I know how very excited she is to begin working with students officially on Monday.

Thank you all once again for your support and all the best the remainder of the school year.

Take care,

Mrs. Thain

"Writing is the painting of the voice." Voltaire
"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." Joseph Addison

Up to January 30th

1. What goal(s) are you currently working on? Reading? Writing? Speaking?
2. What books are on your future reading list? Have friends given you suggestions? Family? Online suggestions? Library book talks?

Grade 8: Lisa by Carol Matas Read aloud continues: outcomes outlined on slides we are using to in class. If you are out due to illness or away due to other obligations, be sure to check in with a friend or see me to stay up to date with what is happening in our novel.  * Persuasive Pieces Booklet to guide you through this text form.    * Blackfish: Two Perspectives...One Persuasive Letter.
Grade 7: Mystery unit continues...do your family members have any favorite mystery stories or unexplained events? Have they heard of the Bermuda Triangle, Oak Island or other topics? *  Recount text form on Perseverance Completed in class. Due January 20th.
Opinion pieces will be finished in class Friday. If you are going to be away or need more time, please see me.
Contest:
 Due January 31st  www.peiwritersguild.com 
30th Annual Cox and Palmer Island Literary Awards
Why is PEI So great?
See my handout or website for details.
$150 dollars first prize
$100 2nd
$50 3rd 
Maximum 500 words

Hope this update is helpful. Have a great day.

Mrs. Thain :)

Up to December 20th, 2016

Grade Seven LA: Two hour at home reading requirement: Have you reached your goal yet this week? 
Ask your parents their opinion about the non-fiction article we discussed..."Are our favorite devices making us rude?" Are we spending too much time connected to our gadgets and technological devices? Explain your thinking.

* Robot Commercials....How will you persuade us that we need your invention? :) How will you hook your target audience? ( Remember our strategies we discussed in class? If not, check out the many helpful websites on how to write persuasively .  Due on December 19th! 

Grade Eight LA: Wow! I am absolutely loving our Great Grade Eight Debates! Please see my descriptive feedback and grades in SAS for those that presented so far this week. Thank you for your efforts, your information shared via the research you conducted and for your bravery in class. I appreciate you. 
For those that wish to work ahead, you may pick up where we left off with our hybrid text forms. ( The Halifax Explosion report) * I have a handout for you.    
* Please note: The Halifax Explosion Hybrid Text projects are due on December 20th. 

Thanks!


Mrs. Thain :)

Up to December 5th, 2016

Grade Seven Update

Tech Effects: How do changes in technology affect you?

In this unit of study our literacy goals are:

1.    Critical thinking: Asking questions as we read non-fiction pieces to increase our understanding.

2.    Organizing our ideas in writing: text features that we see in various types of reports, articles etc.

3.    How to deliver an oral presentation. (* Do you want to build a robot?) * Insert melody of Frozen song here. J

4.    Analyze the narrative text pattern too using a very suspenseful story! J

5.    Plus some fun surprises too! J  Looking forward to learning with you again this term.

·       Be sure to involve your parents and guardians too. How has technology changed? How does in impact their lives? 
* At home reading requirement remains too. ( 2 hours at home reading per week)

 Great Grade Eight Debates due December 5th. 

*Be sure to refer to our graphic organizer and checklist to ensure you understand all of the criteria. Feel free to conference with me soon to make sure you feel comfortable with your subject matter before debates begin. :) Thanks!

Grade Seven Tech Effects Update

Dear Students of Grade Seven,

I hope you enjoyed our critical thinking activity where we examined the pros and cons of virtual schools. What do your parents/guardians think of this topic? Would they be for or against virtual schools and why? 
Writer's Workshop paragraphing exercise continues tomorrow. This is formative practice, please review our notes and if you have questions please see me.
Happy reading and don't forget our two hour at home reading requirement. You can spread out the reading time according to a schedule that works for you and your family.
Thanks!
Mrs. Thain :)

December 5th...The Great Grade Eight Debates! :)

Just a reminder grade eight that I have placed the due date for our debates on  Google Classroom. If you finished your speech before then, simply upload all documents and turn it in. :)
* Be sure to include all points from my "handy hand out" of our success criteria. Check your list twice.
* Also, please do not hit share as that sends it as an email.     Forgot how to do this to Google Classroom?
1. Select the assignment in Google Classroom
2.Go to Drive
3Select document ( Your speech/slides)
4.Add
5.Turn it in....  :)
This is important as I can easily see all assignments organized into 4 classrooms as opposed to 112 emails to scroll through. :)Thanks in advance and have a great day! 

November 14th to 18th Update

Grade 7: Our new theme is Tech Effects. Have you asked your parents/guardians what technology was really popular when they were in grade seven? :)

Narratives and Reading Ladders were a huge commitment and I thank you for your effort in all areas. Please see my feedback in SAS and in Google Docs if you submitted work through my Google Classroom. All reading ladders will be graded by the end of this week. I had over 100 narratives to read and some were 26 pages typed so they took an extensive period of time to read and comment one. It was SO worth it because I have witnessed growth in your writing already and we are only in November! Can you tell I am proud of you? 

Please keep reading each week at home for two hours per week. * You can decide which schedule works best for you. If you want to work ahead, look at our goals for our new theme and do some research on inventions you would love to see. What will your robot be able to do? Will it be as impressive as the robots in use in hospitals and hotels? :)

Grade 8: Debate research continues, be sure to record all websites and sources that you use to defend your argument. Do you remember our success criteria we chose that shows what a strong debate has to have? We will review in class. At home reading requirement remains. See me for a copy of MLA format to help you give credit to your sources. 

* If you were out due to illness or did not choose a topic as of Friday, please see me and one will be provided for you. 

Thank you and have a great day! :)

Mrs. Thain