Class of 2015 Gradwear!

Hi everyone,

We recently had School Tees visit our grade 8s to showcase some of the great products that are available to the graduating class of 2015!

Student order forms may differ (we're not sure why!), but if you would like the most up-to-date form, please click on the following link:
http://www.schooltee.com/orderforms/cn/classof/2015/Classof2015_order%20form.pdf

We did have a question about the baby blue colour of clothing - it IS available, even though it is not listed on the forms.  The reasoning behind this (according to customer service) is that the light blue colour doesn't show the white writing very well.  That being said, if you or your graduate are interested in baby blue, you can certainly get it, as long as you are aware of this minor conflict in colouring.

We have a busy week coming up - students have a History assignment due, they are working on a rough copy for a Visual Arts optical art project, and today they will be receiving a Science assignment that will be due well after March break.

Both Mrs. Davis and I would like to remind students that in order to participate in Friday's afternoon festivities (to be announced!), they must have their History assignment completed.  The Science and Art are continuing after the break.

Have a great day!
Miss Skelton :)

Snow-vember

Hi everyone,

What a snowy week we've had!  I hope everyone is staying toasty and warm! A special thanks goes out to all families who have made it in to see us for conferences - it was great to touch base with you!  If you haven't had a conference yet and would like to schedule one, please contact Miss Skelton or Mrs. Davis.

Some of our students enjoying the first big snowfall!

Earlier this week, we postponed the Data Management assessment (Friday) to make sure that students had more time to review.  They will be writing it tomorrow. We've spent the last couple of days preparing for the assessment, which will include:
- mean, median, and mode (measures of central tendency)
- scatterplots
- histograms

Next Wednesday, the students have a History assignment about Louis Riel due.  For this assignment, they will likely need to have a fair bit of access to computers, as the assignment is on Bitstrips.  Please see the assignment that students were given for details.

Next Friday, students will have a Science assessment.  This is a unit test and the following will be included on the test:
- characteristics of living things
- plant and animal cells
- organelles and their functions
- unicellular organisms (specifically, amoeba, paramecium, and euglena)
- cell organization (cells -> tissue -> organs -> organ systems) - this is basically a brief summary of their Organ System Research project
- prokaryotes

Some unicellular humour!

We will be continuing to review various study tips over the next several days in order to prepare students for these assessments.  Please encourage your child to review his or her Science, and to make time for his or her History prior to the night before.

Some helping hints to effective studying!

There are a couple of Fieldcrest fundraisers coming up.  On November 24th and 25th, Don Cherry's will be donating 10% of proceeds to Fieldcrest.  They will be open for lunch and dinner on both days.  If you'd like to make a reservation for the Fieldcrest Fundraiser, please e-mail Don Cherry's at eric.fex1@gmail.com or nikkikim_6@hotmail.com.  You can also make reservations at the restaurant. For more information, please contact us at the school at (905)778-2010.

Have a great night!
Miss Skelton :)

November

Hi everyone,

We have a busy few weeks!  Here are some activities and events that are coming up:
TODAY - students will be sharing their science projects on organ systems with their peers today
Wednesday, November 19 - Data Management assessment
Thursday, November 27 - Girls' Basketball Tournament
Friday, November 28 - Science test - cells, organelles, cell theory, characteristics of living things, unicellular organisms
Monday, December 1 - MOCKING JAY at the Cineplex in Newmarket!!  Paperwork to come home early this week :)

I'm sure there is more to be added - I'll update this as more dates come up.

Have a great day,

Miss Skelton :)

History & Science October

Hi everyone,

Our students have a few assessments and assignments coming up, as well as some important dates to remember.

On Tuesday, October 21, they will have a History Quiz - they've known about it for several days and should be in the process of studying on a nightly basis.

Girls have their HPV shots this week (Thursday, October23) - please make sure that paperwork is returned, whether or not they're receiving the needles.  We need to have parental indication that students are or are not going to be getting them.

Phys. Ed. presentations begin this week - see The Mid-October post for the schedule.

Students have also been assigned a project for Science - they will be researching a system in the human body. More details about this assignment will be added to the Science page of our blog on Sunday.  A due date is yet to be set. The following students will be doing the following systems:

Circulatory System
Davis - Rohan, Muhammed
Skelton - Andy, Christopher, Shreya, Janabi

Digestive System
Davis - Meadow, Morgan, Taha
Skelton - Mitchell, Sajeetan, Jannany, Jason

Excretory System
Davis - Jewell, Nelie
Skelton -

Immune System
Davis - Ashley, Maks, James
Skelton - Angus, Malcolm, Simon

Muscular System
Davis - Justin, Owen, Chris
Skelton - Yash, Reuben, Julia

Nervous System
Davis - Nat, Kathlyn, Kayla
Skelton - Somaya, Tyrese, Brody

Reproductive System
Davis - Amanda, Kris-Anne, Ryan
Skelton - AJ, Madi, Davis

Respiratory System
Davis - Ethan, Jasjit, Deyshawn
Skelton - Hailey, Mackenzie, Nick

Skeletal System
Davis - Bella, Sandra
Skelton - Morgan, Dhanvin, Liam

Students are invited to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) on Tuesday and Friday, as they will have time to research in class on those days.  They are also welcome to bring in outside resources, including information they've found online or books they've been able to acquire, whether from personal collections or the library.  Other text resources will be available as well.

Enjoy your weekend,
Miss Skelton :)

Math Test - Squares and Square Roots

Hi everyone,

Students received last week's Math test back today - I'm asking that they are signed and returned as soon as possible.

Next Tuesday, we will be having a math assessment on squares and square roots.  Students have a double number line in their notebooks to help them with estimating square roots of numbers that are not perfect squares.
Because Grade 8s will have their picture day on Tuesday, October 7 as well, the test may be postponed until the 8th (but please don't EXPECT this!).

The following will be on the test:
- perfect squares
- finding squares and square roots of perfect squares up to 144
- using the double number line to estimate the square root of a number that is NOT a perfect square
- applying squares and square roots to multi-step problems

Check out what we did in Science today!  Fun fun!  http://grade8falcons.blogspot.ca/p/science.html

Have a great night!
Miss Skelton :)

Math, Science, History, unraveling the mystery.... and some art, too!

Hi everyone,

Our students have a very busy week ahead!  The following are important dates for students to remember:

Tuesday, September 16, 2014
All Kandalore forms and money are due - we won't be accepting late forms.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014
History title page is due

Thursday, September 18, 2014
Math assessment - Prime Factorization, divisibility rules, greatest common factor and lowest common multiple
For more information on Prime Factorization, please watch this video from the Khan Academy:
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/pre-algebra/factors-multiples/prime_factorization/v/prime-factorization

Friday, September 19, 2014
Visual Arts activity due - Chuck Close self-portrait
Science assignment "It's Alive" due - please see our Science page for detailed information about the assignment.

Also important to note:  We have phys. ed. on days 1 and 3.  This week, that will be on Tuesday and Thursday - please remind your child to bring appropriate gym clothing and shoes, as being prepared for gym will contribute to their overall mark for Physical Education for first term.

Thanks!  Hope you've had a great weekend,
Miss Skelton