Working around a Concluding Sentence

There is another photo to add to give you a closer look at this exercise, buy this task involved working and thinking backwards.

The students were given a series of concluding sentences and had to select one.  From there, they had to brainstorm and think of a topic sentence and developing sentences for it to make sense.

Samples of paragraph development using only the concluding sentences

Some descriptive feedback

For the Grade 7s, I used the Virtual Geoboard link to demonstrate how the formula for an area of a trinagle works.

from:  http://www.k6-geometric-shapes.com/image-files/formula-area-triangle-1.jpg

Here are a couple of visuals that may help explain this.  I did not mean to change the way the triangle was oriented, but I clicked Reset and had to start from scratch.

For the rectangle

For the triangle

2 handouts that went home:

Drake Dance - A- Thon fundraiser

Snack Program for February

HOMEWORK

No formal homework was assigned, but all students have been informed that an X on the Homework tracking chart indicates that work has not been done and in need of completion.

Time has been provided in class for this to get done.  Many students have used the time to catch up, but some have not and will have to deal with the consequences.

Area of a Triangle (new Grade 7 Math), students sample of Concluding Sentence exercise

Here is a selection of items related to introducing the Area of a Triangle from YouTube.

Area of a triangle using the link below

http://www.factmonster.com/math/knowledgebox/player.html?movie=sfw41510

The following is a basic review, using calculations and the formula for finding the area:

http://www.aaamath.com/geo78_x6.htm

Although you don't have to use this, the Virtual Geoboard link on the right hand side of the blog is a useful link to play around with triangles to discover their area.

After s a review of these items, the students will be required to complete an Internet Learning chart:

A sample of student work relating to the Concluding Sentence exercise:

CBC's The National explains UBER (to supplement tonight's reading), concluding sentences, and sorting through end of Term work

A CBC National news item to supplement some class reading.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/The+National/Canada/ID/2592584303/

As we continue to work on writing paragraphs, we turned our attention to the part that a lot of students have difficulty with:  the concluding sentence.

Here is an exercise we are working on.  It involves selecting a given concluding sentence from a list and then developing the details and topic sentence for it.

While the Grade 8s had to complete a Study Sheet for the upcoming test, the Grade 7s had a Math challenge as there final review.  I posted pictures of them in action yesterday.  Today, I posted the results of the team that won (showed the work with supporting details, images, and calculations.

Report card season is on the horizon and a lot of time is being spent completing work and preparing for a new term.  At this time of year, there are a lot of tests and final pieces of assessment happening.

So, this entry will be short as I sort through material and prepare to write my report cards.



HOMEWORK

Grade 7 and 8 Math tests

Reading Response due on Thursday

Spelling due on Friday + final dictation

Read article on UBER

Tunnel Boring Machine update, collective Math work, preparing for a Reading Response

Just an update on an interesting statistic about this project.  It bores through the ground at a rate of 
10 metres/day.  Comparing this to driving on a road, it equals to 42cm/hr!!  If my calculations are correct.

Both grades were at work today in preparation for an upcoming Algebra (Grade8s) and Measurement test (Grade 7s).  Here a few shots of the work:

Group 1:  Grade 7

Group 2 with Group 3 about to begin:  Grade 7

Preceding 3 shots of Grade 8 work

I am assigning a Reading Response for the students to do.  As I typically try to do, I am modelling one based on the following article:

When I was showing the students my response, I noticed a few errors in it and used the opportunity to remind them that they should take a look at  their work before handing it in.

After reading my response, I think it is just "okay."  Had I followed the Success Criteria, posted in class, I believe I could have done a better job.  Here is that chart:

I added a link to a CBC news story.  This is for the Relate part of the response where the reader attempts to make connections with what is being read. Using video can make the article seem more real and alive in the "real world."

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2650216927/

The second unit of Spelling was given out today.  The words were considerably more challenging than the last Unit.  The words were taken from the Strength Based Resilency manual that we will be beginning in the second term. Here is a list of instructions and words.  This work is due on Friday.

HOMEWORK

Reading Response from 24 newspaper due on Thursday

Grade 8 Study Sheet due tomorrow for upcoming Algebra test

Paragraph quiz on Wednesday

Spelling work and final dictation due on Friday

By A.J. and Mr. P

Homework, Drake Dance-a-Thon and Movie Night

Homework matters

Out of 20 students who were assigned homework for this past weekend, only 9 completed it.  The class was required to come up with 3 sentences to support a topic sentence they worked on last week.  Needless to say, I was disappointed at the lack of effort of many of the Grade 7 and 8 students to complete such a short task.

Junior put in a lot of effort to come up with a draft paragraph.  I provided him with some feedback on it:

This homework should be completed for tomorrow.

The Grade 8s had some review questions for the upcoming Algebra test.  We will take those up in class tomorrow.  I am pleased with the effort that some of the students are putting into this challenging unit that has bridged the gap between the Measurement and Algebra strands in Math.  Here is a sample image of two things:  1. An example question completed by me and 2. A couple of questions completed by Megan.

In both questions, the area of the circle is given and the students need to work backwards to calculate the radius.

Here are a few announcements concerning events coming up in the school.

Grade 8 Camping trip to Camp Wahanowin

Here is the website for the camp:  http://www.wahanowin.com

A busy Thursday, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Learning Skills, and Students catching up on outstanding work

It was a very busy Thursday at AMG.  A number of Grade 6s visited from some of our feeder schools to see if our school would be a good fit for them in Grade 7.  That took up most of the morning. On a Day 5 in the cycle, I do not see the students very much.

The Grade 8s from Mr. Chung's class had a workshop in Stress Management, put on by our school Social Worker, Kandie Learmonth, in the early part of the afternoon.  Needless to say, a lot of work was not completed and the students' collective energy was not up for a lot of learning.  So, I will wait until Monday.  This also includes beginning work on the Mysteries of Harris Burdick narrative paragraph assignment.

This website is in reference to the Eglinton-Crosstown tunnelling.  I am going to use one of the measurements for an upcoming Math test.

The diameter of this tunnel is 5.75m.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1476251/eglinton-crosstown-tunnelling-reaches-allen-road

A YouTube video on the contruction:

The map of this future transit project is here:

There have been some students who taken some responsibility for not completing the work on the Homework chart and handed it in.  I will still grade it, but  time is running out because Report Cards are around the corner.

As for the Report Cards, I had the class fill in a self-evaluation based on the actual page 1.  To help the students along, I used a mock example.

HOMEWORK
Develop at least 3 sentences to support the topic sentence we worked around in relation to "Margaret." This work was to be completed in the Language notebook.

Have a good weekend.

I think this is my 500th post.  Cool.

In terms of paragraphing, I think I am going to use a fun exercise involving a narrative paragraph.

We are going to be using this book:  

The images from this book will serve as the basis for developing a narrative paragraph around the images in the book.

To introduce this exercise, I found a Youtube video that I will share -- without the commentary -- to show the images the students will use the write a paragraph about.

Before we do this, we will work on several writing exercises, in class and for homework, to help the students prepare for this assignment.

HOMEWORK

Grade 7s:  complete p.187 of Math
Grade 8s:  2 Algebra problems on the Radius of a circle
Topic Sentence work part only for paragraph worksheet

Paragraph work and updates to Level 3+ results

As a class, we did some peer editing on rhe homework and came up with a list of details to support the topic sentence.

Congratulations to the small group of students who worked on Rewrites for the Math test in Grade 8, along  with the group of students who should be proud of  their work on Monday's spelling dictation.

Homework chart (names omitted)

A few images and updates: BEDMAS and the area of a circle, Paragraphing foundation work, and Level 3 + work

A recap of the order for solving the area of a circle question.  "Squaring" the radius falls into the Exponent order used in BEDMAS.

The students had a workshop on Friday that they will peer assess (provide feedback on) to see what details might fit appropriately for the topic sentence on Margaret.

Here is a photo of the front board with a list of students who have scored a Level 3 or higher result on something that was graded.

HOMEWORK

Grade 8s to complete Rewrites for Math test

Cassandra and Alyssa's Math test on Tuesday

Game Reviews for Friday's Quiz

Grade 7

from http://www.algebra-class.com/images/area-rectangle.gif

I think the first one will prove to be quite popular to review.  It seems to follow through the progression we took in learning about area.  It will probably come in handy for the final test of the unit next week.

https://www.mangahigh.com/en-us/math_games/shape/area_and_perimeter/find_the_area_of_a_rectangle

This is a page we looked at before.  Like the link above, I believe it will serve as an excellent review for understanding the area and perimeter of a rectangles.

http://www.mathplayground.com/geoboard.html

A video from yesterday's Math work on the Promethean Board:

Grade 8

taken from http://www.algebra-class.com/images/area-circle.gif

This is not so much a game, but a demonstration of how you can manipulate the area of a circle by changing the radius.  It breaks down the formula into steps you can see right in front of you.  It also has a feature where you are able to round the numbers to a particular decimal point.  

http://www.mathwarehouse.com/geometry/circle/interactive-area.php

This is more of a fun game to test your understanding of how you use the formula.  I suggest getting a calculator to assist you in figuring out the answers.

http://www.factmonster.com/math/knowledgebox/player.html?movie=sfw41560

This is a sharp review tool to use to calculate the area of a circle.  It may require you to pay attention to the information given.  Is the measurement for the radius or a diameter?

Announcements: Math workshop for families, Chess Club, Soup Lunch on Thursday + Homework reminder

Homework:
Spelling work is due tomorrow
Study Sheets for both 7s and 8s
have a nice evening