A peak inside the Kilis Refugee camp, links to maps detailing Refugee "hotspots," the Passport Project, saying goodbye to Tafara, Level 3/4 results for Sentence Quiz and Math test #2

A YouTube video from the Kilis Refugee camp in 2013.

From the IRB of Canada:  http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/inside/apply-who.asp

The first of two maps we will use for this project.  

http://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2013/refugee-camps/

The second:

The format of the map is off in this pdf document.

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocPDFViewer.html?docid=5461e5ec3c&query=populations%20of%20concern%20as%20of%202015

The assignment will be handed out soon.  I have gone through the rough draft of the assignment and answered questions that members of the class have.  Any Internet links related to the project will be posted in the LINKS section of the blog.

As this portion of Geography comes to a close, I want to remind you that we have been looking at how people negotiate their surroundings.  Since we have been looking at the Refugee crisis in Europe, and most notably with Syria, the challenging surroundings and negotiations have been across land and water.

Here is a YouTube clip from a CBC news story aired this morning:  

Once in the EU, the trip to Germany is daunting and not without challenges.  Here is a CBC news story from within the southern portion of Germany:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/syria-refugees-germany-canada-1.3286239

The Homework quiz will be marked and returned as soon as possible to the students.  In both classes, we have continued viewing The Lost Boys of Sudan.  

Last week was Tafara's last week before moving to Guelph.  He was a funny, insightful, intelligent student and I was sad to see him leave.  Here are a few shots from last Friday's goodbye:

When we have a test or an assignment, I may post the results of students who have achieved above Level 3 and 4.  I do not showcase the marks, but acknowledge the students who achieved a result of B (70%) or higher.  

For the Simple and Compound sentence quiz we had last week, here is a list of students:

For the second Math test, here is the list:

A couple of helpful reminders: Homework Chart & Thinking before speaking; Resources for Mathematics

Homework Chart:

A way for you to monitor your work and see what you need to do.  If you are not sure, ask three before me.

I am hoping that during the course of the year, you will learn to become responsible for your learning and be able to stay on top of your work. 

This was shared with me, from my partner.  It is from a post she got from Facebook about the importance of thinking before speaking:

On Monday, we had a Community Circle to discuss some of the concerns from members of the class.  One of the overwhelming themes had to do with treating one another with respect.  

At times, we may forget and say things that are hurtful to others.  Those thoughts should probably stay in our head and we should probably think and little deeper before we say or do something.

In an attempt to follow some of the content that the other Grade 7 classes are doing in Math, Mr. Chung and I decided to spend some more time reviewing the Multiplication Table.  While that might seem to be elementary, there are a number of students who still grapple with it.  

Some of the upcoming Math we will do will need you to be comfortable and confident with these multiplication skills.  So, the skills will be developed in small steps.

Again, the link to the JUMP Math approach to learning your tables:

http://vschool.nides.bc.ca/math/Grade7/JumpMath/additional_support_materials_basic_number_sense_learn_times_tables_in_5_days.pdf

ONCE YOU LEARN THESE, YOU WILL PROBABLY NEVER FORGET THEM!

In class, we looked at some basic models:

Here is a video that may seem elementary, but is linked to the concept posted in the preceding picture:

For homework, we will work on some basic multiplication skills and then move into some more challenging questions as we bridge towards long division.  The larger group of Grade 7s are also looking at division because they are looking at percentages,decimals, and ratio.  While we may not be doing exactly what they are doing, we are conceptually on the same page. 

Another video, which becomes a little more challenging:

Part 2 of this video:

Some of the content of these videos will serve the basis for tonight's homework.

homework

For those who have not received your Math tests, they will be returned on Monday.  This is a promise.

Multiplication worksheet for smaller group:

questions:   p. 41 #1, 4 a,b,c ; p. 43 # 2, 4 a,b,c

Open book Geography quiz based on Thursday's handout "About Refugees"

Autobiography & Lifemap due for Mr. P

have a good weekend 

UPDATED: NYT Journal Exercise, Introducing the Reading Response, & Group work around Complex Sentences

We  will return to this journal exercise.  If you are not done during the required time, you may finish it at home.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/category/lesson-plans/whats-going-on-in-this-picture/

UPDATE:  The Reading Response exercise will happen on another day.  It requires much more time that we currently have.  In addition, the Complex Sentence exercise will be postponed.  I will leave the video up, in case you would like to look at it.  

One of the templates we will use for a Reading Response.  I will model an example in class for you.

Instead of doing the 2 preceding items, we looked at the previous posts on the writing process related to the Autobiography.  Examples related to the jot notes and how they inform the writing of the chapters were discussed today.

homework

- Compound and Simple sentence test tomorrow (Complex sentences will not be on this test)
- Autobiography and Life Map due on Monday

Lost Boys of Sudan documentary, second set of images from the Powerful photos exercise

This is a film we will be watching as we prepare for our "Passport" assignment in Geography.  The film is called The Lost Boys of Sudan.

Sudan is a country in the continent of Africa.

This assignment and film correspond to our study of how humans respond to their physical environment.  Here is an image I showed you in class:

In the documentary you watch, you will see young men from Sudan and in another film, you will meet a Kurdish teen from Iraq and how they grapple with travelling on the planet in search of something better.  

Here is the second wave/set of photos selected by the Grade 7s for photos that changed the world.

Here is the Trailer for an upcoming film on Jessie Owens:

Student Vote results 2015 (YouTube link), "Autobio Map" images, pointers, and examples

2015 Student Vote video results:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgI8RMbh66U

The Autobiography is due in just under a week.  For those who may not check the blog, I created a map in the class for you to look at to help you along the way with the assignment.  This assignment is due on Monday, October 26.

The jot notes are the ideas that eventually become the sentences for the paragraph.

Here is a copy of Nat's Life Map.  He agreed that I could share it with the class as an example:

During Language period tomorrow morning, we will look at this in more detail and do a comprehensive review of the type of sentences we have learned about this term.

I made a copy of the jot notes started by Nathaniel.  He wrote only a few words per chapter for the Autobiography.  I provided some feedback and made some suggestions on possible jot notes he could write.  The idea is that jot notes will assist in the writing of  paragraphs. 

If I was Nathaniel, I could now use these notes to help me draft a paragraph.  Pretending I am Nathaniel, I might write something like this:

For a long time it was hard for me to finish Gym class.  I would always be breathing hard.  I told my Mom and she took me to the doctor and I found out that I have Asthma.  Since I did not know a lot about Asthma, this made me sad.  I only knew bad things about it.  Then I got a puffer and I felt more comfortable.  I have had only one attach since I got it and now I am used to it.

Art by Edmond, Nathaniel, and Tony Liang

homework

- jot notes for the chapters in the autobiography (this was assigned last week)

- any outstanding work for other subjects

- ask yourself:  should I be asking a teacher for some extra help or more explanation of the work being assigned?

A photo contribution by Nicholas from 7A

Nicholas offered this link to an important photograph, designed to make the viewer think.
This was a BONUS 

https://sophiedaveyphoto.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/photographs-that-tell-a-story-elliot-erwitts-segregated-water-fountains/

Thanks, Nicholas.  We had a engaging discussion based on this photo.  Here it is:

Sorry for the late post: Sample jot notes from Mr. P's Autobiography

This will be shared in class tomorrow, but I did say I was going to post up another sample of jot notes.  I decided to pick a chapter from the sample project I created to illustrate how they might look.  We will review this again tomorrow (Monday) morning.

Matthew Morris' blog

This is a link to a blog that is done by a friend of mine.  Actually we met at the place where the Grade 8s go for their year end trip, Camp Wahanowin (http://wahanowin.com/).  He is a very thoughtful teacher and his writing is very accessible.  He works in the East end the TDSB.

http://www.matthewrmorris.com/

Autobiography Homework

Before attending the South Conference Cross Country Championships I was thinking about ways to approach the completion of the Autobiography.  So, I came up with the idea of developing jot notes for each of the key sections of the assignment:

Think of this as the Pre-writing portion of the assignment.  It is a form of planning which will help you, when it is time to write.  I did a sample chapter for you the other day and will take another topic (from the 4 chapters I am responsible for) and do some jot notes and post them up on the blog.

Not sure what "jot notes" are?  I did a search to find a sample.

http://ruthpawson.rbe.sk.ca/mrJ_animal_projects

Basically, for each of the sections you will "jot" down some of the ideas for each of the topics.  The one, above, was found from the Internet.  As I said, I will post a sample over the course of this weekend.

Have a good weekend.

Resuming Blogging: United Nations game link on Refugees, the power of photographs, Sentence types, and the Autobiography assignmenttwo weeks

I think it was the second time I heard the following question, "...is this going to be posted on the blog?"I decided to rethink the grinding halt of my blogging activity.  This blog is not a class blog and is not intended for parents, but as a tool for supporting the learning of my students and a point of reflective practice for my teaching.  I also pay Google in order to post the number and size of items on it.

Also, this blog was set up on my own accord and is in no way affiliated with the bureaucracy of the Toronto District School Board.

Enough said.

For Geography, we will be playing this game in the Library today.  While it is not meant to replicate the real life struggles of Refugees, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR)set up this game to allow students to walk in the shoes to understand the plight a Refugee may face. 

https://www.unric.org/en/games/27351-against-all-odds-unhcr

One student in 7A showed a copy of one of these videos to his Mom which we used in class. I don't think I posted this, but here it is:

Another topic that was a part of a Geography homework assignment was looking at the power of photographs. We started with looking at the photo of the young Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, who drowned on a Turkish beach while trying to reach one of the Greek islands.  

As a BONUS component to this assignment, we looked at some of the photographs selected by the class as game changers.  I am not going to post the photos submitted, but I will provide a link to The Toronto Star's selection of 5 photographs that had a powerful impact on the world.  Here is the link:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/09/04/5-iconic-photos-that-changed-the-world.html

In Language, we have been working on developing an understanding of the three basic types of sentences.  Below is a summary of the work we have done.  It should provide a review, along with the YouTube video I posted.

This review is intended to support the writing required for the Autobiography assignment.  Based on the work we do, you should/will be able to write a variety of sentences.
Again, here are the key parts of the Autobiography/Life Map assignment you need to do:

To support what this might look like, I showed you a sample that I came up with. It follows the requirements of the assignment.

I did not do a Life Map, but I did show the students a link to a variety of images relating to it.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=life+maps+images&safe=strict&rlz=1C1NWPB_enCA533CA556&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CBwQsARqFQoTCN2Z0IPZq8gCFUWJDQodl2kAig&biw=1366&bih=623

Because I like the colours in this one, I will use it as a sample.  By no means does it correspond to the assignment I gave, but is meant to give you a rough ideas of what it might look like.

to be continued...

Resuming the blogging break during ETFO job action

As much as this is a reflective space for my teaching, this blog is geared primarily towards the work I do in my class.   While it is frustrating that I have not posted, I do wish to remain in solidarity with my colleagues during this period of Job Action.

Any specific questions you may have may be directed to my TDSB email at:  marc.proudfoot@tdsb.on.ca

Enjoy your Sunday afternoon.  I look forward to returning to my blog, once a deal has been made between ETFO and the Ontario Provincial Government.