It’s hard to believe that 2015 started almost THREE weeks ago! Thank you to everyone who sent in their permission forms and deposit for the Ottawa Trip in May. It is sure to be a fun time for us all.

A quick reminder that our Banting Information Night will be held here next Tuesday, January 27th at 6:30pm in the Library. Ms. Cross from Banting’s guidance department will be here to speak with parents and students about the courses offered at BMHS and answer any questions you might have about the transition to high school next year.

Grad photos will be taken next Wednesday morning in the gym. A white collered shirt should be worn underneath the grad gown.

Thursday morning we will have our Honesty assembly in the gym. Honestly, it will be a good time! Friday is a PD Day, there is no school for students.

THURSDAY IS OUR END OF UNIT SCIENCE TEST–DON’T FORGET TO USE YOUR NOTES AND STUDY PAGE!

Mrs. R 🙂

I hope everyone had a great holiday and got a chance to rest! Thank you again to everyone to attended our Christmas concert, we had a great time performing with blacklights and boomwhackers!

It’s hard to believe we are already into 2015–high school is just MONTHS away! Mrs. Vojin will be visiting us from Banting this Thursday to get us ready for course selection and making a video for Bantings High School Family Night! Our info night for Banting is approaching soon (your child was sent home with a letter yesterday), Tuesday, January 27th at 6:30pm.

Also, a letter went home yesterday outlining the Grad Trip to Ottawa at the end of May. Please make sure you get this letter as first payment installments are due next week.

Grad Photos will be taken on Wednesday, January 28th in the gym. I promise to remind students closer to the date!

Our next writing unit/reading unit begins this month. We will be doing a class novel study on “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton. We will be working on Non-Fiction reading as well. This month starts report writing. Students will be writing reports for Science.

In Math we will be starting our Geometry and Spatial Sense unit. In Health, we are creating PSA’s about personal safety aimed at elementary school-aged students. Posters, Advertisements and Commercials–maybe even a movie or two! We are looking forward to using the Ipads and green screen!

Please remember to dress warmly, the weather outside is COLD and there are two outdoor recesses everyday!

Stay tuned….much more coming from the Grade 8’s soon!

Mrs. R

Today we learned about CODE..71 million people used Code today. What is Code? Code.org® is a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science by making it available in more schools, and increasing participation by women and underrepresented students of color. Our vision is that every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science.

We learned how to write code to create our own projects. Here are some of us hard at work!

Can you believe it? There are only 7 days left at school for the year 2014! Time flies when you’re having fun….and keeping busy!

By now, EVERYONE should have handed in their short story packages (brainstorming, proposal and edited copies) and their healthy trip menus.

We are working on Measurement. Now that we have mastered (yes, I said it), the formulas for cylinders, circles, rectangles and other shapes (area, surface area and volume), we are working on spending our millions of dollars on creating our dream houses and property! We will continue to work on these throughout the month.

In geography we are learning about land use (residental, commercial, etc) and the pro’s and con’s of building in certain land areas. Science, we will be working on water systems until the end of January.

Remember, our HAT DAY is this FRIDAY! For a $2 donation, you can wear your hat (any hat) alllllllll day at Tec. South! We will be putting the money towards grade 8 activities throughout the year. Next Wednesday night is our Christmas concert–come out and see all the wonderful talent our school has to share. And next Friday, the 19th, is our last day together before the break. We will be carolling in the gym and having our final character assembly in the morning!

Let’s make this a great last 7 days of 2014! 🙂

Mrs. Ripley

Firstly, congratulations to the intermediate girls basketball team who WON areas yesterday at Fieldcrest and will be heading off to Midland on the 10th for COUNTIES! Way to go girls, we are all very proud of you!!!

Also, the weather outside is frightful, but if you’re dressed for it, it can be delightful. Wear warm clothes out when you go, in the snow, in the snow, in the snow! You will need to go outside AT LEAST once a day! Please wear the appropriate clothing for the weather as I cannot (and will not) always be available to stay inside with you all. Fresh air is good for you, and if it is cold (and I have duty outside), you will be expected to go out for recess. Please, PLEASE, dress warmly (hats, gloves, etc), so you don’t freeze while having fun outside!

having fun in the snow! ******

Wow! The month of November flew by quickly! Thank you to everyone who returned their report card envelopes and their monthly reports. Thank you to everyone who participated in the school’s fundraisers this year, you help make our school a better place! 🙂

We are currently working on our short stories. We have learned about: foreshadowing, flashbacks, irony,  and suspense and how they add to the story. We also read several short stories to learn how to create an introduction, rising action, a climax or pivotal moment and a resolution. I look forward to reading your short stories over the holidays!

We have begun our 5th unit in Mathematics, measurement. Practice measuring and estimating the circumference of circles, surface areas of objects and start thinking about how you will build your “mansion” with your “millions” of dollars for your measurement project.

For music, we will be performing “Carol of the Bells” with the Boomwhackers in blacklight for the school Christmas concert on December 17th. Hope to see you there!

REMINDER: MONDAY IS PYJAMA DAY!

Mrs.R

Progress Reports went home on Friday. Please read your child’s report card with them and discuss their strengths with them. I am very proud of all they have accomplished in such a short period of time.

We have a history test coming up on Thursday, your child was sent home with a study sheet to prepare for the quiz.

On Monday, Sigmund Brouwer will be visiting our school. We are very excited to hear about his novels as we will be reading some of them in our novel study groups shortly. In math, we have begun patterning and algebra. Your child has a password to get online with GIZMO’s (the link is on our blog), to practice their skills.

Here is a useful website for those of you who would like to create a circle graph online:

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/classic/bar_pie_data.asp?ChartType=pie

It’s so hard to believe that we are nearing the end of October! In some ways, it feels as though school has just begun and in other ways, it feels as if we have been in Grade 8 together for some time!

We will be finishing up our Data Management unit next week. We will be checking in with www.censusatschool.ca, to graph the differences and similarities between ourselves and other students in grade 8 across Canada.

Starting in November, students will be working on their Infographics, learning about Canada’s history through posters.

Physical Education, students will collaborate in groups of 4-5 and create and implement games with low organizational skill games to teach the class. Each group will be given a gym period to teach the class their games.

On October 30th, we will have a visitor from Banting come visit our grade 8’s and discuss their upcoming visit to Banting on November 5th!

Stay tuned…it just gets better!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7MxGyEaN64

to help you with your upcoming Thursday on Data Management!

Mean, Median and Mode rap, by Mr. C! Enjoy