Week of Jan 29- Feb 3
Math test on decimals Wednesday Jan31. We are starting angles and will fly through this unit. All students should have a protractor.

Science: tomorrow we are creating aliens and students should come to school with extra materials to build. Project on another planet will be due soon.

Francais: we continue Hockey lecture and the students are getting progressively better. Some are still not reading the text the night before and therefore are hindering their team mates.

Social Studies: almost at the end of our unit on Iroquois democracy. Test will be next week, but students should be re-reading their notes on a nightly basis.

Religion: Social justice; we will be discussing organizations that work for social justice.

ELA: Quatrain should be completed by tomorrow and we will study Limericks next.

This week in learning:

As you can see, the poem examples are up-to-date and this is where the students should be. If they are behind, it is their responsability to get caught up. This BLOG is a view to the future. In Jr High, homework is posted on D2L and it is the students' task to check daily and see what they must do.
FLA: continuing with Hockey Lecture (reading comprehension)
ELA: continuing with poetry unit. 4 more to go and then a quiz.
Math: finishing decimals and starting angles and polygones. ALL students must have a protractor for this unit. If your child does not, then a shopping trip may be in order. Decimal test on Feb 1st...start reviewing now.
Science: finishing astronomy...planet project and moving onto Air and Aerodynamics. Test on Astronomy this Thursday Jan 25th. Studying should be well underway.
Religion: Finishing the 10 commandments. Next up: the Beatitudes.
Social Studies: almost finished Iroquois Confederacy. Test TBA. Next unit is on our local governement.
Other: French book rapport due Jan 31st.
            Sketchbook for Jan due Feb 1st
            Music around the world project and performance: Feb 28th
Friday: Professional Development day

Tanka poem

Similar to the Haiku, but with an additional line of seven syllables. Part of the ancient Japanese courting ritual, a man would send a haiku to the woman he loved and if she liked the poem she would respond with a tanka.

5 syllalbes

7 syllalbes

5 syllalbes

7 syllalbes

7 syllalbes

You may use metaphor, simile, and many of the other devices generally not used in haiku or senryu. You may show a more personal and emotional viewpoint.

A cool wind blows in

With a blanket of silence.

Straining to listen

For those first few drops of rain,

The storm begins in earnest.

Cinquain

Cinquain is a short, usually unrhymed poem consisting of twenty-two syllables distributed as 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, in five lines. It was developed by the Imagist poet, Adelaide Crapsey.

Another form, sometimes used by school teachers to teach grammar, is as follows:

Line 1: Noun
Line 2: Description of Noun
Line 3: Action
Line 4: Feeling or Effect
Line 5: Synonym of the initial noun.

Example:

angels

kind beyond words

they protect and forgive

and make feelings of blissfulness

cherubim

Cherry Blossoms 

Cherry

blossoms float on

the afternoon breezes.

Petals fluttering down like snow

in spring.

Joshua Tree 

hair spiked,

a crooked stance

in the hot desert sun -

dust in his face, he limps towards

the blue

Haiku     

Haiku (also called nature or seasonal haiku) is an unrhymed Japanese verse consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables (5, 7, 5) or 17 syllables in all. Haiku is usually written in the present tense and focuses on nature (seasons). 

Example #1:

Pink cherry blossoms

Cast shimmering reflections

On seas of Japan

Copyright © Andrea

Example #2:

salt-waves caress sand

tickling my toes and heart

in their short-spun wake

Copyright © 2002 Diana

Example #3:

warm soup in a bowl

letters of the alphabet

hang on the teaspoon

Diamante poem

A poem in the shape of a diamond.

Line 1: noun or subject

Line 2: two adjectives

Line 3: three “ing” words

Line 4: four words about the subject

Line 5: three “ing” words

Line 6: two adjectives

Line 7: Synonym or antonym for the word/subject

Examples:

                   Rain

              humid, damp

refreshing, dripping, splattering

    wet, slippery, cold, slushy

     sliding, melting, freezing

                frigid, icy

                   Snow

                 Kitten

               cute, soft

  purring, clawing, pouncing

      playful, fur, fun, feline

      pawing, licking, loving

       bright-eyed, beautiful

                     Cat

This week:
Sciences: We are beginning a project on a Planet: convince me to visit yours! Included is an alien. The students should enjoy this one. Also Test on Astronomie: Thursday January 26th
Francais: We are beginning something called "Hockey Lecture" It is reading comprehension exercise in groups to have students REALLY look at their reading and to really comprehend it. It will be played in teams and a round robin at the end. Book rapport due January 31st.
ELA: Poetry unit continues. Conquain Haiku and Tankra next.
Etudes Sociales: Continuing Iroquois Confederacy.
Math: continue decimals with a a quiz very soon TBA. We have already learned estimating, multiplying and next up division.
Religion: looking more closely at the 10 commandments. Unit test went well.
Health: students were asked to set a short-term goal and tasks to go about achieving it. We will continue on that.
ART: Lines. Sketchbook due: Feb 1st
This Thursday I have a root canal surgery booked. Mme Benson will take my place and depending on the results, I may or not be here on Friday.