Nicole Reczek No comment yet

It's Bitstrip Time!

Good morning, Grade 8s! For the past few days, we've been spending time creating our avatars/characters and learning how to use BitStrips! As an example, we all created a quick comic strip on a "day in the life of our grade 8 classroom."  The examples I have seen so far are phenomenal, and your characters are so unique!

Here is my comic creation:
Click on the image to make it larger!


Now, we're focusing on making connections between what we've done in Language class and creating a comic to promote our Big Idea! Remember our classroom code (it is written on chart paper in class), and login to our class and your specific avatar. 

CREATE: a comic on what it means to be a Global Citizen in a local environment - in your school, at home, at the bus stop, in the mall, etc. What actions can you do on a daily basis to promote being a global citizen in your society?

Remember your audience and the purpose - what do you want them to learn? We will be printing out these comics and putting them up on our reserved wall in the hallway to teach the students around us what it means to be a Global Citizen!

Remember spelling and grammar - pretend this will be printed in a newspaper; make sure you double-check your grammar (even though it's typing online, use "you" instead of "u"!)

Once you're finished, make sure to "share" the comic,
and post a link to the comic in the comments below!
Along with the link, EXPLAIN what your message is
and what you want your audience to learn!
Nicole Reczek No comment yet

Open Talk: iPhone 93?

Picture found from here

Parents & Guardians: "Open Talk" is our way of continuing discussions we were not able to finish in class due to time constraints (or recess!) and allows the students more time to comment on it. The topics relate to "big ideas" in class and are a way of chronicling our deeper talks!

Deeper-Thinking Students: We had a great conversation today while preparing for our "letter to the future" assignments coming up when we talked about, What will the future look like? As global citizens, we need to keep in mind current actions that will benefit future societies. 

The topic soon turned to technology: will there finally be flying cars? Will there be an iPhone 93 by the year 2050? Will mp3 players be available as chips that we implant into our brains? Unfortunately, we did not have time to continue this discussion.

Here's your chance! Use the comments to discuss and predict how technology will be used in the future! Using our Twitter accounts, you could also send a tweet using the hashtag #iPhone93. We will check this hashtag and any comments tomorrow morning! 

Nicole Reczek No comment yet

Global Citizens: Having a Critical Eye

Part of our BIG IDEA of being a GLOBAL CITIZEN is keeping a critical eye (or two!) on the media that is found all around us. In class we discussed the various places we see advertisements: TV commercials, billboards, magazines, newspapers, bus shelters, on websites, etc. 

We also discussed how a lot of advertisements contain stereotype and bias (click on these words to be taken to their definitions and add to your "words of the day" journals!) and how we need to be aware of how they are used in commercials because they have an influence on the audience.

PONDERINGS: Have you ever been effected or influenced by a commercial (for food, clothing, a movie, etc)? What kind of effect did it have on you? Do you find yourself bombarded by advertisements or do you not pay attention to them?

Our BIG PROJECT is to create our own commercials - but first, let's analyze a few! Here is a Dove commercial that became popular because it challenged the stereotypes and biases found in most advertisements targeted towards girls and women. Have a look!





Commercial made by Dove and found from YouTube


In the comments below either: (A) analyze this commercial and if it had any effect on you, or what it made you think about as a critical thinker; or (B) pick your own commercial from YouTube that contains stereotype/bias and describe what it is and what audience the commercial is targeting.

Dear Parents: Through this activity, students will be able to analyse and discuss how media addresses their intended purpose and audience, according to the media literacy section in the curriculum, as well as discuss the effectiveness of advertisements. As a result, students will be able to critically think about stereotypes/bias which will lead to their big idea and group project coming up!
Nicole Reczek No comment yet

Let's get ready to run!

Our class has made the extraordinary decision to join the Terry Fox Run run! One of the greatest strengths to have while running is endurance (click on the word for its definition and add it to your "words of the day") so that you can perform a moderate-to-high activities for a longer period of time without losing momentum or becoming shorter of breath too quickly. 

Over the next month we will be setting short-term goals related to health and fitness, such as improving cardiorespiratory fitness, monitoring heart rate and recovery time, and our small group assignment of creating an aerobics routine for the whole class to perform!

For now, here is a MINI-CHALLENGE: how long have you been sitting at the computer? While we do want to be engaged in technology and incorporate it into the classroom, sitting for longer periods of time does not improve our health. Just like we do in class: if you've been sitting for more than 25 minutes, stand up and do 25 repetitions of an exercise! 25 jumping jacks, 25 side punches, 25 'skip-rope'! It will refresh your mind and release endorphins which make you happy! 

What other 25-repetition exercises can you think of?
Who is excited for the upcoming run?

Bonus Research:
Research and Tweet your findings of why Terry Fox is so important to Canadian history with the hashtag #TerryRun

Dear Parents: Joining the Terry Fox run is not mandatory for all students but a personal choice and will not be used for assessment. However, it is a rewarding experience to share with classmates! Only the reflections on setting short-term goals and assignments such as creating an aerobics routine leading up to the run will be assessed. The living skills and healthy living section of the curriculum talk about self-awareness and self-monitoring skills, and the active living section deals with actively participating, to their best capability, in a wide variety of program activities.
Nicole Reczek No comment yet

History by the Minute

Good morning Grade 8s! We've been talking a lot about the "moments" that make up Canada's history, focusing mostly on pre-Confederation and the events leading up to 1867, but also making connections with events in everyday life.

If you happen to watch Canadian television channels every now and then, you'll notice the Part of our Heritage one-minute commercials. There's actually an online resource called Historica Dominion that has all the videos posted! You can narrow the Heritage Minute search to different themes and down below the website provides more historical background on that particular defining moment in Canada's history.

There are also playlists that you can discover in YouTube by searching "heritage minutes", such as this one here.

Your feedback: In the comments section below, provide either an HTML link to a page on the Historica Dominion site OR a YouTube video of a heritage minute and briefly describe the moment, why you chose it, and if you noticed any biases present in how the information/drama was played out. Keep it about a two-tweet length (140 characters x 2! Work your math minds!)

For example: Here's a video of Jacques Cartier and his meeting with the First Nations. Any biases you notice? Here is the Historica Dominion page for it, as well. You can pick a topic that we've discussed so far in our class or something you remember learning in Social Studies from earlier grades!








Have you ever seen these on TV?
Did you pay attention to the message?
Video found from YouTube and created by Historica Dominion.

What do these videos tell us
about Canadian history?
 


Dear Parents: Through this activity, the students will be exploring the Ontario curriculum expectations of describing and analysing conflicting points of view about a historical issue or personality.
Nicole Reczek No comment yet

Welcome to YOUR Grade 8 Blog!

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! This will be your grade 8 resource for the year - a place to keep yourself updated with homework and assignments and to collaborate with your fellow classmates with ideas and groupwork. Not only that, but it will be a place to grow, to discuss, and a great memory keepsake of what we've accomplished throughout the year!

From time to time, you will be asked to use this blog as a means of giving feedback on the various videos and resources we will be taking about. Remember to keep in mind proper Internet lingo and Internet citizenship, and let's keep this blog going all year-round!

Parents & Guardians: Thank you for taking the time to visit! Think of this classroom blog as a "newsletter" that you can access to see what is going on in our classroom. Our grade 8 class will incorporate a variety of digital tools, from Twitter to Bitstrips to Storybird. If you need any clarification or have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
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