10 Great Things to Talk About – “Every Soul A Star” edition

On Friday, we celebrated our school wide novel “Every Soul A Star” by Wendy Mass.

1. We skyped with Wendy from New Jersey and had the chance to have some of our questions answered about her writing process, the characters, and how she started her career.  She showed us a roll of rejection letters and explained the persistence required to get a book published.

2. Two members from each community got to compete in a Battle of the Books style trivia contest.  Jennifer and Eunice represented Yellow Community and answered both of their questions correctly.  Well done!

3. Students attended a book talk by two excellent librarians.  The grade 8’s participated in book talks about Unusual Books with Ms. Trieu and the grade 6/7’s participated in book talks aboutGhost/Scary Storieswith Chris Miller from the Coquitlam Public Library. Evan said, “Chris told us this one story about a girl, who’s parents were antique collectors and they got an old bath tub and then when she turned the water on it filled with blood.  A couple of days later, she takes a bath again and she saw steam rising from the tub but when she touched it, it was ice cold.”

4. Several of the activities for the day where based one the Unusual activities featured in the Moon Shadow Campground in “Every Soul A Star”.  One of the activities in the campground is SETI –  a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) by analyzing radio telescope data.  We found extraterrestrial intelligence in ET and Wall-E.

5. Students had the opportunity to sign up for one of FOUR of the other Unusals .  Grade 8’s signed up for sundials and labyrinth walking.  Ms. McKay and Mr. Buhler (SFU student teachers) led the afternoon sessions on sundials and facilitated the construction of several sundials. Sundial Video Clip #1 Sundial Video Clip #2

Rev. Jan led a session on walking the labyrinth and gave some background and history about the labyrinth (cross culture and from different faith backgrounds).  She explained walking etiquette and then we had the chance to experience the labyrinth.

6. Students in grade 6/7 had the opportunity to sign up for the star garden and gold panning.  There was a portable planetarium in the multipurpose room and students were able to go in a get a tour of the night sky and some of the stars and planets in the autumn sky. “The planetarium was a big dome that showed the stars but then connected the dots so you could see the constellations like Leo.   It was really because the dome was around you and the sky was moving,” said Steven.

7. Gold panning with Yukon Dan was amazing.  Students had the chance to look at the minerals in the pans with magnifying glasses, play with Magnetite, and pan for gold. Leah said, “Gold panning with Yukon Dan was educational and entertaining at the same time.”

8.  In the novel, there are characters who practice tai chi and look like they are gracefully dancing.  All 110 students in Yellow Community, attempted to learn some of the basic forms of tai chi.  Lori and Rick (parks and rec instructors) came in a taught us some basic positions and movements.  They demonstrated that moving slowly gives us a much greater balance and stronger stance.

 9. After school the planetarium and labyrinth remained open for parents, siblings and students who didn’t participate in the session.  Many students and teachers took the opportunity to check out the labyrinth.  And many siblings and parents joined us in the planetarium. Walking the Labyrinth Video Clip Kylee said, “Walking the labyrinth was really calming and so quiet.”

10. A group of students from across the school spent the day in the Art House painting our summer window covers for the school (all windows are boarded for the summer).

Huge thanks to all the community groups and people who came in to share with the students.  And to our librarian, Ms. Trieu for organizing and coordinating a pretty cool day.

 

Rocktober 2 – Rock and Gem Show

Several of our students are interested in rocks, gems and collecting rocks.  The Port Moody Rock and Gem Club is hosting Rocktober 2.

Kyle Centre, 125 Kyle Street, Port Moody
Saturday & Sunday, October 27-28, 2012  10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Featuring local lapidary artists and wonders of nature, the annual rock & gem show is an enjoyable and fascinating event for visitors of all ages.

Highlights from our show include: Sales / Marketplace; Displays; Dealers; Demonstrations; Prize Draws; Lapidary Workshop Tour; Silent Auction; Spin ‘n Win; Grab Bags; Food & Beverages

10 Great Things to Talk About for a short week

We packed a lot into a four day week!

  1. The Vancouver Writers Festival was amazing!  We attended the session Steampunk to Punksville with Susin Neilsen and Arthur Slade.  There will be a student post about the presentation posted next week. But we were thrilled with the presentation, that we got our books autographed and that both authors tweeted us back!
  2. Some of our grade 8’s attended the Vancouver Writers Festival on Thursday and saw two different presentations.  They attended Words and Images and Flights of Fantasy.
  3. We have been reading our school wide read since September and are approaching the final chapters.  We have been reading “Every Soul A Star” by Wendy Mass.  We have made labyrinths on the table tops and walked them with our fingers.  We talked about the most recent exo-planet discoveries.  We have a contest ongoing until MONDAY for students to make a poster, poem, song or ?? about the novel.  Whatever you are submitting is due on Monday.  Next week, check out our post about Unusals Day.  We are looking forward to a portable planetarium visit, walking a labyrinth, exploring SETI, a Star Party, skyping with Wendy Mass, working in the Art House, gold panning, and building a sun dial.
  4. Ms. Abbot, Ms. Moody, and Ms. Sullivan met with the other MACC teachers,  administrators and Mrs. Pearce on Monday afternoon to work on finalizing the Vision Statement and Guiding Principles for MACC.  We have been working on formalizing the program after piloting the program.
  5. Ms. Sullivan is continuing to work through executive function skills with the grade 8’s as they work on their Points of Pride project.
  6. Ms. Abbot and Ms. Moody’s classes are finishing up their geography projects. We are looking forward to seeing the finished products this week.  Students was been looking at the environmental and geographic features of a country and are looking at how those feature impact human settlement.
  7. Several MACC students attended We Day on Thursday as well.  We haven’t heard about their experience yet, but are hoping they might share in a post about the experience.
  8. Thank you for participating in the Parent – Teacher – Student Conferences on Thursday evening.  We always find these meetings to be valuable and informative.  We appreciate the time to chat with parents and students about the transition into the school or the new school year.
  9. On Friday, teachers participated in a Province Wide Professional Development Day.   Ms. Sullivan attended a conference with Dr. Stuart Shanker.  Ms. Abbot and Ms. Moody are attending conferences in November, so spent the day collaborating with teachers from the other two MACC sites.  They synergy of working with other teachers is a wonderful opportunity and some the the seeds of our discussions will hopefully bear fruit later this year.
  10. There will be a very timely and informative presentations on Monday by Jesse Miller (social media consultant).  MACC has participated in his presentations for the past two years and find the information he presents and discuss have a direct impact on how students use social media throughout the year.  We would encourage parents to attend the evening presentation in our multi-purpose room (7-8:30pm).  Students will be attending the presentation on Monday morning and we will be encouraging this conversation to be ongoing throughout the year.

 

Our Kid’s Conference

A Conference for Parents & Others Connected to Gifted Children. Featuring: Stephanie Tolan who will speak on the topics “Gifted Creatives” and “Gifted Identity: Inspiring Personal Growth”   ($60 includes lunch & handouts)

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20 FROM 9:00 – 2:30

AT WINSLOW CENTRE, 1100 WINSLOW AVE., COQUITLAM

Plus: Total ChaOS! for Grade 6-8 Students
And: Jabber-Wacky Mini-Camp – A Kids’ Program for Grades 2-5!
(Children’s programs are $25 – see reg. form for details)

Download pdf for more detailed description about these 3 programs.

Online Registration Form

Science Spooktacular at SFU

On Saturday, October 27, 2012 there will be a free afternoon of spooky science fun for kids in grades K-6 and their families presented by the Biology, Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, Chemistry, and Physics Departments and Radiation Safety. Come out and see some Creepy Creatures and play with some Halloween-y hands-on science activities in the south concourse of the Academic Quadrangle, just outside Shrum Science Centre lecture hall B9200. We will present the Phantom Physics and Cryptic Chemistry show twice at 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. Check out this YouTube video to see how much fun science can be. 

Advance Ticket Reservations for the Phantom Physics and Cryptic Chemistry shows are now available. To ensure your seats at one of the shows, please fill out the reservation survey.

Spooktacular Schedule  Saturday, Oct 27th

12:00 – 3:30 PM Demos and Activities South Academic Quadrangle 3000 Level

1:00 PM and 3:00 PM Phantom Physics and Cryptic Chemistry Show Shrum Science Centre Lecture Theatre B9200

Costumes Welcome!

Highlander Day

Another 10 Great Things to Talk About

Welcome to the first autumn feeling weekend of the year.  While it has been a short week, it has certainly been a busy week.

1. Hillcrest Celebrated Our First BIG Spirit Day today.  Our team area was glowing yellow with kids in hats, bandanas, shades, shoes, shirts and pants all in our team colour.  After working on our team cheer for the past two weeks, students rocked our team verison of We Are Young.  Here’s a sneak peek at part of the cheer We Are Yellow

2. Today was an authentic Highlander Day with fresh scotch mist throughout the afternoon.  Students started in the gym to meet our school mascot Harry and then ventured through a Highland Fling, Skiing Down the Countryside, Giant Volleyball, a Haggis Pass, a Caber Toss and a FitnessCircuit with Harry.  The afternoon was topped with the call of the bagpipes to move between stations.

2. Interim Reports will be coming home on Friday October 12th for students in grade 8.  Students in grade 6/7 have received their IEPs this month and the IEP is the form of interim reporting that we will be using.  The IEP includes detailed information about your son or daughter’s goals.  If you have specific concerns, please feel free to call the school and book a parent teacher conference.  If we have any concerns about your son or daughter’s first weeks of school we will be contacting individual parents to set up meetings.

3. The grade 8’s are working through a unit of cells and completed a Cheek Cell Lab. “So we took a toothpick and scraped the inside of our cheeks. And then we took the cheek cells and looked at them under a microscope using dry mounts, wet mounts, water and iodine. We also had a test about plant and animal cells.”  Grade 6/7’s are working through an introduction to science and will be beginning to think about a science fair project (inquiry project on a science topic).  Grade 7/8’s will have the opportunity to present the school / district at the Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair.  All MACC locations will be hosting a Science Fair on March 1st 2013 at Winslow gym.

4. The grade 8’s are currently in Art and Dramus.  In Dramus, students are making podcasts on Audacity. In Art, students are working on Symbolic Portraits using objects and images to represent each student. The grade 6/7’s are currently in Home Ec and Tech Ed.

5. Grade 8’s have been working on a Points of Prideproject.  “It’s a group of 12 different activities and one big project at the end that gets you to look at yourself and how you function.”

6. Ms.Moody and Ms. Abbot had student teachers observing in class for the week and they will be joining us again next week.  Ms. MacKay and Mr Buhler are from SFU and have just started the SFU Teacher Program this semester.  They will be returning in November to participate in the classes and team activities and will be team teaching with Ms. Abbot and Ms. Moody.  We are looking forward to working with these two as they begin their teaching careers and are looking forward to their contributions to our classes.

7.  We also have Health Science students from SFU volunteering in our school this Fall.  The students working with us are hoping to look at some topics relating to stress management, wellness and possibly executive functions.  They are most likely going to present workshops to the classes about these topics and other healthy living topics. We are also looking forward to their contributions to the class and have appreciated having the extra adult volunteers in class over the past several weeks.

8. Grade 6/7’s are continuing their mini projects on world geography and have started their first projects looking at how different environmental and geographical features effect human settlement in different countries.  Students has a wide breadth of choices in the countries and features they can choose for this project.  They have had two double blocks of time in the library this week, with access to computers and all the resources in the Library (including Ms. Trieu our librarian).

9. Students now have their passwords to log into their school district email and if waiver forms have been returned they have access to their edmodo accounts.  Ms. Moody and Ms. Abbot will be emailing out parent access codes over the coming week.

10. Today grade 6/7 students participated in a Guiness Book Science Lab.  Students completed two separate experiments in the gym with almost all the grade 6/7 classes in the school.  Check out the Government of Canada Science and Technology Page for more details and for video introductions to the two science experiments students participated in today.

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend.