We apologize for the delay in getting an update posted, we have been busy and there is a lot going on in class.  We we returned from Spring Break all the grade 8’s at Hillcrest had selected 2 workshops on Renassiance topics and classes were blended. Students completed the workshops and a Fair was hosted.  While the grade 8’s were reviving the Renassiance with Ms. Moody and other grade 8 teachers, the grade 6/7’s went on scientific adventures with Ms. Abbot & Mr. Utting.  Here are some of our highlights:

1. The Renassiance Fair

2. Mr. Ellis, a teacher with the Aboriginal Education Department, came in to share his experience and stories in our circle.  He joined both grade 6’s and grade 7’s to share examples of oral stories and then we had each group practice telling a story. It was an interesting experience to tell a story to someone else and tell what we remembered and what stood out to us.  It was an amazing experience for both groups with work with Mr. Ellis.

3. We all had the opportunity to learn about badminton and played several round robin mini-tournaments.  The grade 6’s even invented four-square badminton which adds a whole new dimension.

4. The grade 7’s worked on Patterns and Equations with Mr. Utting and focused on divisibility, input/output tables and an introduction to algebra.  The grade 6’s have been working on fractions concepts.  Some students have been working on multiplication & division of fractions and others have been using fraction strips to understand equivalent fractions.

5. In science with Mr. Utting and Ms. Abbot, students learned Cell Theory, about how to use microscopes, field of view and how to draw scale drawings.

 

 

6. The grade 6/7 classes  had 4 Yoga classes with Jessica and they have continue to develop there yoga practice and learned about its benefits for self-regulation.

7. The grade 6/7’s completed a poetry anthology and have learned about figuative language and literary devices.  The grade 8’s are continuing to work on their anthology projects, which is a collection of essays on their topic. Here are three examples of the Poetry Anthology assignment (more to be posted shortly)

Marcus’ Anthology                                  SarahL’s Anthology                                      Sena’s Anthology

8. A small group of students went to the Evergreen Cultural Centre for a Water Colour Painting class.

9. The grade 6/7’s had a brief introduction to World Religions and we learned about Holy Week and Easter in the Christian tradition and Passover in the Jewish tradition.

10 Students are working on an independent novel study this term.  They had the choice between several books including: Kira Kira by Cynthia Kadohata, Island of the Unknowns by  Benedict Carey, Beacuse of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea, The Grave Robber’s Apprentice by Allan Stratton, Promise the Night by Michaela MacColl , Libertad by Alma Fullerton, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by  Sherman Alexie, Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X Stork, After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick, and Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.  They have choice between several assignments to be collated into a journal for presentation. 2014 Term 3 Novel Study Project

 

1. All three MACC classes are working on an Olympic Project that requires students to complete a City Study, a Sport Study and an Athlete Study.  The projects have been sorted by multiple intelligence and students have selected the projects that they are most interested in or will best show their learning.  The first two assignments are already submitted and the third is February 7th (for grade 6/7’s) and January 31st (for grade 8’s).

2. In addition to the projects, students will be completing Olympic Inquiry Project.  Ms. Abbot, Ms. Moody and Mr. Utting are participating in a learning team with Dr. Leyton Schnellert about using inquiry in the classroom.  We started this unit with an image set and had the students describe what they saw in the pictures, then what they wonder about and then what deep questions they have.  We will be taking the questions they generated, as well as questions that have been generated from their projects and allowing them to explore a question and then show their thinking and learning.   We will be showcasing their work at a celebration of learning with a MACC class from Kway on February 19th.

3. All 3 classes are also talking about Healthy Relationships in HCE.  The grade 6/7’s are using “The Essential Guide to Talking with Gifted Teens” by Jean Sunde Peterson. We’ve been talking about our relationships with friends and parents.  Grade 8’s have been focusing on Healthy Relationships and Healthy Decisions.

4. Grade 6/7’s have been doing geometry in Math.  Grade 7’s have just finished a unit and will be starting a unit of circle geometry and area of shapes on Tuesday.  Ms. Abbot has been using “Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics” and students have been doing hands-on exploration of polygons focusing on triangles.  Ask your student about why the interior angles of a triangle equal 180 degrees.

5. We’ve been looking at alternative presentation methods and decided instead of participating in the District Public Speaking Festival we would host our own HARRY Talks.  Inspired by TED Talks but with a MACC criteria, students are identifying a theme they are passionate about and looking at inter-disciplinary connections.

6. The school is focusing on Habit 4 “Think Win-Win”.  We’ve had discussions about the difference between Win-Lose, Lose-Win, Lose-Lose and Win-Win attitudes.

7. Grade 7’s have been completing the FSAs over the past two weeks.  Grade 7’s have completed a short writing sample, a long write sample, online reading comprehension questions, a short written response comparing two passages and a two part numeracy assessment.

8. Wacky Wednesday was this week!  And it was Twin Day….

9. Icy and cold! Students have been on the mountain enjoying the Ski and Snowboard Club.

10. The grade 6/7’s are Art and Dramus Explorations right now… updates coming next week about projects.

 

1. Today the grade 8’s wrapped up a study of the Middle Ages with a Medieval Day.  More details to come… but the day included archery, making stained glass, swords and a hearty stew for lunch.

2. Last week, all three classes spent the day at UBC visiting the Beaty Biodiversity Museum and the Museum of Anthropolgy… here are the first reviews from the trip….

“There were platypus’ there (at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum).  The presentation was called What is biodiversity? We learned about some kind on underwater cone snail and how they ate their prey.  It was kind of cool, they reach with their tails into the sand and bring clams up.  They then scrap at the shell until it breaks open and drill a little tiny hole into the shell and then they spit acid into the shell, then they suck up the clam.  We also learned about another snail and it has little barbed harpoons in a sac and whenever something swims by it, it shoots a harpoon into the fish, kills it with poison and then can eat the fish whole,” Jane explained.

“There were so many different specimens, over 600,000.  I could just spend a day there looking at everything.  What stood out was that they could find a old species that no one knew what it was and they first thought it was a shrimp, but then they realized it was the nose of a seahorse type creature.  It was a really fun trip,” said Mark.

3. 3rd Habit Presentation

We have been continuing to work on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and have been focusing on Putting First Things First.  Students prepared presentations to show what they know about the 3rd Habit.  We will be uploading some of the presentations next week.  Projects were very well done and varied from power points, to videos and skits, to programs on Scratch to poster boards.

4. Free the Children presentation about availability of drinking water happened on Thursday morning and a few MACC students had the opportunity to participate in a workshop for the day.  A hearty and engaged discussion ensued following the presentation, and much discussion was had about charities.

“The workshop did a couple questions to get to know each other.  We did a really good activity that showed us how many people water bourne illnesses, how people don’t get enough water and how many people get more than enough.  Andrew (from Free the Children) gave us a card with information about who we were and where we lived, then he read out different scenarios and we got to move closer or further away from water,” said Marcus.  “Then after lunch, we brainstormed way to bring awareness to water issues.  We spent time planning what we would do with the ideas. The idea I worked on was a cook off.  It wasn’t an awareness activity, but just a fundraiser.”

5. Choir Sing Out at Kway Middle

“It was fun to hear all the other choirs. They even had an elementary choir. One of the choirs sang this parody of Noel, which we all laughed at. Most of the choirs weren’t as big as ours, but they still sang pretty loud. The boys sang The Hockey Song, then Mrs.Gallelo admitted she’s never seen the Polar Express, so the girls sang Hot Chocolate. We all sang North Pole Rock and Roll.” – Evan L

6. Life Links field trip

Several of our grade 8’s are in Life Links this Exploration term.  With Mr. Meagher and Ms. Trieu they ventured up Burnaby Mountain in the snow and spent the morning geocaching.

7. Portfolios

The grade 6/7’s are working on portfolios to show Evidence of Learning for Term 1.  Ms. Abbot and Ms. Moody are trying new ways to share student learning and student portfolios will be coming home with report cards next Friday.  Our hope is that the portfolios will provide a snap shot of students’ reflection on their numeracy and literacy skills, social and emotional learning and creative thinking from the term.  Students receive feedback from us throughout the term using a variety of methods including rubrics, BC Writing Performance Standards, written feedback and comments and will be including some specific examples in their portfolios.

8. TED talks

As a teaser for the New Year, we have started to watch some TED talks.  Students brainstormed what features TED talks include and have started to develop a criteria.  In the New Year, we will be hosting a Yellow Team TEDx type speech festival.  Instead of doing traditional Public Speaking this year, student will be developing their own TED talk on a person worth knowing or an idea worth sharing. More details will be given to students in the New Year.

9. Math winding up before the break

Both Ms. Abbot and Ms. Moody are wrapping up units in Math and will be starting new units in the New Year.  Students are working to complete assigned work and tests before the break.

10. Battle of the Books

The Annual Battle of the Books was announced this week.  It is open to all students in grade 6-8.  Students form teams of 3 and let Ms. Trieu know before December 20th.  If students are interest, but don’t have a team of three they can talk with Ms. Abbot, Ms. Moody or Ms. Trieu and we can help form a team.  Then you read the books on the list…Hint: you can divide up the books so that each person reads 2 or you can all read all 6 books. The idea is to know the books very well so it helps to have an ‘expert’ on each book. Or, all members of the team can read all the books. We will have elimination rounds here at Hillcrest Middle School, where teams will need to answer questions about the books. These will take place after Christmas Holidays. The top teams from Hillcrest Middle will compete against the other schools after Spring Break.

Battle of the Books Reading List

1.Flipped Wendelin Van Draanen

2.A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L’Engle

3.Home of the Brave Katherine Applegate

4.Shipwreck Gordon Korman

5.The False Prince Jennifer Nielsen

6.The Uglies Scott Westerfeld