Wednesday, December 19

Da Vinci image assignments are due tomorrow (Thursday) first thing in the morning. See journal entry 23 for details.

Thursday, December 13

Yesterday, both classes had a great discussion about the prevalence of humanist characteristics in today's world. It got a bit heated in both sections! ;p

Today we began working on journal entry 22. All students will have four full class periods to work on this, and it is due Monday morning. Please check the journal entries note in the "docs" section for more details.

Journal Entries 19 & 20

Last week Journal Entry 19 was assigned, and asked you to inquire into the life of Leonardo Da Vinci in the context of the Renaissance.
This journal entry should be complete.

8.2/8.4 began Journal Entry 20 on Friday, and 8.1/8.3 started on it today. This entry asks you to complete Talking to the Text on an assigned reading, fill in a graphic organizer, and write an opinion paragraph, in order to begin formulating your response to our main inquiry question:

"Why is Da Vinci considered a human representative of the Renaissance?"

8.2/8.4: Journal Entry #20 should be DONE by then end of period 2 tomorrow, you have 2 more periods. Please plan accordingly when deciding if you have homework or not.

8.1/8.3: Journal Entry #20 should be DONE by the end of period 7 tomorrow, you have 2 more periods. Please plan accordingly when deciding if you have homework or not.

Monday, December 10

We are currently working on journal entry 20 in class, after finishing up journal entry 19 last week, and for some, over the weekend. Some students are still not finished journal entry 19, and that is definitely for homework! All four classes have more time to work on journal entry 20 tomorrow, so there is probably no need to work on that outside of school at this point, unless you want to! Humanism is fascinating!

Wednesday, December 5 - Continuing Ever After

Our next step in our study related to the movie Ever After and the Renaissance began today. Please check out journal entry 19 for details, and remember this journal entry must be done by the end of class tomorrow (Thursday).

Reflection for Current Events Project

Please download this or copy and paste into a word document, then complete and email to both Miss Jensdottir and Mrs. Glas.

ajensdottir@gmail.com
lkglas@gmail.com (remember, that is a lowercase "l" at the beginning, and ONE "s"!)

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bz9UAqoetbUyRWNJcG4zblFacGs

Book Review Graphic Organizers - DUE DATES APPROACHING!

Just a reminder that your graphic organizer for the first book review of the second term is due soon.

8.2/8.4 - Due Monday December 3rd

8.1/8.3 - Due Monday December 10th 

*Dates are posted on the Google Calendar on the right! If you have not yet subscribed to this Google service, please do, the dates that we add could be showing up automatically on your calendar!

Current Events Project - Presentation PPT

Here is the Powerpoint that Miss Jensdottir used in the lesson this morning!

Current Events Project Rubric

This is the rubric for the current events project from Miss Jensdottir and Mrs. Glas.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TVEOnhCe6_ciyze97mYwWbo_OAVcqPsGnYsuKQAI4E0/edit

What Do You Believe & What Would You Do?

PROJECT RESOURCES

Main Assignment Sheet: download your own copy please!

Graphic Organizer: download your own Googledoc and share with 
Miss Jensdottir (ajensdottir@gmail.com) & Mrs. Glas (lkglas@gmail.com)

Monday, November 19, 2012

Northern Disaster projects were due today. For those of you who did not finish the Northern Disaster reflection in class today, please ensure you are finished by tomorrow (Tuesday) as it needs to be finished asap.

Journal entry 17, the five comments for on the Litspiration blogs, is due on Wednesday, November 21. Details on this assignment can be found on the term 2 Litspiration blog assignment sheet or the journal entries list, both found on the "docs" section of the Humanities homepage.

Your graphic organizer for your first "term 2" book review is due December 3.

Northern Disaster

Projects due on Monday November 19th

For the last week and a half, students have been working on a project entitled "Northern Disaster." As an extension of their learning for our study of the Renaissance, students are exploring a possible change in worldview if 50% of the population in Canada died. Further information can be found in the "docs" section of our website.

Students are also starting on the term 2 free-reading challenge. Again, further information can be found in the "docs" section, in the 'Litspiration Blogs - Free Reading Challenge' section.

Thursday, November 1 - Free-reading Challenge Information

Tomorrow (November 2) is the deadline for the term 1 Litspiration Challenge. It should be submitted as follows:

1. At the minimum, you must have three book reviews and one litspiration challenge on your blog. These should be easy to find, not buried under a lot of other stuff. You can make them easy to find by creating separate pages for reviews and challenges. You can also use the "tags" feature to tag reviews and challenges so we can easily search them up.

2. After you have gone through the peer editing process on Friday and made any changes suggested by your peers (if necessary), you must post the BEST of your two new book reviews as journal entry 15 for detailed assessment and feedback.

**Proposals for the Northern Disaster project are due TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6. You will have two periods on Monday to work on them. The timeline has been posted, check it out!

Happy Halloween! Wednesday October 31st

Today we wrote the quiz on the plague and society reading from last week. We will be taking it up in class tomorrow!

We also began a new and exciting project: Disaster in the North. Project details are available in the usual place.

8.2 and 8.4 partners have been chosen and approved - most groups have also decided on the cause of the disaster and should be moving onto formulating the questions that will help them answer our essential question:

Half of the Canadian population has suddenly died… 

How is this going to affect the worldview of the survivors?

8.1 and 8.3 partners will be confirmed tomorrow in class so you can get moving!

Remember that your Litspiration projects need to be completed by this Friday, November 2nd.

Have fun tonight and don't eat too much candy.

Feudalism and Worldviews Mini Presentations

Quiz on "Plague_Society_Reading" that you just finished Talking to the Text on will be Wednesday!

Today in class, students formed groups and began working on the mini-presentation project investigating how the plague may have affected the worldviews of feudal Europeans. Check out the "docs" section for further information, and below for more information on this.

8.1/8.3

**NON-BAND PRESENTATIONS DUE TUESDAY PERIOD 2 (YOU WILL HAVE 3 FULL CLASSES OF PREP.)

**BAND PRESENTATIONS DUE FRIDAY PERIOD 7 (YOU WILL HAVE 2 FULL CLASSES OF PREP.)

Katie, Megan, Grace, EJ,  - CROWN

Curtis, Mac Justin, Daniel, Omar , SEAN- CLERGY

Aidan, Matt F., Phil, Darren - Knights

Jen, Alyssa, Ali, Dorothy- Commoners

Michael, Sanchit, Aman, Amanda, Jada, Jacqueline- Nobles

Evan, Steven, Drew, Isaac, Adrian, TONG- Crown

Jack, Anthony, Sam, Cody, Rylan - Commoners

Jared, Yashvin, Will, Richard, Kelsey - Knights

Paige, Danika, Ivanna, Brianna, Alyssa - Clergy

Haniya, Lauren, Osereme, Inaara, Alex - Nobles

8.2/8.4

-NON-BAND PRESENTATIONS DUE TUESDAY PERIOD 4 (YOU WILL HAVE 3 FULL CLASSES OF PREP.)

-BAND PRESENTATIONS DUE FRIDAY PERIOD 5 (YOU WILL HAVE 2 FULL CLASSES OF PREP.)

Crown - Aidan M., Leandro, Arth, Aaron, Logan J.

Clergy - Makenna, Lauren L., Ally, Quinn, Matt D.

Nobles - Nick, Reuben, Azhar, Garret, Logan K.

Knights - Sean, Arya, Alex, Vlad, Ivan

Commoners - Julia, Kristin, Jessica, Jami, Heather

Crown - Liam, Joel, Luke, Noah, Jonathan

Clergy -Maanasa, Maggie, Daniel, Kellan

Nobles - Kirsten, Kalindee, Maitri, Dannika

Knights - Peter, Maxwell, Jack, Cole, Brendon

Commoners - Emma, Leah, Juliana, Angel

Crown - Maren, Paul, Lauren M.

Quiz on Monday, October 22

The quiz on Monday will be on the following:

• Worldview
• review the icon (below)
• review the Talking to the Text reading from the beginning of the year
• Silk Road
• review your Talking to the Text notes in the reading from this week
• review the discussion notes and your inquiry notes on the silk road website

Keep in mind that this is a QUIZ, so it will be quite short!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Welcome back! We hope everyone had a great fall break!

Upcoming due dates:

Thursday, October 18 - Journal entry 11
Friday, November 2 - Litspriration blogs completed for term 1

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Today in Humanities...

We studied characterization by participating in a mini-lecutre, students taking notes and participating in discussions. Then, we read a short story aloud and started working on journal entry 11. Once you have all worked through journal entry 11 we will discuss the story in the large group.

The story was emailed to you in .pdf form. It was also posted on the evernote ("docs" on the Humanities page). Check out the talking to the text pamphlet for information on how to do talking to the text digitally using Adobe.

The Quebec current events study is due tomorrow (Thursday) first thing.

Renaissance Wonder Wall

8.1 & 8.3:
Please visit this link: http://wallwisher.com/wall/ren_wonder to contribute to the 8.1/8.3 Renaissance Wonder Wall!

8.2 & 8.4:

Please visit this link: http://wallwisher.com/wall/ren_wonder_824 to contribute to the 8.2/8.4 Renaissance Wonder Wall!

New Content Alert!

We have been busy posting over at litspiration!

Be sure to check out the new posts.

:)

First Book Review Due Tuesday, Peer Review Monday

All students are encouraged to come to class on Monday with their book reviews finished in order to take advantage of class time that will be provided for self and peer editing. The final draft of your first book review is due Tuesday, September 18.

As you are working over the weekend, ensure you are:

• consulting the documents provided to you to help you succeed, all found in the documents section of the Humanities 8 page
• notes on book review format
• rubric that includes strategies 
• graphic organizer
• exemplar
• digging deeply, not just being superficial
• Ask yourself: "Is my critique paragraph ONLY about my reading experience, or do I discuss deeper literary issues?"

Thursday, September 13

Medici documentary update: FINISHED! (All classes have finished watching the documentary.)

Wednesday, September 12

Medici Documentary update! If you missed class, or want to re-watch, here is where we have stopped in class:

• 8.1/8.3 & 8.2/8.4 - stopped around 35:00, part 4

Greetings from Bamfield!

Hi Grade 8's!

Just wanted to say hello and let you know that I MISS YOU! I am sure that you are having a blast with Miss G, Mrs. Sadeh and Mr. Scott, and look forward to hearing about how engaged in your learning and well behaved you have been this week.

8.1 & 8.2 - your artifact analysis assignments are weighing on my mind and I am trying to get them marked for you asap.

Here's a taste of what we will be doing next year, together, around this time... Enjoy!

Taking in the morning view on our first day tour!

Checking out the skeletons on display in the Whale Lab!

Letting anemones sting our fingers!

Enjoying the sunset after dinner!

See you all on Monday!

:) Mrs. W

Tuesday, September 11

Medici Documentary update! If you missed class, or want to re-watch, here is where we have stopped in class:

• 8.2/8.4 - stopped at part 3, around 50:00

• 8.1/8.3 - finished part 3, stopped at part 4, around 24:00

A reminder that your first book review is due September 18. Please ensure you come to class on September 17 with a good copy prepared for peer revision!

Friday, September 7

If you miss class at anytime for any reason it is your responsibility to find out what you missed! You must check the blog and ask trustworthy classmates to fill you in, then come to Mrs. Waite/Miss Groeller for clarification or more information.

Today in class...

• Medici Documentary (This is available on youtube, completely legally, for you to watch and catch up on.)

• Both pods finished part 2 of the documentary. We did not continue on to part 3.

• Mini-lesson on theme
• 8.2/8.4 took some notes on the idea of theme in literature to help with your book reviews.

Godfathers of the Renaissance documentary

Today, all four classes finished up the first part of the documentary in class. If you missed any part of this you must watch it on your own time in order to catch up. If you missed a part of this documentary while watching it in class the first time, you should also check out that section on your own time.

Here is the link to the completely legal youtube version, posted by PBS.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/SW7JPZboRLQjc

14 Days & Counting: Book Review #1

It is our pleasure to have started the 2012-2013 Free Reading Challenge!

Today marks our 14 day countdown to the first book review's due date.

Make sure that you are reading, and utilizing the tools that you were provided in the review lesson to craft your review according to our expectations.

Please email Mrs. Waite your blog address ASAP & get litspired!

Blogger Sign Up

Thanks to all for a successful sign up today. Those of you who were unable to successfully create your blog, please try from home tonight.

Remember that titles should be creative and seek to engage the reader, and that your work is on the global stage!

Artifact Analysis Assignment due Friday

Your final draft of the artifact analysis assignment is due Friday. Please ensure that all assignment requirements (two polished, powerful paragraphs and your artifact) are in your google doc journal, at the top, labeled as journal entry 3.

Blogger

A paper copy of this notice went home today.

August 29, 2012

Dear Parents,

This year in grade 8, students will be using the Google service “Blogger” to create blogs, starting with a blog dedicated to the free-reading they do throughout the year. Each student will have their own individual blog that they will be responsible for keeping up-to-date depending on the term’s assignments. Tasks will include written book reviews and creative multi-media tasks.

We have elected to use Blogger because of its ease of use and the ability for students to use their  “cssstudent” accounts. Because we will be using their school accounts, the Blogger account will be managed by the school, which negates the need for the students to meet the “13 years old” requirement stated in the Blogger terms. Please note that students are not exposed to any outside content when signing up or using Blogger.

We are really excited about this learning opportunity, and the chance for students to showcase their writing and deep thinking about literature and story-telling. Please encourage them to share their “litspiration” blogs with you!

Please direct any questions to Mrs. Waite and/or Miss Groeller, preferably via email.

Thanks,

Ivy Waite and Jaime Groeller

Ivy.w@calgaryscienceschool.com

Jaime.g@calgaryscienceschool.com

Worldview

As the foundation, or theme if you will, for our year in social studies, and to some extent humanities in general, we have spent the last few days taking about the concept of worldview. We have investigated this topic by:

• completing a survey of our opinions on 7 important worldview elements including topics such as "human nature," "the good life," and "ethical wisdom."

• discussing as a whole group the worldview survey, exploring and deconstructing the complicated ideas, while promoting understanding of worldview as a concept (notes of these discussions are available in the documents section of the humanities homepage in the class discussion notes, organized by class)

• working as a group, exploring artifacts in the form of photographs in order to determine aspects of the worldview demonstrated

• reading an article, using the "talking to the text" reading strategies, to deepen our understanding

• throughout all of the above learning opportunities, we have continuously updated a "KWL" chart on our google doc journals (journal entry #1)

Currently, we are working on analyzing the Western worldview by selecting artifacts that represent two of the elements of worldview we have been exploring.

Great First Week!

Thanks to everyone for a great start to an exciting year in humanities.

Today we started the Artifact Analysis assignment, but please remember that it is NOT for homework!
(That being said, you should have a clear idea of which artifact you are going to choose come Monday.)

If you have not yet completed the Talking to the Text assignment (1. Read and "talk to"; 2. Highlight strategies according to colour code; 3. Journal Entry #2) it is DUE Monday.

Have a fantastic weekend, and we will see you all soon!

Talking to the Text

So excited to start this new skill with you all today! Remember that you can access any of the documents used in class by clicking on the "Documents" page above.

Here are the strategies once again for your quick reference:

• determining importance
• summarizing
• monitoring meaning
• making connections
• questioning
• making inferences
• visualizing

Book Covers

Book covers are due tomorrow (Tuesday, August 21).