Primary Research: Doing an Interview! Due March 8

Secondary research involves receiving information through a book, an encyclopaedia, the Internet, or another written source. Someone else found out the information, and then they published the information for you to read.

Primary research involves finding out the information yourself! You do a survey, make observations, conduct an experiment, do an interview, experience something, create a journal entry, travel somewhere, take photographs yourself, collect specimens to study, etc.

You will be doing an interview to practice gathering primary research. We did one in class together. Remember that in an interview, you need to:

  • Know what you want to find out before starting the interview
  • Create questions ahead of time
  • Think about who would be the BEST person to interview
  • Ask permission to interview the person and/or to record their responses
  • Practice active listening through appropriate posture, facing the person, not interrupting, acknowledging responses, and using eye contact.
  • Add questions during the interview as new information comes up
  • Use phrases like, “So, what I hear you saying is….” when you need to clarify what they have said
  • Document the answers thoroughly (recording device, taking notes)
  • Thank the person for the interview
  • Review your notes and make them neat for looking at in the future

Do an interview of a family friend, family member, or someone in the community. Find out from them their experiences coming into Canada and whether or not they had any experiences with discrimination. 

Here are the questions we came up with in class that you can use (choose at least ten that you think are best):

  • What country did you originally live in?
  • What was it like there and why did you choose to leave?
  • Why did you come to Canada?
  • Do you miss anything about your home country?
  • What was your experience like coming to Canada?
  • How did you feel when you arrived in Canada?
  • What was the process like to get permission to come to Canada?
  • Was there anything about the process you did not like?
  • Was it hard to adjust to coming to Canada?
  • What were your first thoughts about living in Canada?
  • When you arrived did you ever feel discriminated against? How specifically?
  • Why do you think you were discriminated against?
  • Did you experience any other difficulties in Canada? Work-related difficulties?
  • Are you glad you came to Canada? Why?
  • Would you ever return to your home country?
  • Do you feel Canadian or still a part of your home culture, or both?
  • How long have you been in Canada?
  • And any other questions you may want to use (limit yourself to 2 that are your own creations and keep them on topic.)

Learning Skills We Need for Independent Work

Hello Everyone,

Sometimes it is helpful to understand the “why” behind what we are doing, so I thought I would explain some of our current tasks in terms of the SKILLS we are learning that will help us be able to do INDEPENDENT PROJECT work.

Project Work: Today, our schedule said “Stuff” — meaning that all day was a work day. We had a list of things to do, and everyone made a priority checklist to get things done. Being able to manage your time is an important skill! So, everyone had to divide up the day into time periods to get things done; prioritize tasks according to due dates; and be aware of focus, changing up what they were working on if they felt their engagement was running low. TIME MANAGEMENT and AWARENESS!

Playground Project: This project means using the DESIGN PROCESS (Ask what the problem is, Consider limitations to the task, Imagine the possibilities, Plan what you will do, Identify materials, Create your design, Improve the design as needed during the process.) You also need COLLABORATION skills to work with your partners and to come to consensus about the playground design.

Art: You need to learn how to USE TOOLS APPROPRIATELY and SAFELY. Use paint without making a huge mess by planning your workspace. Use materials responsibly, only taking what you need. If you use hot glue or other tools that can harm you, be responsible and careful. Work in an appropriate space. Be aware of people around you. Clean up your workspace when done! And, develop FINE MOTOR SKILLS as you manipulate materials to create new things!

E-Portfolio: Learn to REFLECT on your work. Find a way to document your work process, so you can learn what you did well and what you would change for next time! If you only focus on the final product, then you won’t know exactly what part of the process could have been improved. DOCUMENT YOUR WORK!

Debate: Be an effective and persuasive COMMUNICATOR! Back up your opinions with evidence. Practice what you are going to say before presenting. Choose the right kind of words to express your ideas so people remember what you said to them. Communicate with others when you need things. When you feel things (such as frustration or confusion) use your words to tell people about it rather than allowing the emotions to take you over, which leads to bad decisions. 

Creativity: All of the tasks above required CREATIVITY. Remember, though, good ideas do not come out of magic. Be OPEN-MINDED to others’s ideas and look at things from all PERSPECTIVES. The best ideas occur when we build upon others’ ideas. Add to ideas, don’t take them down. Don’t feel like you need to be alone when coming up with ideas. Group think!

All of this will help us as we lead to our independent project. I look forward to seeing how you use these skills in term three!

Update February 27th

Hello Everyone!

Here’s some info for the week ahead!

  • Math Quiz: Today we did Applied Math Quiz CSI 2/3, and while some people did well, others need some more practice on measurement, area/perimeter, and reading word problems. We went over common errors together, and tomorrow Ms. D will provide some more practice. For anyone who would like to re-take the quiz to do better, there will be another opportunity on Thursday. The important thing is that everyone is able to understand and to apply the material, especially as measurement is being used during our playground scale model project.
  • Playground Project: Please look for cardboard that can provide you with a 18×22 inch flat space to develop the model. We have some in class, but we are looking for more so we can have eight solid pieces. Thank you!
  • French: Time will be given in class as we find out 1. The name of a country other than France or Canada that speaks French, 2. The percentage or number of people who speak French in that country, 3. A French-based festival that happens in that country, 3. Why the festival is celebrated? (cultural reason?), 4, Any French words involved in the festival, and 5. Why do they speak French in that country (history of how French arrived there)? The best place to start finding this information can be the World Book Online.
  • Debate: If you have not done a debate yet, they will be finished by Wednesday.
  • GYM/Celebration of Learning: Please make sure to wear runners, comfortable movement clothes, and bring sunglasses for tomorrow. Our performance of K.P. (oh, I mean, our secret socials presentation) will be at 2PM, and we will practice tomorrow during gym. Thank you for your work making our socials discussions and our PE aerobics more fun for the whole class. 🙂

Have a good week! More info to come!

Agenda February 23rd!

Hello Everyone,

Some updates and changes to deadlines because of people needing more time:

Debates: Good job to our first debaters today! We will continue debating tomorrow and possibly Monday so all teams have a chance to present.

Math: Applied Quiz will be moved to Monday. Independent Math have two unit tests done by March 3rd. Thank you!

Mysteries: More time to work on mysteries tomorrow. If you need more time to finish your story, I can be flexible, but you need to be a good communicator and talk with me tomorrow. If you are ready to submit, please turn it in here. 

Playground Project: This will be the major thing we work on next week, all week, so once you are done with your mystery stories, you are ready to ROLL!!

French: We went over packet 3 and 4 today (singular and plural nouns, ER verbs and conjugation of PORTER, Emotions, and adjectives.) We will continue to practice and have a quick check-in quiz our last week before break. To learn more about cultures in the world that speak French, each student is also researching a nation that speaks French other than France or Canada. They will find out the percentage of people who speak French and investigate one celebration or festival in that country. I challenge French Immersion students to write about their research in French instead of English. More criteria to come, but right now we are just researching. Due by March 7th.

Socials and Primary Research: To finish with our discussion on discrimination, and to learn more about primary research vs secondary, students will be conducting an interview of someone. They will ask about their experience coming to Canada and/or their experience with discrimination. We will create questions together, and I will do an example of an interview in class. This will be very helpful for when we do our independent project, as primary research is required. Due by March 7th.

Independent Project: We do five major units per year, and then we do an independent project. Students have already brainstormed topics on their e-portfolios (and these portfolios will be where they document their research and progress.) Final topic is due on March 3rd so Ms. D can begin to help look for resources.

Secret Project for Celebration of Learning: Good job today! We will practice again tomorrow during gym.

Have a good evening!

Ms. D

Update Wednesday February 22nd

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to let you know again that our District mail has been having issues. The blog works fine, though, so if you need to reach me, commenting here will work. Thank you for your patience, as mail has been down in the evenings.

Look forward to hearing some of the debates tomorrow! Hope you enjoyed making begleris with Mr. McKay today! Hopefully you had a good work period on debate writing, mysteries, inventions, and playground prep.

Oh, and I think I figured out what to do with the song we used for PE the other day, which may involve doing something for our Celebration of Learning on Tuesday (shhh, don’t tell anyone at school other than our class). We will see what you think……!?

See you tomorrow!

Ms. D

Quick Update February 21st

Hello Everyone,

Our District e-mail has been having some issues since last night. If anyone has not been receiving my e-mails (I sent a few recently) it may be because of these technical difficulties! 

Quick Update:

  • Debates Thursday afternoon (more time to write/practice on Wed.)
  • Mystery stories are due Friday EOD (more time in class W, Th, F)
  • Applied Math Quiz (very short) on Friday
  • LIBRARY ON WEDNESDAY not THURSDAY due to YPC
  • PINK DAY tomorrow, so wear pink for house points!
  • SOCIALS: If you haven’t turned in your socials questions, make sure they get in ASAP. Today we had a discussion about apologies that have been made for discrimination and when/how apologies should be made. Does apologizing make a difference? What can an apology look like? Finish the handout and turn in tomorrow if you didn’t finish today.
  • FRENCH: Fill out and review handout 3 & 4 for Thursday
  • PLAYGROUND: You will draft a layout and equipment design tomorrow
  • ART: If you need to see an image while doing art, please print one so you can have it while continuing on our stacking cards sculpture.
  • PE: Great job on our Katy Perry aerobic routine today!
  • MUSIC: Ms. Hetrick assigned some research to do for next Monday.

Thursday, February 16th: Have a good three day weekend!

Hello Everyone!

No SCHOOL TOMORROW! We are in full-on project mode right now as we end our unit. Here is a quick update:

  • CSI Science quizzes were marked and sent home. Please return signed as soon as possible.
  • Please finish at least two unit tests for independent math before end of term two in two weeks time. Thank you!
  • Applied Math Packet 2/3 Quiz will be next Friday, February 24th. We will review during the week.
  • Debates Tuesday, February 21st. Everyone should be done with at least paragraph two (out of five) of their one-minute speech. Please finish at least paragraph 3 this weekend. On Monday you will finish paragraph 4 & 5 and practice out loud.
  • Playground research — Continue to work on finding ideas for your equipment. Most of you have your ideas already. Next week we measure the space, make a detailed drawing, and begin construction of our models.
  • Mysteries — Everyone worked at least 1.5 hours today on their stories. The goal was to write the hook to the story and try to get one page done, where you introduce the characters and setting for your story. If you do not have at least the HOOK written, you may need to catch up at home. More time to write all next week, with the stories due on Friday, Feb. 24th.
  • Brain Breaks — Don’t forget to take brain breaks while you are working on writing, okay? Work on writing in small chunks rather than all at once. Here is a link to the Top Ten Ted Animation Videos, so you can take a brain break! Or, better yet, go outside!!!
  • SLEEP! — Here is a TED Ed talk on What Would Happen Without Sleep! Please always prioritize your sleep. You all worked hard today. If you are keeping up with the way Ms. D is chunking the assignments in class, then you shouldn’t have more than one hour of thinking or writing work to do before Monday. Make sure you get sleep and relax, too, as it is important.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hello Everyone!

Happy Valentine’s Day. Thank you for all the treats! Short week this round — only two more days to go! No School on Friday the 17th.

Tonight’s Tasks:

  • Flag Day Tomorrow! Wear red, white, or anything Canadian for house points
  • Debate: Finish intro paragraph (see my previous post on Intro Paragraph)
  • Mystery Story: 10 Adjectives for each main character and the setting. Write your HOOK.
  • Caribou Test Tomorrow — Practice Sudoku

Deadlines and Notes:

  • Socials Questions due on Thursday. We went over criteria today. More time in class on Wednesday and Thursday.
  • Applied Math Packet 3 Due end of day Wednesday. More time Wednesday in class to work on this.
  • Please don’t spend more than 45 minutes on Debate and Mysteries tonight. Beyond that, you are taking too much time on homework. I just wanted to let you know my expectations, so you are not spending too much time at home.

Have a good night!

Debate: Writing the first paragraph! February 14th

Debate — Writing the first paragraph

Let’s say the question for the debate is:  

Does Ms.D need coffee?  (obviously, she does, but let’s put it up for debate….)

So, we will start by writing a HOOK to bring the audience in so they listen! (Don’t forget to indent!)

Coffee: to drink or not to drink? For Ms.D, there is no question.

Then, add a TOPIC SENTENCE that tells us your key arguments (use the three from your worksheet.)

She absolutely must have coffee so she will stay awake, so she won’t be grumpy 😫, and because it tastes good.

Then, add a concluding sentence with PERSUASIVE LANGUAGE (see your handout, use alliteration, repetition, rhetorical questions, etc.)

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee, and more coffee. It’s all about the pursuit of happiness.

Put it all together (add more detail if you want) and you have your first paragraph:

    Coffee: to drink or not to drink? For Ms.D, there is no question. She absolutely must have coffee so she will stay awake, so she won’t be grumpy, and because it tastes good. Coffee, coffee, coffee and more coffee. It’s all about the pursuit of happiness.

More to come tomorrow!

 

 

 

UBC Math Workshop Was Today! — Posted by Michael

Today a UBC professor, Melania Alvarez, came in to do a workshop on mathematics! She brought some math puzzles and activities, and she also spoke to us about what mathematicians do. She works in both anthropology and math, and her background has allowed her to work on all sorts of projects, including studying the quipu of the Ancient Incans! She talked about how many careers are open to you if you have a strong mathematics background.

The first activity we did was about figuring out a number based on a set of criteria or clues. We were given a number grid/chart numbered 1-100. Then there were three problems that have some rules about the mystery number and we had to figure out what the number was four times, once with the whole class and three by yourself or with a partner.

The second puzzle was about making structures with coloured blocks based on a set of criteria. So of the criteria was the blue block has to touch the red block with an edge and the green block had to be at the bottom. It was a 3D structure and each puzzle only had one possibility. If you got it right on the first try then you get ten points, on the second try you would get nine points, and so on. This taught and showed us what mathematicians do. In the end we had a lot of fun while learning in the process!

Thank you to Joshua for his help with this entry!

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