Celebration of Learning,Terry Fox Run and more!

Today we had a busy day with two major activities that were important community-building events. Every month we have a Celebration of Learning at Suncrest, and today’s assembly highlighted music! We all had an opportunity to hear the school song sung by the entire school for the first time. The students and I agreed that it is a catchy tune! In the afternoon, we had the Terry Fox Run. After a brief assembly to remember Terry and why we run every September, we celebrated the fundraising the school did over the past week to raise $500 toward cancer research. Then, students ran the route around the school, receiving house colour points (toward a year-long competition) for each lap. It was a warm afternoon, but our class ran hard!

Students continued to work on their body systems expert research. Some students asked, “How much note taking is enough?” To which Ms. D responded, “Well, it is important to make sure you have enough information to respond to the section headings I gave you in the project criteria. Also, remember when researching that you always want more than one perspective. I recommend at least three sources.”

Another question was, “Can we copy from the book even though it is copyrighted?” And I answered, “Yes, you can copy from the book for notes, but then when you go to do your report, it should be your own words, otherwise it becomes plagiarism. It is also important to say where the information is coming from. Give the person credit for their work.” As a reminder, all writing should be done at school, and I will need to see the writing in progress during class time. For homework, students were asked to continue looking for resources to further their research.

Another thing that came up is revisiting criteria for participation and work done in class. Even though there are not letter marks for formative assessment type work, including homework, it still should be completed if you want to do well overall in terms of marks. Please revisit the participation rubric that applies to all subjects. Also, please note that on projects such as our body systems expert report, I have provided a specific rubric for marks. Both participation throughout and projects are important.

We watched Bill Nye’s Brain Video to review the parts of memory and to introduce the scientific method and writing of lab reports, which is something they will learn this year and actively use this Friday or Monday in an experiment about germs! They completed a short experiment about brain/nerve/muscle reaction time using a ruler and then had to write out a quick lab report with a partner. Fun fact: Bill Nye went to my university! I think his story of how he became an educator and why is inspiring.

Finally, we had a discussion about pathogens as we will be discussing germs, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. They read a short article and began to answer questions about these things in class, and more time will be given tomorrow to complete these before we do some experiments.

Remember: YPC Concerts and Pizza Money due Monday. Agenda money due as soon as possible. Bring a jar.

I hope everyone had a great day!