A collection of moments from our Grade 7 learning community
Did you know that some historians have found evidence that sculpture as an art form has been around since 25000 BCE? Today, we had the privilege of learning the fundamentals of clay and sculpture from our artist in residence. Our classes began creating a clay model of hominid species of their choice. Later, we will glaze them and reflect on our experience. Take a look at some of our progress photos below:
As we prepare for our Remembrance Day assembly on Friday, our class has been exploring the ‘hidden heroes’ of Canada’s military in World Ward II. Have you ever heard of the Cree Code Talkers? These were members of the Indigenous community who translated messages from English into Cree as a way to protected confidential information. This way, if anyone else was listening in, they couldn’t crack the code! The Code Talkers were only one example of the thousands of Indigenous people who served in Canada’s military during both World Wars. Yet, once they returned from battle, Indigenous veterans faced racism and prejudiced laws that did not afford them the same supports and rights as other veterans. Even today, we discussed how often these heroes are often still left out of history textbooks, movies, books, and media. As part of our effort to learn more, our class is presenting some information about Indigenous military members on Indigenous Veterans Day (November 8th).
Feel free to watch the video(s) below to learn more about the Code Talkers, and Indigenous military members (both past and present):
Have you ever attended a school with a Lunch program? In class today, we discussed the possible positive and negatives of school-wide Lunch programs. We learned about a young photojournalist named Martha, who began a blog called Never Seconds in 2009 to document what she (and her friends) were being served for lunch every day. You can access her the archive of her blog here: https://neverseconds.blogspot.com/
Image description: a slice of pizza, a muffin, a small amount of corn, and an unidentified fried item (fish stick?) are placed sloppily on a lunch tray.
We discussed how, for many people, a school Lunch or Breakfast program may be their only access to a consistent, nutritionally balanced meal for a variety of reasons (food insecurity, affordability, time constraints, etc.). Our concerns, however, were that many of the meals being served to Martha (and to many students across the world) were not nutritionally-balanced, were unappetizing, and were not a correct serving size.
What are your experiences with a school Lunch program? Do you think that all schools should have them?
Feel free to watch the video below, of how an amazing crew of “Lunch ladies” feed over 400 students a day at a middle school in New York City:
Have you ever heard of the mysterious disappearance of the Franklin Expedition? This History Mystery involves two ships, sailing from Britain to the Artic of Canada on a search for the Northwest Passage. Despite being well-equipped with food, water, and technology, the ships (and crew) disappeared, and even over 150 years later people still cannot agree on what happened to them!
Check out the trailer, above, for an introduction to this History Mystery, and click the link below for our evidence (so far):
Our Grade 7s have been hard at work learning about early humans with Ms. Ramen in Socials class! We invited a artist in residence to come in and teach us how to sculpt a human skull out of clay. After sculpting, they were fired in the kiln. Then, we glazed the skulls and they will be fired a final time. We can’t wait to see the final product soon!
Some questions we suggest parents/guardians can discuss at home:
Today, we continued our discussion on evolution by learning about Darwin’s finches. Please view the video below and try your best to answer question 5 on your handout. We will continue our conversation about this on Thursday.
-Ms. Ramen
Today, our class discussed what it means to be a bystander to injustice. We discussed how, sometimes, people may not feel empowered to speak out if they witness something wrong. Sometimes, people might not speak up to help others if they are worried about their own safety. We learned that being an ally means that you use your voice to advocate for others. In history, we examine the friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Ella Fitzgerald by reading the book Making Their Voices Heard.
During the 1950s, both Ella and Marilyn faced oppression because of their gender. However, Ella also faced discrimination because of her race; many music venues would not hire her to sing there because of segregation and racism. After hearing this, Marilyn stood up as an ally and used her power and privilege to demand that Ella be hired. She had always admired Ella for her talent and her perseverance. We brainstormed ways that we can use our voices in powerful ways when we witness injustice, bullying, etc.
Check out one of Ella Fitzgerald’s most famous songs below:
Today, we began exploring the next continent in our Books Around the World… we started in Australia! Mr. Murray read us a story about Fluffles, a koala who survived the large wildfires in Australia. This country is home to many different species of animals, including koalas, who are impacted by natural disasters like wildfires.
Look at the video below to learn more about Australia!
This week we visited Jeju Island in South Korea! The Haenyeo are a group of female divers who have been harvesting from the coast of Jeju Island for generations. They harvest a variety of seafoods and treasures to make a living and to provide for their families. Dayeon, the main character in The Ocean Calls, really wants to dive like her grandmother. However, she must first overcome her fear of the water and the ocean.
We spent time in the classroom thinking and writing about a time when we found the courage to overcome something that scared us.
For more information on freediving, check out the video below.
Have you ever been to a parade? Today, we read the story of Tony Sarg the puppeteer. He was one of the first people to design and create the floating balloon ‘puppets’ commonly used in the Macy’s parade in New York City! This parade has been going on since 1924 (almost 100 years). Below is a photo of one of the first balloon puppets designed by Tony:
Some questions to consider:
-How has the design of the balloons changed over the years? Why do you think they have made these changes?
-Why do the designers use helium instead of another gas (like oxygen)?
-If you were going to design a balloon float, what character/creature would you design?