Wednesday, December 14th

What did we do?

We started with two rounds of geography challenge. Each round had ten questions about Canadian history. We went over the answers after. Ms. Lees then assigned us each a novel, and we were to silent read until approximately fifteen minutes after the start of block two. After we got into groups based on which novel we were assigned. Ms. Lees explained the web we have to do after winter break. It depends on ourselves whether we deserve to work in a group or on our own, but first, we had to brainstorm as a group about some heading there could be for our book.

Why?

The geography challenge was a practice for the real geography challenge coming up. Many questions were in Socials 9 and 10, so many of us didn't know the answer. We learned about Canadian history as we were being tested. Ms. Lees gave us time to read our novel because she wanted us to get a simple understanding of the time and setting of the book, and also letting us be able to come up with a few headings for our web.

My Reflection/Connections

I am not familiar with Canadian history, so I only got a few correct in the practice rounds. The geography challenge would be a good way to learn about geography. Reading a historical novel is much entertaining than reading off information on the textbook. By reading a novel, you can also enjoy the story while you absorb the historical information provided. A web will help us organize and understand the history and culture of the setting the novel is in.

Homework

Read your novel.

Brainstorm ideas for the web.

William will be doing the next learning log.

What we did today: Today we finished watching the "First Knight" movie, after we watched the movie, we all got sorted into groups to look and think about a quote from the movie.

Why we did it: We finished the movie so we could answer the last question on the sheet that we had from the first time we watched the movie. I think that the reason that we looked and thought about the quotes is because Ms.Lees' wanted us to understand the meanings and also to see how everyone in the class worked togethor as a group.

Reflections: i think that this was good to do because it was a fun activity and i enjoyed doing it. I think that these skills will help everyone in our class in the furture because as we get older we will be expected to understand and be able to write about famous quotes.

Tips and Homework: Today for homework we only have the questions from the king arthur movie and the sheet where we had to fill out about our group participation.

Friday, December 9th

What We Did Today

Today, for the whole class, we did the class spelling bee and we chose spellers to go to the school one after school on Monday.

Why We Did It

Today, we did the class spelling bee to find out the best spellers and to make them go to the school one.

My Reflections

I kind of thought that the class spelling bee was very fun rather than doing other things.

Learning log Dec 7

What We Did Today

Today we watched the movie known as "First Knight" it's about a knight named Lancelot who joins King Arthur fight against a rebellious knight and his forces. We spent both blocks watching the movie, and we couldn't work on our spelling bee due to lack of time.

Why we did it

I'm not too sure about exact reason, but I believe it's to help with our understanding of the middle ages and what they would consider normal, such as women marrying men 40 years older than them. We also had to answer questions so I believe it tests our listening skills too.

My Reflections/Connections

I felt that watching a movie was better than a normal day in humanities class, we didn't really have to do much, the only thing we had to do was pay attention to look for answers, answer them and enjoy the movie.

Homework/Reminders

Remember to study for Canspell, the class spelling bee is Friday

Learning Log Dec 2nd

What we did


Today, we did nothing else except doing the geography test.  The test was pretty straight forward and if you studied what ms. lees told you to study, you would have done a great job.

Why we did it


We did our test because in order to for Ms. Lees to know about our geography skills, we have to write a test.

My Reflections


Taking a test really stresses some people but it is something we must do because without tests, we wouldn't study.

Reminders 


study your words for the canspell

make sure to come to flex if you have to finish the geography test

Learning Blog Nov 30

What We Did

Today was a double block day, and that means double the time and double the learning. During the first block, we started taking notes on paragraphs in our social studies textbook. The notes were separated in terms of which pages to do and what type of paragraph to do it with, so specific notes needed to be taken using specific note-taking methods, since no one can take textbooks from class, the notes aren't due anytime too soon. After the break had ended and the second block had started, we practiced for the Canspell spelling bee, it was performed as a written test since some people are doing the "Vow of Silence" and they cannot talk so we wrote it instead. Ms Lees decided to conduct an experiment by secluding the girls (minority of the class) into one side of the portable and cramming the boys (the majority of the class) into the other, this was to see which side could get more tests with high marks. After that we looked at a video describing how to do Cornell notes. Some time after she called for anyone that had trouble with geography to help them. The rest of the day was spent working on our notes. Ms Lees conferenced with a few people about their portfolios throughout the day.

Why We Did it

We worked on our note taking to help us on our note taking abilities so we might be able to use them- later on, in other school classes or when we do other stuff that involve taking notes in a neat and organized fashion. We had the spelling bee to help us practice our spelling since the class spelling bee is coming, which will lead to bigger spelling bees. The fact that it was written was probably to help the people doing the vow of silence. Ms Lees showed us the video on her blog, to teach us the procedure of how to write Cornell notes because we didn't have anything about Cornell notes in out note taking booklets (or at least in mine). She conferenced people about their portfolios since it determines the student's grade.

My Reflections/Connections

Taking notes on the textbook will probably help my note taking and reviewing, as I usually have problems with that. I think that Cornell note taking is very complicated though.
Doing the spelling bee on paper reminded me of doing weekly spelling tests when I was young.

Homework

Remember to come to flex tomorrow to work on your notes if you want to them early.
Study for the geography test, it's on Friday
If you took geography work from your portfolio home to study, remember to get it back to school

Whose turn is it?

It would be helpful for the admin person to add a text box with the posting order to help everyone out.

Learning Log - Tuesday, November 29

What did we do?

At the beginning of class, Ms. Lees checked our persuasive paragraphs that were assigned yesterday. She listed the assignments we needed to work on during the block. First, if you haven't finished the four different types of paragraphs, you have to finish them before you move onto anything else. Then, if you didn't finish the note taking booklet assigned yesterday, you also have to finish that before you do anything else new. She handed out a QAR (Question-Answer Relationships) booklet for us to work on after we have finished the paragraphs. She also assigned note taking in "Pathways", if we finish the QAR in class. She assigned us to do pages 9-20 in outline form, 21-29 in web form, and 31-36 in Cornell form. For the last 15 minutes, Ms. Lees practiced Canspell spelling bee with us. She also gave us a student information sheet for verbal spelling bee.

Why?

We did a homework check first because Ms. Lees needed to grade us for our work habits. It was also to remind us that we have to finish our homework or else we will get a low work habit mark. We finished paragraphs and note taking exercise from yesterday because Ms. Lees didn't want anyone behind with undone work. She assigned us the QAR booklet to help us learn what types of questions there are and how to identify them. It can also help us quickly find the answer in the text. We were assigned to do note taking in "Pathways" to practice for real note taking in class. Ms. Lees practiced verbal spelling bee with us to teach us the rules and get us ready for the real spelling bee coming up.

My Reflections/Connections:

I am glad that we get to learn about QAR. I often have a problem finding the answer to the question in the text. QAR will help me in finding the answers faster and more accurate. Even though I haven't done spelling bees in elementary before, it reminds me when my mom used to test me verbally for spelling tests. To save time and paper, she would always test me by having me to spell the letters out.

Homework:

1. QAR booklet, due tomorrow

2. "Pathways" note taking, due Friday (possibly).

Tips:

- there will be flex tomorrow and Thursday, come if you need help

- you should be all done your portfolios, but if you're not, talk to Ms. Lees

- practice for Canspell spelling bee

- geography test on Friday, see Ms. Lees' blog for details

- Cornell form note taking video has been posted in Ms. Lees' blog

- remember to follow Ms. Lees' blog

Learning Log - Monday, November 28

What did we do?

Today in class, Ms. Lees first did a homework check for the explanatory paragraphs which were assigned for homework last Friday. She notified us that all our paragraphs should be done, except the persuasive paragraphs which we were going to learn today. She then explained that our portfolios should been done too, because we were the class that was given the most class time to work on them. Even though we were given a lot of time in class, quite a few people weren't finished their portfolios.

We learned about persuasive paragraphs, how it convinces the reader to agree on your certain point or idea. It should also give a few different supporting reasons. Ms. Lees assigned us to highlight the traits of persuasive paragraphs in the example given in the booklet. She then assigned exercise 1 and 2 after we have understood how to write a persuasive paragraph. For exercise 2, if you don't want to write about any of the four topics given, you could also choose from you heart map.

Ms. Lees handed out a booklet which describes and includes exercises of note-taking methods for geography. We were expected to work on the exercises if we finish the persuasive paragraphs before class ends.

Ms. Lees was preparing to leave about 15 minutes at the end of class to practice Canspell spelling bee, but she was trying to finish as much portfolio conferences as she can, due to the time we wasted in the beginning of class because many people weren't finished their portfolio.

Why?

Ms. Lees did a homework check so she can get an idea of who's doing their homework and who's not, and also add up our marks for our work habit. She gave us time to finish our portfolio so we are all ready when we have our portfolio conference.

We learned how to write persuasive paragraphs to learn how to argue about a point and convincing your readers to think the same way by giving good reasons. We practiced with a few exercises to get more familiar with persuasive paragraphs.

The note-taking methods booklet was to help us with note-taking. It was to help us understand that we don't have to waste our time on writing down exactly what the teacher says in class. Different methods such as webs and diagrams can help those visual learners understand better.

My Reflection/Connections:

I understand that we do portfolios because it's a easy way to help us realize how we're doing and about what letter grade or percentage we are even though it takes a lot of work to organize a portfolio.

Persuasive paragraphs can also be useful in the debate club. In debate, you have to argue with the other team that your point is the correct point. You have to give good enough reasons that the other team ends up speechless. Practicing persuasive paragraphs now can help you a lot if you want to be in the debate club later on you if you are participating in it right now.

Learning how to take notes now can save you up a lot of time later on, because in the higher grades and university, the teachers or professors talk really fast to save time and if you write down every single word they say, you might miss some important points.

Homework:

1. Highlighting traits of persuasive paragraphs in the example given in your paragraph booklet.

2. Persuasive paragraph exercises 1 and 2.

3. Exercises in note-taking methods booklet.

4. Practice for Canspell spelling bee.

Tips:

- Come for flex Tuesday morning at 7:30 in Mr. Peacock's room if you didn't finish organizing portfolio.

- Geography test on Friday, bring a ruler and a calculator (no phones allowed).

- Remember to follow Ms. Lees' Blog.

I will be doing the next learning log, since Razia will be away.

Miscellaneous Stuff

Anyone have a name that we can change the blog's name into?
Anyone else notice that the URL is signed under razia's name?
I've heard that someone else has to write down Monday's post, who wants to do it?

Learning Log Nov 24 2011

What we did today




In Ms. Lees humanity 8 class, after Ms. Lees checked that some people in the class didn't finish the work(narrative, descriptive paragraph exercises and Geography page 70) the people that wasn't finished was paired up with a buddy and finished the work.  Also, in class, Ms Lees explained about the explanatory paragraphs and started the exercise for the explanatory paragraphs.


Why we did it




Some people were paired up with a buddy and finished the work.  We did this because we had to move on and we can't go on with about half of the class not finished the stuff before.  Therefore, some people that weren't finished quickly finished in about 15 minutes.  Also, Ms Lees explained about the explanatory paragraphs because without Ms Lees explanation, some people could be stuck or have trouble doing their homework.


My connections




The writing skill that we are learning in class right now will be useful to everyone  in many ways because you could be a writer, a journalist and also, writing is used in everything we do.  Thus, I think writing is very useful.


Homework




Study for the Canspell spelling bee and also do the exercise for explanatory paragraphs with the outline.

Learning Log- Nov 23

What We Did Today


Today was a double block day, thus double the work. Since there was a power outage yesterday, many people were told that school was delayed, and they should check back at the school, however, many students decided to skip the whole school day. The people that skipped the class yesterday had to learn yesterday's lesson, which included "heart mapping", locating various types of sentences inside a paragraph, learning what a narrative paragraph is, and they also did some geography. After the people who skipped got caught up (which took most if not all of the first block), we than learned about descriptive paragraphs.


Why We Did It


We re-did some work since there were many people that weren't here yesterday and needed to catch up, so we spent our time either working on geography (people that showed up yesterday) or heart mapping and finding specific sentences in a narrative paragraph (people that didn't show up yesterday). The people that didn't come yesterday made their heart maps so they can refer to it for paragraph topics, they learned about paragraphs so they can write better paragraphs later on in school or if they become a writer when they grow up, 


My Reflections


I understand the point of what we did, and I feel better about the fact that I didn't skip the 2nd half of school yesterday, since I feel ahead of the people who didn't come for school yesterday. I also understand how "heart mapping" can help with learning since it can be used to brainstorm stuff that don't even involve paragraphs


Homework


Narrative Paragraph: You write one paragraph using a subject from your heart map, or one of the listed options. Due Friday


William K will be writing Friday's learning log.

Learning Log: Tuesday, November 22, 2011

What did we do?

We were assigned to create a web or list some ideas about what was important to us, such as memorable moments, specific people, specific items, etc.

We were also given a booklet which introduced three different types of paragraphs and other information to help us write paragraphs. The three main types of paragraphs were narrative, descriptive, and persuasive. We only went over the narrative paragraphs because of time limitation. We read two examples and figured out the introduction, the topic sentence, and the conclusion. At last, we wrote a narrative paragraph that includes an introduction, a topic sentence, and a conclusion. The topic of the narrative paragraph may be chosen from our "Heart Mapping", the web or list we did in the beginning of class.

Why?

We listed the important ideas that were important to us because later on when we need to write paragraphs, we could choose one idea from our "Heart Mapping" and use it as the topic. That way we don't have to think of a new idea every time we are assigned to write paragraphs.

We learned about narrative paragraphs because it is important to learn how to write paragraphs since we have to do many writings and essays later on. We were assigned to write a narrative paragraph because we should practice writing them and correct some errors and misunderstandings now so we don't make more in the future.

My Reflections/Connections:

I understand the purpose of the "Heart Mapping". I wish I could have realized earlier that how useful it is, because that way you won't have to waste your time on thinking of a topic. I could use this skill, thinking and planning ahead on different subjects.

I understand that good paragraphs should include five to nine sentences. They should have an introduction, topic sentence, and a conclusion. It should also be on one idea; paragraphs with two or more ideas should be separated into more paragraphs. Narrative paragraphs are paragraphs that tells a story or an incident. The ability to write good paragraphs could help me throughout my life, whenever I need to write something.

Homework:

1. "Heart Mapping", due Wednesday, November 23. Minimum 10 ideas.

2. Narrative paragraph, due Wednesday, November 23. You should chose a memorable moment from your "Heart Mapping", because it is likely to be a story or an incident.

John W will be doing the next learning log.

What we did today:
in ms lees' humanities class today we did a worksheet in our geography book. (pg 67-70). We also went over our blogs and learned how to add the response boxes to our blogs, we also learned how to change the setting/theme of our blogs.

Why we did it:


We went over our blogs to make sure that we fully understand how to create and edit/post on our blogs. We also learned how to add response boxes, it is important that we have these becausethan if someone else finds the review unhelpful or off topic the author knows to write a more helpful and detailed response next time. Today we used an atlas to find the coastal line of Africa. The reason we did this worksheet is to insure that everyone in Ms Lees' humanities 8 class knows how to use an atlas efficiantly.





Connections :


The blogging skills that we learned today in class will be useful to everyone in the class because in the future should we ever need to blog again we have experience. This skill will also help us if we are ever in Ms. Lees' class again in the future because we will be able to be leaders in the class and help out the less experienced sutdents in our class. The worksheet that our class did in class about Africa had some vocabluary on the sheet that some students didnt know. This worksheet helped many students realize what many words on the worksheet means.


Homework & Tips :
Finish Portfolio

** Also i will be in Mexico next monday so i will not be able to write my learning log. **

Angela will be doing the next learning log.