Hello R7A Families –

I hope you are keeping warm, and also enjoying the snow and sunshine. St. John’s, Newfoundland is digging out of a snowstorm that brought 76 cm of snow to the city that is now in a state of emergency. An enterprising snowboarder decided to take advantage of the snow-heavy streets.

This week, on Thursday, we say farewell to Mr. Patrick Catahan, U of O teacher candidate, who has been with our class since the first day of grade 7, taught and learned with us every Wednesday and then every day since the beginning of December. There will be a “surprise” party for Mr. Catahan on Thursday afternoon. Students are invited to bring notes and snacks to say so long and good luck to our wonderful teacher-to-be.

In Language Arts, we are learning about how advertisements are made and will ourselves be making ads with products and target audiences. Guided reading will resume next week with the reading groups deciding what types of novels they would like to read in February. Speaking of February, in that month, every day, we will be having a “February 15”, starting each day with a full 15 minutes of reading. Our next activities in Language Arts will include writers’ boot camp and a unit on the teenage brain and the film, “Inside Out”. Please ask your children what they wrote for their New Year resolutions. They worked hard to be precise and realistic and did a good job.

In Geography, led by Mr. Catahan, the class is finishing up their teaching posters on different kinds of natural resources. This week we will learn about how fossil fuels are extracted and processed, and what the implications are for the environment. A short research project will follow with my giving specific feedback on how students did in their first research project and what they can focus on to become stronger.

In Visual Arts, our Morning Star personalized mandalas are almost done. Some samples as included below. Our next project focuses on using perspective and shading in water colour representations of mountains.

This week promises a lot of cold and snowy days. Please ensure your pre-teens are wearing boots, gloves and hats!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This will be my last weekly blog to the R7A community until the end of the current labour situation. As  always, I am available by e-mail, and available for meetings at recesses. There will be no school tomorrow, Monday, given the walk-out and no school on Friday which is a professional development day for report card writing.

Take care,

Ms Swail