Grand Manan Community School

Ms. Norman's wiki link: http://msnormanwiki.wikispaces.com/

The grade 9 Mathematics curriculum offers students and parents the opportunity to access the textbook via the internet. The website is www.mathmakessense.ca . Student username is math9_student and password is student2010

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Term test on Tuesday

Math 9 - we will have our term test on Tuesday, December 16th. This test is on probability, relative frequency, graphing and equation of the line. We will begin our review tomorrow, and we will also have a full review on Monday before the test. See my last homework blog entry for your homework assignment - some of you are behind!!

Math projects were due today as our formal presentations are next Thursday, December 18th from 12:30pm to 1:30pm. All parents and family are invited to attend our presentation in Room 45.

English 123 - The Chrysalids Trailer project is due tomorrow, Friday, December 12th. The videos are looking grand! Well done everyone. We will play the videos for the school in January at our next WOW Ceremony.

We have our term test on Tuesday, December 16th. The test will include a short reading and response question, opinion question, and paraphrasing, and summarizing question.

Due Friday, December 12th at the end of class:
All Quiet on the Western Front (page 64)
1. Read story as a group
2. Note words you do not know, look up their meaning in the context of the story:
3. Note interesting phrases, or phrases which stand out to you (there should be a minimum of two). Write down the interesting phrase, discuss the meaning with those in your group.
4. Individually, answer THINKING questions (page 67)
5. Page 68 – Housewife: in your journal, answer the questions before you read the poem.
6. Answer THINKING questions (page 69) to pass in.
7. In your journal, answer WRITING questions (page 69) in your journal.
NOTE: this exercise should be thought provoking and a chance for self-reflecting. Go with it!

English 113 - We have our term test on Tuesday, December 16th which will include letter writing, reading and response and true/false, fill-in-the-blank question.

We have one week to go before break and there are many activities for students. Try and stay focused! Before you know it, school will be out for this year, 2008.

Ms. Norman

Monday, December 8, 2008

Last leg before the holiday

We are in the last two weeks before the holiday! It is hard to believe. The cold air is settling in for the winter and students are excited for some time off. However, there is still work to be done before Santa arrives!

Math 9 - for Wednesday's class, you should have completed the following:
Page 104 questions 1 - 6
Page 105 questions 9 - 14
Handout - exercise 3.2
Page 110 questions 1 - 8

Quiz on Wednesday AND PROJECTS ARE DUE ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11TH.

English 123 - scripts are due for The Chrysalids trailer this Friday and the complete trailer is due by Tuesday, December 16th. We will have a quiz each Wednesday before the break.

English 113 - preliminary scripts for the documentary are due on Friday. This script should reflect your ideas and what you are going to film. We will have a quiz before each Wednesday before the break.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Homework Lunch


Thank you to all students and parents who came to parent/teacher interviews. It was of great benefit to meet you and hopefully you learned a little about me as well.

I have posted all Homework Lunch candidates on the Homework Lunch space on the GMCS website. There are a number of assignments overdue in English 123 and 113.

If you miss your weekly quiz (every Wednesday - for all classes); it is up to you to write it the following noon beginning at 11:45 to 12:15. Missed quizzes are also posted on Homework Lunch. This includes students in English 113, 123 and Math 9.

English 123 - you should be writing scripts and planning your video shoots with your group. This project is due on December 12th - no exceptions. This includes the complete video with computer work done!

English 113 - Next week, we are starting a documentary project on an aspect of Grand Manan. You should be thinking of a topic to discuss in class on Monday.

Math 9 - On Friday, November 28th, we will spend the second class working on our projects. Please bring in what you need to work on your project.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Update

Report cards went home with students today. Parent Teacher interviews begin tomorrow, Wednesday, from 6:30pm to 8pm and again on Thursday, 9am to 12:00pm. I will place a sign up sheet outside my door if parents are interested in signing up. If there is no one in my room, please feel free to pop your head in my door if it is open during parent teacher interview hours.

English 113 - there are projects missing (due date November 14th). If these overdue projects are not submitted by Monday, November 24th, automatic Saturday School will be in effect. Students have been reminded many times of the original due date.

Beginning this week, there will be a weekly quiz on Wednesday to assess language skills and exercise knowledge from the week prior. Tomorrow, a quiz will be given on reading comprehension, editing, and short story writing.

Students who did not complete the writing assignment today (4 Christmas lines that have 10 syllably and rhyme) have homework tonight. This is part of the project for our Christmas concert presentation.

English 123 - there are projects missing (due date November 14th). If these overdue projects are not submitted by Monday, November 24th, automatic Saturday School will be in effect.

A weekly quiz will be given on Wedesdays for the remainder of this term. Tomorrow, a quiz will be given on reading comprehension.

Presently, students are working on a group video project for The Chrysalids (due December 12). Students had eMac training today to edit work they will video over the next few weeks. Students are also encouraged to work on their indpendant novel project (due January 9th).


Math 9 - students should be working on their math projects due December 11th. These projects will be presented to parents and administrators on December 18th in our class. Please mark this date in your calendar from 12:30 to 1:30pm. We look forward to having your enjoy our variety of projects.


Classes end on December 19th for the Christmas Holidays.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Missing Work


I am missing some work from students. As a result, I am unable to complete marks for student report cards. Those students will receive an incomplete unless I receive the work by Wednesday morning. Please check the homework blog to see if your name appears.

I will update the homework blog Monday morning in hopes work was dropped off during Saturday school.
Ms. Norman

Friday, November 7, 2008

Remembrance Day - If you can't remember war, think of peace.

There are a number of projects students should be working on over the next few days in order to make the deadlines. These assignments have been posted in class, discussed in class, and worked on in class over the past few weeks ................... right???

Parent/Teacher meetings are Wednesday, November 19th from 6:30 t0 8pm and on Thursday, November 20th from 9am to 12pm. I am located in room 45. I enjoy having students and parents meet with me together - and encourage parents to bring them along.

English 123
PROJECT FOR THE CHRYSALIDS
Choose one of the options below. Deadline: November 14th.
This project is worth 15% (students have the rubric for this project)

Your choices
1. DESIGN THE FRONT PAGE OF A NEWSPAPER. Write a short news story describing the major event in the book. Include an attention grabbing headline and teasers for the rest of the paper. This is to look like a newspaper so make sure you use a front page of an actual paper to guide the development of your design.
2. CREATE AN EYE-CATCHING POSTER. Choose a scene from the book and cast it in a poster that would attract potential readers or buyers to the book. All work must be hand-drawn / painted. Significant images, symbols, etc. must be used and explained. You must also decide upon a border for your poster that is significant to the text. You poster must include the title, author’s name, a brief summary of the book (written by you) as well as 5 significant quotes from the text. This must be done on one piece of bristol board.
3. COMPILE A SCRAPBOOK OR A MEMORY BOX. Choose one of the major characters in the book, and, as that person, put together a scrapbook or memory box of special memories and mementoes. Be true to the character. This memory box must include 10 significant items that were mentioned or referred to in the novel. It could be a fictional letter from another character, an item that was mentioned, pictures that are significant etc.
4. DESIGN A JEOPARDY GAME. Using the jeopardy game as your model, design a game that includes questions related to the novel. You are to have 5 categories with 5 questions for each category. You could have topics such as characters, themes, relationships, The Fringes etc. You will have to watch the show to get the full effect of how the game is designed.
5. You have been hired by a publishing company to adapt The Chrysalids to an illustrated children’s book. You are to focus your story for a target audience of children aged five to ten. Your story must incorporate a minimum of five illustrations with additional illustrations and titling on the book’s front and back covers. You are not expected to cover every aspect of the novel – choosing the most significant events will be imperative. Remember your audience. Keep it simple, but remember the magic of exemplary story-telling.

English 123 students are also working on a group project video of The Chrysalids due December 12th AND an individual novel project due January 9th.


English 113
Hunter in the Dark Novel Project
Deadline: November 14th. This project is worth 15%.

Directions: Select and complete one activity from each section. Create your project to be insightful, rich with detail, accurate, vivid in imagery and diverse in wording.

Section 1: Character
1. Write a bio-poem about yourself and another about a main character in the book, to show how you and the character are alike and different. Be sure to include the most important traits in each poem.
2. A character in the book is being written about in the paper 20 years after the novel ends. Write the article for the paper. Where has life taken this character? Why? Now, do the same for yourself 20 years from now. Make sure both pieces are interesting, feature-type articles.
3. You’re a “profiler.” Write and illustrate a full and useful profile of an interesting character from the book with emphasis on personality traits and other observations. Profile yourself in the same way. Are there similarities or differences?
Section 2: Setting
1. Research a town or place you feel is equivalent to the one in which the novel is set. Use maps, sketches, population, and other demographic data to help you draw comparisons and contrasts.
2. Make a model or a map of a key place in your life (or where you may want to go someday) and of an important place in the novel. Find a way to express why these places are important in your life and in the character’s life.
3. The time and place in which people find themselves and in which events shape people and events in important ways. Find a way to convincingly prove that idea using the book and your own life.
Section 3: Theme
1. Find out about famous people in history or current events whose experiences and lives reflect the essential themes of your novel. Show what you have learned.
2. Create a multimedia presentation that fully explores a key theme from the novel. Use at least three media (for example, music, painting, poetry, sculpture, photography, and calligraphy) in your exploration. Draw at least two comparisons or contrasts between themes in your life and in the novel.
3. Find several songs you think reflect an important message from the book. Prepare an audio collage, write an accompanying card that helps listeners understand why and how you think the songs express the book’s meaning. Do the same with your life and it’s themes.

Math 9
We have worked on individual math projects in three classes at the lab. Students choose a math topic they find challenging or interesting and prepare a presentation to present to parents and administration. This presentation will be done on December 18th from 12:30 - 2pm. The presentations may not take that long - but all are invited to room 45 for coffee and cookies to enjoy our students' success!

Some project presentations include: Rubric Cube, Math Tricks, Physics of Skate Boarding, Pythagoras Theorem.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008


English 113
In class today, we reviewed and discussed numerous quotes from Hunter in the Dark and answered Multiple Choice questions in preparation for the mid-term on Friday. Students were given a sheet with 5 essay choices; the choices are mini-essay topics from Hunter in the Dark where personal expression and novel examples are expected. This "essay" format is similar to two previous tests given. Students will choose and write about one of the topics.


Sample question: In this novel, the word "cataract" means: a type of tree, an eye problem, a waterfall, a bird

English 123
In class today, we read Chapter 16 of The Chrysalids. There is one chapter remaining of which we will read tomorrow. Monday is our exam; for which the format will be similar to what we have done in previous tests.

True or False: David's Aunt Emily was turned away by his parents.

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