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Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Oct.9

Novel Study: Seedfolks Inferencing Team Task

A theme is the central idea, subject or message of a literary work.  A work of literature may have more than one theme.  For example, some famous novels deal with universal themes such as love, life, death, betrayal, forgiveness, justice, revenge, loyalty, friendship etc.











Working cooperatively and constructively within a group of 3-4 maximum, your team task is to infer what you consider to be the central theme or themes of Seedfolks.  On chart paper, jot down key words, phrases, quotes or even symbols that will prompt your group to share your ideas orally with the class.

You may choose to organize your ideas using a graphic organizer such as the one below:













Success Criteria:

  • understand literary term theme as an overall message or subject, not a retell
  • identify at least 2 personal themes you feel the author wants you to be aware of 
  • support your ideas/opinions with what the characters did or said to enable you to arrive at this conclusion
  • share your ideas confidently, clearly, logically

Sunday, 6 October 2013

Oct.6 Week Reminders Geography & Language

Geography (Di Croce & Tassone) Reminder:

Place of Interest & District/Cultural Neighborhoods Tasks are both overdue. Many remain incomplete.  Samples for reference are on blog (Sept.17 & Sept.24 entries).  Refer to them for success!  Do not simply copy & paste information from online sources, instead, pick out key ideas and organize them in your own words to show what you have learned about these places.  Follow the samples and submit your work before PA Day this week (Oct.10).  At this point, everyone should be exploring a Region around Toronto (see Oct.3 entry with sample) - we will continue to work on the task this week.  

Novel Study (Di Croce, Tassone, Bucci) Reminder:

Chapter monologue follow-up questions should be completed by now, namely:
  • Virgil (Sept.20 entry)
  • Sae Young (Sept.23 entry)
  • Curtis (Sept.24 entry)
  • Nora (Sept.25 entry)
  • Maricela (Sept.26 entry)
  • Amir (Sept.27 entry)
These questions will be submitted with the personal lessons to be learned from 12 character quotes before the PA Day this week (Oct.10).  Remember that the lessons to the quotes are not to be completed on chart paper but on a separate sheet. See sample response Oct.3 entry for success!

Remember this week to bring in any non-perishable food items for St. Simon's Thanksgiving Food Drive:





Thursday, 3 October 2013

Oct.3

Geography Task: Regions

Working independently or with only 1 partner, refer to figure 2.3 (pg.23) to begin exploring a region of your choice around Toronto following the criteria below:

  • identify where it is located in relation to our Toronto region
  • identify its neighboring regions
  • identify any major counties, towns and/or cities that make up this region
  • identify which areas within this region can be described by any of these characteristics: urban, rural, wilderness, physical/landforms, human/high population density, political centre, climate, major bodies of water, ecozones (part of Niagara Escarpment Biosphere?), functional (a region from which people receive a product)

Sample:

I have selected the region of Muskoka to explore.  It is located north-east of Toronto.

Its neighboring regions include:  Simcoe to the west, Parry Sound to the north, Haliburton to the east, and Victoria to the south.

The towns of Huntsville, Bracebridge and Gravenhurst and the townships of Georgian Bay, Lake of Bays, and Muskoka Lakes form the major cities or municipalities of the region, as shown on the map below:


Key details of Muskoka region:
-known as “cottage country” of Ontario
-vacation, tourist, long-weekend destination
-many lakeside resorts, location of summer camps
-its beautiful natural scenery has invited many Hollywood celebrities to build their own vacation retreats on its many lakes
-  3 major bodies of water: Lake Muskoka, Lake Rosseau, Lake Joseph
-made up of many small villages, towns and rural farming communities
-government is centred in Bracebridge
-home of Algonquin Provincial Park, a historic and vast protected conservation wilderness area made up of unique variety of Canadian wildlife/vegetation; picturesque environment continues to inspire Canadian artists


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Seedfolks Quote Reading Response Sample:

  • identify the lesson in your opening top sentence
  • explain and support that idea with your own ideas or ideas from the text using at least 3 sentences as shown below:
It is through the character of Florence that I have learned the importance of community.  Living in one of most multi-cultural cities in North America, I am reminded to respect and celebrate cultural diversity.  It is important to create and live in a family-oriented community in which everyone (regardless of ethnicity, religion, language etc) feels welcomed, included and safe.  When people come together on a regular basis for the greater good, as the seedfolks do in the Gibb Street Garden, then only positive things will flourish.  Walls that previously existed between people will come down.  People will have a sense of purpose, someone to lean on through the tough times and a sense of hope for the future.


Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Oct.2

What major regions can you identify that make up the city of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area?

  • what regions is Toronto further divided?
  • Woodbridge/Maple is located where?
  • what townships make up region of York?
  • Brampton/Mississauga is located where?
  • Oakville is located where?







Novel Study: Seedfolks Quotes Analysis 2

Character/Monologue Quote
What lesson(s) do you personally think we can all learn from this character and apply in our daily life?  Explain with supporting details.

8/ Sae Young:  “But just be near people, nice people, feel good, like next to fire in winter… That day I see man use my funnel. Then woman. Then many people. Feel very glad inside. Feel part of garden. Almost like family.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
9/ Curtis:  “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone. All that was five years ago. I’ve caught up with her now. Done fooling around. She was looking for a husband, and now I’m looking for a wife.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
10/ Nora:  “We mustn’t stop living before out time. So I’m forever telling Mr. Myles… Over the narrow, bumpy path we went, his nose and eyes working. Some remembered scent was pulling him. He was a salmon traveling upstream through his past.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
11/ Maricela:  “How nature ran on sunlight and rain and the seasons, and how I was part of that system. The words sort of out me into a daze. My body was part of nature. I was related to bears, to dinosaurs, to plants, to things that were a million yours old. It hit me that this system was much older and stronger than the other. She said how it wasn’t some disgrace to be part of it. She said it was an honor.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
12/ Amir:  “But there at least you know your neighbors. Here, one cannot say that. The object in America is to avoid contact, to treat all as foes unless they’re known to be friends. Here you have a million crabs living in a million crevices.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…

Monday, 30 September 2013

Sept.30-Oct.1

Students, please note that you will be working on the tasks below throughout this week.  It is not today's homework.  Nonetheless, begin/continue working on it little by little ;)

Geography: Region (text pg.22-35)

What is a region? (pg.22)

How would you compare figure 2.2 (pg.23) to our St. Simon region?

Identify 3 regions around Toronto in figure 2.3 (pg.23) that you are familiar with and/or have visited.  What cities/towns are located in each of the 3 regions you have selected?

How would you describe a wilderness region? (pg.24-5) Where have you seen this type of region?

How would you describe a rural region? (pg.25)  Where have you seen this type of region?

How would you describe an urban region? (pg.25) Where have you seen this type of region?

Where in Canada is a physical region defined by its mountains? (pg.28)

Where in Canada is a physical region defined by its vegetation? (pg.28)

Where in Canada is a physical region defined as Maritime? (pg.28)

Where in Canada is a physical region defined by its rock type? (pg.28)






Final monologue
Florence looks forward to the Gibb Street garden continuing in the spring.  She respects/admires the first people (seedfolks) that transformed the vacant lot/dump into a beautiful garden; they created a friendly, loving community that celebrated cultural diversity. These seedfolks remind her of her family, the first African-American family that escaped slavery and settled in the area.  After a long cold winter, Florence looks forward to the spring when the community comes back out to plant and grow together and she hopes this tradition will continue - it makes her happy to be part of this growing family.


Novel Study:  Seedfolks Quote Analysis 1

Character/Monologue Quote
What lesson(s) do you personally think we can all learn from this character and apply in our daily life?  Explain with supporting details.

1/ Kim:  “But in that vacant lot he would see me. He would watch my beans break ground and spread, and would notice with pleasure their pods growing plump. He would see my patience and my hard work. I would show him that I could raise plants, as he had. I would show him that I was his daughter.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
2/ Ana:  “Then the truth of it slapped me full in the face. I said to myself, “what have you done?” Two beans had roots. I knew I’d done them harm. I felt like I’d read through her secret diary and had ripped out a page without meaning to. I laid those beans right back in the ground, as gently as sleeping babies.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
3/ Wendell:  “There’s plenty about my life I can’t change. Can’t bring the dead back to life on this earth. Can’t change myself into a millionaire. But a patch of ground in this trashy lot-I can change that. Can change it big. Better to put my time into that than moaning about the other all day.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
4/ Gonzalo:  “He studied the sun. Then the soil. He felt it, then smelled it, then actually tasted it…Tio Juan didn’t even notice people-he was totally wrapped up in the work… I stared at his busy fingers, then his eyes. They were focused, not faraway or confused. He’d changed from a baby back into a man.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
5/ Leona:  “I’ve got two kids in a high school that has more guns than books, so I know all about complaining to officials and such about things that need changing… You ever watch a sax player close? They push down a key and way at the other end of the instrument something moves. That’s what I was looking for-the key that would make that trash disappear.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
6/ Sam:  “This time she gave me a little smile. I smiled back. That’s my occupation…You’ve seen fishermen mending the rips in their nets. That’s what I do, only with people.  If I’m lucky, I get’em talking to each other. Sewing up the rips in the neighborhood.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…
7/ Virgil:  “I couldn’t believe it. I stomped outside. I could feel that eighteen-speed slipping away. I was used to seeing kids lying and making mistakes, but not grown-ups. I was mad at my father. Then I sort of felt sorry for him.”
Through this character, I have learned the importance of…

Friday, 27 September 2013

Sept.27

Seedfolks: Amir monologue chp.12  
  • What is Amir's impression of America in comparison to India?
  • What happens when we have misconceptions or stereotype others?
  • What really defines Royce?  What does not define him?
  • What lessons could we learn from Amir's interation with either the Polish or Italian lady?
  • What continues to happen in the Gibb Street Garden?
Success Criteria for a good reading response:
1.  Use words from the question to begin phrasing your your response.
2.  Offer your point of view & put yourself/your voice in your writing using words like I think...  I believe...  I feel that...   In my opinion...  After reading this, I...
3.  Support your thoughts with a quote or details from the story i.e. In the text, it says...  

Thursday, 26 September 2013

Sept.26 Language

Seedfolks:  Maricela monologue chp.11

  • What did you think of Maricela and her attitude at the beginning of the chapter?
  • Who had a positive impact on Maricela?  What did she help her realize?
  • What 2 things are being compared in this chapter? (hint: "the miracle of life")



Sept.26 Curriculum Night Outline

Curriculum Night 2013
Gr.7 Di Croce & Tassone

Di Croce's class:  stsimondicroce.blogspot.ca
e-mail:  stsimongr7@gmail.com

Tassone's class:  tassonestsimon.blogspot.ca 

Italian: Signora Donato
French: Madame Viselli
Instrumental Music: Miss Kotiliarenko

Check your child's class blog on a daily basis to see what he/she is working on. Every entry is archived and is always available for reference.  

Alternating rotary subjects: 
Tassone: Science & Math
Di Croce: Language & Geography/History

Fall Curiculum Focus:


Numeracy: factors, multiples, order of operations, ratio, rate, percent

Data Management: analyzing graphs, mean, median, mode

Patterning: relationships table of values, algebraic expressions

Measurement: area of parallelogram, triangle, trapezoid



Language novel study: making inferences, identifying theme, expressing opinions, making predictions, making connections, discussing life lessons, character analysis, vocabulary development









 Ecosystems, interactions in the environment











Place & location, mapping, connections to our city











Intermediate student expectations:
  • demonstrating good character/leadership
  • greater self-motivation to succeed
  • working collaboratively, constructively, creatively 
  • more ownership, responsibility for task completion
  • improved organizational skills, prioritization
  • time management, transitioning between subjects/teachers
Our school board welcomes BYOD (bring your own device) i.e. laptop, tablet, e-book readers exclusively for school purposes including:
  • word processing MS Word
  • multi-media PowerPoint, Prezi, MovieMaker
  • e-mailing tasks
  • blog updates
  • Google research

Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Sept.25

Seedfolks: Nora monologue chp.10
  • What type of individual is Nora?
  • What affect does the garden have on Mr. Myles?
  • What do we learn about the garden and its gardeners by the end of this chapter?
Continue with Geography task using Bloor West Village sample as your reference.

French Department letter to parents (if you misplaced it, forgot to inform your parents of the trip) below:

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We are currently involved in the planning stages of organizing a grade 7/8 excursion to view the musical “Les Misérables”, based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel.  Tickets need to be pre-ordered and purchased well in advance of the performance.  At this point, we wish to give the intermediate grades the opportunity to purchase tickets for a matinée performance prior to them selling out. The cost of this performance including transportation by schools bus will be $40.00.

The performance will be on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 1:30 p.m.  We will be leaving the school at 12:00 p.m.  The performance will take place at The Princess of Wales Theatre at 300 King St. West in Toronto. Running time is of 2 hours and 50 minutes.  We will be returning to school at approximately 5:30 p.m.  Arrangements for after performance pick-up of students at school will be arranged by parents. 

If you wish to purchase tickets kindly complete the EXCURSION form attached and make cheque payable to St. Simon School.  Please return form and cheque by Wednesday, September 25, 2013.
There are NO EXCHANGES, NO REFUNDS, and PAYMENTS ARE NON-TRANSFERABLE.  All sales are final.


Sincerely,                                                                               



Mr. Boccia      Mrs. Graham               Mrs. Bonofiglio           Mrs. Arena      Ms. Viselli

Principal          Vice-Principal             FSL Teacher                FSL Teacher    FSL Teacher