Awesome Chair Building by the Grade 7 Students!

The Intermediate classroom was full of chairs today, all sizes and shapes. They were all built by the Grade 7 students!  Here are some of their creations!
Fiona's Chair

Micah's Chair

Leyla's Bench

Allen's Chair

Gabe's Chair

Well Done!

Write for Rights!

The Intermediate students in Grade 7/8 have joined Amnesty International's Campaign to write for human rights! We are writing letters to change a life. 

The Hour of Code!
Between December 8-14, our class will be participating in the Hour of Code.  We will visit code.org and learn how to use the basics of computer science to write a program.

We are all excited and will let you know how it works!

Remembrance Day in Barrie

We travelled to the Cenotaph in downtown Barrie yesterday to remember all of the soldiers who have fought for our freedom.  It was amazing to see some Maple Grove students marching in the parade! Here are a few pictures of our experience.

Awesome Grade 8 Orientation at Barrie Central Today!

The Grade 8 students from Maple Grove attended their Grade 9 orientation at Barrie Central High School today.  Many thanks to the Link Crew who were excellent leaders for their school today!  We enjoyed all of the classes that we sat in on, especially Drama and Science!  Here are some pictures of the beautiful artwork in Barrie North!

Butternut Squash Soup and Pumpkin Pie Day in the Grade 7/8 Class!

It was so much fun to make and eat pumpkin pies and butternut squash soup to celebrate the harvest, here are some awesome, yummy pics of our day!

Food Friday in Portable 2

We celebrated yet another Food Friday in Portable 2!  This week we shared warm applesauce, cheese and crackers, sparkled donuts and a very special Tutti-Frutti cake made by Charles' grandmother! Many thanks!

Celebrating Waste Reduction Week and Recycle My Cell!

The students in the Eco Club, which meet every Day 5 from 1:00-1:40 were busy making posters for Waste Reduction Week (Oct. 20-27) and the Recycle My Cell Challenge (Oct. 20-Nov. 21)  They did a fantastic job as you can see!

"The Starfish Throwers" at the Barrie Film Festival

Today the whole Intermediate Division walked down in the brisk weather to attend the Barrie Film Festival and the screening of "The Starfish Throwers."  This was a documentary film which featured the efforts of 3 individuals in the fight against homelessness and hunger.  It was an incredibly powerful film!  Afterwards, the students discussed the film and made some great connections. 

The Recycle My Cell Challenge Oct. 20-Nov. 21!

Recycle My Cell!

Recycle My Cell, Canada’s national cell phone recycling program, wants to support Waste Reduction Week in Canada (WRW), helping to ease Atlas' load, by making sure that all old and out-of-use cell phones, smartphones, wireless PDAs, pagers, as well as their batteries and accessories, are properly recycled. As part of its support and celebration for Waste Reduction Week in Canada 2014, Recycle My Cell is issuing a challenge to Canadian schools. If your school or post secondary institution is looking for an opportunity to make a difference environmentally, while having a chance to win $500, then this is for you! Sign up for the challenge, and everything you need to participate will be provided to you!   Canadian students from kindergarten to post secondary are challenged to recycle as many old wireless devices and accessories as possible between Oct. 20 and Nov. 21, 2014. In addition to doing a good thing for the environment, students could also win $500 for their school to use for green initiatives! As a participation prize, eligible schools will receive $1 for every phone they collect and recycle through Recycle My Cell.

A Special Thank You to Fiona's Grandmother

Thanks to Shanon and Gabe for creating a beautiful thank you card!  It was for Fiona's Grandmother who so graciously baked mini-blueberry cheesecakes for the whole class!

R.J. Palacio Author of Wonder Interview

Here is the author of Wonder, interviewed and talking about the "Choose Kind" campaign!

Here is an example of a "Choose Kind" campaign launched because of the book "Wonder". 

Digital Citizenship

We have been learning about Digital Citizenship in the Resource Room.  Today we all took our personal pledge to be a digital citizen.  This means we are learning about internet safety and etiquette and protecting our private information. This will be ongoing discussion in the Resource Room.

Food Friday!!

It was a great Food Friday today! Fiona's grandmother made yummy blueberry mini cheesecakes!  Thank you!

We also had some chocolate chip cookies, it was a "sweet Friday!"

Wonder Book Trailers-Which One Do You LIke?

Wonder

We are trying a new read aloud book called "Wonder", about a boy with a facial deformity who tries to fit in at school. It comes highly recommended and we are looking forward to an exciting read!

Respect, Responsibility, Take a Risk, Bring your Best Self!

Respect

Responsibility

Take a risk

Intermediate Classroom Rules

Show respect, be responsible, take a risk and bring your best self to school, these are the Resource Room/Intermediate Division rules.  But what does it look like to show respect, be responsible, take a risk and bring your best self to school?  We will be exploring these ideas this week!!  I look forward to the student work surrounding these big ideas.

Food Fridays!

Food Friday #1 on Thursday in the Resource Room!
We celebrated Food Friday on Thursday this week due to the professional development day on Friday.  The tables were set and we enjoyed the company of Mr. Strath and Mrs. Cook, while we ate spaghetti, garlic bread and Caesar salad. Everyone had lots to eat and there was great conversation as well.  

The table is all set!

Colourful cupcakes made by Mrs. Hetu!

There was not much left when we were done!

Sable Island - A Living Treasure

Information about Sable Island on the CBC news!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/sable-island-a-living-treasure-1.2754715

Today the CBC news featured a story on Sable Island and the horses that live there. Our reading assessment also featured a story on Sable Island.  The students had a rich discussion about the pros and cons of making Sable Island a National Park.  We decided that they should leave the horses alone to run free!

The Reading Strategy of Visualization

Today we practised the reading strategy of visualization while reading "Airborn."

While the students in the Resource Room were listening to the book, they drew pictures to reflect their mental images and the use of their five senses while reading. 

We all agreed that coffee was one of the strongest images of the book today! 

Kenneth Oppel's Airborn

We have begun to read Kenneth Oppel's Airborn as our first read aloud novel this year.  We will be reading a variety of works from this very celebrated Canadian author.  The students are making text to self, text to text, text to media and text to world connections following the daily reading.  They can also use assistive technology to have the book read to them on their computers. 

This is definitely an adventure story for all!

Food Friday and Smile Cookies!

On Food Friday, we celebrated by eating smile cookies from Tim Hortons.  They are sold in support of a local charity, Gilda's Club of Simcoe Muskoka.  

Love the smile!

Make sure you return your permission forms sent home on Thursday in order to begin our regular Food Fridays!  We are beginning our Classroom Cafe unit soon!  Next up is spaghetti and garlic bread!

Tundra the Dog!

Can you spot the dog?

Her name is Tundra!