Ms. Groeller Grade 9 Humanities

Pre-write - Plan - Write/Draft - Edit Our trip to Fish Creek Provincial Park on Monday was successful. The weather held, and so we were able to do all of our planned activities without rain raining on our parade! (See below for a Twitter story on our activities at the Park!) The time we spent in the Artisan Gardens was a perfect way to re-inforce the steps of the writing/composition process introduced to the students earlier in the year, and we are currently working through a step-by-step process to practice this process as it is a foundation for effective composition and creation.  We are also exploring the concept of the "Goldilocks zone" in composition. Like planets, composition has an (admittedly sometimes subjective) area in which it belongs if it is going to thrive. Successful communication need not only be clear, but also compelling, engaging, concise, and precise. In order to get to the Goldilocks zone, students are encouraged to consider ...

Students had their first "test" in Humanities this week. We did a lot to prepare for this test last week, and you can ask your child to go through the activities from last week with you if you want, and we will continue to work with these concepts all year. . @connectcharter 9s working on self-empowerment & metacognition by self-correcting yesterday’s “tests” to understand what made them successful, or not, & why. Then they had to explain to me what went well, what went wrong, & what they will do the same or differently next time. pic.twitter.com/ZiBCCPCHlS — Jaime Groeller (@missg_teaches) September 5, 2018 Who am I? What makes me, me? How do individuals express their identity? This week we started on our first large inquiry of the year. We will be exploring the concept of identity, which is connected to the grade 9 social studies curriculum. Students will also be working on a variety of ELA outcomes in the creation of an artifact to demonstrate their t...

Toolbox To set the foundation for grade 9 ELA, students have been developing their literary analysis toolboxes. By exploring some short texts together and talking about how to identify and consider intentional choices made by text creators (authors, filmmakers, etc.), students should feel confident in going forward and analyzing texts on their own throughout the year. We started the week with a classic episode of the Twilight Zone called "Eye of the Beholder." We used this to talk about setting, characterization, and  narrative structure.  It also led to some interesting discussion about societal norms... After watching this, students worked on reviewing their knowledge of literary elements and devices, working collaboratively to deepen their understanding. Scene from  The Twilight Zone  episode "Eye of the Beholder" (1960) Reading Strategies Find more information on the Talking to the Text reading strategies  here! In class today, we did a ...

Grade 9 is off and running! After two days of getting organized, easing into school, and building/re-establishing relationships, we hit the ground running on Wednesday First, we looked ahead and inquired into the themes and sub-themes of grade 9 social studies: Grade 9 has started! Day 3 and we are in the thick of it with a mini inquiry looking ahead to our year in social studies exploring issues for Canadians. @connectcharter pic.twitter.com/ZHcO5pWtmP — Jaime Groeller (@missg_teaches) August 22, 2018 Then, we thought about reading and stories and books, working collaboratively to deepen our thinking and share our ideas with others: To set the foundation for grade 9 ELA, students have been developing their literary analysis toolboxes. By exploring some short texts together and talking about how to identify and consider intentional choices made by text creators (authors, filmmakers, etc.), students should feel confident in going forward and analyzing texts on their...

Welcome back everyone! I am so excited to get going in grade 9. I wanted to clarify a few things from the Meet the Teacher presentation: 1. Not everything we do in class will "get feedback ." Sometimes, students will practice skills, or try something, or work on something collaboratively to explore a big idea or concept, that I won't give feedback on. I am always "assessing" students, and it doesn't always take the form of written feedback, but it often will. I assess by watching in class, having quick conversations, and observing collaboration and work habits; I will also be leaving specific feedback using the comment function in Google docs. Speaking of Google docs , every student in my class has created a "Master Document." Think of this as a digital binder. This document is where they will keep all the work we do this year, which will take a variety of forms. This is their workspace, as well as a space for me to provide feedback, and i...

May 30 - Political Systems test corrections due June 4 - entry 37 due June 11 - chapter 2 test PATs May 7 - ELA Part A (study business letter format) June 20 - Math Part A June 21 - Math Part B June 24 - Social June 25 - Science June 26 - ELA Part B No homework, but your parents want you to do some? Looking for something to do to improve your ELA/Social skills? Reading is always great! You can read novels, graphic novels, short stories, poetry, current events in newspapers or magazines, etc. Reviewing your notes (if you have any) from the day (or year so far) is another idea. Practicing your typing skills is a third option! Fourth: expand your vocabulary and do some good on  freerice.com . Follow me on Twitter @missg_teaches