Just something that caught my attention

Creative project GIFs - how do they do that??

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/experiments-in-repetitive-motion-become-hypnotic-gifs

Christmas GIFs http://www.christmasgifs.org http://christmasgifs.org/artists/horse/

Just something that caught my attention

Creative project GIFs - how do they do that??

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/experiments-in-repetitive-motion-become-hypnotic-gifs

Kid snippets

http://youtu.be/q95qRy6NfLA

Kid snippets Thor

Do something

What to see what you can do to make a difference? See what other teens are doing around the world to make a difference ... Go to: http://www.dosomething.org/

Worth checking out! 

Do something

What to see what you can do to make a difference? See what other teens are doing around the world to make a difference ... Go to: http://www.dosomething.org/

Worth checking out! 

Remember your Outdoor Ed forms

Remember your outdoor Ed forms Grade 8 as well as the $25!! You also need to start planning what warm outdoor clothes you plan on wearing on the trip. Organize this in advance so there is less last minute panic. 

Homework

The Power of Knowledge

Ever complain about going to school? Ever feel like you just don't feel like going because there are other things you would rather do?

Today's lesson will explore the power of knowledge and how an education is essential in changing the lives of kids around the world.

We're going to watch a video from the series, The New Heroes, "The Power of Knowledge"

Here is a link to the video questions to go with the video...
Making a Difference Questions

Overdue Assignments

Just a reminder that Term One Reportcards go out on Tuesday. Students were told they could email any overdue assignments or contact me with questions this weekend. My email address is:
j.stewart-mitchell@rcsd.ca

Peace Pledge Voice Recording Rubric

Great work today Grade 8 on troubleshooting and recording your Peace Pledges and linking them on Kidblog. Here is a link to the basic rubric I will use for assessing your work...

Peace Pledge Rubric

Homework Thursday

Can't Wait for the Movie, Catching Fire?? Me too!

So excited... My favourite is Sesame Street's "Peeta".

CHILD LABOUR MONOLOGUE REMINDERS

Grade 8's do not rush this assignment. It is to be at least 3 paragraphs. However for a quality introduction and conclusion maybe 5 paragraphs. Read through the whole assignment sheet I gave you, or check out previous blog  posts on this assignment.

After you research and brainstorm your web, your outline for your draft might look like this. However you can organize your ideas in other ways. This is just a framework to give you an idea of how to organize the monologue...

REMINDERS
Be sure to REVIEW ALL THE QUESTIONS I gave you on the assignment. This means do not rush, as this is an assignment you need to research, get an informed opinion of what it's like to be a child labourer, then write from their perspective. You are going to be the voice of those kids who have no voice. 
 What kids of things do you need to include? For example, You need to explore exactly what you eat, where you sleep... Go through ALL THE QUESTIONS from the assignment and ANSWER THEM IN THE MONOLOGUE. Be sure to fully explore the details of what it's like to be a child labourer. Paint your audience a picture of your life!! Get the audience to think and care!

THE FRAMEWORK
The framework for your Child Labour Monologue could be as follows...
Paragraph #1 – Who you are, age, where you live… your family (what do you know about them?)
Paragraph #2 – How you ended up being a child labourer, how long have you been a labourer, what has life been like for you up to this point. 
Paragraph #3  - A day in your life - from morning to night...
Paragraph #4 –  Your hopes, dreams for the future. What does your future look like with no education?
Paragraph #5 – Closing… What would you say if you were a child labourer in closing? How would you capture the "hearts and minds" of your audience and get them to care? Use language that creates an emotional response in your audience... This means ask your audience questions, add repetition for effect... 

THE PRESENTATION Finally, find a picture on line that you think could represent your child labourer. See Tag galaxy.com and type in “child labor” and “poverty”. Then choose a picture, save it in your pictures and upload to kidblog. 

EXTENSION... Consider adding more visuals to help your audience connect with your Monologue. Remember the overall objective is to tell the story of a child labourer and get your audience to care about the issue. 

What can you add to your post to get your audience to care?

REMINDER TO HAND IN
** YOU WILL HAND IN YOUR RESEARCH, the TWO COLUMN GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (be sure to cite your sources!!)  I Will expect to see about 2 of these. 

Song about Iqbal and child labour

http://teacherblog.over-blog.com/m/article-19096684.html

Silent Cries

http://blogpeda.ac-poitiers.fr/coll-abbe-pierre-english/2011/03/06/silent-cries-a-song-against-child-labour/

ILO song against child labour

http://www.12to12.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=237:i-believe-ilo-song-on-child-labour&Itemid=99&lang=en

Homework Friday

Child Labourer Assignment

EXAMINING THE ISSUE OF CHILD LABOUR...

FREE THE CHILDREN INFORMATION ON CHILD LABOUR


http://www.freethechildren.com/getinvolved/youth/issues/index.php?type=childlabour&gclid=CPuDqrmUgKUCFSMd5wodo0Dggw

Check out the Teacher Tube video created by  a student on child labourer activist, Iqbal Masih (click on the link below)

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=227&title=Iqbal_Masih


Videos on Iqbal

You've read the story of Iqbal Masih and watched videos that examine his life. He is a person who showed everyone around the world that slavery still exists today - and it reveals itself in the form of child labour. 


Points to Ponder...
How could the story about Iqbal cause people to take action and do something? What kind of action do you think could be taken?

Child Labour Monologue Assignment - Time to get creative with your writing!!
Now it's your turn.... You are going to find an image of a child labourer from one of the websites below (or scroll to the bottom of this blog), and brainstorm key ideas for a key message that the child in the photo might give in a 30 second - 1 minute monologue (this is about 3/4 - 1 page double spaced typed writing).


But wait! Before you can write your monologue, you need to get informed!!

*** CHILD LABOUR ASSIGNMENT - Click on the link to access the Google Doc, "Two Column Graphic Organizer"

Websites for child labour:

Here is a selection of pre-selected websites on child labour for you to evaluate and perhaps use for your research on life of child labourers from around the world. Some sites are better than others, and most are from well known International and National organizations on child labour. Read through at least 6-8 of the sites. Scan text features such as graphs, pictures, multi-media (slideshows, videos and podcasts) and get a sense of the issue. Then choose  1 or 2 and complete a Two Column Graphic Organizer for research for your Child Labour Monologue Assignment.


The Sites...
What is child labour
http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm

I want to be president
http://iloblog.org/2013/11/14/i-want-to-be-president-malawis-little-voices-against-child-labour/#more-660

ILO's Slideshow - "Dreaming of Freedom"
http://www.ilo.org//legacy/english/wdacl/2013/en/bit-maket/index.html
* This is a really good slideshow that explains what child labour is with excellent information to provide you with background knowledge

International Labour Organization
http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/child-labour/lang--en/index.htm

International Labour Organization - Child Labour Stories
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---declaration/documents/publication/wcms_decl_fs_44_en.pdf

Think Quest - Child Labour Stories from Around the World
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01908/1024/lifestory_nadeem.htm

Good Weave - Child Labour Stories for children who have worked in the carpet factories
http://www.goodweave.org/about/children_stories

Canadian Labour Congress
http://www.canadianlabour.ca/news-room/publications/facts-child-labour

Fair Trade Canada
http://fairtrade.ca/en/news-views/news/tackling-child-labour-chocolate-industry

Free the Children
http://www.freethechildren.com/getinvolved/geteducated/childlabour.htm


Free the Children - Child Labour Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWDcz0sfh4I

Canadian Coalition on the Rights of the Child
http://rightsofchildren.ca/resources

Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation
http://earthbeat.sk.ca

Globe and Mail - "Is there less child labour?"
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/giving/is-there-less-child-labour-around-the-world/article4179461/

National Consumers League - Biggest Child Labour Stories of 2011
http://www.nclnet.org/worker-rights/82-child-labor/609-biggest-child-labor-stories-of-2011

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime - Child Labour Stories
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2013/June/world-day-against-child-labour-_-two-stories-of-hope.html

BBC World Service
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/childrensrights/childrenofconflict/work.shtml

Unicef
http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_childlabour.html
Unicef Podcasts - Child Labour
http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/video_49996.html

Unicef Radio - Podcasts of Child Labour Narratives
http://teachunicef.org/explore/topic/child-labor

Unicef - Back on Track Podcasts
http://www.educationandtransition.org/resources/podcast-84-let-us-learn-everywhere-–-towards-equality-in-education/

Kids and Needs
http://www.kidsandneeds.org/child-labor


Eco India
http://www.ecoindia.com/views/labour.html


Impact Limited Case Studies
http://www.impacttlimited.com/case-studies/


Worlds Children Prize
http://worldschildrensprize.org/globalclassroom/page.html#75&panel1-4

This link may not work as it's for a database. The password to access databases is rcsd

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13886263


A poem for child labours... listen to this podcast
 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4864221

What is a monologue? It is a speech given by one person directly to an audience. It is personal and expresses a person's thoughts, feelings and personality. 

USING THE RESEARCH TO WRITE AN INFORMED AND AUTHENTIC MONOLOGUE

Now that you have done a little research, you can explore that research and combine it with your own ideas of what it means to be a child labourer...

When brainstorming... What other supporting details would you use to support the main message? Use the paragraph diagram (see your notes) to organize your ideas and write a draft. 


After drafting, you will then share your draft with another student PAIR. 
Revise your draft using the following questions:
1) Who is your monologue about?
2) What do they do as a labourer? 
3) What is their life like? (Describe in detail your life as a child labourer. When do you start your day? What do you eat? What is your job like? When does your day end? What do you do for fun? Where is your family? Why did you become a child labourer?)
4) What is your hope? What are your dreams? 
Revise your draft based on the feedback receive.


Finally, edit your draft for mechanical errors... and write a good copy. You will be adding a copy of your   Child Labour Monologue on Kidblog.org - You will also be presenting your monologue for the class. If you are willing to try, you could record yourself with www.vocaroo.com or blabberize http://blabberize.com  and then embed the recording into your blog on kidblog.org.


Part II. Child Labour Button Campaign...
You are going to create a slogan that will motivate people to take action against child labour. The primary purpose is to create awareness of this global problem. 
This button must be attention getting... therefore it must be coloured in pencil crayon. Letter or writing must not only be neat, but be attention grabbing, so either outline your words in black marker or type them! The diameter of the button must be at least 10 -12 cm's - yes this will be a big button. (Diameter is the distance across a circle through the middle, from edge to edge).


Due dates:
Child Labour Monogue
brainstorm: Monday, November 18
draft #1: end of class Tuesday
revisions (self and partner): Wednesday, November 19
Good copy (after editing): discuss
Post your monologue in written form on Kidblog.org by ... discuss

Child Labour Campaign button, due: discuss


CHILD LABOUR IMAGES - YOU CAN USE THESE TO HELP CREATE YOUR MONOLOGUE...




Go to www.taggalaxy.com and check out images on child labour via Flickr. There may be an image which might inspire you. To cite the source, just source: www.taggalaxy.com.

When you choose your key words for Tag Galaxy, try child labor (American spelling on labor)

GETTING STARTED WRITING... OR REVISING YOUR MONOLOGUE...
How did you start your monologue? "My name is ____ and I am a child labourer..." What are some other ways you can start? What are some ways that you can "hook" you audience with an engaging lead?


Read the information below on interesting leads in writing... Note that the information is about Expository Writing, but how can you apply this to your narrative piece?

Leads in Expository Writing

What's the most boring way you could begin a research report about the human brain? A rattlesnake? The United States Constitution? We all know.
. . . In the report I will tell you about. . . "
Now that we know that, let's experiment with difference places to start.

• Start with a Snapshot. When you paint a picture, you draw the reader in . Notice the difference between these two leads to a report about ice-skating.

Boring
Ice-skating is my favorite sport.
Better
It's ten degrees below zero and the river is frozen a foot thick. It makes snapping sounds like the limbs of trees cracking. A long figure glides along the
black ice, moving toward the city. The only sound is the scraping of each blade as it bites into the river. That's me doing my favorite sport, ice-skating.

• Start with an important observation. Don't start in the general. Put your most surprising or important observation into you opening.

General
The human brain is a complex and amazing organ.
Better
Seeing stars, it dreams of eternity. Hearing birds, it makes music. Smelling flowers, it is enraptured. Touching tools, it transforms the earth. But
deprived of these sensory experiences, the human brain withers and dies. (Inside the Brain --- Ronald Kotulak)

• Start with a strongly stated question your readers might have. In some ways all writing is about trying to answer our best questions. A strong
question is one we all want to know the answer to.

Weakly-stated
In this paper I will attempt to answer the question why history is important.
Better
What's the point of studying history? Who cares what happened long ago? After all, aren't the people in history books dead?

• Put your connection with the subject in the lead. Why are you attracted to the subject? Do you have a personal reason for writing about this
subject? What specific memories of the subject come to mind?

General
The problem of longitude was one of the greatest scientific challenges of its day.
Better
Once on a Wednesday excursion when I was a little girl, my father bought me a beaded wire ball that I loved. At a touch, I could collapse the toy into
a flat coil between my palms, or pop it open to make a hollow sphere. Rounded out it resembled a tiny Earth, because its hinged wires traced the same pattern
intersecting circles that I had seen on the globe in my school room -- the thin black lines of latitude and longitude. (Longitude --- Dava Sobel)

• Flaunt your favorite bit of research in the lead. Start with the facts that made you smile, laugh, go "ahaaa" or just plain grossed you out.

General
Did you ever wonder why God created flies?
Better
Though we've been killing them for years now, I have never tested the folklore that with a little cream and sugar, flies taste very much like black
raspberries.

I wonder questions to check out

www.wonderopolis.org

Great question of the day...

Presentations and Field Trips

We are fortunate to have a few activities coming up for the grade 8 students...

November 28th - Presentation from Jeff Richards
We are quite lucky to have been selected as a school for a presentation from Mr. Richards! He will wow us with his talents as a Mentalist...

Thursday, November 21st - O'Neil Health and Wellness Day
We were fortunate to be invited to O'Neil's Health and Wellness Fair. This means students will see exhibits and presentations all related to issues that affect teens today.

The Agenda...
10:30 Bus picks up the Grade 8's to go to O'Neil
10:45 Wellness Exhibits - Tour the Health and Wellness Fair
11:15 Red Cross Presentation on Dating Abuse
11:30 Uncle Adams (Rapper) presentation
12:15-12:30 Bus picks up Grade 8's and they return to St. Francis

Homework

Day of peace TED talk

Jeremy Giles talks about Peace Day on TED talks...

http://youtu.be/04SEzifEsGg

Math games

More opportunities to practice math in game format!!

http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/count-patternkinderchat

Digital Discussion and Sharing in Today's Lesson

DIGITAL DISCUSSIONS
Ever share some ideas in class and you forget what you said? Ever find a great picture or video and can't find it later when you need it? Ever want to show someone something interesting you discovered on-line and you just want to quickly post it? Well we're going to share some of our reactions to what we are learning in a digital way...

Today's Lesson Discussion will be an opportunity to share and record...

*What you know,
*What you've learned so far, and
*What you still wonder...
as we discuss Peace Day, Remembrance Day and  Child Labour... 

How are all these concepts connected? 

In the next couple days, you will share with your peers in an informal digital setting your thoughts and connections using a "digital wall" at padlet.com. 

Our discussion today will be digitally hosted at:
http://padlet.com/wall/stewiespeaceday
Click on the link and go to our digital discussion board. 
More information for using Padlet - see this video.

For future discussions and collaboration, we are going to try another site... Edmodo. 

Join Edmodo... It's a collaborative space for sharing...
"A free and safe way for students and teachers to connect
and collaborate."


To get to our private class page, go to  our class address...

edmo.do/j/cwnbmo

The code you need to register is: qos44d

More on edmodo??

https://www.edmodo.com/about

Composing Quality Blogs & Comments

How do I write a great blog comment, so it's more than... "Cool. Your blog is great! Thanks for sharing." See this link, "Commenting Poster" for tips.

Kidblog Rubric

Evaluating and Assessing Blogs
Here's a link to a student and teacher Blogging Evaluation Checklist, which I think is particularly good....

And here is a graphic for my Blogging Rubric...

French evaluation for J'aime poster and presentation

French Assignment - J'adore Beaucoup des Choses!

Transitional Phrases to use in your writing... such as the PEACE PLEDGE you are doing in ELA

More brainstorm for peace day

Brainstorm notes for Peace Day write up

Peace one day and French

Be sure to complete all video questions for the peace one day assignment. In addition to this, students are expected to have the brainstorm for their peace pledge completed and a start on their rough draft. 

French... In the next couple days we will be working hard on writing sentences with J'aime, J'aime beaucoup, and Je n'aime pas... This will be applied to posters all about students - likes and dislikes. Students will complete posters and present their information in a brief oral presentation. This will be completed in the next two weeks. 

Get Ready to Record your Pledge for Peace

Pledges for Peace Podcast Tips for Speaking...

Here are some tips for getting ready to record your Pledges for Peace via vocaroo. Essentially you are preparing a podcast to embed in your kidblog. (we will discuss further in class).

Here are the tips for effective speaking...

The 4 ‘C’s
While you may be the one speaking, speaking isn't really about you. It is about your audience. The 4 Cs will help you get in the mindset to give a great presentation or a podcast.

• Content - What is my message? Get this clear in your mind before you create your
  presentation or podcast.
  
• Consideration - Who is my audience and what is important to them?
  
• Confidence - What confidence tips will help me give a good performance?
  
• Contribution - How will my "mini-speech" help to inspire others? 
  
  
  The 5 ‘P’s make a awesome tip to remind us how to use our voice
  
  
  • Projection – Make sure you are easily heard, but not so loud that your audience is blasted by your voice when it's recorded.
    
  • Pace – Keep a steady pace to make sure you don’t exhaust your audience. You may like to vary the pace to keep it interesting, for example slowing down to build tension, speeding up to increase excitement.
    
  • Pitch – Vary your pitch to keep your voice interesting to listen to.
    
  • Pronunciation – Make sure all your words are clear. (Practice, practice, practice to help with pronunciation!)
    
  • Pause – Don’t be afraid of a moment of silence. Pausing will give time for your ideas
    to sink in. 
    
    
    The following is a way to plan for writing your podcast "mini speech"... or your Pledge for Peace...
    
    
    
    

    	Tips:
    Topic and Time	Choose something that you are interested in. How long do you have to talk for? (About 2 minutes)
    Audience	Who will be listening to your podcast?
    Subject and purpose	What is the aim of your podcast? - to persuade, inform, entertain, etc. Brainstorm ideas, jot- note them down. Note personal stories you can add to make it more interesting.
    Research	Should you research? This means not just internet, newspapers, magazines, library, family friends etc. How can you make your podcast all the more meaningful??

    
    
  Here is the simple rubric that will be used to assessed your PEACE PLEDGE.

Reminder

Remember there's no school Friday, November 1st, as it's the Teacher Retreat Day.

Weekend Homework

Be sure to complete the assignment for the article, "Kids encouraged to build peace". Hand in this assignment Monday. Be sure to write in complete sentences. 

 In addition to this you will be researching life of child labourers them composing a monologue from the perspective of a child labourer. Start researching now. Explore sites to see what it's like to be a child who doesn't have the opportunity to go to school but instead must work in poverty.... 

Before Reading...

Big question... What is child labour and why should we care? 

Compose and write down 3 questions you have about child labour or issues related to child labour.

Check out the Government of Canada website below, and complete the following. 

http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/NAT-43105337-KGK

After Reading

Look at the questions you composed before. 

What facts are provided in the link that can be answered in that website? 

Are your questions fully answered? 

Explain why or why not? 

Where are you going to find the answers?

After reading the information in the website, what questions do you have now? Write 2 more. 

On Kidblog, compose a blog post with your first 2 questions, answers you found from the Government of Canada website and also your 2 new questions. 

With Kidblog, you will have a chance to see who else shares the same questions as you, and explore answers with them. 

Homework

Grade 8's - if you have overdoes, you've had a chat with me. Make sure you are keeping your parents in the "loop" and remember I can help you after school!!

Homework... keep up with blogging especially comments for the Pink Day Blog posting on kidblog.org/missiontomakeamark

How Will You Make Peace?

Peace Day Pledge... How can we encourage peace assignment... Google Doc... Download and print.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d4jS-Iztz6axOvEllTMEoiMfUJQCan_2LOCfIoFeb94/edit?usp=sharing

As we near Remembrance Day, I started thinking about sacrifices that our veterans made for us. I also started thinking about how lucky we are to live in a country where we can truly live in peace. However, I sometimes wonder if we take our peace for granted. I wonder if I take peace for granted... Do I live in a peaceful way or do do I allow for peace in my life? Am I making choices which allow others to live peacefully?

 Have you ever wondered if we could have a day of peace?

What would this look like around the world? Could world leaders do it? Why should we care about peace around the world??

Check out the Peace One Day Website. Navigate, explore and examine the main message...

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?? Summarize the 5W's of Peace Day...
Who is the founder?
What is it all about?
Where will people be expected to carry out the mission?
When is the targeted date for Peace One Day? When are people expected to aim for peace?
Why was it created? (Why will it make a difference?)
How will it make a difference in the world if we are all aware?


Watch the video on the home page from Jeremy Gilles, founder of Peace One Day, as he examines the possibility.

Consider the following questions after you watch the video...

Who will you make peace with? What does it mean to make peace in our daily lives? Even if we do not live in a place of violence, why is it important for all of us to strive for peace in our daily lives?? How can we show peace at home, in school, on the playground, digitally or on-line??

Watch the video... The Day After Peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_mT6ce4who

This website all connects to our current article in Language Arts. Think about the message of the new story and how it connects to the Peace One Day Movement.

Peace One Day the Journey



PLEDGES FOR PEACE PROJECT
As a tribute to making a conscious effort to make peace in our lives, we are going to create "Pledges for Peace" Where you will create a written pledge on how you plan on making an effort to allow for peace in your life and for those around you. Rather than just composing a blog about it, you are going to write your pledge, then record your voice using an on-line site called Vocaroo. We will then embed your Pledge for Peace in either a Wordle or an image that reflects your pledge using a site called Thinglink. I know it sounds crazy... we'll make it happen!

Reminder

Remember grade 8's - you have a French test on Tuesday! Study... Basic conversation phrases, days of the week, months, colours. You are allowed "a minute to win it" knowledge wall! So make a study sheet!

Ensure you fill out your agenda with other homework. 

More than homework...

Since we started blogging using Kidblog, I have noticed a big improvement in student writing. I'm not sure if it's knowing that there is really going to be someone more than your teacher or parents or maybe a couple peer editors - but actually members of your class reading the work. But overall I just wanted to say, great work grade 8! I also wanted to compliment you on your comments to other student's posts... Really well done! Every time you followed the 3 C + Q method to commenting, you actually said something meaningful to the writer about their post. 

Students who have not yet posted the Pink Shirt Day Reflection, make sure you do so! 

Audiobooks to try

Try out audiobooks! There are some very recent titles on the site...

See the link below. 

The login is stfrancis 

The password is listen

https://www.catalistdigital.com/students/