Grade 7’s Blog on the Canadian Government!

EVERYTHING you need to know about the branches and levels of the Canadian Government can be found here!

Please thoroughly look throughout their site and complete their survey on what you thought!

Canada VS. Sudan

Our grade 5/6 Social Studies class has been all about the Canadian government since January. Students were asked to research any country in either Eastern Europe,South America, Africa or the Middle East and to answer our focus question: How are other countries different from Canada?

Students were asked to compare the systems of government and the differences in society. I’ve asked the students to think of a unique way to present their information. This has proven to not always be an easy decision to make.  Graeme was able to really deepen his understanding of South Sudan after finding out that his research was interesting and meaningful. I’ve told Graeme that the ultimate goal of your learning experience,in life and in school, is to find meaning behind everything that you do. I think Graeme met that goal. Graeme created a blog and a podcast to present his answer to the focus question. Please feel free to look through his work and leave a comment on what you think.

Thanks Graeme!

http://graemeplushd.wordpress.com

  

Olympian to visit Alcuin College!

Yup. We’re pretty lucky to have ski-cross competitor Georgia Simmerling visit us tomorrow- just days before she travels to Sochi,Russia to compete in the Olympic Games!! Just another awesome day at Alcuin College would be an understatement. Welcome Georgia, and good luck!

 

To game or not to game- is that the question?

Grade7-9’s- What is your response to this news story? Leave your comments below.

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Embedded-Only/News/Manitoba/ID/2369061762/

They call him, Ötzi.

This is pretty incredible. Listen to the podcast and read up on Mr.Ötzi from other sources. (Thanks  to Mr.Renneson for sharing.) Once you’ve listened to and read about our dear cold friend. Post your comment that answers this: What would you do if YOU were the one that found Ötzi? How can discoveries like these impact our view of the past?

The link to the podcast can be found here

Crisis in Nairobi

 

GRADE 7-9 Social Studies Students: Have you been listening or watching the news over the last three days? There was a horrible shooting in a mall in the capital of Kenya over the weekend and its reported that 22 people have been killed. Sadly, there are still people being held hostage in the mall.  Find out more about this story on your own and post a comment or a question for us to discuss in class tomorrow.  Think about asking a powerful question.

Cultural Identity

During the video you watched today,one of the Sudanese refugees compared having cultural identity to having land. Without either, where would we be? Who would we be?

Leave a comment about what you value about your own cultural identity? Also, explain how you would react to living in a new society that has a vastly different culture than your own. How would you assimilate or acculturate? 

What can you “infer?”

Grade 7-9 students: Here is your 5th image of a society. As you know from our discussion today, we can learn a lot about a society just by looking at an image and making a logical guess based on reason and evidence. Often we are curious to know more if all the information isn’t available. From your observations of this image post a comment by answering these questions:

What are you first thoughts when you see this photo?

Why do you think the structures on the left are different from the right?

What adjective could you use to describe this society?

Where do you think this society is? 

Add a “powerful” question about this society. 

Use a variety of descriptive words.

 

What can you “infer” from this photo?

Today we talked about how when you “infer,” you make a logical guess based on evidence and reason. In other words, use knowledge you already have and use the images in the photo to back up your guess.  You all made incredible inferences and you used thoughtful reasoning. I loved the descriptive words you used and I encourage you to do the same here. So what is your task? Well, I would like you to observe this photo of a society, just as you did in class. **In the comment box, give an explanation of this society. Try to use words that others haven’t used yet in their comments.**

How do you give an explanation? Answering these questions will help guide you:

1. Use an adjective to describe the society. 2. Use an adjective to describe the natural environment. 3. Suggest what kind of technology would be used in this society. 4. What kind of jobs do you think the people who live here have? 5. And lastly, where do you think this society is?

Remember, there are no wrong answers. Be sure to have evidence to back up your observations.

ST ALCUIN CAMPAIGN TOUR!

It was a hot May afternoon on the campaign trail for the North Vancouver-Lonsdale riding. Armed with thoughtful and well posed questions, the students gave the local candidates a chance to explain their party’s platform, face to face. Green Party candidate Ryan Conroy, NDP candidate Craig Keating, and the current Liberal MLA for the riding, Naomi Yamamoto, all took the time to meet and answer the students concerns. Now that the election date is less than a week away, what advice would you give voters before they consider casting their vote? You don’t need to give advice on who to vote for, but offer advice on what they should consider to be important while they make their decision.