Class Information

IMPORTANT MAY DATES

10 - grade 78 relay 

IMPORTANT JUNE DATES

22 - trip to the Toronto Zoo

26 - grad 

May 26: Please see important dates / announcements in the online classroom. I have created an online classroom for all graduating students, including Mr. Mayock's class. The date of grade 8 grad is Monday, June 26. On Thursday, June 22 all of the grade eights will be taking a trip to the Toronto Zoo and having dinner (unlimited games!!!) at ... Chuck E Cheese!!! Trip details will be made available next week. 

May 15 - We are currently starting / working through a health unit on substance abuse / addictions and will be integrating this with literacy / poetry by studying song lyrics related to substance abuse and creating poetry anthologies. In math we will look at a few more algebra concepts this week before moving onto financial math and budgeting. There is a play being put on for students tomorrow and the suggested donation (optional) is 2$. There is also music tomorrow. 

May 2: Today we looked at 1 and 2 step equations in math and the strategies for solving them logically / systematically. Permission to try out forms went home for relay today. We will be wrapping up history this week and next; moving onto health and science units that will take us into June, in addition to our literacy lessons. Keep an eye on the calendar for dates as they are added. 

April 24: Any 5 paragraph essays still not turned in need to be completed ASAP. We began working with algebra concepts today and will be looking at the expansion of settlements and the railway into western Canada and the ripple effects this had on various peoples. Congratulations to all the students who played in "band fest" today; I heard it was a big success. 

April 21: Five paragraph persuasive essays were dur in history / language today. If anyone needs the weekend to finish a few things up or make some changes, I will accept the final reports by Monday with no penalty. Next week we will start a new history project and look at the last part of the program involving the expansion west, underground railway, and the impacts of colonial expansion on indigenous groups. We will be starting algebra next week, and I will ensure fractions quizzes from today are returned early next week, after a few student write them who were away today. We will also be starting a small business project called The Venture next week, so plan to do some work on cover letters, product development, and group work. Have a nice weekend! 

April 14: Today we worked on our five paragraph persuasive essays for history in the morning. For the rest of the day we did some acrylic painting and copied works made by Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau. We will finish these up Monday. Have a good weekend. 

April 12: We began working on topics and outlines for a 5 paragraph persuasive essay in history today. Topics, frameworks, and instructions / learning goals are all posted in the assignment in the online classroom. Grading sheets and due dates will be provided this week, but I will plan to have students turn in papers by mid to late next week. We will have a final fractions quiz this week on Friday and continue working with number concepts, specifically budgets, the following week where we will look things like integers, interest, and financial math. We will continue painting on day 5 (Friday), so plan to work with acrylic paint that afternoon; we started the pencil drawings last day 5. Have a nice night. 

April 3: Happy April! Today we continued to review some fractions and work with common denominators and adding / subtracting fractions. For history we continued to review some significant events that led up to the development and expansion of Western Canada and the impacts this had on various groups of people. We also wrote persuasive paragraphs and will be starting a 5-paragraph essay this week based on topics given from history. Have a nice evening. Please recall grad photo orders are due by Thursday. 

March 31: Reminder - grad photo orders are due by April 6. Next week we will continue to look at history by working on persuasive, 5-paragraph essays starting on Monday. We will also be continuing with fractions, dance, visual art (painting, indigenous arts), and various reading activities. Have a good weekend. 

March 28: Today we started out history unit for the second term. We will also be working on poetry and historical fiction during this time in history. Grad photo proofs will be sent home tomorrow and orders are due by April 6. 

March 10: After March Break we will continue percent in math, satire, advertising, healthy eating, and dance. See you in a week! Good job on the smoothies yesterday, everyone did great

March 3: Today we introduced a project where students will do a little healthy eating project on Iron Chef by creating original smoothies recipes in class - details will be given out tomorrow and will plan to make smoothies on Thursday next week. There is a short math quiz on percent tomorrow. We are also learning about satire in Language and health class and will be applying that understanding to advertising and healthy eating in a little poster / media project that we will likely have to do after March break. Have a nice evening. 

February 27: Term 1 reports went home last week on Wednesday, February 22. Today we began term 2 which is starting with fractions / decimals / percent in math, learning about satire and advertising in language (English), healthy eating in health class, and (every day 3) we are working on dance for term 2. Today students learned and presented a dance move to the class in small groups. This morning students selected books from the library for a term 2 book report / reading project. I will be conferencing with students once a week on the progress of their novel; they are expected to have it in class daily. Grade 8 grad pics are next week on March 8. 

February 14: Happy Valentine's Day. I went over grade 9 course selection with everyone this morning, so please see me if there are any questions. Students are expected to have grade 9 courses picked by the seventeenth. Today we looked at some public service announcements and students will be making their own this week as part of the end of our science unit, in addition to an open book exam on Friday. There will also be a short math quiz on Friday. Tomorrow we have the last of 4 vaping presentations from the health unit and we will do a short media project on safety labels. The grade 78 basketball tournament at CSS is tomorrow... go Chargers!

February 7: Tomorrow we have our second of four presentation from the health unit on vaping. Today we did more work on reading comprehension and making inferences from texts - check the online class in the next couple of days for returned work from this morning. We are still working through some Pythagorean theorem in math and will have our first quiz this Friday. Today we also continued our climate change doc and then spent the afternoon creating artwork inspired by Jean Michel Basquiat as part of Black History Month. The artwork related to climate change and environmental issues; began to introduce the idea of symbolism and deeper meaning into artwork. 

January 31: Today we began investigating the Pythagorean Theorem in math and will continue this for a couple of weeks. We are working on making inferences in Language class and working through some readings with questions for the next couple of weeks; I have returned the first one we did in the online classroom Monday. In science class we started a documentary on climate change and will be looking at the connection between the world's water systems, climate, and sustainability / environmental issues. Please remember to ensure health slide shows are turned in. There is a math quiz Thursday and a dance Thursday from 6-8 for 6,7, and 8's from our school and the feeder schools. 

January 24: Today we did a science lab on density and boat building. The discussion questions are due tomorrow; time can be used during quiet reading if need be. We will continue our activity on reflecting a name on a cartesian grid tomorrow. There will also be a short health assignment, music, and the news. Please remember there is a grade 6,7,8 dance on February 2. 

January 23: Today we played a bit of catch-up from all the weather disruptions from last week. We looked at the concepts of density and buoyancy in science, and we will be doing our second lab tomorrow on boat building and density. Today we also worked some more on using coordinate systems to plot and transform points. For art we looked at a value scale and did a short shading exercise. In health we are looking at positive, healthy relationships and personal safety. There will be a few more labs and a couple short health assignments. The final health mark will be a combination of class participation, the booklet we are working on, and a couple of final assignments. Have a good night. 

January 20: This week was heavily disrupted by mother nature, but we managed to get a few things accomplished. Students are responsible for submitting their reading response to a current science article (online classroom) and their first lab. I had intended to do a second lab this week, but will need to begin that process Monday with full attendance and good weather. We will be learning about calculating density and completing a lab on boat building. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

January 12: Tomorrow's math quiz will be reviewing plotting points on a Cartesian Plane (four quadrant). We also have gym tomorrow and will have some final time to finish up science labs and continue our health lessons on personal safety and mental health. 

January 11: Today's lab was a lot of fun... everyone did an excellent job observing their fruit sample. Tomorrow we will complete the discussion questions and turn in the report for grading. Today we also began a game of "Cartesian Plane Battleship" to practice the basic skills of plotting and identifying points on a four quadrant grid. Additionally, we had music and discussed a TEDx video on parenting teenagers for health class. Please ensure all lab reports are turned in by Friday; they are also accessible online if anyone prefers to type their answers. Have a nice night.

January 10: Today seemed like a good day in class! After French, we reviewed and worked with Cartesian Planes and will play some "Cartesian Battleship" tomorrow to review and practice the basic concepts. We had gym today and worked on some basketball skills, with a focus on dribbling. For health we discussed peer pressure and positive vs negative social attention. In the afternoon, we worked on reviewing the scientific method and did a little demonstration / activity on identifying unknown liquids through observations. Tomorrow we will do our first lab which involves classifying and observing various exotic fruits. We will also be visiting the library in the morning. Have a nice evening. 

January 9: Welcome back, everyone. Today we began by rearranging the class into groups of two for some science labs this month. Afterward, we watched the news and did a short math activity on grid coordinates. In the afternoon, we read a non-fiction article on hunger issues in Canada and the cost of living. For health today, we looked at the concept of self-confidence by watching a short TED talk by a teenager and completing a collage about "who we are." We also reviewed success criteria for hallways, bathrooms, and recess transition to help streamline getting everyone to and from recess efficiently. I hope everyone had a good day back. We will begin term 1 science tomorrow and our first lab (on observations and collecting data) will take place on Wednesday. Tomorrow's science class will be introductory and review some basic concepts and look at next steps for our learning (e.g., the scientific method, particle theory of matter, observations, etc.). 

December 22: We had a good last day! We spent the last of our Christmas Sharing Auction gift cards on one last DQ cake and it did not last long! I hope everyone has a safe holiday and a joyous new year. See you in 2023... specifically on January 9. Take care!

December 19: Today the class painted our moai sculptures from Easter Island; I just finished glazing them so they can go home tomorrow. I will have tissue paper to wrap them. Dog houses are wrapping up and I will have a written assignment tomorrow for students to complete along with the finished structure. Both grade 8 classes will be going bowling tomorrow from 12-2:15; pizza lunch is provided, but students may with to bring extra $ for the canteen. Tomorrow is "tinsel day."

December 14: Today was a busy day! We made clay sculptures of the Moai from Easter Island and we will plan to paint / glaze them on Monday; students can take them home anytime after Tuesday. We are also constructing scale models of dog houses which will be due by Monday and a few are already finished and look great. The class will read a shorter version of A Christmas Carol tomorrow and doing an activity that teaches students how to visualize a story. Please remember to bring in money for Quinte Ballet and forms / money for the bowling trip. We have gym tomorrow. 

December 9: We wrote our final math test before the holiday break today. Math assessments and geography/language exams will be returned on Monday or Tuesday. Please remember to bring in $20 for the bowling trip on December 20. We will also be attending the Quinte Ballet holiday performance on Dec. 19 and it is $5. Have a good weekend. 

December 6: The geography / language exam is tomorrow. Please bring completed study sheets to class and turn them in at the start of the exam... this will also enter students in a raffle! We are collecting $5 to attend the Quinte Ballet holiday dance (19th) and $20 for the grade 8 bowling trip (20th). If any families have difficulty with these payments, please let me know as the school is happy to assist so all students can participate. Also, we will have a short math quiz on circles (area, measurements) on Friday. This will be our final quiz before the holiday break and we will begin a constructions / building project for mathematics leading up the break. I am also planning to make clay sculptures with the class next week, which should be dry and glazed for the holidays! Have a nice evening. 

December 5: Today we had an hour of French to start and then continued measurement work by looking at the area formula for circles; we will continue to practice this tomorrow. Afterward, we had a volleyball game in the gym followed by some work on how to study and memorize information. The afternoon was spent in the library studying for geography and exchanging books. I have posted some upcoming items in the Google Calendar but will be going over them with the class tomorrow. 

December 1: The Christmas Sharing Auction is on Friday, December 2 in the auditorium. Please donate if possible... the class has raised $57 so far!

November 30: The Christmas Sharing Auction is on Friday, December 2 in the auditorium. Please donate if possible... the class only has 2$ so far and we will not attend without enough money to bid on something. Please note the dates above, as the class has an exam on December 8 on geography and Language material; please see the online classroom for details and study material. There is no math quiz this week as there is too much going on in the school Thursday / Friday. Please ensure all create your own country projects are turned in as I will be grading them this week / weekend and posting grades early next week. 

November 28: Today we reviewed finding the area / perimeter of irregular polygons (shapes), played volleyball in gym, had a work period on the geography project (create your own country), and French. Geography projects are due Wednesday. I will be giving information out this week on the final geography exam taking place in a week or so. Information and materials for studying will be provided and taught. Donations for the Christmas Sharing Auction are due by Friday, December 2. There will be another math quiz on measurement concepts this week; we will begin to look at the concepts for circles tomorrow before moving on the surface area and volume concepts next week for prisms other 3D shapes. Students will have a real-world based building project to finalize the measurement unit due before the holiday break. Have a nice night. 

November 21: Today we finished the novel Freak the Mighty. There is a short answer and paragraph assignment that is due tomorrow, based on the book. We will take a look at the movie on Thursday and create some drama skits based on the novel. 9 students still need to write the math quiz from Friday and will do so tomorrow. I will be returning African country research projects, Freak the Mighty assignments, and any math quizzes turned in this evening. Today was also a work period for the geography project; I have moved the due date to Monday, November 28 because Friday is a PA day. Parent-teacher interviews for progress reports are on Thursday from 4-6 p.m. Anyone who can not make it will be contacted by phone. Have a nice night!

November 17: Today I assigned a "create your own country" geography project that is due November 25... check the online class for details / handouts. Progress reports go home tomorrow. We will be attending the CSS Chargers football game tomorrow afternoon for a spirit day... check the online class for details. I am away tomorrow and there will be a guest teacher in class. Have a good weekend. Check online for updates about Monday. 

November 16: African country research projects were due Monday. Tomorrow I will be assigning our last project for geography prior to the final exam. This week we are working on a self portrait project in art, we read and discussed a graphic novel called The Arrival which relates to our human geography topic in geography class, continued volleyball, and are beginning to look at measurement concepts in math. I am finishing the novel Freak the Mighty this week. I have returned grades for book reports and short stories. African projects will be graded this week as well. Progress reports go home on Friday. 

November 3: As of right now, there is no class tomorrow. Students were surveyed in class today to see what at home resources look like in case we have to work from home next week. Anyone who was not in class today will be contacted tomorrow by Mr. McKendry. Please check the online classroom, school board's website / social media, and the news for updates on schools and the pending CUPE strike. 

Nov 1: We have started a new geography project today. It will involve a series of collaborative group  challenges themed around natural resources, collaborative problem solving, and community building. We are focusing on the topic of quality of life, economics, and natural resources / sustainability in geography for the next 2-3 weeks to finish up the topic, before moving onto health class. In language, we worked on vocabulary today and paragraph writing (all related to geography). There will be a short spelling quiz on Friday, in addition to our math. This week in math we are building on our work on problem solving last week by reinforcing some numeracy concepts and mental math. Next week we will move onto measurement concepts and a design project (building / measuring). In gym we are starting our volleyball unit and have gym tomorrow. In art we will be working on a self portrait / photography project for the next week or so. Book report projects will be due by the end of the next week. Geography paragraphs on basic human rights are due tomorrow, but students may be finished as there was a lot of time during the lesson today to get it done. 

October 20: Sorry for the gap in postings... We have had a fun week in class... I started reading the novel Freak the Mighty to the class this week and we used it to start discussing things about character development and plot. The class has wrapped up their geography collages and is now starting a suspenseful short story project; I will be changing the seating arrangement into groups for our next geography project where students will study another country and eventually create their own civilization country that includes an economy, settlements, populations, GDP, and other various concepts from the language / geography curriculum. We are currently playing football in gym and will be switching to fitness circuits in another week or two. We have our final math quiz on scientific notation tomorrow. Next week we will be moving into measurement concepts and designing structures and packaging based on real life measurement challenges. 

October 14: I hope everyone had a nice Friday and is ready for the weekend. Today we had a math quiz based off of scientific notation and numeracy problems; it will be returned on Monday. The class had time to do their geography collages and was given a written component to complete online. Student have been assigned a reading project. They picked novels in the library today, and, starting Monday, will have 15 school days to finish the book with 30 minutes of reading time provided in class. Students are required to log and record their reading progress and complete a project at the end (there is a list to choose from). Anyone who does not have a book for Monday morning will be assigned a novel. Have a good weekend!!

October 13: I was away coaching soccer yesterday, but it sounded like the class had a good day. We were working on an article about "factors that affect population" which included some questions and an opinion paragraph (in the online classroom). The class is continuing to work on their geography collages and we are also reviewing and working on scientific notation in math. We began some online writing journals today as well. There is a music quiz tomorrow, in addition to a short math quiz. Have a nice evening. 

October 11: I hope everyone had a nice long weekend. Today we worked on scientific notation in math, began a unit on flag football in gym, watched / discussed the news / current events (media literacy), and spent the afternoon working on geography collages which will be due by the end of the day Thursday. We will be going to the library to select quiet reading books on Friday for the next 3 weeks. There will be a guest teacher in class tomorrow, as I will be out coaching the grade 78 boys soccer team. Go Chargers!!

October 5: Today we went through the first section of notes for geography which summarized key parts of the grade 8 program. Tomorrow, students will begin a 2-day collage activity to group images that reflect different patterns and categories of human geography. We will also review some paragraph writing and start looking more closely at place value and scientific notation in math, while finishing the assessments we started Monday. REMINDER: there is a grade 7/8 glow dance tomorrow evening. 

October 4: Today we did the Terry Fox walk and raised about $30 as a class. We  are working through a math assessment this week to help figure out where students' math abilities are at for the beginning of the program. The last amount of class time to finish drawing shark cartoons was today. We will begin working on colouring and formatting the digital versions of the art next day 5. 

September 30: Today we recognized and reflected on the national day of truth and reconciliation. We looked at the reasons behind this day, the 94 calls to action from the TRC report, and took some time to discuss and explore some indigenous art and music. Additionally, we worked some more on reviewing order of operations in math and spent the last 2 periods in our first drama class; everyone did very well. Next week, the Terry Fox run / walk is on Tuesday, October 4 so please bring in any donations by that date. Have a nice weekend. 

September 28: I hope everyone had a good day today and that the new students are feeling somewhat settled in our new grade 8 class. Tomorrow we will continue working with order of operations, media studies (the news, current events, discussion), do a little reading on the conflict in Europe, and finish the day in the library. I am away at a meeting in the afternoon. The students also have music tomorrow. Have a nice evening. PS: Please remember to wear orange for Friday. 

September 27: Hi, sorry for the dely... We have been working to make some changes with the organization of grade 7 and 8 classes at CSS to better support students and reduce class size. As of tomorrow, September 28, 2022 our class will become a grade 8 homeroom. All grade 8's in the class will remain with Mr. McKendry for the rest of the year, and we will gain 6 new grade 8 students being transferred from another class. This will reduce our class size to 25. I will continue to post daily updates here and in the online classroom. If there are any questions about the reorganization, please contact the main office or email Mr. McKendry. 

September 19: Welcome back to another week! This morning we had quiet reading followed by math and media literacy. For math we continued to work with mental math / number concepts and began looking at the concepts of multiples and factors, with a continued focus on problem solving. For media literacy we looked at a viral video, discussed what makes videos viral / popular, and then analyzed the video to see if it was real (it was fake) and discussed the importance of thinking critically and analyzing information online. Tomorrow we will continue to analyze media and discuss the concept of target audience. For literacy / geography today we continued a group activity where we analyzed photos and categorized them as showing equality or inequality (this relates to the human geography concept of measuring quality of life). Tomorrow students will do a reading on inflation and an activity where they find and analyze their own photos. I am away tomorrow at a medical appointment but will be back at the end of the day to coach my soccer practice for intermediate boys. 

September 16: End of week 2! The class began looking at the concept of quality of life in literacy / geography this week and we spent Thursday and Friday doing some exercises on analyzing photos and debating what they show (equality / inequality). As a next step, we will look at how natural resources can impact people's quality of life and where they live. This will combine aspects of the grade 7 (physical geography) and grade 8 (human geography) programs where students will eventually invent their own country / civilization based on key resources that will include skills such as map making, computer graphics, creative writing (fables), and group work (oral communication). In math we are using our work on mental math to look at problem solving strategies and beginning to explore some more specific number concepts next week (factors, multiples, exponents, etc.). In art we are working on line drawing and cartooning. Have a great weekend!

September 12: Today the class continued working with patterns and the times table chart (up to 12); we will continue this work in small groups tomorrow, and then try some individual questions by the end of the week. The class had its first drama lesson with Mr. Woelber. Ms. Claxton began her vocal band today that will take place every day 5, period 4; will also include instruments later in the year. The class began a paragraph assignment (write your best paragraph on any topic) and a simple map of Canada exercise in geography. The paragraph is due by Wednesday and time will be given in class tomorrow. The map of Canada will be due by Thursday. Have a nice night!

September 9: The first week is done! Thanks to all the students who made our first week in class go so well. Today we put our finished tie-dye designs up in our lockers, worked on identifying patterns in a times table chart (to be continued Monday in small groups), discussed some current events, and completed a CSS scavenger hunt for the last two periods of the day. On Monday, our class will have their first drama lesson with Mr. Woelber, continue to discuss and make mathematical connections in patterning, and begin the 7/8 geography and language program. Have a great weekend!!

September 8: The CSS open house is tonight! Come visit the school and classroom tonight from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

September 7: The second day was a success! We had our third and final tour of the school. Students will take part in a scavenger hunt Friday afternoon to further familiarize themselves with the building and staff. Tomorrow there are a few things to remember: 

-Students will be making tie-dye decorations in class for their lockers

-School photos (time TBD)

-CSS open house to meet the teachers and visit classrooms from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

I have also posted a welcome letter to the main page of this website which will be sent home tomorrow. Have a nice evening.