Touching Spirit Bear Business Letters

A reminder that your Business Letters can be handed in on Thursday (or Friday at conferences!) or on April 1 when we return from break.  

Also, we completed the novel today, so if you were absent, please read the chapters you missed! :)

Have a great Spring Break!

Novel - Touching Spirit Bear

• Currently, we have read up to Chapter 18 in Touching Spirit Bear.  If you have missed any school, or will be missing class next week, this is our reading schedule to the end of the book:
• March 15 - Chapter 19, 20
• March 18 - Chapter 21, 22
• March 19 - Chapter 23, 24
• March 20 - Chapter 25, 26
• March 21 - Chapter 27, 28
• You are welcome to sign a copy of the book out with me, or use the PDF ebook to catch up on any chapters you miss :)

March 12

Short Story - "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson - we will discuss this story in class on Friday.  Make notes on the questions listed on the "Discussion Circle" document (back page of your copy of the story and also shared with you in Google Drive).  Don't forget to check out the audio version of the text if you are interested!  Many students find it very helpful to listen to the audiobook after their initial read-through.

Novel - Touching Spirit Bear - Students have chosen a character from the novel to write from the perspective of - They are asked to make a recommendation to the court as to what should be done with Cole now using the format of a business letter.  Currently, students are gathering textual evidence from the novel to support their recommendation, and also making connections to the main themes in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.  So far, we are brainstorming ideas and finding evidence in the text and will start writing our letters in class on Wednesday/Thursday.  

Federal Government Review - Test on March 12

Today we discussed the following study guide for the Federal Government Test on March 12. If you have any questions, please let me know!

1. Vocabulary:

Government, Constitution, Monarch, Executive Branch,
Legislative Branch, Constituent, Popular Vote, Minorities, Senate,
House of Commons, Judicial Branch, Accountable, Constituency/Riding,
Parliament, Royal Assent, Slogan, Bias, Lobbyist

2.     Questions to guide your studying:

-What are the three branches of government?

-What roles can be found under each branch? What do these people do?

-MP stands for: _____________  How are MPs decided?

-How are senators decided?  Who do they represent?

-Supreme Court - what is the role of the Supreme Court?  How many Supreme Court judges are there?

-How is the PM decided?  (Three steps)

-Who is the Governor General and what is their role?

-Parliament/House of Commons - How many seats are in the House of Commons?

-What are the steps in the legislative process, from bill to law?

-What is the role of Lobby Groups?  How do they impact decision making?

-What is the role of the media?  How can you detect bias in the media?

3.    Also, be sure to review the handouts completed in class (5 pages in total)

Week of March 4-8

"The Story of..." projects are due on Friday, March 8.  If you are finished before this time, you are welcome to hand them in sooner.  Please submit them to Ms. S since she would like to look at the Science component first.

Please note - the Humanities component must include: 1.) Lobby Group statement 2.) Table outlining the opinions of the 4 major federal parties 3.) News Article 

You are welcome to also include an editorial cartoon and/or a statement outlining your personal opinion if you would like to and have time.  

We will have a Unit test on the Governance Topic on Tuesday, March 12. We will make a study guide to review but you can also refer to the handouts completed and discussed in class in order to prepare.