2013-2014
WELCOMEGRADE 7
“Develop a
passion for
learning. If
you do, you
will never
cease to
grow.”
Anthony J.
D’Angelo
Mondays
1:00- 1:45 Gym
Tuesdays
11:40-12:10 Library
1:00-2:30 Strings
Wednesdays
10:55-11:40 Gym
12:00 Sushi
Fridays
1:15-1:45 Little buddies
Welcome to grade 7! My name is Olivier Salvas and I’ll be teaching your
child for his/her last year at École Bilingue! In this document, you will
find all the grade 7 information, curriculum, routines and expectations.
Please read this document carefully. I am looking forward to working
with you and your child this year!
Classroom Website
All communication, information and newsletters will be available through
our classroom website. Our website will also be used daily by the students.
On there, they will find their weekly home assignments, projects, Cyber
Quests, extra practice and preparation for upcoming exams. The website
will be used in class and it is meant to ease the transition between school
and home. That way, you will be able to know what is expected of your
child at all times. To receive all the information, go to the “Subscribe by
email” tool is located on the left column of the website. You may also
choose to visit the website at your own convenience.
http://ourvirtualclass.edublogs.org
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WELCOMEGRADE 7 2013-2014
French Language Arts
Program Overview
Our main goals this year in
French language arts is to
develop our critical judgement,
to perfection our writing skills
and to comfortably share our
thoughts and opinions using our
second language.
In writing class, we will
discover four type of texts: the
informative text, the poetic text,
the fictional text and journalistic
texts. The majority of our
c u r r i c u l u m i s t a k e n f ro m
contemporary French Canadian
authors, journalists and artists.
Grammar will be taught
through these texts. We will
perfection our grammar
discoveries through the
“Guillements 6” activity book.
In Reading class we will
study the novel “Méto” by Yves
Grevet and we will do reading
will be handing out the text on
Mondays. We will go through it
together and the students will
be given some time to answer
the questions. At home, the
students are expected to read
the text daily, to answer all the
questions and to study the text.
On Friday mornings, I will use
this text for our spelling test. I
will also be asking a couple of
questions that were on the
homework sheet. The goal of
studying a text is to develop the
circles with mystery novels on sentence structure in French
the theme of Greece and Rome. a n d t o p a y a t t e n t i o n t o
I will also teach techniques to grammar.
decode texts using a technique
At home, the students will
called “Lecture Explicite”. Other
t e x t s w i l l c o m e f ro m t h e also be asked to review verbs or
m a g a z i n e “ L e M o n d e E n grammar notions, depending on
Marche” and other respected the week. Also, your child might
have to take some time to read
sources.
his/her French novel. Other
homework can include to work
Work at home
o n c u r re n t p ro j e c t s . T h e
Every week, we will study a expectations and guidelines for
short text. This short text will be each projects can be found on
accompanied by questions. I our classroom website.
Evaluation Process
In mi Proin accumsan
Purus, in consectetuer Proin in
sapien. Donec feugiat tempor
libero. Fusce urna magna,neque
eget lacus. Maecenas felis nunc,
2
Writing
6 0 % o f t h e m a rk w i l l b e
attributed to the writing productions
and journal entries. 15% of the mark
will be attributed to grammar. 20%
will be attributed to the weekly
spelling tests. 5% of the mark will be
for participation.
Reading
The mark will be split evenly
through the term’s novel study,
(comprehension, participation to
study groups) reading comprehension
questions, author studies and book
reports.
Speaking/Listening
60% of the mark will be quality
of the French language in the oral
presentations. 25 % will be attributed
to speaking French in class and the
other 15% will be accorded to
listening behavior, the respect of
other student’s opinions and listening
comprehension.
WELCOMEGRADE 7 2013-2014
Mathematics
Program Overview
This year, we will use the Math Makes Sense
7 textbook to study Math. The textbook
Math notions will be reinforced through
contains the following sections:
Math Minute activities, extra worksheets,
centers, computer games, group projects &
1- Regularities
classroom conversations.
2- Integers
3- Fractions, Decimals, and Percents
Math homework will mainly be to
4- Circles & Area
complete the activities started in class and to
5- Operations with Fractions
study important notions for exams.
6- Equations
7- Data Analysis
The final mark in Math will include the
8- Geometry
exams, mini-quizzes, Math-Minutes and the
Math journal.
The students will be asked to keep a Math
journal. In this journal, they will be asked to
write down the notions studied in class along
with personal tips to help them remember the
important notions. It would be an asset for
the students to personalize their journal,
especially for visual learners.
“Education
is the most
powerful
weapon
which you
can use to
change the
world.”
Nelson Mandela
3
WELCOMEGRADE 7 2013-2014
Social Sciences
The grade 7 curriculum is similar to the grade
In Sciences class, we will cover the following
6 curriculum. This class will be a mix of lectures, themes:
projects and researches.We will study the
following themes:
1- Chemistry
2- Diversity of Life
1- Greece
3- Exploration of Extreme Environments
2- Rome
3- Egypt
The formula for this class is similar to the
4- Ancient China
Social Sciences class. It will include magistral
5- Mesopotamia
classes with exercises to complete, classroom
6- Indus Valley
experiments, projects and science fairs. The
7- Ancient India
students will be expected to keep a science
journal with the important notions along with an
I will use the Think, Pair, Share technique and up to date lab report duo-tang.
I will encourage the students to make
predictions, to compare civilizations among
Parents may be asked to provide material for
themselves and to share their opinions. The lab class or to come and volunteer in the
students will be asked to develop research classroom. Your help will be very appreciated to
techniques as they will be expected to complete make this class interesting.
one or two big projects every term. They will
have to share their discoveries in front of the
class. During magistral classes, the students will
be asked to take their own notes taken from
Powerpoint presentations, videos, websites and
magistral lessons. We will sometimes use the
textbook L’Antiquité by Arnold Toutant and
Susan Doyle to reinforce our learnings.
The mark will be split in three parts: the
project, exams & quizzes on the lectures and
questions on the presentations. No homework is
expected for this class except for studying for
the exams and to occasionally work on projects.
The quality of the French language will be part of
the French Writing mark and it will not impact the
social sciences mark. Most of the time, Social
Sciences class will be integrated to our French
Language Arts theme of the month.
4
Sciences
WELCOMEGRADE 7 2013-2014
Arts
Arts and Creativity are
very important to me. They
will be part of most of the
projects we will do in class.
We will also study artists and
get inspired from them to
create our own masterpieces.
Some students will also
continue their band program
with Mrs Akita on Tuesday
afternoons. The remaining
students will be given music
lessons and they will
complete more complex art
projects such as sculpture,
l a n d a r t , p h o t o g r a p h y,
movies, etc.
English Language Arts
The components and
evaluation English class are
similar to English class. The
main difference will be in the
way it’s done as we have less
time in a week to cover the
curriculum.
For spelling, the students
will be given a word list every
week to study. A spelling test
will be given the last day of
the week. The spelling works
will be organized by theme.
5
be a proper grammar class to
Every week, the students make sure the students will
will be asked to write a be well prepared for High
journal entry in English on School.
their classroom blog or in
their journal. This entry will be
Speaking and Listening
an opinion about an historical class will be covered using
event, a current event or on a t h e C N N b ro a d c a s t f o r
chosen topic.
teenagers. We will watch the
daily news and the students
The main novel we will will be expected to share their
s t u d y t h i s y e a r i s opinions in groups and with
Shakespeare’s Macbeth. the class.
Other texts and authors will
be taken from major
At the end of the day, 30
Newspapers, magazines and minutes will be accorded to
the text book Sightlines. The “Daily 5s”. During this period,
novels for reading circles are the students will be given the
still TBA.
choice of various language
activities ( grammar, read to
The remaining English s e l f , r e a d t o o t h e r s ,
Language Arts time will be p a r a g r a p h e d i t i n g a n d
accorded to projects. Those reading comprehension). It is
projects will often have to be during this time that I will be
presented online via our meeting groups for literacy
classroom website. The circles. Also, the students will
general themes we will be also be given the options to
working on are Author’s meet with their teammates to
Purpose, Characterization, work on on-going projects if
Figurative Language, Point of they want to. Every Mondays,
View, Poetry and Tone & I will hand in worksheets for
Mood.
the daily 5s. The goals of the
Daily 5s is to practice English
Grammar will be thought language arts and to learn to
i n a c r e a t i v e w a y b y manage our time before
correcting celebrity tweets, going to high school. On
by correcting mistakes in Friday, I could quiz the kids
a d v e r t i s e m e n t s a n d b y on what they have worked on
m a k i n g r e s e a r c h e s i n during the Daily 5s.
newspapers. There will also
WELCOMEGRADE 7 2013-2014
Behavior & Expectations
Homework
“Education is the ability to listen to
almost anything without losing your
temper or your self-confidence.”
Homework in grade 7 should last
around an hour every week night. Most of the hour Robert Frost
should consist of studying for the French & the
I strongly believe in self-regulation and
English spelling tests, the grammar quiz and to review
in social responsibility to maintain a
the Math notions of the week. The rest of the hour
good atmosphere in our classroom. I
should be used to complete work that we have
will support this philosophy by
begun in class or to work on current projects.
teaching the “Mind-Up” program. I do
Students are also expected to read 15 minutes a day.
not believe in negative behavior
I will not assign work on the weekend (nothing will be
system. I’d rather reward positive
given on a Friday for the next Monday). It’s up to your
behavior. Students who do not
parental choice and of the student choice to review
respect the rules will be given
notions or to work on current projects during the
reflections. All reflections will have to
weekend. Students will be rewarded for completing
be signed by a guardian. If the
their homework on time with extra points on their
behavior continues to escalate, I will
assignments.
set up a meeting with the student, his/
her parents and the administration.
Behavior Expectations
The students and I have written our code of
conduct together on the first day of school. Every
student has signed it and has agreed to it. I expect
all students to be respectful of themselves, of their
classmates and of their teacher all all times.
6
Violence, bullying and all unacceptable
behavior will be dealt with case-bycase and the administration will be
involved right away. I am strongly
hoping this will not happen.
WELCOMEGRADE 7 2013-2014
Routines
After recess
utine
o
R
g
in
n
r
Mo
(Except We
routine
dnesdays)
ook.
1) Put my c
at on the h
o
oat on the h
c
y
m
t
u
ook.
1) P
2
r.
)
e
T
h
a
ke my Math
r.
teac
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e
iz
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th
a
t
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rg
o
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oks
2) G
e red
3) Make sure
er.
ework in th
iz
m
n
o
a
h
I
rg
y
h
o
a
m
v
d
t
e
2 well sharp
3) Pu
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ened
pencils.
d forms in
e
n
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s
ll
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t
th
to
o
4) Pu
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4) Listen to
ttle /
the classica
y water bo
l music and
5) Fill in m
be
d
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w
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it
if
fo
r
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M
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ietly read
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French bo
nday
o
7) Take a
M
t
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9:20
ine (E
After lunch routine
(Except Mondays)
1) Put my coat on the hook.
2) Fill in my water bottle / Go
to the washroom if need be
3) Make sure I have 2 well
sharpened pencil.
4) Take an English book and
read until 1:15
l rout
o
o
h
of sc
on
work
o
t
t
c
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r a pr a
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y
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3) Wh Clean-Up.
o
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4) 2:5
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and m
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5) Tak
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6) Sa
Healthy Food / Nut-Free Classroom
Un corps sain dans un esprit sain! This French
expression can be translated into: « a healthy
mind in a healthy body ». Eating healthy is part
of your child’s education and it is proven that
healthy lunch & snacks increase your child’s
focus in the classroom and his/her brain
development. Please support me in my
initiative to educate the importance of healthy
eating at school by giving your child a healthy
morning snack such as fruits, vegetables or
dairy products.
7
Please be aware that our room is nut-free
as some students have severe peanut
allergies. Please make sure you read the
ingredients properly if you buy an alreadymade snack for your
child. Most of the time,
there will be a no-nuts
sign on kids oriented
snacks such a granola
bars.
WELCOMEGRADE 7 2013-2014
What you need this year
Grade 7 essentials
I would appreciate your support in providing
your child with these essential extra classroom
supplies and clothing:
• a protractor
• a calculator
• a USB key
• a 15-cm ruler
• a compass
• indoor shoes (for gym)
• a smock or a used shirt for art class &
science class
• deodorant
• dry socks
“Educating
the mind
without
educating the
heart is no
education at
all.”
If kept in good condition, most of these
classroom supplies could be used throughout
the remaining of your child’s education. Thank
you for your help.
TWITTER
CONTACT
FOR INSTANT NOTICES, TO
RECEIVE EXTRA INFORMATION OR
TO BE PART OF THE
CONVERSATION, FIND ME ON
TWITTER @OSALVAS
TO SET UP A MEETING, TO INFORM
ME OF AN UPCOMING ABSENCE
OR TO PASS ON A BRIEF MESSAGE,
PLEASE CONTACT ME AT
[email protected]
ÉCOLE BILINGUE
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
CURRICULUM, YOUR CHILD’S
LEARNING OR REGARDING YOUR
CHILD’S BEHAVIOR CAN BE
DISCUSSED OVER THE PHONE OR
BY SETTING UP A MEETING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR
COOPERATION.
1166 WEST 14TH AVE.
VANCOUVER, BC
V6H 1P6
TEL: 604-713-4585
FAX: 604-713-4587
8
Aristotle