December Update

This past week, students finished and presented their Charter of Rights and Freedoms inquiry project. Marks will be posted after the break. Students also finished their Animal Farm essays. Students have until January to make any final edits via Google docs, however, this was the final week of class time that students were given to work on them. After the break, students will begin their school wide campaign project for the school election, which will be held in March.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday break.

November 26 - 30

This past week in humanities, a public health nurse came in once per day to teach students about sexual health as part of the Alberta Education Health curriculum. Students also received information about planning for their transitions to high school next year and went on a tour of both Forest Lawn High School and Jack James High School. Students also continued their outline / rough draft stages of their essays based on themes relating to the novel "Animal Farm". On Friday, students watched part 2 of "Freedom Writers" as part of the Healthy Relationships and Stress Management units in Health. Next week, students will continue writing their essays and will begin a unit on individual freedoms in Canada using the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as a guide. Essay topics, instructions, and rubrics can be found on the D2L Brightspace shell through the CBE website.

November 12 - 16

This past week, we wrapped up our unit on Youth Criminal Justice with a unit test. Results are posted on Power School. In response to Tuesday's Plebiscite on the Calgary Olympic bid, students also began writing formal letters to Mayor Naheed Nenshi. The contents of the letter included a request to include teenagers in future plebiscites that deal with issues that will effect them later in life as tax-paying adults. Students will be given one more period on Monday November 19 to complete the letter. Letters of willing students will be sent to the Mayor's office later that week. The assignment is posted on D2L Brightspace.

November 5 - November 9

This past week, students made final preparations for team debates on the fairness and equability of the Youth Criminal Justice Act when applied to the Richardson family murder trial. 3 of the 4 debates were completed. The final debate will commence on Monday, November 12. Students are given individual marks based on their research (must be handed in), their speaking skills, and their ability to be informed and persuasive.

Students also finished reading the novel Animal Farm. All work from chapters 1 - 10 (Questions and Vocabulary) will be due at the end of Tuesdays class (November 13). All content can be found on the class's D2L Brightspace site.

October 29 - November 2

This week in humanities, students began their research on the Jasmine Richardson murder trial as part of their Youth Criminal Justice unit. They will be using this information to help prepare for a debate next week regarding the fairness and equability of our Youth Criminal Justice Act, while using the Richardson trial as a case study. Students also finished reading Animal Farm, up to Chapter 8, and completed a mini-comprehension quiz for chapters 7 - 8. On Friday, we will be looking at types of stress and stress management as part of the health curriculum.

Student Showcase

Looking forward to seeing students and guardians tonight for the student showcase. In humanities, students will complete a federal government structure puzzle, showcase and play Youth Justice System board games that have been worked on this week, discuss "Animal Farm" which we have been reading as a novel study, show one example of written work, and review grades as well as access to course work via PowerSchool and D2L BrightSpace, respectively. See you tonight!

This week in humanities, students began learning about the Youth Criminal Justice System in Canada. We looked at different situations in which youth committed crimes and critically evaluated the appropriateness of the consequences. Students have now begun working on board games that will represent a youth's experience through the justice system.

Students also finished reading up to Ch. 7 of Animal Farm. The novel along with assignments can be found on the class D2L Brightspace shell through the CBE website.

D2L Course Content

Please see Powerschool for updates on assessment and missing assignments for students. To access course content, such as assignments, rubrics, and Power Points used in class, log-in to the course shell on Brightspace D2L which can be accessed through the CBE website. https://d2l.cbe.ab.ca/d2l/home

September 7, 2018

For the past two weeks students have been working on the following:

Transformation Poems: After reading a transformation poem in class, students created their own poems in which they imagined themselves transforming into an animal of their choice during a familiar situation. The animal and its characteristics symbolized the students own personal feelings or attitudes in that situation. Transformation Poems were due last week. All late work will still be accepted for marks.

Weekend Updates: Students watched CNN10 (global news stories condensed into 10 minutes of viewing) and completed a news report on one news story of their choice. Included in the news report were the "five w's and how" of the story (who, what, where, when, why and how) as well as their personal opinion on the central issue of the story. 2 weekend updates have been assigned in class and are now past due.

Gun Control Essays / Debates: Students spent two weeks learning about and researching the current gun control laws in Canada as well as different perspectives on whether or not we need more regulations on firearms. Students then wrote a persuasive essay either defending or opposing calls for stricter gun regulations in the country. Some students elected to prepare a class debate instead of writing an essay. All debates were conducted in class this past week and all essays are now due. Research for both the essays and debates needed to be handed in as well.

Reading / Writing Assessments: Students were administered standardized reading and writing assessments this past week. 2 reading assessments were taken, 1 narrative and 1 informative. 2 writing assessments were conducted, 1 narrative and 1 functional. Students who have not completed the assessments will be asked to complete them next week.

Powerschool: All Transformation Poems and Weekend Updates that were handed in on-time have been assessed and recorded on Powerschool. Marks for Essays and late submissions of work will be coming shortly. Reading and Writing Assessment results will be released once all students have completed the tasks.

Welcome!

Welcome to the 9-5 Humanities blog for the 2018-2019 school year. Check back here once a week for updates on:

-Topics and assignments covered in class throughout the week.
-Homework assignments.

This is a great space for parents to stay informed about what students are learning, as well as a good place for students to check-up on missing assignments if they are away for an extended period of time.

I am looking forward to a great school year!

Jesse Duss
Ernest Morrow School
Humanities / Physical Education