Hello Everyone,

This week we stared to examine the seven main aspects that make up worldview. These will be the main avenues or themes that we will be using to analyze or break down the cultures that we will be studying.
These are:
Geography- Where we live
Time - How we perceive it
Beliefs - What do we think is true
Society - How is it structured, can we move up or down
Values - What is important to you
Economy - How are things in society paid for or exchange
Knowledge - what do people know and how can they access it

All of these themes are ways to look at the complexity that make up how we view the world and how the world influences us.

We looked a little bit at Rome and some of the things that they accomplished. This is to better understand some of the things that Europe tried to emulate or recreate during the Renaissance.

We explored some of the realities and effects of the residential school system in Canada through Orange shirt day and the film We were children.

We also started our exploration of health and healthy relationships.

This week in history was the invasion of England in 1066 and the influence of French on the English language.

Hello Everyone,

This week we have started to move into some of the foundational work for the year of exploring worldview.
We have introduced and worked on some of our first projects which are introduction of the structure of paragraphs and creating a world map.
The structure of paragraphs is an introduction to some of the essential approaches of writing, types of paragraphs and how we support with evidence.
The map project is designed to help you explore geography, where we are in the world and how things in the world are situated in relation to each other.

We have also been continuing our daily work on reading skills and the mechanics of writing.

And once again we have talked about the structure of see think wonder. This is a short cut or "cheat sheet" for critical thinking or a place to start when we are not sure where to start. We can always ask ourselves
See- What do I see?
Think - I think ____ because ______
Wonder - What other information do I need to support my thoughts?

Have a great weekend!

Hello,

This week we have continued to explore some of the ideas and concepts related to worldview and how we are able to express thoughts and ideas through writing.

In today in history we discussed:

Hurricane Florence- Its potential impact and some of the imagery.
Related to this is the writing of the star spangled banner. We talked about how things like national anthems can and do affect world view while watching live video of the hurricane with an American Flag "still there".

We talked about the events of September 11th, the events and the reaction. We used this as a discussion regarding empathy and we wrote about a time in our lives that our world view or perspective changed.

We began work on paragraphs, discussing important structure and format in the context of essay outlining and organization. We highlighted the key concepts of support (always clearly express your support with evidence) and structure ( the structure of a paragraph is the same as a essay just shorter) and how to rely on this format to assist writing.

Have a great weekend everyone and thank you for engaging in your work.

Hello Everyone,
I want to thank everyone for their work this week on the baseline reading and writing tests that we did this week. Having this information will be very helpful for how we plan for students in the future.
In addition this week we started discussion the differences between Narrative and Persuasive writing and how we need to support our thoughts, ideas and arguments with evidence.

This week in history we discussed:

The Mueum fire in Brazil- Does "old stuff from history" matter to us today? Does it affect our lives?

The surrender of Geronimo - the last first nations fighter to abandon resistance to the United States, also discussing the differences and similarities of indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States.

The Fall of the Western Roman Empire - When one of the best names in history, Odoacer (owe-dough-ack-er) over threw the last emperor to name himself King of Italy. The impact of the fall of rome and how it relates to the Renaissance or rediscovery.

Next week we will continue our examination of World View and Friday will be Terry Fox run.

Have a great weekend.

Ernest Morrow School- Grade 8 Humanities 2017 Course Overview

Mr. Schultz

Room 29

Contact Phone: 403-777-7800 ext 2029  Email : jaschultz@cbe.ab.ca

Updates through Powerschool and https://emhumanities82.blogspot.com/

Course Description

Welcome to Humanities 8!  Humanities is a blended course that focuses on learning through the common curricular objectives of Social Studies and Language Arts.  This year we will learn about different Worldviews through the Language Arts skills of reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and representing.  Some major questions that will frame the course are; What does literature teach us about the world we live in?  How does where we live influence how we live?  What factors can change a society’s values, beliefs and knowledge?   How do worldviews vary between time (history) and place (geography)? 

Learning Objectives

By the End of the course, students should have explored the following:

Stem 1: Reads to explore, construct, and extend understanding

Stem 2: Writes to develop, organize, and express information and ideas

Stem 3: Manages and evaluates ideas and information

Stem 4: Constructs meaning and makes connections through speaking

Stem 5: Constructs meaning and makes connections through listening

Stem 6: Represents ideas and creates understanding through a variety of media

Stem 7: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of citizenship and identity

Stem 8: Explores events and issues from different points of view

Stem 9: Demonstrates skills and processes for inquiry and research

Stem 10: Communicates ideas in an informed and persuasive manner.

Previous Learning and New Challenges

During grade 7 students were asked to explore different text forms to express ideas while considering Canada. They looked at Canadian citizenship and identity in a diverse society while asking How it had changed over time and Why.

In grade 8 students will be asked to take the next step in developing listening, speaking, reading writing, viewing, inquiry and research skills through creating their own oral, print and visual texts. They will practice these skills though three major case studies that will have them reflecting on how contact and context have shaped, and will shape how people see the world.

These case studies are:

• Renaissance Europe – Origins of a Western Worldview 

• The Spanish & The Aztec – Worldviews in Conflict  

• Japan – From Isolation to Adaptation

Assessment

This class will conduct two types of assessment, formative and summative.

Formative assessment “informs” the learning process, occurs daily throughout the year and is vital to the education process. Though reflective or inquiry tasks like journaling, peer review and in class discussions/projects or skill development tasks such as vocabulary work, researching or source analysis, a student’s strengths and emerging skills are able to be evaluated. This formative assessment is used to target specific areas for individual student’s needs of skill development, context and engagement.

Summative assessment “sums up” learning that has taken place though final marks of projects, quizzes or tests. Summative assessment allows the long term progression of formative assessment to be represented in a clear and condensed way. Summative assessment only verifies the success of the formative process and should never be viewed independently of that information.

You will see the following indicators for assessment in reference to the learning objectives above:  Report Card Indicators – What do they mean?

Indicator Scale
1 – Not Meeting	A student has not yet shown they have met grade level expectations according to the Program of Studies. Learning has to be highly structured.
2 – Basic	·      applies learning in familiar and common situations ·      adequate and basic knowledge ·      depth of understanding - basic
3 – Good	·      applies learning in familiar, new learning situations ·      applied in a variety of learning situations ·      depth of understanding -well-developed and in-depth knowledge.
4 - Excellent	·      applies learning in novel, diverse, and unique settings ·      engages in complex learning tasks ·      depth of knowledge – subtle and thorough
NER – No Evaluation Recorded	·      insufficient evidence of learning is available
ELL – English Language Learner	·      language development impacts collection of evidence ·      anecdotal evidence is used to determine level of language proficiency
IPP – Individual Program Plan	·      used when the report card stem is evaluated in the IPP ·      only used if student is identified with special needs

Skill Development

Formative feedback and summative assessment will include but is not limited to:

• Reading strategies – Novel study, Current events, Text criticism, Source Analysis, Research

• Writing process and formatting – Journaling, text summary, grammar and language mechanics

• Formal and creative writing – Poetry, Short Story, Letter, Text analysis, review

• Writing for various purposes and audiences – scholarly, entertainment, various media (blog, newspaper, magazine)

• Critical and creative thinking – source analysis of various media, interpretation, design thinking

• Considering various perspectives – indigenous, francophone, historical, current, influences and context

• Language conventions and mechanics –formatting, style and structure in context, formal vs colloquial

• Vocabulary and spelling development – formative through projects

• Evaluation and interpretation of sources – Historical context, bias and meaning

• Organizing and researching skills – strategies, time management, design thinking, context and for effectiveness

Glossary of Terms and Concepts

The following terms and concepts are contained within the general and specific outcomes in the grade.  The definitions are provided to facilitate a better understanding and more effective application of the social studies concepts presented.

 Adaptation - Changing attitudes and behaviours to suit a new situation. 

Contact - Connection or interaction, communication, association or relationship. 

Expansionist - Political attitude and actions of a country whose goal is to expand its power and/or its territory, usually by force. 

Humanist - Pertaining to humanism:  a system of thought that centres on humans and their values, capacities and worth; concern with the interests, needs and welfare of humans. 

Imperialism - Policy of a country or empire to extend its authority or domination by political, economic or military means; policy of a state/government whose goal is for another state/government to become dependent on it politically or economically. 

Intercultural - Of, relating to, involving or representing different cultures. 

Isolation - Relating to isolationism:  foreign policy whereby a nation resists participating in the affairs of the international community by abstaining from any international, political or economic relationship. 

Renaissance - The humanistic revival of classical art, architecture, literature and learning that originated in Italy in the 14th century. 

Social structures - Organization models within a society that reflect the values and interests of that society’s members. 

Society - Group of persons linked by common activities or interests and sharing public space. 

Worldview - A collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or group; the lens through which the world is viewed by an individual or group; the overall perspective from which the world is interpreted.   

Expectations

Please be prepared for class with paper and a pen/pencil.

Please be aware that all of our actions either contribute to or detract from our classroom becoming an inclusive and positive learning environment.

Respect yourself and others and give people the benefit of the doubt.

Ask “why” until you are satisfied.

Be (constructively) critical.

The Student Purpose statement is expected to be followed at all times which states:

I come to Ernest Morrow School to learn and participate in citizenship.

It is my right and responsibility to learn and participate in citizenship.

I have a responsibility to :

●      Be in charge of myself

●      Look after myself and others

●      Use my words and positive actions to express my feelings and needs

●      Do my work

●      Work cooperatively with others

●      Listen with my eyes, my heart, and my mind

●      Help everyone belong, feel safe, valued and respected.

This is my purpose:

●      In the community of ours

●      In the classroom

●      In the hallway

●      To and from school

●      Online and in group interactions

●      On the bus

Together, we all succeed!

If you have any questions, concerns, problems or want to discuss specific learning or teaching approaches that would be best for an individual student; please don’t hesitate to contact me. Please let me know if you have a preferred method of contact.