What's going On?

Happy New Year, and welcome back.  It has been an eventful, and trying, first couple of weeks back to school this year.  We are hoping that things will settle into more of a regular routine in Room 308 in the coming days.  With last Friday, and this Friday being days out of class, there has been a different feel to these weeks, but we are moving along quite quickly with what we are working on.

Just to keep you up to date, here is some of what we are doing in class...
In Math we have been plotting points on a Cartesian plane, and exploring transformational geometry.  Each student was able to create a map of our classroom by plotting coordinates for the major features of the room.  We will be moving on to other topics in Geometry in the coming days.
In Language we are finishing up some Literature Circle groups that we started prior to the break.  They are all focused on stories of children in times of war.  A culminating assignment is being completed by each student, and then each group, in the coming week.
In Phys Ed we are finishing up our unit on Volleyball with some time on the actual court in game like situations.  There are some great skills being demonstrated.
In Science we are wrapping up a unit on Space with some closer looks at some major features of our solar system, and ways in which we interact with space through space travel and technology.
In Art, we have crossed over into geometry by looking at the use of a grid system to help duplicate and enlarge drawings.  Some of our self professed 'non drawers' have had considerable success recreating comic art completely free hand, by using a grid system approach.  We have collectively used this approach to create a mural sized reproduction of a piece of Bill Reid artwork that we will be painting on the wall on the third floor in the coming weeks.  (I am looking for any volunteer help I can get with that in the days ahead).
Today, while students were putting the finishing touches on their 3d models of the Sun, and its interior layers, we checked out Chris Hadfield's Twitter account, where he has been Tweeting from the ISS for the past few weeks.  You can check it out, and see some incredible shots of Earth, taken from the space station, at the link below...
https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield