Early October
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We hope everyone has a warm weekend and that you don't have to brave the chilly weather outside. On
that note, Mr. Coates would like to invite all parents to a Winter Camp information meeting this Thursday,
October 9th. Please meet in the library at 7:00 at Darwin.
Students had a presentation on volunteering at St. Amant this week and received permission forms if
they were interested in a once weekly volunteer commitment during the school day. Forms will be due to
Ms. Gapka this Wednesday, October 8th.
Volleyball games are starting next week and parents are encouraged to check Team Snap updates for the
times and dates of upcoming games. If you are not receiving email reminders and your child is playing
volleyball, please contact Mr. Coates to add your email address to the list.
Weekly Math Catch-up:
Grade 7: What a whirlwind week we've had! Students have wrapped up activities for comparing and
ordering decimal numbers and writing decimals in word form. We will begin notes and assignments for
adding and subtracting decimal numbers next week!
Grade 8: Students have had opportunities to review the multi-step formula for estimating square
roots. The 8-1 students ended their Friday with a quiz; 8-2 students can expect one on TUESDAY! Next
up: exploring triangles and the relationship between the 3 sides of a right-angle triangle. Students will
be constructing 3-D models of the Pythagorean Theorem next week - if anyone has extra cereal
boxes or cardboard lying around, we could use a little bit!
Weekly Science Notes:
This week, students completed an inquiry of vocabulary related to Cell Theory. We have discussed and
compared characteristics of living things. Next up: delving deeper into the building blocks of life - Plant
and Animal Cells!
From Ms. Newediuk - There are still a handful of students who have not submitted
assignments for either Math or Science class. These students have been reminded of this,
and should be bringing home assignments this weekend. If assignments are still
outstanding by early next week, I will be calling home to let parents and guardians know!
This week in Social Studies:
Students in Social Studies watched the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark and then took part in a
class discussion of how Indiana Jones did not demonstrate proper excavating and artifact handling
techniques. They also pointed out that bullwhips, guns and bags of sand were not usual tools in the field.
Students were also introduced to the vocabulary on our Early Peoples unit and were assigned a word to
create a word wall poster. The word wall poster is homework in all three classes. It is due on
Monday.
From Mrs. Daoust: Get your jazz hands ready! There was a play/musical information meeting held this
Thursday at lunch to get a sense of how many students would be interested in participating in the
dramatic production this year and to go over general expectations and responsibilities involved in being
part of a production. I was thrilled to see that over half our junior high was interested in taking part
either on stage or backstage. Watch for an announcement in the next few weeks about which
play/musical Darwin will be putting on this year! More information about audition times and practice
schedules will be coming soon.
That's it for this week! Thanks to all the positive feedback about the weekly emails, it's great to know
they are appreciated! Have a wonderful weekend.
The Junior High Team
Late September
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We've had a great week and such wonderful weather! Hopefully everyone has a lovely weekend with
sunshine and balmy temperatures. Here are a few short snappers about next week in grades 7/8.
Everyone get ready to smile! It's picture day next Thursday, October 2nd.
There will be a Leadership meeting next Day 3 on Tuesday. Leadership meetings will continue once a
week every Day 3 and will be held in Mrs. Daoust's room at 12:10.
Mr. Coates would like to remind parents with students involved in grades 7 and 8 boys and girls volleyball
to email him at doug.coates@lrsd.net if they are not already receiving Team Snap notifications about
upcoming games and practices.
This week in Math:
Grade 7 students have wrapped up our exploration of the Rules for Divisibility. We have started to
review place value and scientific notation for decimal numbers. More review to follow next week!
Grade 8 students began estimating square roots of non-perfect square numbers. We created number
lines to show our work and began problem solving to apply our knowledge of square roots. Up next - the
Pythagorean Theorem!
Students are reminded that all square roots worksheets will be due at the end of their next
Math class.
In Science:
Students finished their introductory exploration of the scientific method this week with small in-class
labs. Everyone filled out a lab report and reached conclusions based on observations made. Coming up
next week - an introduction to Cell Theory and living things!
All lab reports and yellow reflection sheets are due MONDAY.
This week in Social Studies
Students learned about the scientific theory of the origin of life and the evolution of life. They compared
and contrasted stories of origin with the scientific theory of life. There is no homework this weekend,
however a few students have not turned in their previous assignment of a graphic comic. If you could
double-check that your child has handed this in and that your dog hasn't eaten it, it would be very
appreciated.
Have a warm weekend!
The Junior High Team
2014-09-19, at 4:14 PM,
Dear Parents/Guardians,
This week at Darwin has been a busy one! The Darwin School BBQ was a wonderful success and
it was great to see so many familiar faces there! Thank you to all those who volunteered their
time and to all those who came out.
We also had a great turnout for our first Leadership meeting this afternoon. The Grade 7 and 8
Leadership group is a group of student volunteers who meet once a cycle on Day 3 at lunch in
Room 12 and take on a leadership role organizing events such as grade 8 farewell, spirit weeks
and various fundraisers to support local charities. Leadership students need to make sure their
WE Day application forms are filled out and handed in to Mrs. Daoust by September 24 th. There
is a limited number of tickets available for WE Day this year. The forms were sent home today.
Just a reminder that there is no school on Monday September 22th and there is early dismissal
Tuesday September 23rd.
Mr. Coates would like parents to know that Grade 7 & 8 volleyball teams will have schedules
posted in Team Snap. Parents will receive an invitation via e-mail to join Team Snap for their
child's volleyball team. Team Snap will send reminders about games and practices usually the
day before each event. If parents do not want to receive e-mails with volleyball schedules and
update or changes to practices all they need to do is decline the invitation to join team snap.
From the wonderful world of Science...
Students wrote their Scientific Tools and Method quiz on Friday - it was apparent that most of
us studied this week! Ms. N was pleased... Next week, we will model mini-experiments to
complete a lab report, then begin on our study of Cell Theory.
From the Math department...
Grade 7 - students have begun working on an exploration of divisibility rules. Worksheets will
be due mid-to-end next week (due date TBA)
Grade 8 - students learned to factor to find square roots. Worksheets are due next math
class! Up next: Estimating square roots
In Social Studies …
This week students completed their discussion and analysis of various origin stories from
around the world. They have each picked an origin story and are retelling it in graphic comic
form. Students in 7/8D and 7/8H have to complete their graphic comic for Tuesday. Students in
7/8M should have completed at least half of their final draft for Tuesday. Next week we begin
learning about pre-history, early man and why Indiana Jones was a great tomb raider but not
the best archeologist. That’s it! Have a great weekend! ….The Junior High Team
First Edition, Early September
Good Afternoon,
Here's the first weekly email I forwarded on Friday. Sorry I just remembered to include our staff this
morning! So here's what I sent out;
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Wow, it’s already almost halfway through September! We’ve had a great second week back in
grade 7/8 and everyone’s settling back into routine and adjusting to those early mornings.
There are a couple of reminders for important events coming up. The annual Darwin Parent’s
Association Community BBQ is on the 18th from 4:00 -6:00. Everyone is encouraged to come,
eat and celebrate. There is also a DPA September meeting on Tuesday the 16th 6:30 – 8pm in
the school library. All parents are welcome.
We would also like to remind you that the school website is an important source of
information. The content changes, and often copies of other documents lost in backpacks can
be found here: https://www.lrsd.net/schools/Darwin/Pages/default.aspx
If you have handed in your student fees, email permission form, $5 lock fee and updated
information sheet in the first week of school or at the meetings, thank you very much! If you
aren’t sure if your student’s forms have made it from the backpack to our office desk, please
check with us. We’ll be happy to provide you with another form if one has been lost.
Grade 7/8 Science: This week in Science, students began an exploration of the tools in our lab
and the scientific method. We have identified independent and dependent variables in sample
experiments, and will continue to do so next week with real, hands-on experiments! Students
are reminded that they will have a short matching quiz next week re: different lab tools and
parts of the scientific process. Students will have some class time to review for the quiz.The
following will be dates for the quiz:
- Thurs, Sept 18 (Ms. Newediuk's homeroom)
- Friday, September 19 (Ms. Daoust's and Mr. Mackay's homerooms)
Grade 7 Math: Students completed a math assessment as a review for skills learned over the
last few years. We created our Math Journals (which will stay in Ms. Newediuk's classroom for
safe-keeping!) and will be starting with an introduction to rules of divisibility on Monday.
Grade 8 Math: Students created Math Journals (which will also stay in Ms. Newediuk's
classroom for safe-keeping!) and began a study of square roots and exponents. Next
up: estimating square roots!
Grade 7/8 Social Studies: This week in Social Studies, students have discussed what a world
view is, created a web explaining what influences their own world view and contrasted it to the
world view of someone living centuries in the past. They began reading different origin stories
from around the globe and will continue to analyze there similarities and differences next
week. There is no homework in Social Studies this weekend.
Grade 7/8 Band: Miss Ross would like to remind parents that for anyone renting a school
instrument the $60 fee is due ASAP, cheques made payable to Darwin School.
Mr. Coates says there will be volleyball practices this week. Mon/Wed 8 Boys & Girls 3:305:00 Tues / Thurs 7 Boys & Girls 3:30-5:00
That’s it for this week! We hope you had a smooth transition back into school year routines and
have a wonderful warm weekend.
The Junior High Team