April 29

In Writer's Workshop today we looked at writing good narrative leads. I gave you a handout with four examples of narrative leads: typical, dialogue, action, and reaction. I asked you to write an example of each on your own for the first part of our Writer's Workshop time. For the remainder of the time, I gave you class time to work on your own projects for Writer's Workshop.
Here's your homework assignment for the weekend: please write four more narrative leads (one of each style) for Monday. You should have in total 8 narrative leads for Monday.
Some of you still did not bring in your forms and money for the "Economics of Staying School" field trip, please make sure that you do this today after school, if you're one of the ones who forgot to bring it in today.

Homework assignment:

• Write four more narrative leads (for a total of 8) for Monday, May 2nd

April 28

Today's mini-lesson was on a "Main Character Questionnaire", which was a series of questions you could pose to a fictional character in order to develop more believable characters for your stories. This exercise would be helpful as a starting point for a character sketch or just for creating characters. I asked you try using the questions to start a character sketch in class. Then I gave you some time to work on whatever you needed to in Writer's Workshop.
I also did a brief introduction of the next unit of study: Economic Growth in Canada. I gave you a handout for this, it was the Topic 9C unit outline. If you missed class today you will have to get this handout from me.
I also talked briefly about the Grade 9 Social Studies Provincial Achievement Test. I pointed out to you that there is a "blueprint" for this final exam that is online at the Alberta Education website. This blueprint essentially tells you what topics will be tested in the provincial final. If you would like to have a look at the actual "blueprint", please click here. There's also a blueprint for LA Part "A" and LA Part "B" . In case you're wondering, yes there is a Math blueprint and a Science blueprint too.

A special message to students in 9A: You need to bring in your forms and $3 for the field trip to Mount Royal College for the "Economics of Staying in School" tomorrow. Please don't forget!!

April 27

The bulk of our time today was spent on various Writer's Workshop activities. I started off with a mini-lesson on "Polishing Your Prose Writing". If you missed today's class you'll have to get the notes from one of your classmates. The remainder of the class period was spent working on projects from Writer's Workshop.

A special message to the students in 9A:
I would like to remind you that you have to hand in your permission forms, your acknowledgement of risk forms (with your Alberta Health Care number), and $3 in to me by Friday, April 29th for our field trip to Mount Royal College for the "Economics of Staying in School".

April 26

Today I talked about getting serious about studying for exams. You have a little over two months left in the school year, and for some of you, how well you do on your June exams will determine what core academic courses you'll be able to take in high school. I really want to emphasize with you how important it is to review for your exams because ultimately it will be you who will have to write them, not me. I can do only so much to prepare you for these exams, you have to meet me more than half way in preparing for these exams by always studying and reviewing between now and the exams dates. The test dates for your Provincial Achievement Exams are as follows:

• LA Part "A": Thursday, May 19th
• Math: Wednesday, June 22nd
• Science: Thursday, June 23rd
• LA Part "B": Friday, June 24th
• Social Studies: Monday, June 27th

For the remainder of the class we talked about Writer's Workshop. You got two handouts from me: "The Chicken Bones Rubric" and "The Writer's Workshop Progress Report". We also talked about potential rewards for meeting due dates. I then gave you about 30 minutes to write.

April 25

Good evening.
Today you wrote your USA Unit Final. It took the better part of two periods. I also collected your Made in the USA textbooks since we are now officially finished with this unit.

April 22

Instead of what I had planned to do with you today, I gave you the class period to study for your USA Unit Final. I saw 9B in period 3 and 9A in period 4 due to the Earth Day demonstration in the afternoon. Due to the short periods, we didn't play the review game that we had planned.

April 21

Today we had our first true mini-lesson for Writer's Workshop. We discussed possible idea starters for personal narratives called "Questions for Memoirists". After this mini-lesson you had a significant piece of time to do work on a piece for Writer's Workshop. I also gave you some time to study for your USA Unit Final (which is on Monday).
Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Entrepreneur essays (good copy) are due tomorrow
• USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th (here's the study guide)
• Economics of Staying in School permission forms are due on April 29th

April 20

Today you got your first taste of what Writer's Workshop will be. We discussed and brainstormed a list of what our "writing territories" were. When considering "writing territiories" think about topics, genres and forms that your writing might take. I discussed my own "writing territories" and then I gave you a list of possible idea starters to help you along the way in your own brainstorming about your "writing territiories". After about 15-20 minutes of writing we shared as a class some of the things that we might be able to write about.
For the remainder of the class period I gave you time to do some review of the USA unit. You made up multiple choice questions, find the fib and taboo cards for our review game on Friday.

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Entrepreneur essay (good copy) is due on Friday, April 22nd
• USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th (the study guide is here)

April 19

Today we continued working on your Writer's Workshop folders. These should be completed for tomorrow. It will be a homework check mark for completion. I also gave you a handout dealing with how Writer's Workshop will work in my class, the rules and expectations for our time together. I also gave you some class time to do peer editing of your 2nd drafts of your Entrepreneur essays. These essays are due on Friday.
Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Writer's Workshop folders are due tomorrow (April 20th)
• Entrepreneur essays (good copy) are due Friday, April 22nd
• USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th (the study guide is here)

April 18

At the very beginning of class I asked you to hand in your Romeo & Juliet projects. Projects must be handed in today, or submitted electronically via e-mail prior to midnight in order to be considered handed in "on time". I really strongly urge you to hand these projects in earlier rather than later. For every day that they are late you will lose 10% off your total mark. If you do submit these projects before the "midnight deadline", you should be asking yourself this question,"Why did I leave this to the last minute?" or possibly even, "What kind of impression am I sending to Mr. Gilchrist by submitting it so late?"
Today I returned some assignments, and your Chapter 6-8 Test. We did corrections to your test as a whole class. I also returned your 2nd drafts of your entrepreneur essays today as well. These essays (good copy) are due on Friday. We also talked about doing Writer's Workshop over the next few weeks in preparation for your LA Part "A" (Written Response Test) which will be happening in about one month's time. I have given you a schedule of all of your Provincial Exam dates, but I will also post them here on this blog.

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Entrepreneur Essays (good copy) due Friday, April 22nd
• USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th (the study guide is here)

Provincial Achievement Exam dates:

• LA Part "A" (Written Response) is on Thursday, May 19th
• Math is on Wednesday, June 22nd
• Science is on Thursday, June 23rd
• LA Part "B" (Reading) is on Friday, June 24th
• Social Studies is on Monday, June 27th

April 15

Today you wrote your Chapter 6-8 Test in class. I also gave you the study guide for your USA Unit Final. This Unit Final will be held on Monday, April 25th. This is an extremely difficult unit final, similar to the one you wrote for the USSR unit. Here are the main topics for this unit final (with hyperlinks to the Social Studies Web that I created):

• USA Geography (specifically, the Regions of the USA)
• U.S. History (settlement, effects of Civil War on industrialization, etc.)
• Enclosure Acts
• Industrial Revolution
• American Industrialization
• Cottage System & Factory System (similarities/differences, advantages/disadvantages)
• Trigger Industry
• Basic Economics
• Scarcity
• Means of Production
• Basic Economic Questions
• Command Economy, Mixed Economy, Market Economy (advantages/disadvantages of each system, ownership of means of production, how each system answers the basic economic questions)
• Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations, "invisible hand")
• Law of Supply and Demand
• Characteristics of a Market Economy
• Entrepreneurs (characteristics, role in the economy)
• Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie
• Collective Bargaining
• Binding Arbitration & Mediation
• The Business Cycle
• Advertising & Planned Obsolescence
• Government, Business and Labour
• Quality of Life
• Economic Spectrum
• Economic Values
• Political Cartoons

Here is another useful hyperlink from the Social Studies Web, it's an exam bank of past Provincial Achievement Test questions. Please be warned that these questions are drawn from all three Grade 9 Social Studies units so there will be questions from the USSR unit, the USA unit, and the Canada unit. It might be worth taking a few of these tests from the exam bank. It's a 125 question exam bank, and every time that you visit this site you will get 30 questions from the bank. This will be extremely helpful when it comes time to do your final review.

Here are some helpful hints at writing, studying and preparing for multiple choice tests:

• Take time to preview the test. Consider the time allotted for the test and determine how much time you can reasonably spend on each question.
• Start with questions that you can easily answer. Don't waste time on the more difficult questions.
• Read the question carefully. Try to answer the question before you look at the choices.
• Circle or underline key words in the question. Your ability to read carefully and critically is just as important as your ability to recall and reason.
• Be sure to read all of the choices given, even if the first or second one seems right. The best answer may be the last choice. Sometimes the last choice is "all of the above."
• Watch for key words such as always, only, all, never, only, or completely. These absolute terms imply that the answer is either right or wrong, and this is often not the case. Relative words such as often, seem, may, and usually are generally more accurate.
• Treat each statement as true or false.
• Examine each of the choices carefully when two choices differ by only one or two words. Read the question with the first possible answer while covering up the remaining choices. Try the same procedure with the second possible answer. Try treating each statement as true or false. Methodically examine the choices and eliminate the one that doesn't correctly complete the question.
• Keep in mind that the answer is often found in one of two very similar pairs. The "most correct" answer is often the one that uses the course terminology correctly.
• Lightly cross out the choices you know are wrong if you are not sure of the answer. Then pick the best answer from the remaining choices. If you are still unsure, make an educated guess.
• Use logic and common sense if you must guess. Remember that you are looking for the best answer, not only a correct one.

Good luck on this unit final!

Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Romeo & Juliet projects are due on Monday, April 18th
• USA Unit Final is April 25th

April 14

Today we played USA Jeopardy with the SMART Board. It was a lot of fun, despite some technical difficulties.
After we finished playing the game I gave you the remainder of the time to work on one of the following items:

• Study for Chapter 6-8 Test (it's tomorrow)
• Entrepreneur essay (2nd draft, it's due tomorrow)
• Work on Romeo & Juliet projects

I'll see you tomorrow! Good luck on your test. Speaking of tests, I've set the date for the USA Unit Final. The USA Unit Final is on Monday, April 25th.

April 13

I gave you some class time today to work on one of three things: study for your upcoming Chapter 6-8 Test, or work on your Romeo & Juliet projects, or finish writing your rough draft of Entrepreneur case study essay. While you were doing this, I was finishing off our Jeopardy game, which we'll be playing tomorrow.
Here's just a reminder of some upcoming important dates:

• Chapter 6-8 Test is on Friday, April 15th
• Entrepreneur case study essay (2nd draft) is due on April 15th
• Romeo & Juliet projects are due Monday, April 18th

April 12

I gave you some time today in class to create questions for our Jeopardy! review game. This review game will be played on Thursday, and we'll be using the SMART Board! It's all very exciting.
I also gave you some time to work on your Romeo & Juliet projects. This will be one of the last class periods that I'll be able to give you to work on this project. It's due on Monday April 18th, in case you've forgotten.

April 11

Wow! It's been a long time since I've posted anything to this blog! A nice two week break was exactly what I needed. I hope that you all enjoyed your time off.
I gave you some class time today to get started on the second half of your Entrepreneur projects: the case study essay. You are to use your research notes and power notes to write your essays. Here's the deal: if you are able to complete a 2nd draft of this essay you can hand it in this Friday (April 15th) and then you will get it back from me on Monday, April 18th. This way, you can get some feedback from me prior to me marking your essays. In all likelihood, the good copy of your entrepreneur case study essays will be due on or near Friday, April 22nd (although at this point, this may change). I also gave you some class time to work on your Romeo & Juliet projects. Please keep in mind that your USA Unit Final will be fast approaching!
Here are some upcoming important dates:

• Chapter 6-8 Test is on Friday, April 15th
• Entrepreneur Case Study Essay (2nd draft) is due on April 15th (this is optional, either you take advantage of this offer or you don't!)
• Romeo & Juliet projects are due Monday, April 18th