Orange Shirt Day (September 30th) is a day when we honour the Indigenous children who were sent away to residential schools in Canada and learn more about the history of those schools.

C’est une journée pour nous souvenir, et pour nous rééduquer au sujet de l’impact que les pensionnats ont eu sur l’histoire de nos Premières nations.

 

Today during our grade 8 Social Studies class, we reunited both classes to discuss the significance of Orange Shirt Day. Our conversation led us to a series of key words, which were then written on a small orange t-shirt, to remind each and every one of us of the impact of the residential school system on our First Nations.

https://www.orangeshirtday.org/

 

 

 

 

 

Nous voici en classe en écoutant Mrs. Bertrend en train de nous expliquer l’activité qui suivra avec les t-shirts en carton.  Les élèves devront y inscrire des mots-clés pour nous rappeler l’histoire derrière les pensionnats.

Orange shirt day is a movement that officially began in 2013 but in reality it began in 1973 when six year old Phyllis Webstad entered the St. Joseph Mission Residential School, outside of Williams Lake, BC. Young Phyllis was wearing a brand new orange shirt for her first day of school – new clothes being a rare and wonderful thing for a First Nation girl growing up in her grandmother’s care – but the Mission Oblates quickly stripped her of her new shirt and replaced it with the school’s institutional uniform.

 

While she only attended for one year the impact affected Ms. Webstad’s life for many years. “I finally get it, that feeling of worthlessness and insignificance, ingrained in me from my first day at the mission, affected the way I lived my life for many years. Even now, when I know nothing could be further than the truth, I still sometimes feel that I don’t matter.” [1]

Ms. Webstad’s story is the nucleus for what has become a national movement to recognize the experience of survivors of Indian residential schools, honour them, and show a collective commitment to ensure that every child matters. The initiative calls for every Canadian to wear an orange shirt on September 30 in the spirit of healing and reconciliation.

The date, September 30, was chosen because that was the time of the year the trucks and buses would enter the communities to “collect” the children and deliver them to their harsh new reality of cultural assimilation, mental, sexual and physical abuse, shame and deprivation.

 

Mrs. Bertrend and Mr. Cinanni

 

 

Grade 8 has been learning all about sustainable development. We have learned about what population density is and how to calculate it. We have also been looking at different distribution patterns for communities such as linear, scattered, clustered, and peripheral.

Linear: The population lines up along a natural of man-made feature.

Scattered: The population is spread out over a large area.

Clustered: The population is tightly packed in a small area.

Peripheral: The population surrounds a feature, like a mountain or stadium, and circles the edge of a territory.

What distribution pattern(s) do we have in Ottawa? Comment below!

We are currently learning about megacities- what is a megacity, the factors that allow for these areas to grow to a population exceeding 10 million, the challenges that they face, as well as creative solutions for sustainable development. We watched The Daily Conversation series which introduces us to different megacities around the globe.

Each student in the English Social Studies class is working on a megacity project right now where they research one megacity in greater detail. They are creating a photo collage using Google Slides which has 9 visuals- 3 visuals which illustrate 3 factors that allowed the city to grow to megacity status, 3 visuals which illustrate 3 problems the city faces, and then 3 visuals which illustrate a solution to each problem. The rubric for the project is below and class presentations will begin on Monday, December 16th.

Dear Class,

A reminder that on Wednesday we have our Term 1 quiz for Social Studies. Below is the document that we discussed and reviewed last week. Please let me know if you have any questions! You’re going to do great! Remember to be proactive and study a little bit each evening, rather than leaving it all to last minute.

Hi Grade 8,

Just a reminder that on Monday your roundtable reflections are due for both Mr.C and Mrs.B 🙂

We are so proud of your meaningful participation in the federal election roundtables. Many of the participants said that hearing your question and seeing your involvement was the highlight of the roundtable for them. The Jewish Bulletin article has been published about the roundtables and all of your quotes about the political party platforms. Check out the article below:

https://bit.ly/2nY2J3b

Enjoy!

Grade 8,

We are looking forward to the election roundtables with you this week and next! A reminder to be at school by 7:40am (meeting and leaving in the foyer by 7:45am) this Wednesday and Thursday morning. There will be a light breakfast provided BEFORE the roundtable.

Tonight for homework, pleaase finish looking at the Conservative Party platform. The last one we looked at in class was ‘Climate Change & Environment’. Try your best to understand each platform point. For tomorrow’s class, come prepared to discuss the 1 issue that is most important to you and 1 potential question to ask the candidate.

Here is the link to the Maclean article: https://www.macleans.ca/politics/2019-federal-election-platform-guide-where-the-parties-stand-on-everything/

Thanks,

Mrs.B and Mr.C