September 3, 2018

Dear Parents/Students,

I hope this post finds you well and that you enjoyed your summer vacation! I just wanted to wish you all the best of luck this year.  Hopefully, you haven't forgotten everything over the last couple of months.  Remember to give your best effort this year and start off the school year with successful study habits.  Also, remember to enjoy every minute of it! 

My summer vacation was amazing.  I was fortunate enough to travel through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa this summer with my wife and family. It was absolutely incredible, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.... I'll just have to do it next time I'm there! 

You may want to take the time to unsubscribe from my blog in order to not receive any more emails from me this year.  As I will be working in a different area, many of my posts won't really be useful for you.  

All the best,

Mr. Punnoose

June 30, 2018

Dear Parents and Students,

I just wanted to leave a final Thank you to every one of you who made this year so special.  I was touched by the cards, emails and kind words that you left me with and consider it a privilege to have taught you this year.  You demonstrated a strong work ethic and exceeded my expectations.  Moving forward into my new position, I will carry what I have learned from you.  Enjoy your summer and be safe.  If you ever need to contact me or update me on your lives, please email me - paul.punnoose@yrdsb.ca

My final blog post of the year! 

- Mr. Punnoose

June 26, 2018

Movie day tomorrow! 

Make sure you share your movies with me on google drive. 

Report Cards have been handed out. Please review your child's grades.  All of the grades are based on the work that we have done and that has been handed back.  There should be no surprises as there was a blog post for every assignment that was handed back.  

I was touched by the final addresses that you had today and am proud of the presenters that you have become.  

June 25, 2018

Your "Final Addresses" were touching.  Thank you for all of your kind words. 

Tomorrow:
Grade 7s - you are helping with the primary play day tomorrow.  

Locker clean up tomorrow! 

June 22, 2018

The final friday of school!!!!

Homework:
You have 2 things that are due on Monday: Your final address & letter to yourself.  

If you have not shared your movie with me on drive, please do so immediately! The movies are due by midnight tonight! 

Have a great weekend! 

June 20, 2018

Good seeing you at the BBQ yesterday! 

Homework:
English
- We are working on our 2 English projects.
- Editors, your movies are due on Friday this week. Make sure you are working on it! 

Math
- Greed continues tomorrow!

June 18, 2018

Grad tonight!

Today was a hot day!

No homework today.  

Tomorrow we will begin the 2 final English assignments: 1) The final address speech: You will be required to deliver a 2 minute (minimum) speech to the class. 2) Letter to yourself: You will need to write a letter to yourself which I will collect and give to you in 10 years from now! Make sure it's detailed and thorough.  I will be providing time for you to complete this throughout the week.  Both are due on Monday. 

June 15, 2018

Grade 8 Graduation:
This Monday (June 18th) at the Richmond Hill Country Club.  Ceremony starts at 6pm.  Come earlier for better seating. 

Homework:
Math - Nothing! 

English - Read for 20 min! 

Have a great weekend!

June 13, 2018

World cup starts tomorrow!

Homework:
Math - Grade 7s complete section 11.4

English
- Filming tomorrow and Friday.  Make sure that you are focused and ready - you won't have more time. 
- Read for 20 min.

June 11, 2018

great job skipping today! 

Grad rehearsal again on Friday! 

Homework:
Math
Grade 8s - study for your test tomorrow on Chapter 2.

English
- Read for 20 min.
- Movies continuing tomorrow.

June 11, 2018

Gr. 8 Grad rehearsal is tomorrow and Friday.  Please make sure you are here on time! 

Jump rope for heart tomorrow!!!! We are skipping in the afternoon.

Some financial literacy topics that we discussed today with the grade 8s: RESPs, RRSPs, Bonds, GICs, and mutual funds. It would be a good idea to review these with your child to help them reinforce their learning. 

Homework:
Math
Grade 8s - Complete the unit review for chapter 2.  Test on Wednesday! Algebra workroom postponed to tomorrow due to talent show try-out. 
Grade 7s - Complete section 11.3

English
- Read for 20 min
- Day 8 filming tomorrow! 

June 8, 2018

If any of you are interested in signing up for summer school, please register on  Career Cruising. When you go to your career planner, there is a summer school/Con Ed. option, where you can take Math and English to get some more review before High School or Grade 8(for the grade 7s).  Please email me at paul.punnoose@yrdsb.ca if you have any questions.  

Attention grade 7s & 8s: Mr. Farrell is looking for some volunteers for the school BBQ.  Please let me know on Monday if you are interested in volunteering.  He is asking for 3 hour or 1.5 hour shifts: 5 pm - 6:30 pm, 6:30 pm - 9 pm or 5 pm-8 pm

Homework:
Math
Grade 8s - Complete section 2.7 and the review package that was handed out earlier this week.  Also, discuss with your families the difference between simple and complex interest.
- The algebra review has been pushed to Monday due to the improv club.

English
- Read for 20 min
- Filming will be completed next week.  Make sure you have a list of the scenes that still need to be filmed.  Editors, you need to make sure you are editing the scenes that are already taken!

Have a great weekend!

June 7, 2018

Homework:

Math 

- Grade 7s complete mid unit review.  Get ready for some more GREED tomorrow!

- Grade 8s tomorrow we continue with our discussion on interest and the importance of it within our economy!

English

- 3 - 4 days left of filming! Editors - make sure you are reviewing your footage to ensure all of the shots are being done correctly.  

June 5, 2018

Dear Parents,

I have handed back the Algebra (Gr. 7 & 8) and Pythagorean Theorem (Gr. 8), Percentage (Gr. 7) tests back today.  Please review your child's grades.  There will be a workroom on Friday to review algebra - it's crucial to your success in Mathematics to have a solid foundation on these concepts.

Homework:
Math
- Grade 8s - Complete Section 2.5 for homework
- Grade 7s - Complete Section 11.1 for homework

English
- Read for 20 min
- Make sure your groups are ready for their filming.  We need to make sure that we are being productive during our filming periods. 

May 30, 2018

Homework:
Math
Grade 7s - study for your test tomorrow!
Grade 8s - complete section 2.3 for tomorrow.

English
- Read for 20 min.
- Day 4 of filming tomorrow.

May 29, 2018

Homework:
Math
Grade 7s - Complete the unit review for Chapter 2.  You will have a test on Thursday!  I will go over any questions that you have tomorrow.

Grade 8s - Complete section 2.2 for tomorrow.

English
Tomorrow is Day 3 of filming.  Make sure that your group is ready for it and that you are productive! The heat can make it hard to work sometimes, so make sure that you are hydrated. 

May 28, 2018

Track and Field - good job!

Tomorrow we will be filming during the day. Make sure that your group is ready for the shots that they will need to film.  You might want to contact each other today to ensure you are prepared for tomorrow.  There won't be much time left for filming, so it's important that we don't waste any days.

Math will be continued tomorrow!

May 21, 2018

Quebec City this week!!!

Grade 7s
- I'll miss you this week ;(
- I have assigned 2 tasks for you to work on this week: 1) I expect that you have recorded and edited at least half of your stop motion movie.  2) Complete chapter 2 in Math.  I will take up any questions you have on the Monday that I am back.  You will have a test on chapter 2 on Wednesday, May 30th.  

Grade 8s
Quebec trip tomorrow:
 - Make sure you are at ACPS by 6:45am latest.  The earlier we are all there, the earlier we can leave! 
- Feel free to bring snacks for the trip
- Lunches are not included - bring $$$ for your own lunches. 
- Bring DVDs for the bus! You need to make sure the movies are age-appropriate.
- In case you lost your suggested packing list, I have attached a screenshot of it here: 

May 17, 2018

Field trip to grade 7s and 8s tomorrow to Langstaff S.S.  Make sure that you have your permission form handed in.  If you don't have it, you won't be able to go!

Homework:
Math
Grade 8s - Complete section 2.1
Grade 7s - Complete section 2.1 #1-4 and 2.2 #1-5

English
- Day 1 of filming started today for the grade 8s.  You are going need to think about the scenes that you filmed, and how you can improve as a group for our next scenes. 

May 15, 2018

Please bring in your permission forms for the Langstaff field trip tomorrow if you forgot them yesterday.  No permission form = No participation in the trip!

Homework:
Math
- Practice for the Gauss competition here.  A reminder for you to bring in your calculators - personal devices/phones/iPods are not usable.  Anything that has access to wifi isn't allowed to be used.

English
- Good work today on your scripts.  We need to have the final scripts done for tomorrow for your group to conduct a final review.  We also will need the directors to come up with a 10-day filming schedule - It must include which scene is being filmed, a backup scene, location of the scene, props, costumes, etc.  Please make this on google classroom - we will begin filming on Friday! 

May 14, 2018

The jump rope for heart presentation today was great!

Permission forms for Friday's field trip were handed out today.  Please hand them in tomorrow!

Homework:
Math
- Practice for this Wednesday's Gauss competition 

English
- Work on the scripts! I am hoping that we can finish all of the scripts by Wednesday.  
- Read for 20 min. 

May 11, 2018

Friday!

Dear Parents,

The updated Quebec itinerary and suggested packing list was handed out today.  Please review these with your child and the expectations that we discussed with your child. 

Homework:
Math
- Practice for Gauss! - it's this Wednesday.  Please make sure you have a calculator for the competition.  Because all students are writing at the same time, we won't have enough calculators for everyone.  

English
- We continue script writing.  Writers can work on this if they have time this weekend.  The sooner we finish, the sooner we can start. 
- Read for 20 min.

May 9, 2018

Word of the day!

Homework:
Discuss some of the strategies you heard today during the Wellness workshop with your parents.  

Math
- Today we took up all of the homework.  Please study for your test on Friday.  You can complete the Practice test at the end of the chapter.
- We used today's time to work on the Movies.  Please practice the 2016 Gauss competition here. 

English
- Tomorrow you will have 60 minutes to work on your script with your group.  It's really important that we are productive on this.  The earlier we get this done, the earlier we can start filming! 

May 8, 2018

Math:
- Complete the unit review - Tomorrow will be the last day for questions regarding the Chapter 8 test which will be on Friday.
- Gauss Competition preparation has begun! We will be going over the last 4 years competitions in class: 2014 - 2017.  If you would like some extra practice for the competition, you can find extra practice here.  
- We will be writing the Gauss Contest on Wednesday, May 16, 2018.  

English:
- Start thinking about the movie roles - which one do you think you could take on based on your personality traits?  Tomorrow we will determine these roles.

May 4, 2018

Homework:
Math 
Grade 8s complete section 8.4
Grade 7s - no homework. 

English
- Congrats to the pitches that were selected.  Next week we will review the roles of that are required within groups before finding out which group you are in.  
- Please discuss the ideas that were presented in today's performance.  They discussed some very important themes!
- Read for 20 min.  

Please complete the survey from the MADD presentation that we saw this week:  www.maddsurvey.environics.ca 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

May 3, 2018

Homework:
There will be a play tomorrow during period 2.  

Math 
Grade 7s - complete section 8.4 for homework
Grade 8s - complete section 8.3 for homework.  Also, explain what the above gif is about to your parents.

English
- Movie ideas will be revealed tomorrow! We start making groups!
- Make a list of things you need to avoid doing when watching our movies from previous years.

Math problem of the week:

 Solution to last weeks:

May 2, 2018

Homework:
Math
- Grade 7s complete the mid-unit review for chapter 8.  I will be giving you a small quiz on it tomorrow!

English
- We continue with the Movie/claymation process tomorrow. 
- 7/8P the last call for pitches is tomorrow! 

May 1, 2018

Please talk to your parents about the talk that we had today from MADD Canada.

Homework:
English
- Pitches continue
Math
- Grade 8s mid-unit review. Quiz tomorrow one estimating square roots! 
- Grade 7s - complete section 8.3

April 30, 2018

We have a presentation tomorrow from MADD

Sounds like everyone had a great weekend!

Homework:
1) Discuss the ideas that were presented today during the Mental Health workshop today.
2) Practice those pitches. If you have come up with another Movie idea, please present it tomorrow!
3) We will continue with Math tomorrow.

April 26, 2018

That feeling when the Raptors win, and you don't have to think about essays anymore!

Homework:

- Danceathon Tomorrow - bring your dancing shoes!!!

- A final reminder about the Yearbook - you need to complete your graduate blurbs!

- To all my Leafs fans... I'm sorry for your loss! 

English

- You need to show me a list of at least 3 ideas that you have brainstormed for the Movie (Grade 8)/ Claymation (grade 7) pitches.  Tomorrow you will be given time in class to work on your pitch which is due on Monday.  Make sure that they are no longer than 1 minute in length.  Some key points from our lesson: 

- 4-5 beats

- Break it down into 3 acts

- Follow the protagonist

- Be engaging

- Practise, Practise, Practise 

Math

Complete section 8.1 for tomorrow! 

The problem of the week:

Solutions to last week's problem - notice that different strategies that you use can still yield the correct answers!!!!

April 25, 2018

Lots of support for all of the Toronto Teams today!

- Mme. Burns has notified me that there are still many students who have not completed their yearbook blurb.  Please make sure it is done - otherwise, it will be left empty!

Homework:

7/8 P - Nothing.  Congrats on completing your essay!

8M 
- Your essay is tomorrow. Feel free to bring in a laptop if you have one, and make sure it is charged.
- Today we went over the movie pitches - brainstorm ideas for what Movie Idea you would like to pitch.  You will be working on your pitches on Friday! 
- Math - Complete section 8.1 for Friday.

April 24, 2018

Our thoughts go out to all of those affected by yesterday's horrific incident.

Homework:
Essays!!! Today was your last day to work on them.  

7/8P - if you have a laptop, please bring it in (charged), to work on the essays.  Also, please ensure that you have deleted any of your work on google drive - I will be inspecting it to ensure that there is no temptation to cheat.  

8M - you write on Thursday.

April 23, 2018

I'm feeling this weather!

Homework:

- Students it's crunch time! Your only homework for tonight is to work on your essays!  Some of you really need to really spend more time working on your essay prep!

- Tomorrow is your last day to work on them!

7/8P In-class essay - Wednesday!

8M In-class essay - Thursday!

April 20, 2018

Running out of time for your essays - please make sure you work on them this weekend!

Don't forget the yearbook comments Grade 8s!

Also, if you have any photos that you have taken from this year with our homeroom and would like to see them in the yearbook, please share them with me on google drive.

Homework:

ESSAYS!!!! - This is your last weekend before we write them next week! After reviewing some of your outlines, it looks like many of you need to get a lot of work done this weekend. Remember: The most important work is in the planning!

Math
- Nothing.  Focus on your essays!

Have a great weekend!

April 19, 2018

Grade 8s please complete the yearbook passage - it is due in 10 days!  Mme. Burns would really like it if you could complete them ASAP.

Homework:
Math
Grade 8s - complete the Unit Review
Grade 7s - Complete the practice test
Math Test tomorrow - bring calculators!

English
- Essay Outline # 2 is due tomorrow! Make sure you are working on it!!!
- Read for 20 min

The problem of the week:

The solution of last week:

April 18, 2018

some great essay ideas today!

1) Tomorrow, our class will be visiting the French Book Fair.  Please bring some $$$ if you are interested in purchasing a book!

2) Donate on Cash online for the danceathon!

3) Tomorrow is snuggle up and read in the afternoon - make sure you bring your book that you want to read & your Pajamas! 


Homework:
Math
- Complete the second side of yesterday's handout.  
- Complete the first page of today's handout (Intro to Algebra).
- Test on Friday - STUDY!

English
- I have been conferencing with some students and have been blown away by some of your ideas. 
- Keep working on your outlines - you will need to have your second one completed for Friday!

April 17, 2018

Go Raptors and TFC tonight!!!!

Remember to make your donation for the Danceathon fundraiser - we are raising funds towards new school technology, modern learning and mental health initiatives.  

As we prepare for the grade 8 graduation, we typically have a parent organizing committee.  If you are interested in helping out with this year's graduation, please email Mr. Mizrahi at jordan.mizrahi@yrdsb.ca.  

Patterning Math tests were handed back.  Review your child's grades, please!

Homework:
English
- You should be done one outline by tomorrow.  Please make sure that you show your parents - the planning process is an important part of your writing grade!
- Read for 20 min

Math
- Grade 8: Work on grade 8 review package! #1-8
- Grade 7:  Feel free to try out the grade 8 review package as well!
- Math test on Friday!

Tomorrow we start some grade 9 Algebra prep!

April 13, 2018

Happy Friday the 13th!

Grade 8 Measurement tests were handed back today.  Please review your child's grades with them when you get a chance.

7/8P - Time to start fundraising for the danceathon!!!!!

Homework:
Math
Grade 7s - Complete the Unit review from chapter 10
Grade 8s - Complete the Review package for Algebra that was handed out today.

English
- Day 3/9 Essay writing on Monday!
- Our Essay is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25, 2018 - Mark your calendars!

Have a great weekend - Be careful with this icy weather!

The problem of the week:

April 11, 2018

Nice to see so many wearing pink today in support of our anti-bullying campaign! 

Homework:
Math
Grade 7s - Sorry for the typo in yesterday's blog post. Please complete section 10. 4 and 10.5 tonight.
Grade 8s - Complete section 10.4

English
- Read for 20 min.
- Essay topics have been assigned! 

7P:
1) Gangs provide a sense of family.  Comment.
2) Is The Outsiders a suitable novel to be ready for grade 7 students?
3) Loss is a powerful theme in this novel. Comment. 

8P:
1) Is Jonas' community a Utopia or a Dystopia?
2) The Giver is an incredibly popular book read in grade 8 classrooms.  Discuss why.
3) What role does uniformity play in Jonas' society?

8M:
1) How does Jonas both fit in and yet still not belong to his society?
2) "Ignorance is bliss".  Comment.
3) The Giver is one of the most censored books in the U.S. Examine why Lowry's vision of the future is heavily criticized.  

April 10, 2018

Grad Photos were handed out today.  If you are interested in getting a photo re-take, you will need to contact the company directly to determine where you will need to take it. 

Wear Pink tomorrow to show your support against bullying!

Homework:
Math
- Grade 7's - Complete section 10.3
- Grade 8's - Complete section 10.1

English
- Finishing up the practice essays tomorrow
- We vote on Essay topics!!!!
- Read for 20 min.