Dear
8th Grade Parents,
During quarter 3 our 8th Grade students have
been engaged in a series of fitness lessons focussing mainly on
cardio-respiratory endurance. Many students demonstrated a marked improvement
in their 1 mile run times which bodes well for the final fitness challenge of
the year in quarter 4, and prepares them for their High School focus on
fitness. Some students are now aware that they need to put in some additional
effort to improve their cardio-respiratory endurance in order to see an
improvement.
In addition to our focus on fitness,
students have been engaged in Project Adventure, where they have challenged
themselves to explore the outer edge of their ‘stretch-zones’ and seek out
their hidden potential. Touch-Rugby was part of
our semester two Sports Unit and students have experienced a significant
improvement in performance in Standard 1 and Standard 2 in that area.
Following
the spring parent-teacher conferences students will have the opportunity to select
an elective activity from Kayaking, Dance, Volleyball or Flag-Football.
Assessment in these electives is focused on interpersonal skills (standard 5)
rather than performance skills. Students are encouraged to take a risk
and try an activity that they may have little prior experience in, assured that
their performance in a new/unfamiliar skill will not reflect negatively on
their grade.
All students’ performance
and work habit assessments have been updated and are available on the
PowerSchool system. Please have your child guide you through the system and use
this as an opportunity to hear about their areas of growth and the areas they
need to pay more attention to.
In any area where a
student has been assessed at a level of proficiency that is below ‘Meets
Expectation’ their teacher will have provided feedback and strategies for
improvement via a comment attached to the associated assessment on PowerSchool.
This feedback along with the assessment rubrics (all available on mDN) provide
useful information to both parents and students with regard to the criteria for
assessment and areas to work on.
All students have the
opportunity to ‘redo’ an assessment (time permitting) in any component of a
standard where their overall level of proficiency is below ‘Meets Expectation’.
In order to take this opportunity:
- Students must reflect on the
comment/strategies offered on PowerSchool.
- Students must take the time to
work on improving their performance.
- Students must arrange a time
(outside of class and within two weeks of receiving their assessed level
of proficiency) to demonstrate their conceptual understanding and improved
performance.
As
summer approaches and temperatures begin to rise our program continues with
more indoor activities. Students will participate in the Water Adventure
component and experience the final Health Unit – Healthy Sexuality.
I will send out an email to parents two weeks before the commencement of
this series of lessons, detailing the content and providing a reminder of the
opportunity for you as a family to engage in dialogue about healthy sexuality
issues.
If you have any
questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via email.
Kind
regards,
Fiona White
Middle
School Physical Education Department
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