Happy New Year, everyone!
I hope you all enjoyed your break and all the associated festivities. I had a great time visiting family in Fargo and Iowa, and spending three nights in Lutsen with friends for the new year.
We are moving forward in both 7th and 8th grade Social Studies this quarter, putting old studies behind us and looking into other ideas and time periods.
In 7th grade this quarter, we will begin by studying "The Roaring 20s", the post-WW1 era of celebratory rebellion, including the Women's Suffrage Movement, the Labor Movement, the Harlem Renaissance-- tempered, of course, by the Temperance Movement. We will read the novel, The Truth About Sparrows. This book is of the historic fiction genre, and presents the experiences of American farm families in the Dust Bowl and Great Depression through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl, Sadie. This will, of course, serve as a lens through which to view our units on the Dust Bowl, Great Depression, and New Deal.
In 8th grade this quarter, we will study the Cold War, focusing on Mao's China, the Soviet Union, and McCarthyism in the United States. Alongside these units we will be reading George Orwell's classic, Animal Farm (a Core Knowledge novel), as well as the Nobel Prize winning One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. We will explore the philosophies of Marx and Smith, and debate the merits and drawbacks of Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, Democracy, and Totalitarianism.
In both grade levels we will continue with our Legislative Draft project, map quizzes, and our pen-pals from Thailand.
I really enjoy teaching the units on the slate for Q3!
See you back at school on Thursday!
--Leah Hood
P.S. Homework assignments are posted at MsHoodsHoodlums@twitter.com
