Last Week!

Hello, everyone!

Well, it's the last week of this school year! I really hope the kids have moved forward in their knowledge and understanding of the topics in U.S. and World History and Geography that we have covered this year.

In both 7th and 8th grades we got through all of the countries in the world by continent or region; we also worked on all the U.S. and Mexican states, as well as the Canadian provinces. Not only are these places a part of the MN state Social Studies Standards and Core Knowledge, but they are a necessary part of civil discourse and cultural literacy; if you don't know that Serbia is a country, you probably won't pay attention when you hear it in the news! It is my hope that my students will have a better awareness of what is out there in the world, and that their brains will perk up and pay attention now every time they hear or read about a country mentioned in conversation or in the news.

I also think that both the 7th and 8th graders have a basic understanding of the legislative process, that there is a federal government as well as state governments, that a bill is an idea for a new law, that there is a House of Representatives, a Senate, and the executive branch involved in passing a bill into law.

I really do believe that, through our work in Social Studies this year, my students have built a broader base of knowledge throughout this past year; 7th graders now know a bit more about the Women's Suffrage Movement and Labor Movement in the U.S., the Dust Bowl, Great Depression, and some of the basics of WW2; the 8th graders have a pretty solid understanding of Gandhi's life and work, the Cold War, the Russian Revolution, and Stalin's Soviet Union, as well as some of the resistance movements (such as the Singing Revolution in Estonia).

Some highlights of the year that stick out in my mind were writing to our pen-pals in Thailand, doing The Charleston in 7th grade, and reading A Raisin in the Sun in 8th grade. The kids really seemed to love these activities, and I definitely plan to repeat these lessons in future years!

So many of these kids show such a thirst for learning. I know they will continue to learn in the years to come, and that they will do well. I just hope that they have been given a solid foundation upon which to build in the latter half of their secondary school years!

Thank you so much for all of your support this year; I had so many families offering up volunteer hours in and for my classroom, chaperoning field trips, donating money and items to different projects throughout the year... THANK YOU.

I am truly looking forward to continuing with the 7th graders as 8th graders next year, and hope to keep in touch with the current 8th graders and their families from time to time in the years to come.

It is a privilege and an honor to teach your children.

Enjoy the summer!

Take care,
Ms. Hood

1.5 weeks left!

Hello everyone!

The school year is almost over!! I think everyone is ready, but the end of the year always seems to be the busiest time of the year! We have 8th grade Graduation coming up, the horseback riding field trip tomorrow, final projects due, and the bowling/field day on the last day of school...

In 7th grade Social Studies this week we have been watching an American Experience documentary about the life and work of Eleanor Roosevelt; students are required to complete comprehension and critical thinking response questions that go along with the video. Examples of questions are: "What characteristics did Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt admire in one another?" "Why was Eleanor sometimes called Franklin's 'eyes and ears'?" "Do you think it was necessary for FDR to hide his disability from the public? Why or why not? Do you think the U.S. public would elect a person in a wheelchair to be president today? Why or why not?"

Second period finished reading the memoir, On Hitler's Mountain, and had a fantastic discussion about the author's opinions about how to secure-- and threaten-- democracy and freedom. We discussed some interesting ideas, such as whether or not the American traditions of singing the National Anthem and saying the Pledge of Allegiance consistute indoctrination. Pretty high level discussion for 12 and 13-year-olds, if you ask me! I have been so impressed at how willing our students are to be open-minded and what a concerted effort they make to avoid generalizations and stereotypes. We have good kids.

We also labeled all the states of Mexico on a map; there won't be a formal, graded quiz over this next week, but they will be getting pronunciation help from Senorita Adams in Spanish!

Next week in 7th grade Social Studies we will learn about Pearl Harbor, the Holocaust, and Japanese Internment, along with much else about WW2.

In 8th grade Social Studies this week we watched a bunch of U.S. Cold War propaganda films, which the kids really enjoy. We watched some video lecture clips from Khan Academy (online-- really neat) about the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis; then kids had the choice of portraying these events in the form of a skit, a series of drawings, or a Lego or Play-doh sculpture. We looked at primary source documents from the Harlem Renaissance, and did some Listen-and-Draw activities to textbook chapters about the Civil Rights Movement. Students also had to do haiku summaries of the assigned reading.

OK, I have to run out for dismissal and then to play practice!

Legislative Draft Write-ups are due tomorrow, and that concludes the project!

Thanks,
Leah