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
