Hi all!
I CANNOT believe it's midterm already! That feels nuts. This year has truly started off better than any other year so far-- and it's going fast!
Sorry I was delinquent on my post last week; I was out of town for quite a few days in a row for a wedding, my 10-year high school reunion, and a bridal shower...
Here's the update:
7th Grade:
In 7th grade Social Studies we continue to learn about the late 1800s; this includes the Gilded Age with such figures as Carnegie and Rockefeller (the "Robber Barons") and such issues as monopolies and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, and the Spanish-American War era, which includes the Cuban Independence movement. We are about halfway through The Surrender Tree; we have been doing lots of Listen-and-Draw activities along with this novel, as well as written summaries and reactions. Students are being tested this week over countries in the Caribbean (including Cuba and Puerto Rico, which we are studying as part of the unit); we have been reviewing for the quiz this Friday by practicing Geography Choreography, which seems to be going really well and helping to solidify the kids' mental maps of the region. We have been working through our 4-Source Comparison Packet, examining four different sources on the same topic (Topic: Late 1800s) and analyzing those sources for perspective and bias by asking the following questions: Whose voice is heard in this source? Whose voice is not heard? Who or what is made out to be the hero? Who or what is made out to be the villain? This exercise is challenging for students at first, but eventually they get the hang of it and I believe that it really sticks with them as a tool for historic (and contemporary!) analysis. Next week we will begin discussing the Spanish-American War, the sinking of the USS Maine, Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, the Anti-Imperialist League, Cuban Independence, and the U.S. war with the Phillipines, among other things. We have been examining some PBS websites about Andrew Carnegie and the Spanish-American War; in the next week or two we'll be watching some documentaries about the late 1800s. We're also in the process of writing to our pen-pals in Honduras!
8th Grade:
In 8th grade Social Studies we continue to learn about the U.S. government; after taking more time to study for our first vocab quiz, 99% of the students nailed it! I'm glad we slowed down and worked at solidifying the definitions and concepts some more. More government-related vocab quizzes to come...
We also continue to read through the novel, Year of Impossible Goodbyes; we're on Ch. 4 right now. We have been studying the Declaration of Independence this week, as well; students will be assigned to write a break-up letter to England and King George III, which is generally a fun assignment for them. We also got our new issues of Upfront Magazine, which the kids absolutely go bananas for! As we wrap-up our Declaration of Independence activities and begin our study of the U.S. Constitution, we'll be using the Upfronts to learn vocab terms by doing a text scavenger hunt. Next week we'll talk more about the Constitution and have a brief discussion comparing it to the Articles of Confederation; we'll also look into the influential works of Thomas Paine, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau, among others.
As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or constructive feedback, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.
Thanks for reading!
Leah Hood
P.S. Thanks so much to our fabulous student teacher, Lisa Schmid! We miss her already, but we wish her well as she begins her teaching career!
