Thank you so, so much to all the students and families who so generously brought me holiday cards and gifts. I cannot tell you how heartwarming it is! I carried an entire box-full of holiday cheer to my car after school last Thursday!
THANK YOU.
-Ms. Hood
P.S. Happy New Year!
P.P.S. @MsHoodsHoodlums @twitter.com
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Semester's End!
We're halfway through the year! So far this has been the best year yet for me in my teaching career; I have great students, a supportive parent/guardian base, and some years of teaching experience under my belt. Although I'm looking forward to the break, I'm full of ideas for next quarter!
Here's how we're finishing out the semester in Social Studies:
7th Grade
Students were tested just today over the 50 states in the United States; it's a big quiz, but they had three weeks to study and lots of study tools to use.
Last Friday we did a Readers' Theater piece about the Russian Revolution, which prepped us for the movie Nicholas & Alexandra; it's an old film, but it does a good job of accurately conveying the events of the Russian Revolution in sequence; the portrayal of real historic figures by actors is always questionable, but I feel that this film captures much of the spirit and complexity of the revolution; students are recording key events and facts as they watch, and we pause every so often to do quick-writes in response to critical thinking questions posited verbally; hopefully these exercises keep students accountable to learning from the chosen medium, and more actively engaged in watching the movie.
8th Grade
This week we finished reading George Orwell's classic "fairy story", Animal Farm, an allegory for totalitarian rule. Today and tomorrow we are watching a movie version of the book. We'll reference the characters and events often next quarter when we study more in-depth Maoist China, Soviet Russia, and McCarthyism in the U.S.
Earlier this week we used credible internet sources to learn about Nelson Mandela and the Apartheid system in South Africa; we also read and analyzed some Apartheid-era poetry, which is pretty powerful stuff.
7th and 8th grade students have another opportunity for extra credit over Winter Break; it is basically the same assignment as was offered over Fall Break, but with different titles to support next quarter's Social Studies content; students can receive the equivalent of one quiz worth of extra credit points by reading (or listening to) a novel related to our upcoming units and completing a basic book report or other pre-approved project which demonstrates comprehension and learning.
Please always feel free to contact me with questions, concerns, or constructive feedback.
Enjoy the break and any holidays you might celebrate!!
Take care,
Leah Hood
Here's how we're finishing out the semester in Social Studies:
7th Grade
Students were tested just today over the 50 states in the United States; it's a big quiz, but they had three weeks to study and lots of study tools to use.
Last Friday we did a Readers' Theater piece about the Russian Revolution, which prepped us for the movie Nicholas & Alexandra; it's an old film, but it does a good job of accurately conveying the events of the Russian Revolution in sequence; the portrayal of real historic figures by actors is always questionable, but I feel that this film captures much of the spirit and complexity of the revolution; students are recording key events and facts as they watch, and we pause every so often to do quick-writes in response to critical thinking questions posited verbally; hopefully these exercises keep students accountable to learning from the chosen medium, and more actively engaged in watching the movie.
8th Grade
This week we finished reading George Orwell's classic "fairy story", Animal Farm, an allegory for totalitarian rule. Today and tomorrow we are watching a movie version of the book. We'll reference the characters and events often next quarter when we study more in-depth Maoist China, Soviet Russia, and McCarthyism in the U.S.
Earlier this week we used credible internet sources to learn about Nelson Mandela and the Apartheid system in South Africa; we also read and analyzed some Apartheid-era poetry, which is pretty powerful stuff.
7th and 8th grade students have another opportunity for extra credit over Winter Break; it is basically the same assignment as was offered over Fall Break, but with different titles to support next quarter's Social Studies content; students can receive the equivalent of one quiz worth of extra credit points by reading (or listening to) a novel related to our upcoming units and completing a basic book report or other pre-approved project which demonstrates comprehension and learning.
Please always feel free to contact me with questions, concerns, or constructive feedback.
Enjoy the break and any holidays you might celebrate!!
Take care,
Leah Hood
Monday, December 12, 2011
Less Than 2 Weeks!
With only 8 days of school left before Winter Break, here's what we're up to:
7th:
This week we are wrapping up our unit on WW1. Today our Journal prompt was, "How do you think life changed for people after the war was over? Life for people on the winning side (The Allies)? Life for people on the losing side (The Central Powers)? What might have been better about life after the war? What might have been challenging about life after the war? How do you think the new wartime technologies effected peoples' daily lives after the war?"
We also started reading a new novel by Marian Hale, entitled "The Truth About Sparrows". The best way I can think of to describe this work of historic fiction is to compare it to "The Grapes of Wrath". (Sorry, my computer isn't allowing me to use italics for some reason!) "The Truth About Sparrows" is a novel set in the U.S. during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression; we will not be able to finish this book before next Thursday, so we'll have to carry it over into Q3. We will complete a Reading Packet for each chapter, including Pre-Reading, During Reading, and Post-Reading exercises.
Today students also completed a graphic organizer about the life of president Woodrow Wilson; later this week we'll examine Wilson's "14 Points" and the League of Nations. We'll also be discussing the Supreme Court decision in Schenck v. United States, and discussing quotes such as, "War is the health of the state", "Peace without victory", and "Making the world safe for democracy".
Next week we'll be watching an historically accurate movie entitled "Nicholas & Alexandra", about the Russian Revolution.
8th:
We finally finished watching the film "Gandhi", starring Sir Ben Kingsley; I don't show very many movies in my classes, but this one I like because it is so well done and historically accurate. Students kept a connections chart during the movie to record similarities between the events and people depicted in the film and events and characters in the novel "Animal Farm", which we will finish before the end of this quarter. Students also did quick-write responses to many questions I asked them during the movie; we would pause the film to do 1-3 sentence written responses and would then share our responses with partners or the whole class before moving on in the movie.
For the remainder of this quarter we'll be learning about the Apartheid system in British South Africa and Nelson Mandela's leadership in that country.
DDI was very successful for both grade levels! The class averages for all sections of 7th and 8th grade Social Studies was 80% or above, which is quite good!
There will be another extra credit reading/book report option over Winter Break, so look for information about that coming up before the end of the quarter.
7th graders have their 50 states map quiz next Wednesday, December 21st. They have lots of study tools available, but please feel free to contact me if you need any assistance in helping your child to study.
Thanks!
Ms. Hood
7th:
This week we are wrapping up our unit on WW1. Today our Journal prompt was, "How do you think life changed for people after the war was over? Life for people on the winning side (The Allies)? Life for people on the losing side (The Central Powers)? What might have been better about life after the war? What might have been challenging about life after the war? How do you think the new wartime technologies effected peoples' daily lives after the war?"
We also started reading a new novel by Marian Hale, entitled "The Truth About Sparrows". The best way I can think of to describe this work of historic fiction is to compare it to "The Grapes of Wrath". (Sorry, my computer isn't allowing me to use italics for some reason!) "The Truth About Sparrows" is a novel set in the U.S. during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression; we will not be able to finish this book before next Thursday, so we'll have to carry it over into Q3. We will complete a Reading Packet for each chapter, including Pre-Reading, During Reading, and Post-Reading exercises.
Today students also completed a graphic organizer about the life of president Woodrow Wilson; later this week we'll examine Wilson's "14 Points" and the League of Nations. We'll also be discussing the Supreme Court decision in Schenck v. United States, and discussing quotes such as, "War is the health of the state", "Peace without victory", and "Making the world safe for democracy".
Next week we'll be watching an historically accurate movie entitled "Nicholas & Alexandra", about the Russian Revolution.
8th:
We finally finished watching the film "Gandhi", starring Sir Ben Kingsley; I don't show very many movies in my classes, but this one I like because it is so well done and historically accurate. Students kept a connections chart during the movie to record similarities between the events and people depicted in the film and events and characters in the novel "Animal Farm", which we will finish before the end of this quarter. Students also did quick-write responses to many questions I asked them during the movie; we would pause the film to do 1-3 sentence written responses and would then share our responses with partners or the whole class before moving on in the movie.
For the remainder of this quarter we'll be learning about the Apartheid system in British South Africa and Nelson Mandela's leadership in that country.
DDI was very successful for both grade levels! The class averages for all sections of 7th and 8th grade Social Studies was 80% or above, which is quite good!
There will be another extra credit reading/book report option over Winter Break, so look for information about that coming up before the end of the quarter.
7th graders have their 50 states map quiz next Wednesday, December 21st. They have lots of study tools available, but please feel free to contact me if you need any assistance in helping your child to study.
Thanks!
Ms. Hood
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