Hello!
Gosh, with break in the mix it's been awhile now since I made a new post!
Happy belated Halloween!
Here's what's been going on in Social Studies so far this quarter:
7th Grade:
We have been learning about World War 1/The Great War; right now we are still learning about the causes of the war, which were Imperialism, Nationalism, Militarism, and Alliances. We've been writing journal entries each day about each one of the four main causes in turn, thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of each attitude/policy (e.g. What are some positive outcomes of "nationalism"? Negative outcomes?) Students have been working on a listen-and-draw activity where I read small sections of the textbook while they draw what they hear; then they have time to verbally share with each other what they have drawn, and to write captions describing each little sketch. Students have also introduced themselves to the topic by exploring the PBS website, The Great War, and completing some graphic organizers.
Along with this, students are now testing over countries in Eastern Europe; because of the larger number of countries in this region, and the students' general unfamiliarity with them, I have broken the region into two, eleven-point quizzes.
We've also been listening to some instrumental interpretations of WW1, particularly the soundtrack to the documentary, The Great War, and the soundtrack to the Minnesota-based original stage play, All Is Calm.
Later this week and next week we'll start looking at some digital archives of sheet music (primary source documents) from the WW1 era, as well as some WW1 poetry.
8th Grade:
We started off the quarter last week by learning some of the basics of capitalism and communism; students watched online tutorials from Khan Academy and took some basic notes about the major tenants of each paradigm. This will come in handy as we continue to read through the novel, Animal Farm, which we began together in class yesterday. Students also created graphics to explain the major tenants and then used each other's drawings to play a game of Charades acting out the same themes.
Today in class 8th graders did a truly FABULOUS and impressive job analyzing two well-known political cartoons depicting European imperialism in Africa and China. I wish you all could have witnessed the high-level of observations, analysis, and discussion that my students created in class! I was so pleased.
For the next few weeks we'll be studying the decline of European imperialism, looking especially at the British Empire and independence movements in India (i.e. Gandhi) and South Africa (i.e. Nelson Mandela). Students will become familiar with terms such as The Salt March, and Apartheid.
Many 7th & 8th grade students took advantage of the extra credit reading opportunity, and both grade levels have had a few class periods of work time on their independent country research projects.
Hope to see you at Family Night this Thursday!
Thanks,
Ms. Hood
Showing posts with label Q1 Week 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Q1 Week 2. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Second Week Success!
Hi all!
Only week two and we're well underway! I'm so pleased with how focused we have been so far this year; we are really moving through content, and it feels like the students are learning. All of my classes have a positive class dynamic; every single student is respectful and ready to learn.
7th Grade:
In 7th grade Social Studies this week, we wrote about and discussed journal assignments such as, "What might be some causes of a revolution? Why might people want to revolt against their leader or government?" And, "Why do you think the author chose to write this novel entirely in poetry form, rather than prose? What effect do you think it has on her readers?" I continue to be impressed by the quality of student responses to these daily journal entries! Typically students write independently for 3-5 minutes, share their responses with classmates in pairs or small groups, then come back together as a whole class to take some responses on a volunteer basis. During this sharing time we practice respectful listening skills, as well. Most days we compile our shared responses on the white board (and in students' notes) in a graphic organizer. (Students are expected to write 5-8 complete sentences about the assigned topic in the time given.)
7th graders also tried their hands (and arms... and legs... and feet...) at Geography Choreography, a kinesthetic study tool for map quizzes. Since it was the first time they had practiced this learning strategy they needed quite a bit of structured guidance, but I know from past experience that after a few times students get the hang of it and many really look forward to it! Our first map quiz was today, over the provinces of Canada.
We did some listen-and-draw activities with our novel, The Surrender Tree, which is helping us to learn about the Cuban Independence movement; we also used multiple strategies to clarify and solidify the 5 Elements of Fiction (Characters, Point of View, Setting, Plot, and Theme) in students' minds early on in our reading-- we don't want anyone to be confused! Students were especially impacted by the descriptions of how the Spanish authorities treated runaway slaves. Just today (after testing), students worked for the first time with the "4 Source Comparison Packet", which we will complete for each unit of historical study; in this activity (which spans several days) students read four different sources about the same topic and record "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 activity aims at building awareness of perspective and bias in sources-- historic or contemporary. It is often a challenging concept for students at first, but we helped each other through it and I could tell that it was becoming more clear in their minds as we moved through the lesson.
Next week we will continue to read on in The Surrender Tree, take a map pretest over countries in the Caribbean, read some textbook chapters about the Spanish-American War era, and listen to some History Tunes.
8th Grade:
In 8th grade Social Studies this week we did a lot of vocabulary building work. We were planning to take our first vocab quiz today, but by the end of class yesterday it had become clear to me that-- while the students were truly trying to understand the terms and the concepts they embody-- they simply needed more time, practice, and guidance before being tested. We will take the quiz next week instead to ensure student learning and success. Students made mini-posters of Examples and Non-Examples of each vocab term; we added to our Frayer Model packets (which we started last Friday); students built, drew, or acted out the vocab terms, and wrote crossword puzzles, haikus, word associations, or short stories that correctly used each of the six vocab terms. The 8th graders also read Chapter 1 of the novel, Year of Impossible Goodbyes, by Sook Nyul Choi, which is about the start of the Cold War in Korea. We created a graphic organizer to help map out key elements of the book, and students wrote reactions to Ch. 1 and predictions about Ch. 2 in their journals.
Next week we will finish up with our first set of vocabulary terms about government, read on in the novel, and discuss key documents such as the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution.
Please remember to check Twitter (@MsHoodsHoodlums) for homework assignments and due dates, and please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Thank you and take care,
Leah Hood
Only week two and we're well underway! I'm so pleased with how focused we have been so far this year; we are really moving through content, and it feels like the students are learning. All of my classes have a positive class dynamic; every single student is respectful and ready to learn.
7th Grade:
In 7th grade Social Studies this week, we wrote about and discussed journal assignments such as, "What might be some causes of a revolution? Why might people want to revolt against their leader or government?" And, "Why do you think the author chose to write this novel entirely in poetry form, rather than prose? What effect do you think it has on her readers?" I continue to be impressed by the quality of student responses to these daily journal entries! Typically students write independently for 3-5 minutes, share their responses with classmates in pairs or small groups, then come back together as a whole class to take some responses on a volunteer basis. During this sharing time we practice respectful listening skills, as well. Most days we compile our shared responses on the white board (and in students' notes) in a graphic organizer. (Students are expected to write 5-8 complete sentences about the assigned topic in the time given.)
7th graders also tried their hands (and arms... and legs... and feet...) at Geography Choreography, a kinesthetic study tool for map quizzes. Since it was the first time they had practiced this learning strategy they needed quite a bit of structured guidance, but I know from past experience that after a few times students get the hang of it and many really look forward to it! Our first map quiz was today, over the provinces of Canada.
We did some listen-and-draw activities with our novel, The Surrender Tree, which is helping us to learn about the Cuban Independence movement; we also used multiple strategies to clarify and solidify the 5 Elements of Fiction (Characters, Point of View, Setting, Plot, and Theme) in students' minds early on in our reading-- we don't want anyone to be confused! Students were especially impacted by the descriptions of how the Spanish authorities treated runaway slaves. Just today (after testing), students worked for the first time with the "4 Source Comparison Packet", which we will complete for each unit of historical study; in this activity (which spans several days) students read four different sources about the same topic and record "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 activity aims at building awareness of perspective and bias in sources-- historic or contemporary. It is often a challenging concept for students at first, but we helped each other through it and I could tell that it was becoming more clear in their minds as we moved through the lesson.
Next week we will continue to read on in The Surrender Tree, take a map pretest over countries in the Caribbean, read some textbook chapters about the Spanish-American War era, and listen to some History Tunes.
8th Grade:
In 8th grade Social Studies this week we did a lot of vocabulary building work. We were planning to take our first vocab quiz today, but by the end of class yesterday it had become clear to me that-- while the students were truly trying to understand the terms and the concepts they embody-- they simply needed more time, practice, and guidance before being tested. We will take the quiz next week instead to ensure student learning and success. Students made mini-posters of Examples and Non-Examples of each vocab term; we added to our Frayer Model packets (which we started last Friday); students built, drew, or acted out the vocab terms, and wrote crossword puzzles, haikus, word associations, or short stories that correctly used each of the six vocab terms. The 8th graders also read Chapter 1 of the novel, Year of Impossible Goodbyes, by Sook Nyul Choi, which is about the start of the Cold War in Korea. We created a graphic organizer to help map out key elements of the book, and students wrote reactions to Ch. 1 and predictions about Ch. 2 in their journals.
Next week we will finish up with our first set of vocabulary terms about government, read on in the novel, and discuss key documents such as the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution.
Please remember to check Twitter (@MsHoodsHoodlums) for homework assignments and due dates, and please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns.
Thank you and take care,
Leah Hood
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