December January
If you have not checked out this Teen Declaration video written, directed, produced by the kids in class. please do so. It is pretty cool.
Former Jackson band teacher David Stone and his wife Lisa Revell visited the 8th grade this week to share about the work they are doing in Ghana. The presentation was very impressive and had a real impact on the kids. Here is a link to their website www.gone2ghana.com. Please take a look. You will see that their approach to improving life in their village makes perfect sense. We have the opportunity to help. The cost of one meal for one child is 40 cents. My class, along with Ms. Kobs' and Mr. Walker's classes have pledged our assistance. If you like to help, you can do so directly through their website. We are also collecting $ in our classrooms. You can write checks payable to Yakote Women's Farmers Association. Donations are tax deductable.
If you have not checked out this Teen Declaration video written, directed, produced by the kids in class. please do so. It is pretty cool.
In Social Studies, we are now into our Constitution unit. Students received study-guide packets that they should be using to study for their "Bar Exams". I encourage students to use the Constitution Center website as we study and learn about the Constitution. This is a very well-designed, interactive site. Here are some more Constitution sites compiled by Ms. Childs. This week we are learning about the Legislative and Executive Branches of our government. We will be learning about the Judicial branch and the Bill of Rights next week.
In Language Arts we have begun reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Students are welcome to read ahead of the schedule, but should be prepared for the quizzes and discussions on the assigned chapters for each week. This novel can be challenging for some 8th graders. If students are having difficulty with the reading, there is a free podcast on iTunes that students can listen to as they read the text. I have shown the students how to access this podcast.
November
In Social Studies we have wrapped up our unit on the Declaration of Independence. Students wrote a parody of the original by declaring their independence as teens. They did a remarkable job with this, cleverly imitating the tone and style, but maintaining the integrity of Jeffersons brilliant work by following its structure. Check out this Teen Declaration video written, directed, produced by the kids in class. This week we took on the roles of the framers of the Constitution and held a candlelight convention; we looked at three difficult issues that faced the delegates, debating and discussing these issues through the perspective of historical figures. Now we launch into our study of the U.S. Constitution. Students will be receiving study guide packets that we will begin working on at school, but they will need to continue working on them at home during their Thanksgiving break. History Alive textbooks will be a useful resource to complete these packets, but students should go to the Constitution Center website as well. This is a very well-designed, interactive site. Here are some more Constitution sites compiled by Ms. Childs.
In Language Arts we have been learning how to do literary analysis. We read a short story by Chaim Potak called "Moon" and we are working together to write a paper on the main character of the story. The goal of this writing project is for student to learn how to develop a thesis and write a well-structured and thoughtful paper to defend a thesis. I want students to follow a tight structure that I have modeled in class. They should have this structure copied into their writing folders. Although this is quite formulaic, it gives students a solid foundation for doing literary analysis, and as they develop their skills in this area, they will be less reliant on this structure and can develop their own. When we complete our "Moon" essays after Thanksgiving break, students will be starting similar essays on a novel or short story of their choice.
