Quarter 3 has come to a quick end. It's hard to believe we are already in the final quarter. I'm sure it will fly by even though it seems like it's a long way to June. Focus on academics and behavior are sometimes an issue in 4th quarter. You can help by reminding your son or daughter that it is still business as usual because grades still count as do the consquences for behavior.
This quarter both the 7th and 8th graders will engage in units around very serious topics. The 8th grade will begin a Holocaust unit this week that will culminate in a field
trip to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in te laMay. In Ms. Cordero's class the students will learn about the economic and political aspects of World War II while my class will cover the pschological and human behavior side of the Holocaust. We will investigate identity, stereotyping, scapegoating, and propaganda used by the media. We will also seek to answer the following essential questions:
-How could the Holocaust happen?
-How were the victims oppressed?
-Was there resistance?
-Why should we remember?
We will do this through documentaries, readings, activities, speakers, and the novels: Parallel Journeys and Night. It will be lots of work for the students, but as it has been in the past, I also believe very rewarding.
While the 8th grade will be delving into the complex issues of the Holocaust, the 7th grade will be tracing the origins of slavery in America to its eventual end. We will begin by studying the practice of indentured servitude, then we will follow the slave trade and look at the lives of slaves in various settings (free in the North, plantation slaves in the South). The book that will guide a portion of this unit is Day of Tears by Julius Lester, which is about the largest slave auction in American history called "the weeping time". The 7th grade unit will seek to answer the following essential questions:
-How did slavery evolve from indentured servitude?
-How were slaves marginalized, objectified, and dehumanized?
-What was the daily life of slaves like?
-What were the coping mechanisms and survival skills of slaves?
The 7th grade unit will also culminate in a field trip to Springfield, Illinois in late May where we will trace the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Throughout these units, both classes will still continue with Word Wisdom Unit 4.
Independent reading continues as well. Students should be reading and logging nightly.
For 8th grade writing, Mr. Kim will continue to teach the 8th graders. They will begin a narrative fiction unit. Later in the quarter, they will complete a reflective writing unit where they write a graduation speech.
I will take over grammar to prepare students for the Explore English exam which they will take in May. Our focus will shift to punctuation.
Please contact me by email at [email protected] with questions or concerns.
This quarter both the 7th and 8th graders will engage in units around very serious topics. The 8th grade will begin a Holocaust unit this week that will culminate in a field
trip to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in te laMay. In Ms. Cordero's class the students will learn about the economic and political aspects of World War II while my class will cover the pschological and human behavior side of the Holocaust. We will investigate identity, stereotyping, scapegoating, and propaganda used by the media. We will also seek to answer the following essential questions:
-How could the Holocaust happen?
-How were the victims oppressed?
-Was there resistance?
-Why should we remember?
We will do this through documentaries, readings, activities, speakers, and the novels: Parallel Journeys and Night. It will be lots of work for the students, but as it has been in the past, I also believe very rewarding.
While the 8th grade will be delving into the complex issues of the Holocaust, the 7th grade will be tracing the origins of slavery in America to its eventual end. We will begin by studying the practice of indentured servitude, then we will follow the slave trade and look at the lives of slaves in various settings (free in the North, plantation slaves in the South). The book that will guide a portion of this unit is Day of Tears by Julius Lester, which is about the largest slave auction in American history called "the weeping time". The 7th grade unit will seek to answer the following essential questions:
-How did slavery evolve from indentured servitude?
-How were slaves marginalized, objectified, and dehumanized?
-What was the daily life of slaves like?
-What were the coping mechanisms and survival skills of slaves?
The 7th grade unit will also culminate in a field trip to Springfield, Illinois in late May where we will trace the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Throughout these units, both classes will still continue with Word Wisdom Unit 4.
Independent reading continues as well. Students should be reading and logging nightly.
For 8th grade writing, Mr. Kim will continue to teach the 8th graders. They will begin a narrative fiction unit. Later in the quarter, they will complete a reflective writing unit where they write a graduation speech.
I will take over grammar to prepare students for the Explore English exam which they will take in May. Our focus will shift to punctuation.
Please contact me by email at [email protected] with questions or concerns.