The 1st quarter flew by. Report Card Pickup sign-up went out on Friday. Please set up one conference time with a teacher of your choice to allow all our middle school parents an opportunity to meet with one of their child's teachers. If you feel you need a conference involving more than one teacher, please reach out to me ([email protected]) or the 8th grade team and we will schedule a group conference for you. The conference link is here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0e4eaaa82ca5fc1-middle5
ELA - We finished up our novel units for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Room 316) and Science Fiction Novels (Room 311). We are heading into a cross curricular unit of Shakespeare's As You Like It in conjunction with Ms. Metz in Drama, Ms. Wiltse in Library and Ms. Meegan (ELA). Students will be reading the text with Ms. Wiltse, studying the characters and drama components with Ms Metz, and analyzing the play through a literary lens in my class. I think it should be a highlight of the quarter and has certainly become an 8th grade tradition. I'm looking forward to working with Ms. Metz, Ms. Wiltse and the students and exploring the quest for love with Shakespeare.
Additionally we will be starting a unit on Suspense/Thriller in ELA with a selection of short stories. More information to follow.
Writing - We are finishing up our unit on Journalism. The students completed their news articles last week. Look for some in the upcoming editions of the Coonley Chronicle. We are finishing up Checkology Modules with the NewsLiteracy Project that are bringing into clear focus why our First Amendment Rights are so important. We will be heading into a unit on application writing. 8th graders generally hate to write about themselves but it is an important skill in preparation for high school applications, scholarship applications, and college and job applications (Yikes! down the road). Students always feel like they are bragging so learning some tips/tricks to write about yourself is important as they move forward both in their academic and personal lives. We are also gearing up for History Fair, beginning our research. We will be working on the paper in November and December.
Civics - Students will be completing a short inquiry on 1st Amendment Rights. We will continue to work on narrowing down history fair topics and begin putting together thesis statements toward a histsorical argument. Last week, we looked at the 1876 Election as well as elections through the 2000's in relation to the current election and the electoral college.
Upcoming Events:
International Children's Film Fest Virtual Field Trip week of 11/13/20
Virtual Meet with Paul Saltzman of the Chicago Sun Times 11/17/20