We enjoyed our special premier of LFG, sponsored by Picture Motion, as well as an 8th grade Pajama Day (thank you, Ms. Humphrey) and snack. Students were engaged in discussion after viewing and were shocked by the statistics and court case filed by the US Women's Soccer Team to shed light on the issue of equal pay. It brought up questions about equity, engaged civic action and what it means to change public policy, both successes and failures.
This week, we have lots of activities including The Virtual Coonley Spelling Bee and Star 360 Middle of Year Testing. We are also nearing the end of the 2nd Quarter and students should be viewing their grades and assignments on Google Classroom and Aspen to ensure all work is completed.
Resources to Support You and Your Children
Academics
ELA - We completed our study of our Science Fiction Novels this week. Students submitted their final projects and completed the final exam. We will be moving into a short graphic novel, Black Panther, A Nation Under Our Feet, Book Two by Ta-Nehisi Coates. We will be focused on these essential questions in our study: How do we find the truth? How do modern works of fiction draw on themes, patterns of events, and character types from traditional stories and render them new? How do we pose and respond to questions that connect ideas and justify our own views in collaborative discussions?
Writing - History Fair Papers are due this Wednesday. We will be moving into creating projects (exhibit board, websites or documentaries) based on this research. We will complete Gum Unit 1 this week and take our final exam on Friday for the Unit.
Civics - We are continuing Civics Unit 2 with a focus on government as well as working on History Fair. The Coonley Virtual History Fair is scheduled for 2/10/22 with student judges from Amundsen and Lakeview AP History Classes lending their expertise. There is a great research opportunity provided by NEIU to attend an online workshop as well as get individual assistance in finding primary sources, a key component of History Fair projects, on 1/22/22, please register at the following link:
REGISTRATION LINK (Please register by Tuesday, January 18th!)
Virtual Research Palooza
Saturday, January 22nd
9:00am to 11:30am
Via Zoom
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me at [email protected].