In the tabs at the top of the page you will see a new tab- Holocaust Websites. On this page are the websites created by the eighth grade this year, based on their research of the Holocaust. Students were given the opportunity to chose their own topics and they have done a great job. The websites also include a page that has a quiz based on what the students hope people will learn from visiting their site. Originally the quizzes were intended for the seventh grade as they will be viewing our sites as part of social studies, but please feel free to take any quizzes you would like to. Students will be able to see the data on how well people did on the quizzes, which can lead to further reflection about such things as were the questions too easy? too hard? unclear? It is always interesting for students to be on the other end of testing! I hope you enjoy.
It is hard to believe that we are almost two-thirds of the way through this school year. It seems like just yesterday I was welcoming this year's eighth grade into my classroom, and now, as I know from experience, this last third of the year is going to fly past before we know it!
In class, both ELA and social studies we are going to be very busy! We are wrapping up the unit on the Holocaust and turning toward a unit on the United States Justice system. I am very excited about this unit because it will culminate in a field trip to the Federal building in Bangor. Maybe that doesn't sound super exciting, but while we are there we are going to be conducting a mock trial! The trial will be completely run by the students, with the exception of the judge, we will actually have a sitting judge on the bench! I am still working out some of the details of the trial, but all students will be involved and have parts to play, whether they be lawyers, clerks, witnesses, or jurors. Our field trip is scheduled for Thursday, April 27. In ELA we will be crossing content area lines as we learn how to write and speak persuasively. Some of this writing will happen around preparing for the court visit, and some will be about expressing opinions supported by facts and information. And of course, we will be doing plenty of reading! Much of our focus in reading will be non-fiction reading, but we will find time for reading literature about growing up too! Of course, this final trimester also brings the end of year graduation plans even closer. I have scheduled a parent meeting for this Wednesday, March 1, at 6:00 in my classroom. I would like to discuss how much money we have, what we would like to plan for activities, and a plan for how we are going to raise any remaining funds. I hope to see most of the eighth grade parents there! I hope you have all enjoyed these last few spring-like days- and I hope we have seen the last of this year's snow days. The season is upon us! I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season. Your child may be working on a book trailer for ELA over vacation, asking to invite friends over to film, or even asking parents to play a role- feel free to join the fun! I am sure students will enjoy being able to "direct" parents! I have added a page under the "Classes Past" tab that contains examples of past book trailers so if students want reminders of what they look like over break they can have easy access.
Enjoy the break and I'll see you all next year! Ms. Johnson As part of my reflection on my teaching, I have thought a lot about the maintenance of this website. I have long left this as one of the last things on my list of things to do, and felt like I was not doing it justice in the process. Despite my reflection, I have not carved out the time to do this. Recently, I have realized that this is a job that would be perfect for my students! I have selected a student to create a new website altogether, and we have talked about the features we think would be most useful for anyone coming to find out what is happening in our eighth grade. Some of the elements we talked about was having separate pages for class trip fundraising announcements, general academic announcements that include homework and project due dates, and pages that will showcase student work. It also opens the potential for students to be creative with additions they would like to see or try. I am really excited about this for many reasons, but the two biggest are that you will be better informed about what we are doing, and the students will have the opportunity to put their talents and technology to use in a "real world" way. I think we will all find that it is a win-win situation! I hope the new website will be up and running next week. When it is, I will email all of the eighth grade parents a link to it.
Thanks for being patient, and I hope you will find the new website useful, informative, and enjoyable! Ms. Johnson |
Ms. JohnsonTell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. Archives
February 2017
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