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.
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.