The end is here! Of first quarter that is :) 

In English:  An essay in our literature book on the Supreme Court case, Brown vs Board of Education, is supplementing our Civics course work. The work is being done in class - unless a student has been absent - then checking out a book will be necessary to complete the work.

In Civics: We are busy! First - we are continuing with our study of the branches of government - this week we are looking more in depth at the Supreme Court - specifically Plessy vs Ferguson and Brown vs Board of Ed - in addition to the 14th Amendment.

The students also received a homework project that is due on 10/28 - details follow below.

Amendments Pamphlet Project:


You will need to:

1. Think about the examples shown in class.

2. Use your text book, notes and handouts as your guide.

3. Create an accurate, tidy and polished looking pamphlet for 10 of the 27 amendments to the US Constitution.

• At least 5 of your chosen amendments need to come from the Bill of Rights (chapter 4 section 1) – the other 5 amendments are your choice – but I would encourage you to choose from the list of suggested amendments named in #6 of this handout.

4. Provide the # of the amendment, give it a title and write a brief summary of each amendment.

5. Provide an image that represents each amendment.

• These images (pictures) may be from a computer, a magazine, a family photo or drawn by hand (no stick figures please!) – Please let me know if you need help with materials.

6. The suggested other amendments are the 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, 26th (ch. 4 section 2)

Scoring:

 Each amendment (#, title, summary) is worth 1 point

 _________ 10 points possible

 Each image provided is worth 2 points

 _________ 20 points possible

 Overall tidiness of the project

 __________10 points possible

Grand total points possible – /40

Xtra Credit possible – up to 15 points for up to 5 additional amendments. /15 XC

Following the turn in of these pamphlets there will be a quiz on all the amendments in the Bill of Rights (chapter 4 section 1) and the additional amendments named in #6 of this handout (chapter 4 section 2).

I would suggest flashcards and playing “Do I Have a Right?” at www.icivics.org in order to help you prepare for the test 

***** Reminder ***** This Symbol on Skyward means that your student's score has not yet been entered or they have been excused ***** The only time this should concern you is when a quiz or test is showing an * - in which case it will become a zero if they do not schedule a time to take a missed quiz or test prior to the end of the grading period.
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On a different note - we finished our first quarter choice book - the kids did an exceptionally good job of journaling and discussing thier books.  We are choosing a new book for second quarter on Wednesday - look for reading and journaling at home :)  The due dates on library books for this choice book will be December 1st.  


In Civics - we have been learning about the branches of government - the Shut Down - the powers of each branch - the checks on each branch - and Judicial Review (Marbury vs. Madison)

Encourage your student to play icivics.org --- a great site with Civics oriented games developed by Sandra Day O'Connor. 

Finally - we have a quiz on p. 95 Civics tomorrow --- they made color coded flashcards in class today - please ask them a few questions if you get the chance!

NEXT UP - The Bill of Rights (pamphlet project) and our disabilities literature circles. 

Another productive week behind us :)  The reminders for students were as follows:
Monday - Animal Farm needs to be completed so we can have our final book discussions and fill in the information on metaphors in the packets

Tuesday - The Animal Farm packet is due - this is an emphasis on page # support!!!

Wednesday - Final quiz on the Cycle of Power 

We will watch Animal Farm the video on Tuesday and Wednesday 

Choice book journals (worth 40 points) are due on October 11th - one week before the end of the quarter.  

We had a blast with a "on-desk" Cycle of Power review --- the kids love the "slightly bad" nature of the activity --- I love that it is big...team oriented...and very effective ---- plus, I get my desks very clean!

We are continuing with our study of the foundations of government in America.  The Declaration of Independence, the Article of Confederation and finally, The Constitution.  

Up next....more work on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (project coming soon :))

I am out of the classroom next Thursday and Monday.  I'm travelling to Saskatchewan via Amtrak where I am looking forward to lectures on Lewis and Clark via a National Parks guide who is a member of the Mandan tribe.  I hope to bring back new info for the students when we begin our study of Washington State History :) 

Enjoy your weekend!  Happy MAGAZINE selling!!!! Mrs. Walker

Testing Reminder - MAPS testing will take place during the block on Wednesday (reading) and Friday (math) ---- Please help your student remember to get ample rest and quality nutrition! Thanks!

Hello all! Happy first not-roasting-in-the-classroom day!  :)

This week - 
In English:  We started Animal Farm by George Orwell.  The students will be required to keep a log recording examples of how dictators control/abuse their power per their Cycle of Power handout  (they will receive this on Wednesday or Thursday)

**** also - please inquire occasionally about their choice book dialectical journals - these are due one week before the end of each quarter.  This quarter, that means October 11th.  

In Civics: We took a quiz on Chapter 2 sections 1 and 2.  Those scores should be entered today or tomorrow.  The Cycle of Power for dictatorship vs democracy will be introduced this week - a quiz will follow our reading of Animal Farm.  Look for a project on the Bill of Rights sometime next week.  

In addition - we continue to look at citizenship. This week, I shared Steve Gleason's story with them.  A documentary on his life, his battle with ALS and his tireless work with his Team Gleason/No White Flags foundation airs tonight on the NFL network.  It should be very inspirational and begin to help the students start thinking about options for Night of the Notables.  

Our key quote over the past week has been:

"A hero is a man who does what he can."  Romain Rolland

3rd week - still hot - but still learning (I hope!)

Happy September to you all!  I have had some tech. difficulty with Skyward - hence the delay with grades being posted in a timely fashion - I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused!  I'm hoping to get the glitches resolved within the week. (FYI - they are issues I am not "authorized" to resolve on my own)

In the meantime - In English we have Choice books with dialectical journals well underway --- these are due the week prior to the end of the semester on 10/18. Ask to see your student's sheet regarding this assignment.

We also are reviewing some basic concepts for English via short stories in our literature book - inference and theme are the concepts for the this week. Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, MLK Jr, and Colin Powel have provided our essays thus far.   This week - we are delving into forms of government.  Your student should have their Civics book at home and be able to share with you the ideas we are discussing in class (such as Syria).  We are also spending time with current events via the Spokesman Review.

We had a short quiz on Ch. 1 sec 2 last week --- nearly all students did quite well!  We have another quiz scheduled for Monday 9/16 --- this will cover the questions and terms they have completed for Chapter 2.

Next week, we will start our first novel, Animal Farm, and will focus on "The Cycle of Power" --- this should be very high interest for many of the students and provide a good tool for evaluating other countries and their governments.

Please contact me if you have any questions --- and FYI - if your student is absent, I would love for them to touch base via email so they can stay in the loop in regards to class.

Thanks for sharing great kids with me each and every day! I'm looking forward to meeting so many of you at Open House on Thursday evening :)

The students and I are all keeping quite busy as the end of the school year draws near.  We have the MSPs behind us (unless your student needs to complete make up tests). Today and Friday are occupied by MAPS testing - and I believe the Algebra and Geometry EOCs are next weeks.  Needless to say, classroom instruction is a bit interupted/disrupted so students need to be vigilant about keeping track of what they have missed in class and when assignments are due.  This is a necessary skill for success in high school and beyond! 

FYI - 
Today we turned in a book project and packet for Shakespeare's Secret or Terrible Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet. This was read almost entirely in class - and the packet completed in class - so assembly of the project was the only expected homework. 

We have a rough draft of our final writing assignment  (This I Believe) due on Friday. The final, typed if at all possible, paper is due Monday. They have also had class time to work on this paper as well. For info or ideas on this paper - go to npr.org - search...This I Believe

Ch. 6 WSH is due Friday - they have class time today and tomorrow (block 3 had time last week as well) - we will likely have a quiz on Ch. 6 and 7 on Thursday of next week.  Ch. 8 and 9 will bring the year to a close. 

We start Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream this week and will continue with it as we finish up the year - this is entirely done in school - so it should be more relaxing and fun for all!

While I have absences over the next few weeks for the final meets of the PHS track season - the students will be in the capable hands of Grace Grow and Jerry Harms.  Both of them are Eng./Social Studies folks and truly enjoy the students.  I do not expect to even miss a beat with them in the classroom!  Please remind your student to be respectful of subs in the school - it's a bit easier this time of the year to get off-task. 

Hope you are basking in our summer-like weather --- encourage your student to bring H2O - it's quite sweltering in my room - especially by the end of the day!