Happy October parents and students! We had a wonderful week in 7th and 8th Grade Social Studies, honing our map skills in 7th and beginning to uncover the lives of America's first colonists in 8th Grade.
Students in 8th Grade this week will have a quiz on Monday on Thinking Like a Historian and the Age of Exploration. I have provided a practice quiz on Remind that will help students prepare. Please make sure you are signed up for Remind in my class! Many important updates and tools for my class are exclusively available on Remind; this service is extremely useful to students and parents alike. We will be investigating the Lost Colony of Roanoke and the first permanent English colony, Jamestown this week. Students in 7th Grade will be completing a project on the Geographic theme of Place by creating a state postcard to show what it is like in their assigned state. Students must have all research completed this weekend in preparation to work on their postcard on Tuesday 10/2. Monday: 8th Grade - Historical Thinking and Age of Exploration Quiz; Notes on the First English Colonies (Interactive Notebook page 14), Tuesday: 7th Grade - Continue State Postcard Project Wednesday: 8th Grade - Roanoke Historical Scene Investigation Thursday: 7th Grade - Finish State Postcard, Postcard Gallery Walk Friday: 8th Grade - Continue First English Colonies Notes with Jamestown, Jamestown Stations; Pocahontas Activity
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Hello students and parents! This week we have a few important events - Wednesday is PCA Pride Day for students and staff! Please wear a PCA shirt/jacket/hoodie to show your school pride! 8th grade students especially should plan to attend High School Night on Tuesday, September 25th at 5pm. This would be a great event to attend for students who would like more information to help pick the right high school for themselves. For 7th Grade students, we are ready to finish up our work on the theme of Location in the Five Themes of Geography. Students had a small assessment on latitude and longitude last week and they did a marvelous job! Students will begin work on our first creative project - State Postcards! Students in 8th Grade have done a great job honing their historical investigator skills. I sent their first graded assignment as homework on Wednesday and many students have not turned this assignment in. Please check with your student that he or she turned this assignment in! Monday - Map Skills Stations; go over Map Skills Stations and Plickers/Quizizz Review Tuesday - Finish Columbian Exchange Activity with Creating a Lunch Menu; Plickers Review Wednesday - Map Skills Bootcamp in groups - Students will be completing themed map activities in groups of 4 to improve map analysis skills; Five Themes of Geography Chart in Notebook Thursday - Quizizz Review for Quiz on Monday (link to a review game for this quiz); view "America: The Story of Us" episode 1
It's been a wonderful (albeit very rainy) week at PCA and we are moving right along into new skills in each grade with this new week. Students in 7th Grade had a great time playing Latitude & Longitude Battleship to practice their coordinate skills. 8th Graders are doing a great job thinking critically and use historical thinking skills, so we are ready to move to using those skills on real historical documents!
My homeroom was the first class to successfully turn in all syllabus papers, and I am still waiting on 5 of 6 classes to bring their papers in. Also, students are writing in their agendas in class every day - students should have either a homework assignment noted or "no homework" in their agenda every day. Monday - EQ: "What questions should be asked when sourcing a document?" Go over Evaluating Sources homework; begin Colonization & Settlement Unit with Hook Activity (Waldseemueller's Map) Tuesday - EQ "What are the important features of a map?" Map Skills 101 - Map Projections page 12; Map Features page 13 Wednesday - EQ: "How did Native Americans live before explorers arrived in the 'New World'?" Early Exploration Notes on page 10, Columbus Journal Analysis Thursday - "Why do cartographers create different types of maps?" Map Skills 101 - Types of Maps Stations Friday - EQ: "Why did countries send explorers to new lands?" Columbian Exchange Foldable page 11; Columbian Exchange Task Cards Two weeks down and now we are well into our units in both 7th and 8th Grade Social Studies! Students are still working on getting the class syllabus turned in, but I am missing several for each class. In 7th Grade, Class 7-3 is at 88%, Class 7-2 is at 42%, and Class 7-1 is at 70%. 8th Grade is nearly finished turning in their syllabus with Class 8-2 at 70%, Class 8-3 at 70%, and Class 8-1 at 76%. I will be in contact with parents this week to address any issues with students turning assignments in.
Students in 7th Grade Social Studies is back into our unit on "How Geographers Look at the World" with the very important 5 Themes of Geography. Students have been doing a wonderful job learning about the first theme, location, and specifically the new skill of latitude and longitude. Though students have picked up this skill quickly, we will be continuing to practice finding locations using latitude and longitude this week. 8th Grade students will be continuing work on "Thinking Historically" and practicing skills of sourcing, contextualizing, and corroboration. We will be completing the second part of "Lunchroom Fight", as well as "Evaluating Sources" and "Make Your Case!". Monday - EQ: "How do latitude and longitude help find a location?" Go over homework: Latitude & Longitude Practice, labeling maps in notebook pages 10 & 11 Tuesday - EQ: "What makes a historical account more reliable?" Go over Lunch Room Fight, continue Historical Thinking Chart in notebook, Lunch Room Fight Part II
Thursday - EQ: "Why are multiple historical accounts better than just one?" Review Evaluating Sources, Make Your Case! Activity Friday - EQ: "Is it useful to know the locations of the continents and oceans? Why or why not?" Location Stations, Five Themes of Geography Chart, begin Balloon Globe Project Students have successfully made it through the first week of school! Students have done a wonderful job adjusting to their new schedules and routines, and I am very proud to the see the behavior and environment in 7th & 8th Grade this year.
On Tuesday, students in 7th Grade have a signed syllabus due to me that will be returned once checked. 8th Grade will have their signed syllabus due on Wednesday when we meet again. I am very proud to see that most of my homeroom turned their papers in early! Way to go 7th grade! This week will begin our movement into content for Social Studies this year. Both grades will begin the week with their pretest to determine what standards require attention throughout the year. Students in 7th Grade will be working on reviewing the 5 Themes of Geography beginning our focus on location with a few hands-on activities. We will be working on this concept throughout next week as well. 8th Graders will be working in groups to begin "Thinking Like Historians" to evaluate sources and determine credibility. Monday - Labor Day Tuesday - EQ: "How is geography useful to people?" Social Studies 7 Pre-Test Wednesday - EQ: "Is human memory reliable?" Social Studies 8 Pre-Test Thursday - EQ: "How do geographers determine a location?" 5 Themes of Geography Introduction; Location Group Activities; Latitude & Longitude Practice Friday - EQ: "Why do people see or remember things differently?" Lunchroom Fight & Suspension Report Activities; Activity: Snapshot Autobiography - "What was your 1st day of school like?"
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7th Grade Quizizz Code of the Week:
8th Grade Quizizz Code of the Week: Generate your own question for Quizizz HERE Please use the links for Remind 101 Instructions to sign up! This is the best way to get the most frequent reminders from the teachers!
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