Holocaust Museum

Resources for exploring the Holocaust Museum Website:
Link to ID cards: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/a2z.php?type=idcard#top
Learning Site for Students: http://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/the-holocaust-a-learning-site-for-students
Online Exhibitions: http://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-features
Animated Maps: http://www.ushmm.org/learn/mapping-initiatives/holocaust-history-animated-maps/

Upcoming Units and Assignments

In language arts, students are finishing their Lit. Circle books, and next week they'll be preparing for small group discussions about those books. Students will prepare individually for the discussions, and then they'll join other students who studied the same book. Groups will have a guide for their discussion aimed at drawing out ideas and analysis, and then each group will prepare a presentation about their text, sharing what they learned in their readings and discussions.

In history, students will continue our exploration of the United States Constitution through seminars, quizzes, debates, and projects. We'll use this packet to guide our discussion of Articles II and III. We'll use this packet to guide our discussion of The Bill of Rights. All eighth grade history students are working towards the following goal this year: I can apply my knowledge of the Constitution to various real and hypothetical situations. Many interesting and thoughtful conversations have already been happening around various aspects of this complex document in our history classrooms.

Upcoming Units

Welcome back! In language arts, students will be starting a new unit in SPRINGBOARD this week: "The Challenge to Make a Difference." We'll be reading, discussing, and analyzing a variety of stories, poems, and narrative non-fiction from the Holocaust. Students will also choose another longer text to read, and we'll be studying some of the history of the period in order to better understand the context of our reading. Frequently during this unit, students will be working in small groups--or "literature circles"--to discuss their readings.

In history, students will be jumping into a study of the United States Constitution. We'll be having Socratic Seminar-style discussions of the Constitution and the many issues it brings up. We'll start with the Preamble and Article One, using this packet to guide our discussions.