Have a great summer!!!

Upcoming Assignments and Events

In language arts, students recently finished presenting formal speeches, using some of the readings we've been discussing and analyzing over the past few weeks in the Springboard Books. Now, we're moving into a reader's theater unit about Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Here's a link to the original play and one to the Reader's Theater version with discussion questions embedded.

In history, students are working on their "A Journey Through the 19th Century" projects and reviewing for the Final Exam which will be on Wednesday, May 20th.

Other upcoming events include the following:
The Eighth Grade Gold Rush Simulation on Tuesday, May 26th
The Eighth Grade Picnic on Wednesday, May 27th
The Eighth Grade Promotion Ceremony on Thursday, May 28th

Resources for the "Presenting Voices" Lesson

You can find resources for the "Presenting Voices" lesson HERE and HERE.

Resources for Unit Three

In language arts, we're moving into SPRINGBOARD's Unit Three: The Challenge to Make a Difference. To begin this unit, we'll be studying a variety of stories, poems and memoirs from the Holocaust. To begin, we'll familiarize ourselves with some of the key terms we'll encounter in our readings and lit circle discussions.

Here are links to resources:
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Website
      Glossary (part of the museum website)
      Resources for Lesson can be found HERE

Link to Connectedness Survey

Click HERE for the link to the Connectedness Survey.

Argumentative Essays

Before spring break, we discussed the process of debating and writing about controversial issues. We learned about claims and counterclaims, logical fallacies, persuasive appeals (logos, ethos, pathos), evaluating sources for reliability, analyzing target audiences, quoting and paraphrasing information from a source. Now students will jump into their own argumentative essays, creating claims, researching those claims, and composing essays based on that research. We'll be using This Packet to guide the process. I look forward to hearing everyone's opinions!

History: Lewis and Clark

In history next week, we'll be working on Lewis and Clark Journals.
Here is a link to the National Geographic website's interactive Lewis and Clark journey.