First Quarter - August 13, 2018 to October 12, 2018
Monday, August 20 - Students finished discussing the authorities of the federal and state governments. We began the State of Illinois Constitution unit. Map work was done during class.
Wednesday, August 22 - Students reviewed and discussed WS. pages 53 and 54. They had time to review yesterday's assignment before turning it in today. This will be their first grade in Social Studies.
Thursday, August 23 - Students have an in-class assignment about Illinois history. It will be graded tomorrow. Grades will be put on TeacherEase on Friday afternoon.
Friday, August 31 - I have been absent this week. I apologize for not updating this site. Students learned about the Legislative Branch in Illinois government. They were assigned a set of questions using this information. It was due today by the end of day.
Tuesday, Sept. 4 - students reviewed facts about the Legislative Branch while checking an assignment from last week. There was no assignment tonight.
Wednesday, Sept. 5 - The classes discussed the similarities and differences between the federal and state constitutions. They took notes concerning the topic.
Thursday, Sept. 6 - Students reviewed the similarities of the federal and state constitutions. They had an in-class assignment concerning this topic. It will be graded tomorrow.
Monday, Sept. 10 - Students completed the Europe maps from Friday. They will have a quiz in 2 weeks over Scandinavia.
Tuesday, Sept. 11 - Students finished the Legislative Branch today. There will be a quiz tomorrow. They may use their binders during the quiz.
Thursday, Sept. 13 - Students completed the Legislative Branch quiz today. We will begin studying the Executive Branch next week. Quizzes will be returned tomorrow.
Friday, Sept. 14 - Legislative Branch quizzes were returned. Students added locations to their maps of Europe. They were assigned 8 questions to be completed in class. They will have time on Monday to finish this assignment.
Monday, Sept. 17 - Students had the opportunity to complete Friday's geography assignment. There will be a quiz over northern Europe on Friday, Sept. 28th. We began reading and discussing the Executive Branch. There will be a quiz over the branch this week.
Tuesday, Sept. 18 - Discussed and highlighted information about the role of Illinois governor. The students had an in-class assignment - 12 questions over this information.
Thursday, Sept. 20 - Students completed highlighting and discussing the Executive Branch of Illinois. There were two in-class assignments this week. Next week there will be an assignment and a quiz over the Executive Branch.
Friday, Sept. 21 - Students began map work on Scandinavia (Northern Europe) today. They will have a map quiz in two weeks.
Monday, Sept. 24 - Students reviewed the Executive Branch today by comparing the federal branch to the state branch. There will be an in-class assignment tomorrow and a quiz on Wednesday.
Thursday, Sept. 27 - Students have no homework tonight. They will begin working on the State Constitution study guide tomorrow. They will use class time to complete the first half of the guide.
Tuesday, Oct. 9 - Students completed Friday's geography assignment today. We will discuss Illinois voting this week.
Wednesday, Oct. 10 - Geography assignments were returned. Students reviewed the map of Scandinavia - there will be a quiz next week. Students also reviewed the State Constitution Study Guide.
Second Quarter - October 15, 2018 to December 20, 2018
Monday, Oct. 15 - Students had an assignment today covering the topic of Illinois voting. We will have a guest speaker tomorrow, so the students also created a set of questions for him to answer. Seventh graders will have a QUIZ on Thursday over Scandinavia. No binders can be used on the quiz.
Tuesday, Oct. 16 - Crossword puzzle assignment was due today. We had the honor of having a guest speaker in the room today. The students were well-behaved and I hope they appreciated listening to Mr. Bailey.
Monday, Oct. 22 - Northern Europe quizzes were returned today. We began work on the last set of Illinois Constitution topics today. The state constitution test is scheduled for Friday, November 2nd.
Tuesday, Oct. 23 - We continued learning about local forms of government. No assignment.
Wednesday, Oct. 24 - Students finished reading, highlighting and discussing Illinois Constitution facts. They will be given a study guide to complete this week to prepare for the BIG TEST on Friday, November 2nd.
Monday, Oct. 29 - Students checked Part II of their study guide today. I went through both study guides with the students and had them highlight specific items that would be on Friday's test. For the next 3 days students will be given test prep assignments. These will be completed in class and checked by the end of the period. These will be graded. STUDENTS NEED TO STUDY EVERYDAY FOR THIS TEST.
Monday, Nov. 5 - Students received their Illinois Constitution Tests back today. I am very proud of the kids. All but 3 passed the test and they were rewarded today with responsible use of the Chromebooks. We will begin Chapter 8 and George Washington on Tuesday.
Monday, Nov. 26 - I apologize for the lack of information the last few weeks. I will get back on track starting today. Today students reviewed 8-1 and continued with notes. No homework, but there will be an assignment and quiz this week.
Tuesday, Nov. 27 - Students learned about the Judiciary Act of 1789. They have questions to answer using page 259 as their homework.
Thursday, Nov. 29 - Students reviewed the first half of 8-1 and then used their notes to complete an in-class assignment, a crossword puzzle.
Friday, Nov. 30 - Students worked in groups to read and answer questions about Alexander Hamilton's plan to get the country out of debt and to create America's economic system. It was due at the end of the period.
All grades were updated on TeacherEase at 2:00 today.
Monday, Dec. 10 - Quizzes from Friday were returned today and these grades are on TeacherEase. We have begun section 2 of chapter 8.
Tuesday, Dec. 11 - Students began work on 8-2. We discussed the Whiskey Rebellion and the students took notes. Notes will continue tomorrow.
Monday, Dec. 17 - Students will have a quiz over western Europe tomorrow.
Third Quarter - January 2, 2019 to March 8, 2019
Monday, Jan. 7 - Students completed, checked and corrected their Geography assignment from Friday. This is unit has A LOT of information in it, there are 20 countries. I encouraged students today to use 10 minutes of each study hall to begin preparing for the quiz on January 25th.
Wednesday, Jan. 9 - Chapter 8 - Section 2. We discussed and took notes concerning issues America had with Britain and France while they were at war and Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality.
Wednesday, Jan. 16 - Section 2 is complete students will spend class time tomorrow reviewing the people, places, events, and vocabulary in preparation for a QUIZ on Friday.
Thursday, Jan. 17 - Tomorrow's quiz has been moved to Tuesday, Jan. 22nd.
Friday, Jan. 18 - I am disappointed in the majority of grades and effort shown in both classes. Grades have been updated in TeacherEase. I have stressed the importance of doing well on BOTH quizzes next week. Tuesday's quiz is over 8-2 and students can use their binders. Their assignment for today was to highlight their notes (people, places, dates, events, and vocabulary)in preparation for Tuesday's quiz. The geography quiz is Friday and they have online resources to help them through Google Classroom and papers in the Geography section of their binder.
Monday, Jan. 21 - No School, MLK Jr. Day
Tuesday, Jan. 22 - No School, Snow Day
Wednesday, Jan. 23 - The quiz planned for today was moved to tomorrow. We reviewed 8-2. They also used the resources on Google Classroom to prepare for Friday's geography quiz over 20 Eastern Europe countries and capital cities.
Thursday, Jan. 24 - Students took a quiz over 8-2 and prepared for tomorrow's geography quiz.
Thursday, Jan. 31 - Geography quizzes were returned. The majority of grades were not good. The students were given the choice to keep their grade, retake the entire quiz, or retake part of the quiz on Friday to improve their grade.
Monday, Feb. 11 - Students are finishing up the Europe geography unit. Today they completed two maps; labeling areas of land in southern Europe and the other labeled bodies of water in southern Europe.
Tuesday, Feb. 12 - Students completed notes over the Alien and Sedition Acts of the Adams Administration. They also took part in a good discussion about 1st amendment rights and racism.
Wednesday, Feb. 20 - Students reviewed 8-3 and highlighted notes in preparation for today's in-class assignment and for Friday's quiz.
Fourth Quarter - March 11, 2019 to May 17, 2019
Monday, March 11 - Students cleaned out the Geography section of their binder and did a binder check. This will be their first grade for the 4th quarter. They are done with Europe and will be moving on to the Middle East next week.
Tuesday, March 12 - Today we discussed Jefferson's inauguration and his policies and governmental beliefs. No homework.