Post date: Apr 24, 2017 3:11:32 AM
Happy Sunday (or maybe you're reading this on Monday because I'm sending it late)!
1. Science fair projects should all be decided upon and maybe underway by now. There are two different categories of projects, experiment and engineering, and they are due about one month apart, but each 8th grader is expected to do one or the other, alone or in pairs. Please check in with your kid about this; if they aren't excited about their project then they/we should revisit/revise their choice. The goal behind the whole hooha is that the kids each get into and excited about something science-ish. This is an extremely important time for that attitude and knowledge to be pollinated, fertilized, and firmly rooted!
2. Human Growth and Development (aka health week, sex-ed, etc): Before the end of the year, each grade level will be building in education and discussion regarding the biology of reproduction, the sociology of gender, and the importance of informed personal choices. This page on my site gives more information and links to some resources, so please peruse and let me know if you have comments or concerns so I can bring them up at our next 8th grade team meeting.
3. Science Demonstrations: In order to get each kid involved in the process of making science real and relevant, I've asked each of them to find some kind of phenomenon that they find interesting, learn about it, and prepare practice, and implement an in-class demonstration. This spreadsheet shows their proposals and my comments, and most of the kids have signed up for their demo day on the paper calendar at the front of the room. Rooms 26 and 29 did great with these during their physics intensive, and I know that this class will do the same (or better!)
4. Bill of Rights Scenario Cards: Last week, in addition to the kids' amendment presentations and showing/discussion an episode of the PBS video", I had the kids read a variety of hypothetical scenarios and decide/discuss which of the first ten amendments is relevant. Monday, we'll add discussions of important court cases to the picture.
5. Important Women in US History: My daughter Abbi came to class last Mondays to teach them about Victoria Woodhull and get them interested in other 'badass' women in US history. They grouped up, learned lots, and on Friday some shared their knowledge & enthusiasm with the class.
6. Assignments Added to PowerSchool This Week:
Science: Chpt 8 Review, Types of Machines, 9-1 & 9-2 quiz,
History: Current events sheet 17, Bill of Rights Scenarios
English: Vocab set 15 quiz, a few more Pay It Forward essays
7. Interview to Article: With the Pay It Forward essays done, I gave the kids a short but useful assignment. They each chose an interview of a teenager highlighted in a Scope magazine, read their transcript, and then wrote a newspaper-style article relaying the same content. We've printed those out and they are being read, commented on, edited, and scored by Gina, our journalism-degreed Friday workshift parent.
8. DA and Court Visit: Tomorrow morning, the deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County will come to class to explain some things about his job, our legal system, and the roles and routines of courtroom proceedings. Then, on May 4, he will give us a tour of the courthouse and hopefully get us into a trial and/or set up time for us to meet with a judge and ask questions. I did this same thing with my class of 2015 and it was an amazing experience, mostly due to the interest and questions posed by the kids.