Social Studies Grade 8

October 8, 2024

Dear 8th grade parents,

Since fall conferences begin on Friday, I’d like to share an update on what eighth graders have been learning in social studies class.

Our first few weeks comprised a broad overview of U.S. history. We discussed three competing approaches to historical truth and applied them to different versions of Columbus’s legacy and to contemporary debates over what students should learn in history classes. Then we embarked on a week-long “survey course” of highlights from the standard U.S. history textbook narrative, along with an opportunity for each student to investigate and report on a specific topic they found interesting.

This trimester’s focus on democratic governance has proceeded along two parallel tracks. One track is a series of simulated experiences of governing, brought to us by iCivics, a nonprofit founded by the late Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to promote civics education. We have enjoyed “live” simulations for which groups of students take on different roles, as well as dynamic video games designed to highlight the challenge of making responsible governing choices while remaining popular enough to get reelected. The second track is an examination of the founders’ competing ideas and compromises, to gain historical perspective on how the system is supposed to work and how it has evolved (or perhaps devolved) through the generations. Over three days last week, each student developed a theory for why our Congress has two houses, supporting their ideas using evidence from our readings as well as their experiences in both live and digital legislative simulations.

Currently, we are exploring the phenomenon of political parties. Each student privately took the Pew Political Typology Quiz, which led into a discussion of Americans’ ideological diversity and the core values that tend to distinguish Democrats from Republicans. For this week’s research analysis exercise, each student has selected a divisive issue and is examining how each party’s position reflects (or perhaps contradicts) the core values typically associated with that party. The exercise’s design encourages the students to consider perspectives beyond their own and to view those who disagree with them not as inherently evil but as committed to different priorities – important work in any year but especially in this election season. The exercise’s structure also gives the students an opportunity to practice using a graphic organizer to take notes and keep track of sources.

I always welcome questions, feedback, and ideas, and I look forward to chatting with many of you, along with your child if possible, this Friday or Monday. See you at conferences!

Sincerely,
Mike Fishback

November 20, 2024

Dear 8th grade parents,

As we close the first trimester, here's a new update about what your children have been up to in social studies class.

Just as the students assumed the roles of presidents and legislators earlier in the year, this month they wore the hats of judges and constitutional lawyers. An overview of the Bill of Rights and subsequent constitutional amendments prepared the students to set up their own law firm and defend clients whose rights had supposedly been violated (via another iCivics video game), as well as to analyze a variety of real-world Supreme Court decisions involving students in schools. In my facilitation, I put special emphasis on situations in which two long-established rights appear to be at odds, forcing the students to decide which right should be given greater weight. In this way, they grew to appreciate the murkiness of issues that at first glance seem simple.

Much of our focus recently has been on elections, particularly on aspects of the American system that can inadvertently result in minority rule. We debated the merits of the electoral college, gerrymandered imaginary congressional districts to thwart the will of the majority, and discussed the aspirations and limitations of direct democracy by exploring the ten propositions on this fall’s California ballot. The students also voted in a series of seven mock elections, each using a different system to achieve different versions of “fairness.” This week at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference in Boston, I’ll be presenting a session on this activity for civics educators around the country.

Of course, our class previewed and then processed the 2024 presidential election two weeks ago. Much of the conversation was about the larger economic and social forces that can matter just as much as the candidates and their campaign strategies. Many teachers in my orbit were forbidden by their schools to even mention the election in class; I feel fortunate to teach in a community that trusts us to handle the topic responsibly.

This week our class completed a constitutional convention wherein each student presented a proposal for a new amendment that would fix a perceived “glitch” in the U.S. system of government. Mirroring the real constitution, these amendments needed the approval of three-fourths of the “states” in order to pass, which is an immensely tall order. While only a handful of students in each class ultimately got their proposals ratified by the full convention, everyone contributed their creativity, critical analysis skills, and in many cases humor to the endeavor. (Check out the video excerpts I posted to Homeroom last week for a small taste of the discussions overheard during the convention’s first round.)

For the second trimester, our focus will shift to movements for social justice: theory, history, strategy, critique, and action. It is thrilling to work with students who care so deeply about the world around them, and I can't wait to see how they choose to apply their learning in the months ahead. As always, you may stay up to date using my website, and I always welcome your feedback and questions. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Sincerely,
Mike Fishback

January 23, 2025

Dear 8th grade parents,

We are now halfway through Trimester 2 (and the school year!), so here’s a new update about what your eighth grader has been doing in social studies class.

We opened our social justice trimester with a case study of the Montgomery bus boycott, in particular the unsung role of 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, who refused to give up her seat many months before Rosa Parks did. Through interview footage with Colvin and a series of primary source documents, we established the importance of young people in fueling movements for social change. We spent a week discussing and critiquing theories of group dominance and privilege, harnessing the variety of our own experiences and identities to illustrate why what feels urgent to one group of people often seems nearly invisible to another. We have since been using these ideas to help us understand the forces that give rise to social justice movements and their strategic choices.

Upon returning to school in January, we began an ongoing comparative study of various approaches to achieving gender and racial equality throughout U.S. history. For the early women’s rights movement, we looked first at correspondence between Abigail and John Adams about the potential role of “ladies” in the new republic, to understand the nature of resistance to social change. We spent significant time unpacking the disagreements in goals and strategy between two factions of the movement following the Civil War (for example: Should men be allowed to hold leadership positions? Should the effort be national or localized?). We then examined the campaign to add women’s suffrage to the Constitution, encompassing a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and a memorable mass hunger strike led by Alice Paul, ultimately coming to fruition with a surprise “ay” vote by a young male legislator in Tennessee whose mother had implored him to use his power for good.

Concurrently, we explored the early movements for abolition and later Black equality, starting with an analysis of slave rebellions and abolitionist leaders. After an overview of Jim Crow segregation, we systematically assessed the competing philosophies of Booker T. Washington (accommodation), W.E.B. Du Bois (objection), and Marcus Garvey (separation) and the longer-term ramifications of A. Philip Randolph’s labor mobilization and Thurgood Marshall’s legal strategy. We are about to explore the next generation of civil rights leadership, going beyond the well-meaning elementary-school caricature of Martin Luther King, Jr. (peace, equality, and service) to examine King’s more controversial ideas about civil disobedience, the power of organizing, and the danger of “moderates.”

Throughout these studies, our students have been engaged in a variety of writing and speaking activities, including structured town hall debates, primary source annotations, group analysis of speeches and poems, reflective written pieces, their own creative versions of historic family correspondence, and faux advice column letters. In a few weeks, they will be embarking on research projects culminating in a variety of creative outputs, from podcasts to monument designs. More on this soon!

If you’ve read this far and have something on your mind, I invite you to share your thoughts with me! One reason I send these periodic curricular updates is to hold myself accountable for creating engaging, meaningful learning experiences for your children. If you’d like, you can always visit my website to access the Drive folder where I store our master documents. Thank you for your partnership!

Sincerely,
Mike Fishback

March 18, 2025

Dear 8th grade parents,

Our 8th graders’ social justice monuments are now on display in the ACDS library through next Tuesday! I hope you’ll be able to visit and spend some time learning about the students’ research and admiring their artistic sophistication. Read on for more context:

For the past month, our class has been immersed in a research, makerspace, and podcasting project related to our trimester’s theme, movements for social justice. Each student selected a movement of their choice from U.S. history, focusing their research on the variety of approaches employed by the activists and their impact on public discourse and policy. They each also designed a monument representing the activism, and Ms. Papini supported the students who chose to use the makerspace to craft physical models of their designs. Concurrently, another group of students recorded podcasts together to compare and evaluate their movements and connect them to the history our class had studied earlier.

To prepare for this project, the class analyzed the symbolism embedded in three of the many monuments we will see up close during our upcoming East Coast trip: the Lincoln and FDR Memorials in DC and the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Accordingly, a key requirement of their own monument design is that they include one or more symbolic features representing a compelling idea about their movement. The range of topics and creativity among the students has been quite striking.

In addition to reading about each monument’s symbolism and historical context, you’ll also see a visual graphic called an “Overton window” accompanying each design in the exhibit. I introduced this college-level political science tool to help the students visualize the extent to which activists succeed at shifting society’s view of what is possible or worth considering, leading to progress over time and giving politicians the cover to enact significant policy changes. Students can alter the position and width of the window’s borders to illustrate a “before” and “after” along a spectrum of positions. To practice, small groups of students created their own Overton window models using contemporary issues important to them, both nationally and at the school level, before applying the tool to their own research topics.

The monument exhibit is open to the entire school community, and we hope each of you will get a chance to see it. Alongside the physical monuments, you’ll see a binder with monument sketches from the podcasting students and a QR code that will take you to their audio recordings.

In the meantime, we have begun our Trimester 3 study of the U.S.’s role on the world stage. Our lessons will add historical perspective to this year’s stunning headlines and guide the students in grappling with questions of war, peace, power, and responsibility that are central to many of the stops on our DC and New York tours, from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the 9/11 Museum. You are always welcome to visit my website to access the Drive folder where I store our course materials. I appreciate hearing from families about how the class is going for their children, and I value our partnership. See you at the library exhibit and then on Google Meet for our trip meeting on March 27!

Sincerely,

Mike Fishback

June 1, 2025

Dear 8th grade parents,

It’s been quite a trimester! Here’s one final social studies update from me before graduation.

After studying American democracy and then social movements, we turned finally to America’s role in the world. We began with George Washington’s warnings against involving ourselves in other countries’ affairs, particularly the formation of alliances and rivalries. The overall journey of this trimester has been an examination of how far the U.S. has deviated from Washington’s advice and the extent to which the deviation has been positive or negative.

We certainly covered a lot of historical content this trimester, beginning with continental expansion: the Louisiana Purchase, the seizure of Mexican territory (including California), and what used to be called the “Indian wars.” We analyzed the U.S. as an emerging imperial power: purchases of Alaska and Hawai’i, the Spanish-American War, and America’s intrigue-filled entry into World War I. We followed Woodrow Wilson’s unsuccessful attempt to “end all wars” and Franklin Roosevelt’s sometimes-questionable path to saving the world from tyranny. An extended exploration of the Cold War led us to study about communism, the Red and Lavender Scares, the hot wars in Korea and Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Reagan’s shifting strategy toward the Soviets. Upon our return from the East Coast, we examined more recent history: the Persian Gulf War, humanitarian intervention in Somalia and Kosovo (and lack of it in Rwanda), 9/11 and the “forever wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq, and deep dives into ongoing U.S. choices regarding Ukraine and Gaza.

Yet this trimester was more than simply a survey course in American foreign policy. We held intense debates about whether the U.S. should have joined the League of Nations, admitted Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, imprisoned Japanese Americans, and dropped the atomic bomb. (We didn’t, didn’t, did, and did, respectively, to much of the class’s shame.) We compared textbook excerpts from the U.S., Spain, Cuba, and the Philippines, highlighting wildly divergent perspectives on the wars of 1898-1902. We listened to and analyzed anti-war protest songs of the ‘60s and ‘70s. We viewed the famous Twilight Zone episode “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” helping us connect a number of strands of our curriculum into a powerful message about human nature.

And of course, our week in Washington and New York added a new dimension to these discussions. At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, and the September 11th Museum, we stopped to reflect on and deepen our perspectives about American power, hubris, and patriotism. We met privately for nearly 30 minutes with Congressman Jimmy Panetta, who took the students’ questions about housing, immigration, and other issues seriously. And at museums commemorating the Holocaust and African American history, we stood face to face with reminders of what can happen when ordinary citizens ignore the injustices and violence being perpetrated on their neighbors – and what can happen when people rise up in opposition and resistance.

Back at school, our final writing assignment asked each student to articulate their own “doctrine” for U.S. foreign policy were they to become president, using examples from history to illustrate the rationales for their opinions. The sophisticated class discussion that emerged from this project last week was thrilling to witness.

As I conclude my half-decade at ACDS, I couldn’t have asked for a more engaged, creative, and invested group of kids to partner with in imagining ways to improve our country. I look forward to hearing from them and from you about how they choose to contribute to their society in the future. In the meantime, my best wishes for a vibrant and meaningful high school journey.

Sincerely,
Mike Fishback