Brief Summary of WW II + Discussion of "The Gift of the Magi"

Today the 8ths:

• Began reading & discussing A Brief Summary of World War II

• Discussed with the 6th & 7th Graders O. Henry's short story, The Gift of the Magi

Assignments - None

PPT-"The Gift of the Magi"--Sequencing, Analyzing, Evaluating

Began World War II (so to speak) + Pre-Reading Writing for "The Gift of the Magi" + Calligraphy, cont'd

Today the 8ths:

• Began our study of World War II
• Collaborated on a Google Doc comparing World War I with World War II

• Did a writing activity prior to reading the O. Henry short story, "The Gift of the Magi."
• Continued practicing calligraphy with the 6th/7th Graders

Assignment for Thursday: Read and come prepared to discuss the O. Henry short story, "The Gift of the Magi." (Clicky clicky.)

• I copied and pasted the story from Project Gutenberg to a Microsoft Word document and added definitions of "difficult words" to assist you in your reading.
• You Kindlekinder can find a Project Gutenberg Kindle version here.
• A classmate found a free Amazon Kindle version here.
• Click here for audio versions.

"O. Henry" is the pseudonym of William Sidney Porter. The writer's life story is pretty interesting. For awhile he lived in Austin, TX and has a middle school there named for him (despite--or because of???--his being a convicted embezzler who served time in prison) On a side note, my beloved Lamar Scotties played the O. Henry Mustangs when I was in Eighth Grade. I'm pretty sure we beat 'em. Click for the Wikipedia article on O. Henry.

                      

You tellin' me this is the face of a crook???

Great Depression & New Deal Vids + Calligraphy

Today the 8th Graders:

• Viewed & discussed excerpts from videos on the Great Depression, FDR & the New Deal
• Continued working with the Grades Sixes & Sevens on Calligraphy

Assignments for Wednesday- None

New Deal Cartoons + Calligraphy Lesson

Today the 8thers:

• Applied their knowledge of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal by analyzing contemporary cartoons for and against the New Deal
• Joined the 6thers & 7thers in a calligraphy lesson (that the 8thers had begun one year ago)

Assignment for Tuesday: Finish your analysis of the New Deal cartoons.



For Future Reference:

PBS Documentary on FDR- Part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IFZL-NWGPE

FDR-The Secret Archives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR0XKNTh5k8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWMXTDjd4QA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhULXWAFybI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2pjo-vycl8

Grade Check/Makeup Work + Stories from the Great Depression

Today the Grade 8s:

• Got their grades so far for the 2nd Quarter, corrected any misentries, and made up some excused missed work
• Worked on the Stories from the Great Depression assignment, the due date of which is extended until Monday

Assignment for Monday: Make the chart showing good and bad aspects of the Great Depression as seen in the collection of primary source stories assigned yesterday. To refresh your memory, here's what's expected:

1. Finish reading the Stories from the Great Depression. The reading shows a variety of experiences, both favorable and unfavorable.
2. Make a table showing ways in which the Great Depression was bad, good, or neautral, as seen in these stories.

Have a wonderful weekend!

New Deal Debate + Stories from the Great Depression

Today the Gr8s:

• Debated brilliantly the question, "Was the New Deal effective in dealing with the Great Depression?"
• It was students vs. teacher, as both students wanted to defend the New Deal.
• The teacher was barely able to hold his own against the well-prepared, cogently argued case presented and defended by the students. (Some might say he was not even able to hold his own.)
• Read and analyzed Stories from the Great Depression found on The Frugal Farmer blog

Assignment for Friday

1. Finish reading the Stories from the Great Depression. The reading shows a variety of experiences, both favorable and unfavorable.
2. Make a table showing ways in which the Great Depression was bad, good, or neautral, as seen in these stories.

All-School Picture + HTCHS Debrief + New Deal Debate Prep

Today the 8th Graders:

• Spent some time being posed and photographed for the All-School Picture
• Discussing their visit with Holy Trinity Catholic High School students yesterday (which ended up taking place not at HTCHS but at the Cedarbrake Retreat Center. . .hence the modified photo in yesterday's blog post
• Received several handouts (chronology, cartoons, summaries, Important Points to Remember) on the New Deal for analysis and use in tomorrow's rescheduled New Deal Debate

Assignment for Thursday

1. Analyze the additional handouts on the New Deal given you in class today; write Pro-New Deal/Anti-New Deal notes on the handouts.
2. Come prepared to debate.

Visit to Holy Trinity Catholic High School

Today the 8th Graders visited Holy Trinity Catholic High School, leaving their teachers and classmates bereft of their presence. We look forward to their soon return.

Assignments

For Wednesday -

1. Finish analyzing Statistics and the New Deal in preparation for the ND Debate (if you didn't turn them in on Monday)
2. Debate over the question, "Was the New Deal effective in dealing with the Great Depression.

Statistics Analysis + Economic Concepts + Debate Prep

Today the 8th Greaters:

• Prepared for Wednesday's New Deal Debate by analyzing a handout called "Statistics and the New Deal"
• Discussed the economic concepts of deficit spending, public debt, government borrowing, and interest rates

Assignments

For Tuesday - Finish analyzing Statistics and the New Deal in preparation for the ND Debate

For Wednesday - Debate over the question, "Was the New Deal effective in dealing with the Great Depression.

GD/ND Illustrations + Crash Course Vid on ND + Debate Prep

Today the Gr8 8s:

• Showed their illustrations of the Brief Descriptions of the Great Depression & New Deal
• Discussed some subsidiary issues such as "revenue," "expenditures," & "PROFIT."
• Began watching the Crash Course Video-The New Deal together and finished it later
• Were to watch it a second time and take notes for the upcoming New Deal Debate

Assignments

For Monday - View the Crash Course Video-The New Deal a total of at least 2 times & take Debate Notes: Was the New Deal effective in dealing with the Great Depression?

For Wednesday - Debate over the question, "Was Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal effective in dealing with the Great Depression?"

Quiz Return + New Deal Debate Prep + Crash Course Video on Great Depression

Today the 8th Graders

• Got back their graded GD/ND Quiz
• Chose sides for the debate over the question, "Was Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal effective in dealing with the Great Depression?"
• As no students wanted to answer "no," the teacher will defend the negative side against the students.
• Anticipated Debate Date: Wednesday, 12/9
• Watched, paused, and analyzed the Crash Course Video on the Great Depression.
• As we did not finish, students were to watch and take VideoNotes over the video.

Assignments
For Friday

• Finish watching and taking Videonotes over the Crash Course Video on the GD
• As you watch, take note of arguments you can use in the upcoming debate.

For Wednesday - Debate over the question, "Was Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal effective in dealing with the Great Depression?"

Quiz Completion + Handout 43 & the Political Spectrum + Illustrated GooSlide of GD/ND

Today our Grade 8ers:

• Finished the Quiz over the GD/ND
• Discussed Handout 43, noting that the 10 options for dealing with the Great Depression reflected points of view along the political spectrum from 

Communist--Socialist--Liberal--Conservative--Ultra-Conservative--Fascist/Nazi

• Continued working on their collaborative GooSlide PPT illustrating the Brief Descriptions of the Great Depression & New Deal

Assignment for Thursday - Finish the Illustrated GooSlide PPT of the Great Depression & New Deal.

Quiz over GD/ND + Chart of New Deal Agencies + Illustrated GD/ND

Today the 8th Graders:

• Took part of the Quiz over the Brief Description of the Great Depression & New Deal
• Worked on a simple chart on New Deal Agencies
• Worked on an illustrated PowerPoint of the Brief Description of GD/ND--due Thursday

Assignments

For Wednseday - Finish the Chart: New Deal Agencies

For Thursday - Finish the Illustrated PPT of GD/ND