Can you feel the excitement in their air? We certainly can! Even though they are big kids now, the 8th graders certainly are excited for Christmas vacation!
The students have turned in their mystery stories in English this week. I have read about a third of them and am quite impressed. Mysteries are difficult to write because the plots need to be carefully planned out to make sure the clues lead to suspects, which then lead to a satisfying ending. So far, so good!
We are now moving on to our research unit. As you may know, one of my passions is Great Lakes lighthouses. I am using lighthouses as the basis for the research unit because I like to bring some of my interests into the classroom to expose students to things they may not normally learn about and also to share some maritime history about the region in which we live. Yesterday the students each picked a lighthouse to research, and we created a large bulletin board display that shows where each student's lighthouse is on a map of the Great Lakes region. Next week we will be checking out the valuable Internet resources on these lights as well as be contacting the preservation groups associated with the lighthouses to request information to aid in the research process.
In Literature, the students have begun reading the novel Animal Farm. We are studying this as an allegory to understand how leaders like Hitler can rise to power. This unit is being taught in conjunction with Mrs. V's History unit on WWII.
In Religion we are beginning to learn about the era of persecutions in the Christian church. While this is a long way off, the final assessment for this unit will be to create an infomercial that showcases the great things about Christianity so as to ward off more persecutions! More to come.
May you and your families have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful vacation. As always, thank you for your partnership in your child's education.
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