NWEA Test today---Quiz Thursday!

Today we will be taking a standardized test during class. After that we will finish up Dutch and French exploration and prepare for a quiz on Thursday.

The quiz Thursday will be about 20 questions and it will cover everything we learned so far--make sure you study.

Below is the French and Dutch reading in case you did not finish your reading and notes in class.

French and Dutch reading

Happy Constitution Day!

Today is national Constitution Day!

Today we will get a brief overview of the Constitution. Around Christmas time we will spend almost a month studying this great document.

A current events assignment is due today.

Thursday

Today we began to look at the first explorers of the new world and why they came over here.

Parents

Tuesday i sent home a sheet about parent communication that I wanted you to sign. If it got misplaced there is a copy of it here.

Parent Sheet

Tuesday

Today we began US history with a look at Native American tribes when the Europeans first arrived. We focused on how they all adapted their specific environments.

Here are some papers we used:

Native American Notes

Journal #1

Syllabus

Current Events Template

A Brand New Year!

I love new starts!!! Even new school years.

School is only a couple weeks away and I am getting ready. This blog will be the place to keep up with all your social studies homework and communication (even some extra credit.)

Thursday Januray 14

Today all we did is reviewed for the midterm. The midterm will Tuesday January 19. This is the day back from a 3 day break so please take timt to study.

I will attach the review seet below, but it is just questions so you will have to look up answers if you want it.

Review Sheet

Study.

Tuesday January 12

Today in class we finished one topic and moved on to a second topic. We finished the process of how a bill becomes a law. This is kind of complicated and I don't expect the students to memorize the whole thing but I hope they understand the process. It is really incredible that the Framers of the Constitution came up with this process and it still works today.

After that we started on the Bill of Rights. I really enjoy this section because there is so mush to talk about that relates with today. WE just kind of started exploring them and we will dive in deeper after midterms.

Objective: Explain the basic process of how a bill becomes a law.

Homework: Journal 9- Write a short narrative of a bill becoming a law. It is due January 19.

MIDTERM IS JANUARY 19!

Thursday January 7

Today our class was divided into two parts.

First we contiued our look into how the Constitution divided the powers of the government int the three branches. We also spent some time on the ways the three branches check and balance out each other.

Second we began to look our a bill becomes a law in congress. The students tried to pass a gun control law. It was fun to watch them debate these issues in groups. Most of them had very good insights.

Objective: I can apply the concepts of the Constitution to how our government works today.

Homework:
1. Current Events are due Friday
2. There will be a quiz on Friday
3. Parent Signature sheet

Tuesday December 5

So what does it all mean?

We spent the last two weeks before Christmas talking about this 230 year old document called the Constitution. Today we will look at how the Constitution workd today. We will answer questions like:

Who can decalre war?
Who can raise taxes?
Who can reject laws?
Who can get rid of the president?

Objective: I can apply the concepts of the Constitution to how our governemnt works today.

Homework:Parent Signature sheet and finish the Constitution worksheet from class

Sorry there are no attachments for the homework today they are photocopies from a book so they must be picked up in class.

Current Events Change!

For the next month or so your current event needs to be about the Bill of Rights or the Constitution. I have added a news reel on the right hand side of this page that features current events about this topic. I also have updated the current event sheet for this.

It can be found here:

Current Events Constitution

A couple of Changes and Parent Signatures

Remember that you need to return the sheet of mid year changes to me by Friday, January 8. This sheet needs to be signed by you and your parents. If you have lost the sheet it is right here.

A Couple of Changes Sheet