Colonial RAFT Project October 24th

Questions for Columbus Article

USE FULL SENTENCES AND CITE TEXT WHEN NEEDED 
1. Which two islands does Columbus describe in his letter to the Spanish king and queen? Write the old names and current names in parentheses afterward. 
 2. How does Columbus describe the inhabitants (people) that he came across on Hispana? Support your answer with three details from the text. 
 3. In his letter, Columbus says that all the inhabitants of the island exchanged valuable things for “the very least thing or nothing at all.” Why did the inhabitants exchange valuable things for trinkets? 
 4. What did Columbus ultimately hope would be a result of his interaction with the inhabitants? Support your answer with evidence from the text.

Primary Source, Columbus' Letter

Welcome Back to 2016-2017

GEOGRAPHY
We're starting this year with some geography activities in SS.  Students will learn to properly use latitude and longitude, as well as different aspects of an atlas that expand their ideas of the importance of understanding geography.  They should understand how it plays into relationships throughout the world.

Civil War Technology Outline

8th Grade Book Study

Allusions Project Due 3/18-3/19

8th Grade Government Project

United States Government Project
1. Form groups of 3
2. Decide/Assign the 3 branches of government between group members (each person is responsible for 1 branch of government)
3. Use the Social Studies textbook as research reference for your branch of government
4. Discuss as a group to clarify meaning and connections between branches as necessary

Individual Visual Project—Group Creative Project: Directions: • Each group member is responsible for contributing to a visual aid that contains all of the information from his or her summary in a creative manner. • Visual aid should be part of a larger group creative project—this is to be decided upon as a team and must all go together. Be creative!
• REQUIRED: Detailed information and hand-crafted visual images (no computer generated or printed photos)

In your group of three, you will design and create a display that shows how the United States government works. This should include the three branches of the government, who/what is included in that branch, their responsibilities, and the power they have to check and balance the power of the other branches.

 Format - A group may decide to get a giant piece of butcher paper and find a creative way to represent their branches of government, or create a graphic novel with drawings and descriptions. They could also create a sculpture, flow charts, dioramas, collages, etc. Be creative.

Research Speech Expectations

Research Paper 2016

ADV SS Revolutionary War Project

-We're starting a small group project that will last a few days.  The idea is to use the internet and reliable sources (not wikipedia, blogs, etc) to gain some insight into a specific topic from the Revolutionary War. You CAN use wikipedia to get sources from the bottom, or just search your own.
-Keep track of your websites and list them at the end of the presentation.
-Stay focused on how this topic, thing, or person related to the cause of the war, the war, and or the conclusion of the war.
-This should culminate in a 3-4 minute speech with every member speaking for AT LEAST a minute.
-Should have a visual presentation aspect to it (google presentation, presi, or hand made posters)
-Speeches shouldn't be more than 6-8 minutes.

TOPICS (selected in class)

Small Firearms

Artillery

Soldiers’ Food

Soldiers’ Supplies (non-firearm)

Battle of Saratoga

Battle/Siege of Yorktown

Winter at Valley Forge

The Swamp Fox

Benedict Arnold

Marquis de Lafayette

Casmir Pulaski

John Paul Jones (not the Led Zeppelin Bassist)

The Outsiders

For the next 3 weeks, we'll be reading The Outsiders in class.  Students will keep a journal and write summaries and reflections, vocabulary, predictions, and more. They'll also discuss themes and cite evidence in the book when explaining themselves.
We'll have a couple quizzes along the way and finish with a small project.

Colonies Comparison

Compare and Contrast 2 Colonial Regions in 18th Century America OR 
English and French Colonies/Territories in 18th Century America Due Friday, November 20th
**SUMMATIVE**

-Design a Chart or Some Template for Comparison
-Include a few pictures that represent some ideas you write
-Use a Venn Diagram, something like below, or create something unique yourself
-Government, Religion, Population, Geographic Areas, Economies, Relationship w/ Natives, etc
-FINAL COPY FORM

Persuasive Essay

Hooray, we are starting our persuasive essay.
Here are a couple quick reminders:

Outline is due Tuesday, November 17th
Essay is due Wednesday, December 2nd (this might slightly change)

We Shall Remain - Social Studies

For the next few days, we're watching the PBS series - "We Shall Remain" and having an ongoing discussion about it in class. Students are expected to watch the entire episode 1 - "After the Mayflower" and complete the video notes/questions. Here is a link to the videos online if a student misses a day or two.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/episode_1_trailer
 After watching the trailer, click on "Browse More Video" when it pops up. Then select the appropriate episode.

This Week in Language Arts

We'll be covering the basics of a solid 8th grade essay this week. We'll review formatting, thesis sentences, and topic sentences. A link that covers the basics - http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/topic.htm We'll go into more detail in class, so take good notes!

Speeches Friday!!

Make sure to have your note cards ready Thursday so you can practice your speech before Friday. Remember, the key to this speech is keeping your audience engaged and getting across some good information for 90 seconds.

Region Project Instructions

Or Click this link for a more printer friendly version.

2014-2015 Class Pictures