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Week 12: Friday, November 18, 2022

Welcome: 

Here we are, our last full week before parent-teacher conferences and Thanksgiving break. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I did want to be sure to take some time to thank you all. I have been having an absolute blast this school year with my students because they truly are a fun bunch of kids. I appreciate the opportunity I get to teach this group of students. 

 I showed a great video from Goalcast this week about choosing how you show up and trying to be the best and happiest version of yourself on a consistent basis. The talk, given by Ryan Estis, is about a quick interaction he had with an impactful barista while traveling for the holidays. I hope you watch the video and enjoy it. 


This Past Week:

  • Monday: We started the week by taking a look at a painting called "American Progress" to introduce the idea of Manifest Destiny to the students. The students also watched an EdPuzzle video about Manifest Destiny before playing a Blooket version of the Trails West quiz activity. 
  • Tuesday: We started today by taking some notes and discussing the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. The students then had time to research some of the dangers and difficulties of one of four groups that went west during the 19th century. 
  • Wednesday: We spent time today going through for stations in class. Here's a quick rundown of what the students did in each station: 
    • Completed an EdPuzzle video about the travelers on the Oregon Trail & then did a quick Sketch and Tell about the pioneers. 
    • Met with other students to compare research from yesterday and then dug into some sources to learn about some other dangers and difficulties in the west. 
    • Played a Gimkit review game about the different territories and groups that went west. 
    • Explored a new technology tool called Adobe Express video.
  • Thursday: The students started today by watching a quick Memestory video about the California Gold Rush & then created a Thin Slide  (examples of student work from each period) about the human experience of prospectors on the Gold Rush. We then played the "Among Us" version of Gimkit to review the content of going west (the students were begging to play it yesterday). Finally, we finished the day by starting to conduct research on the human experience of the different groups that went west during the 1800s. 
  • Friday: We started today by watching a 10-minute clip about life for the Chinese laborers working on the Transcontinental Railroad. The students then played the final version of the Gimkit to see how much they've learned over the week--check out the growth below! 


The Next Two Weeks: 

The next two weeks will be all about helping the students to gather, organize and make sense of information that will help them answer the question "Which group faced the most dangers and difficulties going west in the 19th century?" We'll spend the time before break doing independent research so that when the students come back from break they can work together to organize information and then plan out their thoughts. The students will do the second-quarter in-class writing assignment on this topic on Friday, December 1. 


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