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Week 10: October 28-31

Welcome: 

This week marked the end of the Make a Difference Day donation drive for our district. We had the opportunity to unload the bus at the Coventry Food Pantry with the wrestling team and it was amazing to see how much the OJR community donated. Thanks to all of those who sent materials in! 

We had the time to watch a quick video this week and I showed a great video from the now-defunct Livestrong Foundation. The video, about a cancer-survivor who summits Mt. Everest on one functioning lung, is a great reminder of how powerful humans can be. I think my favorite line from the entire video is when he says "everybody has mountains to climb." I hope you enjoy! 



This Past Week: 

Social Studies (Periods 2, 6, 7, 8):

  • Monday: We started the day with a few rounds of Blooket to review for the Civics Exam and then the students had some time to finish their writing piece of the Electoral College Cyber Sandwich from Friday. Some of the students finished early enough to use AI to get feedback on, and then improve their writing. 
  • Tuesday: We started with another round of a Blooket today to help the students review for the Civics Exam. Most of the time was spent working on the Bill of Rights Research assignment. The students selected a question today and began to research it for their work. 
  • Wednesday: I was out today for a follow-up doctor's appointment. The kids spent the day doing two things--playing a Quizizz review game for the Civics Exam and then working on researching the opposing viewpoints of the driving question they selected for their Bill of Rights Research Assignments.
  • Thursday:  We started the day with a Blooket to review for the Civics Exam, discussed the research process, and then the students spent the rest of the time working 

Accelerated Social Studies (Period 3):

  • Monday and Tuesday: We started the day with a few rounds of Blooket to review for the Civics Exam next week and then had most of the period for the students to work on their Quarter 1 Presentations. The goal for today was for the students to leave class with almost all of their presentations complete so they could practice. 
  • Wednesday: Today was all about MLA Citations--exciting stuff, right? The students learned how to use MyBib to create a Works Cited page to help them practice giving credit for their research. 

This Upcoming Week: 

Social Studies (Periods 2, 6, 7, 8):

  • Civics Exam: The Civics Exam will be on Wednesday, October 30. We will spend some time on both Monday and Tuesday reviewing for the exam. 
  • Election 2024 Research: The students will select three issues and research where the candidates stand on each of those issues for this assignment. Any student that wishes to is also able to explain where they stand on the issue and with which candidate they most closely align. While all students are expected to complete the research to help them learn how to be more civically engaged, the students are NOT expected to share their beliefs and thoughts if it makes them uncomfortable. 

Accelerated Social Studies (Period 3):

  • Quarter One Presentations: The students will continue to present their Quarter 1 Presentations throughout this week. Some of the students will need to present on Wednesday (after the Civics Exam) and Thursday, but the grades will still count towards the first quarter. 
  • Civics Exam: The Civics Exam will be on Wednesday, October 30. We will spend some time on both Monday and Tuesday reviewing for the exam. 
  • Election 2024 Research: The students will select three issues and research where the candidates stand on each of those issues for this assignment. Any student that wishes to is also able to explain where they stand on the issue and with which candidate they most closely align. While all students are expected to complete the research to help them learn how to be more civically engaged, the students are NOT expected to share their beliefs and thoughts if it makes them uncomfortable. 

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