New Horizons, New Insights to be Discovered

The last eight weeks of our journey is upon us. It is a time to focus on not only from where to where we have come, but also what will lie ahead both in this year and beyond. The idea of "commencement" implies the start of a new voyage, and I certainly envision this for our emerging scholars in the realm of United States History.
For the seventh graders, we start our teaching assignments on Tuesday, the 6th. Students will teach one lesson each day, so someone (other than me) is instructing. It's fairly nerve wracking, so wishing them the best, packing them with an extra good breakfast and a high five for encouragement might be warranted. Once the teaching assignments are done, the exam on chapter 9 will be taken. This will be the last exam of the year. Once this is out of the way, we will study the growth of Modern America through different points of view and frames of reference. More detail will accompany this as we move closer to it. Essentially, students will have to cover chapters 11, 12, and 13, a chapter a week in an intense fashion. This will lead us to the Civil War and the end of the year assessment.
For our eighth graders, we will start on Monday with our study of the Great Depression through Trace Fossil based analysis. Students should make sure they are keeping pace with nightly reading that will be started in class and finished outside of it. For the 1930s, students will be assembling a Clarkson History Box (more details to come in subsequent blog posts.) Our study of the Second World War will lie in assessing the nature of war, and the turning away of Fascism in Europe. We will spend time analyzing the policy of Internment as well as the dropping of the Atomic Bomb. Finally, we will conclude our study of World War II with an analysis of Holocaust Poetry. Once this is done, we will engage in a decade analysis of Post World War II America.
Grades have been updated, and students should ensure that they are monitoring their academic progress as often as possible. We will be encountering new and vivid horizons over the next two months. Students should eagerly embrace the journey that lies ahead. While our time is now definitely reaching its end, the meaning and relevance of it will only gain as time passes.
Happy Hunting.
Mr. Kannan