Sunday, May 23, 2010

Time to Say Goodbye




As we reach the last week of instruction, it is time to bid farewell to our students, your emerging scholars. We close out a year of dedicated work and intense focus with assignments for this week:
7th Grade- Be sure to submit your textbooks by Wednesday and be prepared for your Chapter 14 Assessment on Tuesday.
Monday- Last day to review in class for the chapter 14 Assessment.
Tuesday- Take chapter 14 Assessment.
Wednesday- Friday- In class analyze and read chapter 15.

Students know that their grades are updated with their chapter 11 and 12 assessments. This should be a set up for what they must deliver on Tuesday in order to do well in the class for the trimester.

8th Grade- Be sure to submit your textbooks by Wednesday and be prepare to submit your assessments on Monday.
Monday- Submit assessments on Auschwitz and finish up in class poem explications.
Tuesday- Analyze life in the 1950s.
Wednesday- Discuss how life in the '50s had both positive and negative attributes.
Thursday- Afternoon session with high school students.
Friday- From where to where we have come: Discussion of relevant topics in history.


As this will be my last blog entry for the year, I wish to take the opportunity to thank you for all of your support this year. I do hope that the paths between your scholars and I cross again in the future. I stand humbled and honored to have had the opportunity to teach them this year.

All best and happy hunting.
Mr. Kannan

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Closing Out Strong



As we reach the final 10 days of instruction, the time is now for all students to rise to the occasion and close out strong. Down the line in both classes, calls are made for only the best to board and take the inevitable steps towards departure from this gate of scholarship en route to another.
7th Grade
Monday and Tuesday- Students should be working on their Chapter 11 and 12 assessments that are due on Wednesday and worth 900 points. It will be the last major assessment of the Trimester.
Additionally, students should be working towards the in class completion of their Core Extension Projects on "October Sky." A presentation that can assist students in this process is located at this link here!
Wednesday- Collection Day for Assessments!
Thursday and Friday- Students should be reading Chapter 14 in class and at home. ALL SOCIAL STUDIES TEXTBOOKS NEED TO BE SUBMITTED TO MR. KANNAN ON MONDAY, 5.24. THIS WILL BE THE LAST GRADE OF THE TRIMESTER.

8th Grade
Monday- Wednesday- Students will be working on closing out the unit on the Holocaust. Their assessment will be given out this week with the deadline to be announced in class.
Thursday- Friday- Students will be working on their assessment during class Click here for a bag of the websites displayed during Thursday's class.

As always, all students are strongly encouraged to examine their grades online to ensure that they are aware of their standing.

All best.
Mr. Kannan

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Renegades of Change in the Morning, Good and Evil in the Afternoon




This week, students will be working towards their assessments in their respective units. Both groups are facing some of the most difficult of work as they near the end of their voyages in this classroom. It could not have been planned any better.

7th Grade
In Class Work: Chapter 13 will be covered this week through Outcome Sentences. Students will be assigned a fixed number that have to be completed on a specific section and specific topics. What is not done in class will be done at home. Friday will be an open note Outcome Sentence Assessment on Chapter 13.
At Home Work: Students must utilize their out of class time to work on the Chapter 11 and 12 Assessments. These tasks are worth 900 points, and an extra copy of them can be found here., under "Task Rotation Assessment on Chapter 11 and 12." Rough drafts will be taken until Tuesday, 5/11, and final drafts of all work are due on Wednesday, 5/19.

8th Grade
In Class Work: We will be reading selected poems from the Holocaust. Writers such as Wiesel, Gershon, and Borowski will be our primary focus. We will explore themes in Holocaust Literature and through discussion delve into these topics.
At Home Work: Students will be requested to reflect on what was discussed in class and compose anything they wish towards it in order to substantiate and enhance current academic production. There will be an assessment on this unit due on 5/18.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at school or at my home.
All best.
Mr. Kannan

Sunday, May 2, 2010

What to do this week for Social Studies



With the end in sight and less than a month to go, the time for our students to close the door on this journey of and towards scholarship is at hand. There is much to be done with little time on the clock left. Indeed, we are beginning to see the home stretch in sight and students must make sure that they are taking all needed steps to close out a very successful tenure in the confines of this classroom.
7th Grade Social Studies
Monday and Tuesday- Continue/ Complete Station Rotation for Chapter 11, sections 2 and 3.
For the bag of websites, CLICK HERE!
For the backchannel to post thoughts on the video clips, CLICK HERE!
Homework each night should be to make sure work from that day's station is done and that reading in Chapter 12 has commenced with the completion of one set of Check Your Progress Questions for sections 1 or 2 and another set for sections 3 or 4.
Wednesday- Reconvene to make sure all stations have been covered for chapter 11 and then ensure that all of chapter 12 has been read.
Thursday and Friday- Start and finish, by Friday, analysis of Chapter 12. The Chapter 11 and 12 Assessment will be distributed on Friday and is due on 5/14. It is worth 800 points.

8th Grade
We will be reading through our packets on the study of the Holocaust. Students are encourage to complete the pondering prompts each night and investigate ways to explore the Holocaust. These will be counted as Extra Credit for students. We will be working towards our study of poetry of the Holocaust, which will be started on Thursday.

Hoping all is well and that students continue to be vigilant of their grades by checking online.
All best.
Mr. Kannan

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Gadzooks! It's another truncated blog entry!




Any week in which the focus rests with topics such as child labor in America and the death camp of Auschwitz, it is a powerful week. The blog this week will be short for seventh grade students to use it as a resource for this week's Station Rotation.

7th Grade:
Monday- Wednesday: Station Rotation for Chapter 11, sections 1 and 2
For the bag of websites for Monday and Tuesday, click here!
For the backchannel to post thoughts on the websites, click here!
Make sure you use an alias and do not register as your last name! Use proper savvy when dealing with the internet!
Thursday and Friday- Station Rotation for Chapter 11, sections 3 and 4.
For the bag of websites for THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, CLICK HERE!
For the backchannel to post thoughts on the video clips, CLICK HERE!

Homework each night should be to make sure that chapter 11 has been read and that nightly work from each station has been completed.

8th Grade:
We start our study of the Holocaust this week. Students will receive their packets for the unit on Monday. There is nightly work to be completed so all students are encouraged to devote nightly study to completing assigned work. As we head into the last month, the points are drying up. Students might wish to pursue extra credit opportunities being offered each night. The points are not out there... after about 2,600 points, it makes sense!

All students are encouraged to check their grades online and if there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at school or at my home.
All best and happy hunting as we see the home stretch in sight... Derby Day is close, indeed!
Mr. Kannnan

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Hey, look! It's a quick blog entry!


This week's blog entry will be more succinct than other posts. It might be appropriate as we speed towards the end of the year. With progress reports having been sent out on Friday, the mad dash officially begins. Here is what is "on tap" for this week in Social Studies, in terms of the large dates:

7th Grade
Monday- Study for Chapter 9 Exam
Tuesday- Take Chapter 9 Exam
Thursday- Start Reading Chapter 11, sections 1 and 2

8th Grade
Tuesday and Wednesday- Start collecting Chapter 23 Assessments. The Deadline is Wednesday at 5:00 PM. Assessments not submitted by this time will not be graded.
Thursday- Start reading Chapter 24, World War II.

Time is no longer on our side, and each assessment for both grade levels count for an immense amount of importance.

All best in helping me help our emerging scholars.
Mr. Kannan

P.S. For those who are ready to submit your Museumbox, log in and then click "Submit" and the instructions will allow you to turn in your box.
P.P.S. For those of you who need to examine websites or video clips on Pearl Harbor, Internment, and/ or the Atomic Bomb, please click here for the bag of websites that will assist you.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

For Heaven's Sake, What do you want?




The most common challenge with any assessment, such as the Chapter 23 tasks, would be to determine what is in the mind of the assessor.
What do they want?
What do I need to do in the work in order to obtain the highest possible grade?
These are prevalent in the minds of any and all students. If these questions are in your mind, then this blog entry is for you. Here is what needs to be present in the different assessments:

The Sound of Music" Blog
A few things to keep in mind:
* Keep in mind that you have to email me your blog address as soon as possible- Grade deductions will be present if you do not email me your address by Wednesday, 4/14.
* Have you posted your initial reflections on the "digital presence" of the Musical? Check out this particular link as a reflection of the musical on the web. Watch the YouTube clip or hyperlink it in your entry. Discuss your thoughts on it.
* Have you talked about the idea of private happiness and public responsibility? When Liesel talks about her love of Rolf, it seems like nothing will interfere with the love of two adolescents. How does this change over the course of the film? At some point, public responsibility creeps into all private modes of happiness, and this is no more true than with the rise of Hitler and the Nazis the 1930s.
* Have you discussed your reflections of the music- Where is it powerful? Where is it outdated by today's standards? Some have criticized "The Sound of Music" as presenting a too- rosy or optimistic view of the rise of Hitler. (Clive James argues that if the Von Trapps had sung to Hitler, he would have abandoned his position and run away back the hills of Bavaria, where they were not alive with the sound of music.) What do you think about how the rise of fascism is shown as the film progresses?
* Have you addressed at least three of the bullets featured in the task?
* Do you have the "digital design" elements of a blog, such as other links to other relevant sites on the web, as well as poll questions, quotations, or other personalized widgets that help to distinguish your blog?

Task Rotation Assessment
Sensory Thinker
*Have you made your list of fifteen items from the chapter on which you are going to compose your identifications? You can use the one used on the task as an example and follow that format. Have you identified the page number and paragraph number for each?
Have you identified the five people from the Clive James article and are you clear on what their solutions to the economic and political crises of the time period? Do you know the paragraph number and page number of each?
* You will be writing 20 small paragraphs for this task.

Intuitive Thinker
* Have you reviewed the last two pages of Chapter 23, section 4? Are you clear on their meaning?
* Have you identified the quotes from Marx and Smith that you are going to use? If you need some samples to help you out, check out this link and look for the pdf files of Marx and Smith Quotes.
* Are you clear on how the Obama Administration's initiatives are similar to the New Deal? If you are stumped, check out the link here on the Obama Administration in Reverse. Additionally, check out the link here on a more cautious view of the Obama Administration's initatives. What do you think the biases are underlying each article?

Sensory Feeling
* Have you examined the three samples offered? Are you clear on the meaning?
* What do you think is the most artistic aspect of the Great Depression, the one that can be best reflected in art? What art sample are you going to find to reflect it?
* Have you included your emotions in analyzing the art offered and linked it to what is in the art sample?

Intuitive Thinking
* Have you found at least three songs per topic?
* Are you able to identify specific aspects or parts of each song and can you explain how it links to the topic?
* Choose songs where the connection to the topic can be very clear. Search engines could be valuable here.
* Make sure you clearly identify parts of the song that strongly link to the topic.


Clarkson Trace Fossil Box

* Have you identified the images/ weblinks/ music/ recordings that will go for each cube?
* How are you going to explain in text how all of the elements link together?
* Does each face of a cube contain a caption or a title? Have you entitled each cube?
* Have you explored the "bag of websites for the 1930s"? Click here.
* The website might be a bit temperamental. This will require you to be persistent and to plan appropriately.

In the end, you will be responsible for the work you do. You have come so very far with doing so much great work. Why let it stop here?
All best.
Mr. Kannan