Grade 8 Humanities: Week of 2/6/17 If No News Is Good News,Then What Is Lots And Lots Of News?

Dear Families,

It felt only natural to start the week by looking at what it’s like to live in the seven countries on the current travel ban. We wanted to know what other people are facing in their respective homelands and what our role as citizens and humanitarians might be. We also took a long look at The New Colossus, even though most of us felt pretty familiar with it. The poem’s meaning seemed to take on greater significance when juxtaposed against the ban.

Syria is one of the countries included on the current ban . . .

On Tuesday, I presented for the Chancellor’s Conference on Designing Instruction. It was exciting to receive the accolades of principals and teachers from around the city about our work! Student projects showcased from Their Eyes Were Watching God included art from Sasha, Arinola, and Justine and writing from Clyde, Skye, Liam, Katy, Walter, Jasper Smith, Francesca, and Leela.

In The Jungle, we looked at cause and effect by creating pictorial timelines for chapters 16-20 . . .

Then, we made information timelines that sequenced events in 15 year “chunks” during the Progressive Era. Our goal was to track how one thing led to another and why . . .

By week’s end we had travelled in a loop by beginning and ending with current events. We researched a number of trending stories and performed skits that ranged from Betsy DeVos’ confirmation hearings to Twitter’s reaction to Beyonce’s baby news to everything in between! Here, a reporter (Donald) interviews Kellyanne Conway (Liam) about the alternative facts surrounding “The Bowling Green Massacre” . . .

Milo Yiannopoulos (Sofia) speaks his mind to a crowd, including a group of protesting ducks . . .

Meanwhile, Donald Trump (Michael) hosts a Black History Month event at the White House . . .

Yours,

Ms. Sacilotto