Grade 8 Humanities: Week of 5/22/2017 Wasn’t The Last World War Supposed To Be The Last World War?

Dear Families,

WWI was called “the war to end all wars,” which, had it been true in a literal sense, would have saved us from what is known as one of the most brutal conflicts in history: World War II. The devastation of Western Europe, the near eradication of an entire group of people, and the use of the Atomic Bomb remind us that if you are a hero in war, you are also probably a villain.

The battles of World War II were fought at sea, in the air, and on land. More than 60 million people are estimated to have died, with some historians placing that number closer to 80 million. The economic, social, and psychological repercussions of the war were felt for decades after peace was declared in 1945 and still resonate today.

In order to sort the vast amount of information on the war, we started by creating information sheets that summarized, analyzed, and illustrated an event or concept from the first part of the war. Isolationism was a popular concept in our class . . .

For the ongoing conflict, we batched information into “Timeline Systems.” Here is a Timeline System organized by year . . .

This Timeline System is organized by country . . .

Our discussions revealed a certain amount of anger and emotional exhaustion in regards to man’s inhumanity to man, but also a renewed sense of duty. We recognize the importance of refusing to be those who cannot remember the past and who are therefore condemned to repeat it.

We ended the week with yet another timeline, this one from The New York Times, that traced the events that led to James Comey’s dismissal from the FBI . . .

We added some predictive events to the Trump-Comey Timeline. Here, Lily and Emma added an element of science-fiction . . .

While Dario and Skye’s timeline looks (and sounds!) just like the one we examined from The New York Times . . .

Josiah kept it short and to the point. . .

And last, but of utmost interest, we are in our Countdown to Graduation! Starting on Wednesday, May 24th, we will have 18 class days until the big day!

Yours,

Ms. Sacilotto

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. “The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. “The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”

— Elie Wiesel