It seems like it has been so long time since my last blog post. In fact, it was at end of the Constitution Unit. Since then we have studied The Columbian Exchange, Settlement patterns of Europeans in the Americas, the French and Indian War, as well as our continuing 8th Grade Debate Unit. Aside from social studies and history content such as people, events, and effects our focus has been on the skill of finding and using evidence to support claims and create arguments.
In the Columbian Exchange unit students wrote essays around the claim that the Columbian Exchange was the most important event in history. Students gathered evidence from a video as well as online sources and made the case in written format. Because of a peer feedback process as well as teacher collaboration using Google Docs, these essays were top quality. The student gathered so much evidence to show that the exchange transformed a continent and impacted millions of people at the time.
In the French and Indian War Unit we have continued to look for evidence in addressing the essential question: how did the French and Indian War create america? Most people would argue it was the American Revolution, but students have been gathering evidence to make the case it started years earlier. Through a self-designed project students will be presenting their evidence soon after February break.
The Debate Unit has been awesome! Last week nearly every 8th grader participated in an actual debate. Up this point instruction has been centered on how to make arguments, finding evidence, and debate format. Students were assigned their team along with a challenging topic requiring some research. Some of our debate topics were: “newspapers are a thing of the past”; “voting is a responsibility”; ‘testing of medicines and products on animals should be banned”. Armed with evidence and carefully crafted arguments, students practiced public speaking and careful listening while engaged in competition with another equally prepared team. Once again, most students met the challenge and the resulting work was impressive.
Interestingly, the skill of finding and using evidence exists in all other content areas and provides some interesting opportunities for teachers to work together. As the year continues, we will continue to work on finding and using evidence within the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. This essential skill that will not only be useful in high school, but also many aspects of everyday life especially civic involvement.
In the French and Indian War Unit we have continued to look for evidence in addressing the essential question: how did the French and Indian War create america? Most people would argue it was the American Revolution, but students have been gathering evidence to make the case it started years earlier. Through a self-designed project students will be presenting their evidence soon after February break.
The Debate Unit has been awesome! Last week nearly every 8th grader participated in an actual debate. Up this point instruction has been centered on how to make arguments, finding evidence, and debate format. Students were assigned their team along with a challenging topic requiring some research. Some of our debate topics were: “newspapers are a thing of the past”; “voting is a responsibility”; ‘testing of medicines and products on animals should be banned”. Armed with evidence and carefully crafted arguments, students practiced public speaking and careful listening while engaged in competition with another equally prepared team. Once again, most students met the challenge and the resulting work was impressive.
Interestingly, the skill of finding and using evidence exists in all other content areas and provides some interesting opportunities for teachers to work together. As the year continues, we will continue to work on finding and using evidence within the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. This essential skill that will not only be useful in high school, but also many aspects of everyday life especially civic involvement.
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