March Update

We have finished our time in Georgia History and moved into Ancient Civilization. Students were given a copy of an index today in class. They will use that for their vocabulary definitions. It is important that they do not lose this copy. This is where their vocabulary on tests will come from!!!

We began our study with a short introduction to what is history, the ages of man, and characteristics of civilizations. We will have a quiz over this material on Monday, March 14th. That will be the first grade of the FOURTH grading period. Please encourage your student to pay attention in class, take good notes, and complete all assignments so we can finish the year strong.

Update

We are beginning our last unit of study in Georgia History! We will begin Ancient Civilization with the beginning of the 4th quarter on March 14.

Students were assigned the third quarter project today. They have the instructions as well as the grading rubric. A great place to start this project is the New Georgia Encyclopedia at www.newgeorgiaencyclopedia.org . Students must get their topic approved by me no later than Monday February 28.

These projects are due Wednesday March 9th and count as ten percent of the third quarter average.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Georgia History Update

We concluded our unit on the Civil War today in class. We will review for our test tomorrow in class and have the test over chapter 13 Thursday. The LAST county quiz is scheduled for Friday, February 4th. Please remember that our field trip to the State Capital is on Tuesday, February 15th. If you have not sent in the permission slip, please do that as soon as possible.

Upcoming Dates:
Thursday, February 3rd- chapter 13 test
Friday, February 4th- County Quiz 16 (LAST ONE!!!)
Thursday, February 10th- Note cards for chapter 14 due (quiz grade)
Friday, February 11- Wednesday February 16- in class writing assignment over Reconstruction (Chapter 14)
Tuesday, February 15th- Field Trip to State Capital and Anne Frank Museum- cost is $14.00 and students need money for lunch at the Varsity.

Please let me know if you have any question.

January Update and Field Trip Information

Due to the short class we had yesterday, I postponed the county quiz for this week until next Friday. The class will begin the unit on the Civil War on Monday. There is a map test on Monday. Students have had a copy of the map since Tuesday the 18th.

You should have received an e-mail from Mrs. Heath concerning the PAGE essays and field trip. We have an exciting opportunity for several of our 8th graders to serve as pages in the real life General Assembly. We do not know how many slots we will get each year so, we hold an essay contest for interested students. The students who want to participate need to write an essay detailing what they feel are the three most important issues facing the Georgia General Assembly this year. The essays should be turned in to Mrs. Heath without a name on it. The essays will be numbered and judged by a history teacher who does not teach the 8th grade. If you or your student has a question about the essays, please ask Mrs. Heath or I. We would love for everyone interested to participate.

Field Trip Information-
We are going to see our Legislature in action at the General Assembly on Tuesday, February 15th. Students need to be at school at 7:15 and we should be home by 4:00. We hope to have our picture taken with Governor Nathan Deal!! We will eat lunch at the Varsity and then go to the Ann Frank Museum in Sandy Springs. The students will have just finished reading the Diary of Ann Frank when we go on our trip. We should be home by 4:00 that afternoon. The cost of the trip is $14.00. This covers the charter bus and a donation to the museum. Students will need to bring money for lunch and wear chapel dress.

Important Dates:
January 24- Map Test
January 28- County Quiz 15
February 1- PAGE essays due to Mrs. Heath
February 3- Chapter 13 test (tentative)
February 4- County Quiz 16
February 15- Field Trip to Atlanta

January Update

I hope everyone had a great Christmas break and enjoyed our two snow/ice days this week. We are slowly getting back in the groove of school in Georgia History. We will complete the notes on chapter 12 today in class. Students will get a study guide for the test to complete over the long weekend. The test over chapter 12 will be on Wednesday, January 19. We will then begin our unit on the Civil War.

UpComing Events:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday- Monday, January 17
Review for chapter 12- Tuesday, January 18
Test over chapter 12- Wednesday, January 19
Spelling Bee (short class)- Thursday, January 20
County Quiz 15- Friday, January 21
County Quiz 16- Friday, January 28 (LAST COUNTY QUIZ!)

Update

I have graded the students projects and put those in the gradebook. The students did an outstanding job on their presentations. I am so proud of them. I have also listed this quarters participation grades, so the average you see is their second quarter average. Remember that the midterm exam will count 15% of the first semester average with both the first and second quarters counting 42.5%.

By a majority vote of the class, our exam has been moved to Thursday, December 16th during their P.E time. This means that your student DOES NOT have to come to school on Friday if they are finished with everything.

I have enjoyed each and every day with your children this semester and look forward to the rest of the year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

December Update

We had a WONDERFUL time on our Field Trip to Andersonville and Plains. The students were awesome that day and we had such a good time! Even Mrs. Williams, our guide in Plains, commented on how well behaved the students were and how engaged they were with the tour! THANK YOU 8th GRADE!!

This week, we will be going over chapter 11. This is a short chapter on life in Georgia before the Civil War. Because of time constraints, we will not have a test on this, but the material WILL BE on the midterm. Students received their midterm review packets on Friday. We will quickly go over these and I will answer any questions on Wednesday in class. If students have any questions about anything in the packet, plese have them come see me to get an explanation.

On Thursday, we will begin our presenations on their projects. I am looking forward to these! If you have any questions on the project, please let me know.

The Georgia History midterm will be given in the first exam period on Friday, December 17. Students are not allowed to leav until the exam period is over at 10:00. The Georgia History midterm will be matching, true/false, fill in the blank, and short answer. There will also be 8 discussion questions, of which they choose 3 to answer. The students have already gotten the 8 questions. There are bonus oppotunities on the midterm. Students can turn in 2 Famous Georgians for two points each and can list as many county/county seats as they can and get up to ten points.

Schedule:
Monday, Dec. 6- Chapter 11
Tuesday, Dec. 7- Chapter 11
Wednesday, Dec. 8- Midterm Review
Thursday, Dec. 9- Presenations
Friday, Dec. 10- Presentations
Monday, Dec. 13- Kids Yule Love, Midterm instructions (1/2 day)
Tuesday, Dec. 14- 1st and 2nd period exams (1/2 day)
Wednesday, Dec. 15- 3rd and 4th period exams (1/2 day)
Thursday, Dec. 16- 5th and 6th period exams (1/2 day)
Friday, Dec. 17- 7th period exam, make up exam period- students may leave school at 10:00 if they have finished all of their exams.

Let me know if you have any questins.

MERRY CHRISTMAS