Week of 3/15/21 - 3/19/21

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills. Students will understand the reasons why people live where they live.

QOD: In what three cities has the United States capital been in?

Circle: Would you rather do manual labor under extreme heat or extreme cold?

Immigration Project: All students in class and at home will be working on their Immigration Projects in class today. 

Week of 3/8/21 - 3/12/21

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills. Students will understand the reasons why people live where they live.

QOD: How many towns make up Oxford Hills? Can you name them? What are the nicknames for the state of Maine?

Circle: If you were in charge of cooking dinner for the night, what would you cook? If you could have any car, what would you want to have?

Syria Webquest: You will be working to complete the Syria Webquest today in class. 

Virtual Students

You will be creating the Refugee Crisis Research and History of US Immigration assignments on Google Classroom.

Week of 3/1/2021 - 3/5/2021

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills. Students will understand the reasons why people live where they live.

QOD: Which two Canadian provinces border Maine? What is the most commonly sold vehicle brand in the United States?

Circle: What is your favorite type of sandwich? What is your favorite ice cream?

Push & Pull Factors: I will be introducing what push & pull factors are. You will then be researching & brainstorming what possible push and pull factors might be.

American Immigration: We will be working with the article below to discuss the current trends of American Immigration. We will be trying to find out where people are coming from, and WHY they are coming to America. 

https://immigrationforum.org/article/push-or-pull-factors-what-drives-central-american-migrants-to-the-u-s/

"Death Train": We will be watching this video that follows a group of people's journey to America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSwwO00qeB0

Discussion: We will be having group discussions and then a class discussion about the video we watched. What do we think the United States should do about what is going on in these South American countries?

Writing: You will be writing a reflection in Google Classroom based on what you have learned today.

Virtual Students

After circle, you will be leaving zoom and working on your own.

Exploration: You should explore this website. Some of it may be a little confusing and that's okay, just do your best! Your goal is to learn about the process for becoming an American citizen. After looking through this website, take a look at this link which will show you the civics test you have to pass in order to become a citizen.

Here is another link that may also be helpful.

Please make sure to take a look through all of those websites. You are more than welcome to do you own research as well and look at other websites!

Writing: After looking through the links above, you will go to Google Classroom and complete the assignment on there titled "Citizenship Process".  

Week of February 22, 2021 - February 26, 2021

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills. Students will understand the reasons why people live where they live.

QOD: During which war was the Battle of Normandy, also known as D Day?

Circle: What was the last TV show you binge watched or movie you have watched over and over again?

Five Big Things: Who are your five favorite celebrities?

Finding a New Homeland: You will be working together in groups to complete the Finding a New Homeland activity. We will then be having a discussion as a class about why you chose the location you did.

City & Road Locations: We will be having a quick discussion on how cities and roads have developed, and why they are where they are today. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-200-years-of-u-s-population-density/

Where people live: We will be reading this article that talks about factors people today need to consider when deciding where to live. https://medium.com/@jinlinh/the-most-important-factors-in-choosing-a-place-to-live-39f39f2fc7ed

We will then be having group, and class discussions on these factors. Which factors do you think were most important to your family when they decided to live here?

Factors Writing: You are going to do a quick writing assignment talking about the three most important factors that landed your family in Maine.

At Home: For at home students, this will be your last opportunity to complete your Climate Change Mini Q Essay.

Week of January 25, 2021 - January 29, 2021

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: What does the term multilingual mean? What is the largest country in the world by land size?

Circle: Would you rather always be 20 minutes early or ten minutes late? If you were a superhero, what power would you want to have?

Climate Change Mini Q: We will be working on Documents G and H today in class.

Claim: You will be writing a claim for the topic of Documents G and H.

Evidence: We will be talking about the theme of documents G and H. You will then be working to find evidence for that topic from those documents. 

Late Work: For students who are missing assignments in my class, you will NOT be working on the documents listed above. Instead, you will be working to get your grade to passing in my class. 

Virtual

Make up Work: You will use this class time to complete any summative assignments you have not yet completed.

January 19, 2021 - January 22, 2021

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: How many stars are on the United States flag? What country were the olympics created in?

Circle: What's something in your closet that you won't wear? If you could take over and become the owner of any company in the world, which company would you choose?

Climate Change Mini Q: We will be working on Documents E and F today in class.

Claim: You will be writing a claim for the topic of Documents E and F.

Evidence: We will be talking about the theme of documents E and F. You will then be working to find evidence for that topic from those documents. 

Additional Documents: If time allows, we will start going over document G in class today. 

Virtual

Make up Work: You will use this class time to complete any summative assignments you have not yet completed.

Week of January 11, 2021 - January 15, 2021

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: What spell, that Harry Potter is famous for, is used to fight off Dementors? What line splits the earth in half between the north and the south?

Circle: Who has been more important in shaping who you are today, your parents or your friends? What color clothing do you wear the least?

Climate Change Mini Q: We will be working on Document D in class today. You will be reading and answering the questions on your own, and then we will go over the document together as a class.

Evidence: We we be talking about what the topics are for the first four documents and making a list of good evidence we could use in our essays.

Writing: You will be writing one body paragraph today on one of the two topics we have covered so far in the Mini Q.

Virtual

Pod B: Today you should be completing document D in class. Make sure to answer all of the questions in full sentences. 

Pod A: Today you will be writing your one body paragraph.

Week of January 4, 2021 - January 8, 2021

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: What is the tallest mountain in New England? What is the tallest dog breed in the world?

Circle: What was one highlight from your Christmas break? Would you rather be able to detect any lie told to you, or get away with any lie you want?

5 Big Things: Where are the five places in the world you most want to go at some point in your life?

Climate Change Mini Q: We will be introducing the Mini Q today by doing the Background Essay and the first document. 

12/12/20 - 12/13/20

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: How many states border the Pacific Ocean?

Circle: What is your favorite holiday tradition with your family?

Where Would I Live Paragraph: You will be working on a paragraph where you will be arguing where you would want to live in the United States based on the six maps we evaluated in class. 

12/10/20 - 12/11/20

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: Which of the seven continents has the highest population?

Circle: What is your favorite memory involving snow?

Map Analysis: You will be finishing your region maps in your groups today.

Map Questions: You will be working together in groups to answer the questions about each map. After completing each map, we will be talking about the answers as a class. 

Week of 11/30/20 - 12/4/20

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: Which state has the highest percentage of forest cover? Which of the 50 states was last to become a state?

Circle: Are you someone who likes or dislikes surprises? Why? What was one thing that was served at Thanksgiving that you hate to eat?

Map Analysis: Students will be working together in groups to create Region maps for the United States.

Exit Ticket: Which region that you've created do you most want to live in?

Thursday 11/19 & Friday 11/20

 Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: What two countries have the longest border in the world?

Circle:  Who is a character from a movie or tv show that you would want to hang out with?

Movement & Region Questions: Students will be talking about the answers that they gave for the movement and region questions.

My Town Project: Students will be starting their My Town Projects in class today.

Monday 11/16 & Tuesday 11/17

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: What is the name of the world's largest and hottest desert? 

Circle: Which app on your phone do you use the most?

Five Themes Geography: We will be starting to go over the five themes of geography today in class. The five themes are Location, Place, Movement, Human/Environment Interaction, and Region.

Students will be working in groups to read about and understand one specific theme.

https://www.csustan.edu/sites/default/files/TeacherEd/FacultyStaff/betts/Handouts/PDFs/Five%20Themes%20of%20Geography.pdf

Region: We will be talking about the theme Region. Students will be brainstorming different regions for the state of Maine.

Movement: We will be talking about the theme Movement. Students will be brainstorming what is imported into and exported out of the state of Maine. 

Human/Environment Interaction: We will be talking about the theme HEI. Students will be brainstorming a list of ways that we adapt to and change our environment.

Exit Ticket: Students will need to create a video showing an example of humans adapting to their environment.

Week of 11/9/20 - 11/13/20

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be able to write a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph. Students will know the five themes of geography and be able to apply them. 

QOD: English is the most spoken language in the world, what is the second most spoken? What is the biggest ocean in the world?

Circle: If you could only have one meal for a week, what meal would you choose? What's the longest you've ever been away from home?

Five Big Things: What are your five favorite activities to do?

Five Themes Geography: We will be starting to go over the five themes of geography today in class. The five themes are Location, Place, Movement, Human/Environment Interaction, and Region.

Location: We will be talking about the theme Location. Students will be coming up with their own examples by describing something local using absolute and relative location.

Place: We will be talking about the theme Place. Students will be trying to describe Maine using the theme Place. Students will then be trying to make a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph about whether they love or hate living in Maine based on Maine's characteristics. 

Movement: We will be talking about the theme Movement. Students will be brainstorming what is imported into and exported out of the state of Maine. 

Exit Ticket: Using examples from outside of Maine, try to create examples for each of the themes we have gone over so far.

On Zoom

Pod B: Students will be looking for an article about the election and answering a few questions.

Week of 11/2/20 - 11/6/20

 Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills. Students will be able to evaluate a source for bias, and come to conclusions about a situation based on multiple sources.

QOD: Which president was the last one to not be re-elected? How many electoral votes does it take to win the United States presidential election?

Circle: What is your least favorite household chore? If you could choose to do anything for the day, what would it be?

Color Coding: Students will be learning about, and practicing color coding an example paragraph on Google Classroom. 

Lunchroom Fight Paragraphs: Students will be putting their lunchroom fight writing into complete paragraphs, and then color coding it. Students will then be looking at each others color coded paragraphs and doing peer editing.

On Zoom

Pod B: Students will be writing their Lunchroom Fight Paragraph.

Pod A: Students will be looking for an article about the election and answering a few questions.

Week of 10/26/20 - 10/30/20

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills. Students will be able to evaluate a source for bias, and come to conclusions about a situation based on multiple sources.

QOD: Which of the 50 states has the highest population? What town in Maine was once known as the "lumber capital of the world?"

Circle: What is your biggest pet peeve? What is your favorite family vacation?

Claim, Evidence, Warrant: Today we will be learning about what claim, evidence, warrant writing is. We will then be practicing with a few examples. Here is the link to get us started.   https://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/english/mwollaeger/cdw.htm

Practice: Students will be practicing writing a claim, evidence, warrant paragraph using the reading below.

Lunchroom Fight Writing: This will be our introduction to claim, evidence, warrant writing. Students will be working to create a claim, evidence, warrant paragraphing arguing what they think happened, and what they think the punishment should be. 

On Zoom

Pod B: Students will be finishing the Evidence Context chart for the lunchroom fight. 

Pod A: Students will be writing their Lunchroom Fight Paragraph.

Week of 10/19/20 - 10/23/20

 Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills. Students will be able to evaluate a source for bias, and come to conclusions about a situation based on multiple sources.

QOD: Two countries have over a billion people in them, name them both. What American was known as "the father of his country?"

Circle: If you had to get a tattoo, what would it be of? If you sang karaoke in front of the whole school, what song would you choose?

Lunchroom Fight: Students will be looking over the lunchroom fight scenario, and will be reading the different witness statements. 

Lunchroom Fight Evidence: After reading the witness statements, students will be evaluating each witness. Students will try to identify what biases each witness might have, and will ultimately have to rank how reliable they think each witness is.

Lunchroom Fight Writing: This will be our introduction to claim, evidence, warrant writing. Students will be working to create a claim, evidence, warrant paragraphing arguing what they think happened, and what they think the punishment should be. 

Zoom:

Pod B: Students will be working on their bias videos. All information for these videos are on Google Classroom.

Pod A: Students will be finishing the Evidence Context chart for the lunchroom fight. 

Week of 10/13/20 - 10/16/20

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills. Students will be informed on the major political issues in our country and where the candidates stand on those issues. 

QOD: On what day of the year does America vote for president. 

Circle: What's your favorite season and why?

Political Issues: Students will be doing some research on the major political issues surrounding this election. We will be making a master list of some of the major issues as a class. 

Discussion & Questions: Students will get to talk in groups about which issues are most important to them and why. They will then get a chance to ask any questions that they have about the issues.

Issues and Candidates: Students will be completing an assignment on Google Classroom where they will talk about which issues are most important to them, where they stand on that issue, and which candidate aligns closer with their belief.

Week of 10/5/20 - 10/9/20

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills.

QOD: What is the longest river in the United States? Who are the two vice president candidates from the major political parties? 

Circle: What do you think is the best age to be? If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Intro: We will be going over what point of view and bias are as well as how they relate to each other. We will be having a class discussion to start things off. 

Bias: Students will be reading a sheet about bias and how to spot it. We will then have a discussion about what was read. 

Identifying: Students will be presented with a series of scenarios and will be trying to determine if there is bias in each one. If there is bias, students will be asked to identify exactly what was biased. 

Virtual/Remote:

Pod B:

Evaluating a Primary Source: Finish this assignment if you have not already done so.

Maine Maps: Finish your special purpose map that you started creating last class.

Daily Exit Ticket

Pod A:

Source Bias: Students will be picking an article of their choosing to evaluate for bias.

Bias Example: Students will be creating a short video as an example of bias. 

Daily Exit Ticket

Thursday 9/24/20 - Tuesday 9/29/20

Learning Target: Students will be working to create a classroom learning community. Students will be working to get better at essential reading, writing, and analyzing skills.

QOD: What are the three main branches of the United States government?

Circle: Who is your favorite artist to listen to?

Maps: Here are examples of the three main types of maps we will be working with this year. I will be explaining what these types of maps are, and why we use them. Students will then be exploring these maps and trying to figure out what information they can get from them. 

Physical

Google Earth

Political

Specialty

We will be talking about historical maps as well and talking about what we can understand by looking at these maps.

Parts of a Map: We will be having an in class conversation about the different parts of a map. What makes a good map? What makes a bad map?

Create a Map: Students will be doing their best to create a population or snowfall map of Maine. Snowfall legend will be 0-50, 50-100, 100-150, 150+. Population will be 0-25, 25-100, 100-250, 250+.

Exit Ticket: What is one thing you are looking forward to about this year? What is one thing you are concerned about? 

Virtual/Remote:

Pod B:

Evaluating a Primary Source: Finish this assignment if you have not already done so.

News Source Evaluation: There is an assignment posted on Google Classroom titled "News Source Evaluation." Your job is to complete this assignment during this class period. All instructions for this assignment will be on Google Classroom.

Pod A:

Evaluating a Primary Source: Finish this assignment if you have not already done so.

Maine Maps: Finish your special purpose map that you started creating last class.