Understanding Communism

In order to better understand the differences between capitalism and communism (as part of our study of the Cold War), students participated in a classroom simulation in which each of them was assigned a role of either a peasant, skilled laborer, or wealthy individual in early 20th century Russia. They were required to budget how they would feed their family based on their income in a capitalist system, and then in a communist one. Afterwards, we discussed the pros and cons of each situation.



Histeria explains Communism:

Josef Stalin

Stalin speech - November 7, 1941[English subtitles]:



A little fun with Stalin (who was actually not much fun):

Cold War Tag

Gandhi

We just finished watching the film Gandhi, in order to understand how he inspired and influenced the American Civil Rights Movement. I have posted some videos that give us a little more insight into this great figure.

"One World" speech:


Rare film of Gandhi:

Civil Rights Protest March

MLK Jr. Assassination

Dr. King's last speech in Memphis, TN:


A short documentary about the assassination:


Robert Kennedy responds to Dr. King's Assassination:

March on Washington Act-it-Out

Kennedy and Johnson on Civil Rights

President John F. Kennedy's address on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963:



President Lyndon Johnson's remarks on signing the Civil Rights Act, July 2, 1964:

March on Washington

Filling the Jails in Birmingham

Here are some videos that relate to our reading of Section 31.6:


Martin Luther King Jr. comes to Birmingham:


MLK Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail:


Bull Connor:


Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing:

Act-It-Out: Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In

The Little Rock Nine

Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In

In class today we discussed the lunch counter sit-in protests of the Civil Rights Movement. Here is a great video about these events from the American Museum of History:

Happy Holidays from the 8th Grade Team

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Below is a video of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a televised announcement discussing the boycott. After watching the video, post a comment comparing and contrasting the real Dr. King with his portrayol by the actor Jeffrey Wright in the film Boycott for extra credit.



This is a segment from the Civil Rights Movement documentary series Eyes on the Prize:

Rosa Parks Act-it-Out

Rosa Parks

The following video is from an interview of Rosa Parks during the Montgomery Bus Boycott:



Here is a segment from an interview Rosa Parks gave later in her life:




Here is video someone took at the museum that displays the acuatl Rosa Parks bus:



This video is from one of my favorite TV shows, Histeria:

Thurgood Marshall

We have been watching the film Separate But Equal in class, telling the story of Supreme Court case Brown vs. Board of Education. One of the main characters in this film is Thurgood Marshall, who at that time was a lawyer for the NAACP. I found some intersting interview footage of the real Thurgood Marshall who, in 1967 was the first African-American appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

WWII Commemorative Stamp Sets

Recently, students processed what they have learned about World War II by creating “commemorative stamp sets” that illustrate the significance of the war. Specifically, they had to create three stamps that showed how three of the different groups of people that we studied were affected by the war, and one stamp that memorializes a specific battle or event.

Here is a sampling of what they did:

I Ain't Got No Home

In my REaD class today we finished reading the book "Zen, and the Art of Faking It" by Jordan Sonnenblick. I chose to read this book because one of the main characters and I share a love of Woody Guthrie's music. So, I thought it would be fitting on our last day of this REaD session for the class to sing one of the Woody Guthrie songs talked about in the book. Here is our rendition of "I Ain't Got No Home":