Overview of 8th Grade Social Studies 2011 - 2012

The focus of 8th Grade Social Studies this year will be on the Making of Modern America.  We will examine major events and issues of the 20th Century, as well as other topics that affect the way we live, in order to better understand the our community and the world around us.

Specific topics of study will include:  Illinois State history and government, economics, the "Roaring" Twenties, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, and Contemporary American Society (American culture and events during 1950's - present day).

Time Capsules for the '50s, '60s', '70s, '80s, and 90's

The Battles of Midway and Iwo Jima

Great Depression Act-it-Out

New Blogs!!

I have decided that it will be easier if each class has it's own individual blog. 

This site: www.npsocialstudies.blogspot.com, will now be used only for 8th grade Social Studies classes.

7th grade classes will use:  http://www.np7socialstudies.blogspot.com/

6th grade classes will use:  http://www.np6ss.blogspot.com/

Images from the Great Depression

Crash!!

To help us better understand how America went from the "Roaring Twenties" to the Great Depression, 8th graders participated in a historical simulation of the stock market crash of 1929.

Taxation Without Representation (7th Grade)

7th Grade students participated in a history simulation in which most of them played the role of colonists being taxed by the "King" and "Parliament". The "Colonists" were taxed on things such as hair color, clothing, and accesories. The "Colonists" had no say in the taxes and, though they were not happy about it, the "King" and "Parliament" kept demanding more money.

"Charleston Party" (8th Grade

Since we are currently learning about the 1920's in 8th Grade Social Studies, we decided to learn the popular dance from that decade, the Charleston!  Here are some highlights:

Artifact Inquiry (6th Grade)

In 6th grade Social Studies we began our study of culture by learning how historians and archaeologists find out information about people who lived long before us.  Students examined "artifacts" and took descriptive notes, in order to try and figure out what each objects purpose could have been.  They will be putting all of this information together to try and make some conclusions about the culture from which these "artifacts" came.

Doing the Charleston (8th Grade)

In our 8th grade classes we compared the two songs Charleston Party (which characterized the mood of the 1920's) and Brother Can You Spare a Dime (which characterized the mood of the 1930's).


The instructional videos below explain how to do the Charleston, the most popular dance of the 1920's. Learn how to do this dance and we will perform it in class later this week. Anyone who participates in the dance (no matter how good you are at it) will earn extra credit.


 

A Great Start to the New Year!

The new school year is off to a great start! In Social Studies, we spent the first couple of weeks getting to know each other, learning about what it takes to be successful in class, developing our cooperative skills, learning about the curriculum, and of course, singin songs. Here are some pictures from the first two weeks:

Two Heads Are Better Than One

Today in class we are talking about the cooperative skills that are needed to be successful when working in groups. Here is a cute video that helps remind us why we work in groups:

Welcome Back!!

The new school year will bring many changes to North Prairie. One of those changes is our Social Studies program. This year, I will be teaching all of grades 6 through 8. Classes will be about 30 minutes each and will be very different from your traditional Social Studies class. I look forward to a very FUN and exciting year!!

Here are some first day of school videos to get you in the right frame of mind:

Welcome Ms. Purta!

Hopefully, each student has already told their parents that we have a student teacher joining us in 8th grade Social Studies for the remainder of the year. Ms. Purta has already taken over all of the main duties of classroom teacher and is doing a great job! Below is a note from Ms. Purta:

Dear Eighth Grade Families,

I would like to take the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Melissa Purta and I am honored to be your child’s eighth grade social studies teacher. I am a soon to be graduate from Carthage College. This is my second quarter student teaching and I am so excited to be here. I previously student taught freshman to seniors at Burlington High School.

I am looking forward to working with you and your child in reaching his or her full potential. We will have many wonderful experiences and opportunities to learn and grow in the days ahead.

I believe that communication is the key to a great parent-teacher relationship. I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at any time. You can send me a note, email me at mpurta@whsd1.org or call me at (847-476-1341). For individual concerns, I will contact you by phone, send a note home, or email you (if an email address is provided).

I am looking forward to a wonderful and exciting year with you and your child!

Sincerely,

Melissa Purta

Ms. Purta has taken over our study of Contemporary American Society with an exploration of the 1970's. Here are some photos of students being introduced to this decade by learning how to disco dance:

The 1960's

Here are some videos I found for our discussion 1960's:

This montage is helpful in hearing how music changed through the decade:


This montage is simply one person's opinoin on the best songs of the decade, but it is still helpful in that it shows the variety of styles and fashisions of artists of the 1960's"


"All You Need is Love" was first performed by The Beatles on "Our World", the first live global television link. Watched by 400 million in 26 countries, the program was broadcast via satellite on 25 June 1967. The BBC had commissioned the Beatles to write a song for the UK's contribution. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at #362 in their 500 greatest songs of all time.


Bob Dylan's "Subterranian Homesick Blues", 1965:


First moon landing, 1969:


The Early Show looks back the 1960's:

Experiencing the 1950's

As an introduction to the 1950's, social studies classes spent a little bit of time trying to "experience" that period. We listened to 45rpm records, hula-hooped, tossed the frisbee around, learned to dance The Twist, and even sang "Summertime Blues" together. Here is a video I put together featuring some of these activities:

Rock and Roll Comes to TV

The 1950's

We are begining our study of contemporary American society, in which we will look at American culture and significant events in the second half of the 20th Century. Here are some videos from the first decade we will be learning about, the 1950's:

The End of the Cold War

The following videos show two different perspectives as to how, and why, the Cold War ended: