Hello All,

Great class on Tuesday. We went over the “the terms to know “ words and phrases that the class will be formally tested on next Tuesday the 20th. I was going to administer the test this Friday but was convinced by the students that they needed more time to study. We will see how that goes ! Each student should have the terms in their planners as we did them in class and for homework and they were advised to keep them for future reference.

If your child does not have the complete list he or she will need to look them up again. They may choose to borrow the “We the People” book to do so. The list of words is below.

On Wednesday, I also handed back their homework assignments.

The majority of the class on Tuesday was spent on students reporting out on the additional articles they chose to read in the UpFront magazine for homework. We finished them on Wednesday (We had three classes this week). One article that several students chose to read was, “ The Rise of China”. It was focused on education, the economy and more. There was some startling facts and information that you may want to read about yourself. It is in the September 5th issue.

Today, Friday , next Tuesday and the first class after we return from vacation we will be viewing scenes from the Ken Burns film, “Prohibition”. The viewing will include time for comments and discussion. This is a very complex subject for 7th graders. Ken will be talking with us and the 6th and 8th grade about a variety of topics interwoven in his latest film.

Homework is to study for the “terms to know’ for next Tuesday’s test. The students asked me to list them below and so you will find them at the end of this note. The test will be a matching test (terms and definitions will be listed) and the test will be on 20 or 25 of the 28 “terms to know.

Ken Burns will be with us on the 6th of January at 8:30 am in the theater, so please feel free to join us .

Wishing you all a very happy holiday. Thank you for having your child(ren) here at TGS. As I have said before, this is a very special class.

Best,
‘
Steve

PS Junior Iron Chef. We talked about this for a while and went to the Junior Iron Chef, Vermont Website. We will need to know how many children are interested and create teams before we break for the holiday, next Wednesday, so we can send in our application and fees. If parents and children can’t decide by then, we will just have to see if there are still openings available in January. There has been talk of getting professional chefs to help us with the teams as they practice e for the event which will be at the end of March. Participation is not mandatory and we will practice for the contest as an after school event. I think the practices will be just as much fun as the contest itself.




Terms to Know:

separation of powers
checks and balances
legislative branch
judicial branch
executive branch
abridging
petition
redress of grievances
freedom of expression
faction
political parties
Federalist Party
Republican Party
filibuster
super majority
gerrymandering
moderate
Tea Party
constitution
constitutional government
autocratic or dictatorial government
higher law
private domain
natural rights
government
absolute power
state of nature
consent
social compact or social contract

Hello All,

Great class today. Good discussions on the freedom of expression. Thanks to you parents that had time to discuss the homework assignment (especially you elementary principals). I am looking forward to reading them (some of the student shared them orally today).

By the way my policy for late homework is you get one day to turn it in, with a reminder from me, unless you were absent. If it is turned in after one day you get the minimum grade a check (max is check and two plusses). If you are later then a day, you get no credit and I notify your parents. Thus far no parental notices have been sent !

On another note the students have asked me the breakdown my grading scheme for the semester. I close grades on December 21st. Homework is 40%, class participation is 20%, the U.S. Citizenship Test was 20%, (the kids knew this) and the "terms to know" quiz yet to be administered will be 20%. I shared this with them today.

Homework: Choose one article from the one of the four UpFront magazines. Read or re-read it and be prepared to discuss why you chose to read it and to summarize the article. No writing involved. You might want to check which one they chose to read and have a discussion with your child before Tuesday ! I get the sense many of you students are enjoying your parent(s) interaction.

Have a great weekend.

Steve

Dear Students and Parents,

Good job everyone on the first part of your citizenship test. Please remember that you can raise your grade by correcting any of the questions you missed and have them to me by this Friday.

I enjoyed sitting in on some of your small group discussions on, "How does the Constitution protect freedom of expression" as it related to the Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988). On Friday we will share your small group work with the larger group and delve a little deeper into the First Amendment.

Homework due on Friday:

Define these terms:
abridging
petition
"redress of grievance"
freedom of expression

Also give your opinion on the following question:

Under what conditions do you think a public school principal(s) should have the right to censor (restrict) school sponsored newspapers? Explain your answer please.

Best,

Steve

Hello All,

I just read to the class my last posting on this page and noticed I had some typos, sorry about that, a bit embarrassing.

Briefly, your superstar children finished the first 40 questions of their citizenship tests in 30 minutes. We then talked about my bonus question for the test. You may want to ask them about their answers to this question: Do you study and read in school simply to get good grades or do you study and read to learn? Why ?

There will be no homework for our next class.

Have a great weekend everybody !

Steve

Dear 7th Grade Parents and Students,

Homework Reminder: Your homework was to study for the U.S. Citizenship Test to be administered tomorrow morning at 8:30 am during our regular class time. Tomorrows class will be 15 minutes longer.

*If anyone needs more time to complete the test we can arrange that for sometime on Friday or another day.

On Tuesday we had terrific discussions about about the articles we read in regards to the use of corporal punishment in schools and the severe limitation of woman’s rights in Saudi Arabia.

Looking Ahead:

*We will be going back to our “We the People” book to read and learn about , how the Constitution protects our basic rights. This unit will take about 4 weeks-6 weeks with some time in between to watch portions of Ken Burn’s latest film on Prohibition. Ken will be visiting with us on January 6th ot discuss the film and the many ramifications this Amendment to the Constitution had, as the only amendment to take away a citizens rights.

*This will be followed in mid January by reading and discussing the book “Facing the Lion”, which is about growing up as a Maasai warrior.

*Then a return to a new unit in “We the People” to read and learn what are our responsibilities as citizens. I am hoping during this time Governor Shumlin will be visiting with us to talk about not only our responsibilities as citizens but how we as citizens can participate in government and public service, and how our actions can make a difference.

Any questions, suggestions for speakers, or concerns, please let me know !

Best,
Steve