Hello All,

Quick note tonight. Great class today discussing the First Amendment: freedom of religion clause, which as you know is very complex. Tonights homework is to choose one article between pages 6-30 from the January Upfront that has the picture of the Republican candidates on the cover. (it is red)

Specifically students need to choose one article and read it. Then write about why they chose it, what was interesting about what they read, and what they learned that they did not know before reading the article.

Thanks,

Steve

Hello All,

In class today we read Lesson 24 in the We the People Book. This lesson was on How does the Constitution protect freedom of religion? As you know this part of the first amendment is not really cast black and white and is somewhat complicated. This part of the first amendment has been challenged many times at the Supreme Court level ! We also defined four terms to know: establishment clause, free exercise clause, Lemon test and parochial school. At the end of the class the students cashed in their extra credit points for some treats.

The homework assignment due on Monday (conference day, no school on Thursday) is to answer this question: Some religious groups have suggested adding an amendment to the Constitution permitting voluntary prayer in public schools. Would you support such an amendment? Why or why not?

On Monday we will discuss the homework, review Lesson 24 and then tackle some problem solving questions and what ifs in small group and large group discussion around Religion and the Schools and the Lemon test. Ask your students what the Lemon test is or does. It comes form the case of Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) They may need to look it up again.

For the next several weeks we will be talking about, how does the Constitution protect our basic rights while studying five fundamental rights afforded to us by the Bill of Rights. We will also continue to use the NY Times Upfront magazine for current events reading and discussions. I think the students really enjoy this magazine, which is also used in 8th grade.

More later,

Best,

Steve

Hello All,

Short and sweet today. Homework for Monday -Read pages 38 and 39, the last two pages in the Upfront World Affairs issue and then answer questions 1-9 in writing.

Have a good weekend!

Steve

Good Evening All,

In class today we reviewed the Chapters students had read in the book Facing the Lion. We talked about two students who graduated from the Grammar School two and three years ago, Celine and Herve Mudakahana, who were from Rwanda, and their journey from Africa to the U.S. We also talked about Leyeyo, a current 8th grader and his journey from Tanzania to America. If you have not read this book, I recommend it. It is about a two hour read !

Homework for Thursday: finish the book which means read to page 123. I told the students that if they were behind in the reading they need to catch up and have read the entire book by class on Thursday as we will have a writing prompt(s) and discussion questions !

Best,

Steve

Hello All,

Well a snow day in Vermont, what a surprise, at least this winter. I am very sorry to have missed my seventh graders today. I really like this fine group of young women and men and it is the highlight of my day when I get to spend time with them. I would like to send along this homework assignment that I will relay to the students tomorrow via Hop.

Homework for Monday: Read Chapters 8 and 9 in the book, "Facing the Lion".

Thanks,

Steve

PS I have encouraged students to keep up to date in regards to this page as well. So please share when appropriate.

Good Afternoon,

This morning's class was great. The class and I once again used the Upfront Magazine to look at statistics and comparisons of Kenya (the setting for the book Facing the Lion) and Tanzania (Leyeyo's place of birth) and how they compared to other countries of the world. Our focus was primarily on the Per Capita Gross Domestic Product (GPD) and the Human Development Index (HDI). As you can imagine these countries are in the bottom 5% of these categories.

We then discussed the chapters that were read for homework and started reading in class Chapter 5 of which we ended on page 52.

Tonight's Homework due on Thursday is to read in Facing the Lion pages 52 to 74.

***Please be forewarned that Chapter 7 is about the traditional initiation and rite of passage for Maasai male warriors which is circumcision. You may want to preview this chapter, read it with your child and discuss or have them not read it.

Thanks,

Steve

Please check in with your student to make sure this is done and that they actually bring the book home. They will have two nights to complete the reading.

Hello All,

Homework Tonight

Read pages 9-43 in the book "Facing the Lion", which I handed out today.

For the next few classes the students will be discussing the Maasai culture and the countries and continent of Africa using the new Upfront Magazine. This special issue of Upfront will provide many insights into and learning opportunities about World Affairs in 2012. Today we used the magazine to review some of the statistics and read an article. The students were very interested in this issue and I encourage parents to look at it as well. These readings will give us a realistic view of life for a Maasai young man as he grows up and "faces the lion" while making his way through the modern African world.

We started the class reviewing the Upper School Expectations for teachers and students. I will send a copy home to you, as I did in the beginning of the year, as there is also a section for parent expectations as well.

Best,

Steve

Hello All,

Just a quick note tonight with more in depth posting tomorrow !

Homework: Read pages 18-21 in the newest Upfront, The Bill of Rights, Then and Now. The article/ reading is challenging. Please take your time and read thoroughly and be ready for in depth conversation for tomorrows class. (This is a great issue)

Also tests were handed back and students who missed answers on the test were asked to define the terms they missed on the back of their test and return to me tomorrow.

Best,

Steve