History Newsletter – September ’17

Happy Friday,

It was ‘hat day’ at Scullen today. Actually, it was hat day at Scullen if you made a dollar (or more) donation to help assist victims of Hurricane Harvey. It was a lot of fun.

In addition to teaching science, I teach social studies and though the four of us have different social studies classes we are all working to develop our students to be #FutureReady204 and prepared for life in the 21st Century.

The social studies curriculum in 8th grade is U. S. History from the early colonies to present. It’s a lot of information to cover in a year, but many nations have histories much longer than the United States. Regardless, we are a product of our past. Abraham Lincoln wrote,

“The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future.”

Currently, we covering the learning about the formation of the colonies along the Atlantic coast in the early seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Today, in my social studies classes I shared several ways students can stay current with current events and also look back at the past.

  • CNN 10formerly CNN Student News a daily 10 minute video produced by CNN for use in the classroom. Usually focuses on three stories with a little humor built in.
  • CNN – Five Things for Your New Day A newsletter produced by CNN – students can subscribe to the newsletter – it arrives early in the morning weekdays, Monday through Friday. The newsletter has five important stories and several interesting facts plucked from the headlines. An easy way to get a dose of what is happening in the world beyond our community.  
  • And of course, there is the nightly news at 5:30, but most people are busy at that time. I know, I am.

Then there is the past, something always happened on this day in history – years ago, sometimes long ago, or it was recent – like this Monday’s anniversary of 9/11.

Here are a few websites where we can find information about the past, if you are interested.

No matter where you look, there is always something interesting that happened in the past.

What is important to know is that we all need to be clear critical thinkers who are aware of what is happening around us in our local community, our nation, and around the world.

Thank you for all of your support and we are looking forward to a great year. Next week, look for an e-mail about what is happening in science class.

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