Mrs. Edlin's End of the Year Evaluation

Go to the following link and answer all the questions.  

https://goo.gl/forms/aHTttrZANNWcia1G3

Images of Greatness... THE BIG REFLECTION!

This quarter has been all about Images of Greatness.  Using elaborated communication, reflect and respond on a new blog post to the following:

1. Upload an image of you with your display board.  Mrs. Edlin will send it to you through e-mail.
2. Who was your Image of Greatness?  Why are they great, and what about them do you admire?
3. What part of the unit makes you most proud?
4. What part of the unit was the most challenging?
5. How did you grow as a student/learner/person because of this unit?
6. How could you improve your work on this unit?  What would you do differently?
7. What was the best part of the actual Images of Greatness Celebration?

Now, think of our Images of Greatness field trip.  Upload a picture or two... ask for Mrs. Edlin or a friend to send you some if you don't have any of your own.

1. What was your favorite educational part the field trip?  Explain.
2. In which part of the field trip did you learn the most?  Explain.
3. What about the trip surprised you?  Explain.
4. Discuss one of the categories you listed on your paper from the art museum.
5. Did you break out of your Escape Chamber?  Why or why not?
6. What part of the trip was the most fun?  Explain.

Now, think of your four years (or less) in GOAL.  

1. What's the best part of GOAL?
2. What advice would you give students for how to succeed in GOAL?
3. What would you warn them about?
4. What should they be excited about?
5. What will you miss?

Deep Thinking Friday 4/7/17

For today's Deep Thinking Friday, go to the following link: 182 Questions to Write or Talk About.

Look over the list and pick out 3 questions you'd like to discuss with your class (a first choice and two backups if your first choice gets taken).  Some of these questions are from previous years, so adjust dates as necessary.

Whoever has the closest birthday to today gets to first.  Ask your question to the class.  Everyone should participate in the discussion... after all, that's what Deep Thinking Friday is all about!  Feel free to get a computer from the cart to look up any needed facts to back up your opinions.  When the discussion reaches a natural stopping point, the asker can choose the next person to go.

THINK DEEP, BACK UP YOUR OPINIONS WITH GOOD REASONING AND ELABORATED COMMUNICATION, AND HAVE FUN!

Moral Dilemma Literature Circles

To reflect on your recent literature circles experience, please write a blog post in paragraph form answering the following:

• What is a moral dilemma?
• What was the moral dilemma in your book/books?  Which characters were involved? Be sure to include title(s) and authors' names.
• How was the dilemma solved?
• Would you have done things differently if you were in the character's shoes?  Why or why not?

Proofread your post and then publish.  Please comment on the posts of at least three other students to make connections.

It's Time for the FMS Musical!

FMS Musical! by Tena Edlin

Invent Iowa Reflection/Self-Assessment

Now that we've had our Invention Convention, it's time to reflect.  Complete the following:

1. Using your rubric, mark where you think you scored in each section and add up your totals.  Make sure your name is on it, and hand it in to Mrs. Edlin on your way out today.
2. Start a new blog post called "Invent Iowa."
3. Upload the picture of your invention that Mrs. Edlin will be sending you to your blog post.
4. Answer each of these questions with a short paragraph on your blog post.
1. What is your invention called?  Give a brief description.
2. What problem were you trying to solve?
3. How does your invention solve that problem?
4. What are you most proud of with this project?  Explain.
5. What were the challenges you faced during this project?  How did you face those challenges?
6. What would you do to improve your project or make it better for the next level of competition, if you were to go?
5. Publish your post!

History Day Primary Resources

The following links can help you with your project for this year's National History Day theme: Taking a Stand in History.

https://www.docsteach.org/topics/nhd

https://nhd.org/student-resources

http://www.digitalvaults.org

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/finding.html

https://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_the_United_Kingdom:_Primary_Documents

http://www.shsulibraryguides.org/worldprimary

http://guides.library.duke.edu/c.php?g=289297&p=1929346

https://www.archives.gov/research/catalog

Deep Thinking Friday

Watch the following video:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/class-divided/

We'll discuss when you're finished.

History Day Category Examples

Go to this link to see examples of all the possible category entries for History Day.

8th Grade GOAL Writing Contest Entries

8th graders: This year you have 2 different options for writing contests to enter.

• Letters About Literature
• Guidelines and Entry Coupon
• Previous Winner Examples
• Previous Winner Topic and Authors by State
• World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute
• Information Poster
• Student Handbook (How to Write the Paper)

Look over the links for the two contests and then start to write your rough draft.