Middle School
It has been great to see student engagement and positive energy in class. Projects, documentaries, source based work and great discussions, it is all happening in middle school social studies.
The Class 6 students have completed a section on Ancient Greece and Rome. We focused on how their achievements such as buildings, language, governments and so much more still influence our lives today. We made connections with the topic of refugees that they have been working on in English. Understanding that people have been displaced by conflict all the way through history gave the students some historical perspective on the topic.
Class 7 has learned about European Imperialism and specifically British Raj. This tied is nicely with their IMYC unit on Competition as they learned how various European powers competed for overseas colonies. In their project on ¨Was British Raj a Blessing or Curse?¨ they were introduced to how historians work by collecting evidence and and trying to make a conclusion based on the historical proof presented. Watching Jeremy Paxman´s BBC documentary on the British Empire helped them further understand the complexities of this period of time.
Class 8 started World War II and the Holocaust. While this is a very difficult and complex period of history the students are fully engaged and eager to best understand the events. Their IMYC unit of Justice is appropriate for this section and will guide many of our discussions throughout the section. In science Mr. Kiernan recently completed a short section on the science of Eugenics which helps the students better understand one way that people were able to justify such inhumane pursuits.
As we come closer to the end of the year, it is great to look back at the students’ development and understanding of the material that we have covered. It is always exciting to build on this as we move forward through our historical studies.