7th Grade Homeschooling: Week 7

As before she is going at her own pace with her Mandarin, Math (in Mandarin) and Geography. She self-tests and is fairly independent.

Pleasure Reading: Island of the Blue Dolphins
Art: The Holiday Poster

Science: Chapter 5, The Process of Evolution

Lesson 1: Natural Selection (Quizlet)

Who was Charles Darwin? (Video: Crash Course #14)

Lesson 2: Adaptation and Extinction (Quizlet)

Be a Naturalist Activity; Go out in nature and observe examples of structural and

behavioral adaptations and make conclusions about natural selection.

Reading: Who is O. Henry? (Bio)

The Gift of the Magi is a story about a young married couple who are very poor.

This story tells of how they handle the challenge of secretly buying Christmas gifts for each other with very little money to spend.

The questions below ask you to think about gifts and their value.  1. In your opinion what makes a gift valuable? 2. Describe the most valuable gift you have ever received. 3. What was the most valuable gift you have given someone?

Read: “The Gift of the Magi” | PDF

Questions: What are some of the themes in the story?

1. What are some of the symbols in the story?
2. Imagery is a descriptive language that creates a picture in the reader’s mind.  
3. Identify some examples of how O. Henry used imagery.
4. What does the reference to the magi mean in this story?

Spanish: Christmas in Spanish (Quizlet), Feliz Navidad

Social Studies: A Young Person’s History Chapter 1  HANDOUT 1, HANDOUT 2, Chapter 1 Test

American Middle School Social Studies Curriculum

As stated in the previous post, I was able to obtain the Middle School curriculum from my hometown's district. Its immensely helpful in catching up my daughter with her American peers as the Taiwanese school system has been solely focused on Taiwanese geography and history.

Currently, she has done some Colorado History, and just finished the Revolutionary War. She is starting the  Young People’s History of the US next week, after which we follow the LPS district's curriculum for 6th-7th grade.

As you can see, if the Taiwanese system were to mirror Colorado's, Taiwanese 6th graders would be learning an overview of SE Asian Civilizations, how location affected the local economy and interconnectedness. This would require geography well past the borders of just Taiwan.

6th Grade SOCIAL STUDIES

Social Studies in sixth grade focuses on the Western Hemisphere starting with the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans.  We will study the Major Explorers, Countries in the Western Hemisphere, and the Columbian Exchange. The curriculum incorporates all of the Colorado State Standards in History, Geography, Civics, and Economics.  Our year-long essential concept is: Where you live affects how you live. Specific skills emphasized include explaining how people, products, cultures & ideas interact and are interconnected; the advantages and disadvantages of living in an interconnected world; and personal financial literacy concepts of saving & investing.

7th Grade SOCIAL STUDIES

Social Studies in the seventh-grade curriculum incorporates the Colorado Content Academic Standards in Economics, Geography, Civics, and History.  For economics students will explain basic principles of supply and demand, the functions of a market economy, explain patterns of trade, and compare/contrast relative value and different resources. Personal Financial Literacy is one component of the economic standard.  In Geography, specific skills emphasized include interpreting maps; collecting and analyzing data to make geographical inferences. The civics standard will compare how various nations define rights, responsibilities, and roles of citizens; discover different forms of government and international organizations and their influences in the world communities. Key periods in history standard include the Eastern Hemisphere including Greece, Rome, Ancient China, Ancient Africa, and Medieval World including world religions while analyzing primary and secondary sources from those regions and time periods.

8th Grade SOCIAL STUDIES

Eighth Grade Social Studies students study United States History from 1763 to the end of the Reconstruction era (1877).  The curriculum incorporates all of the Colorado State Standards in History, Geography, Civics and Economics. Specific skills emphasized include personal finance literacy,  detecting and understanding bias, analyzing and differentiating primary and secondary sources, understanding propaganda and distortion, sequencing events in chronological order and interpreting political cartoons.

American Language Arts Curriculum for Middle School

I was able to get the full curriculum from my local school district in Colorado (LPS). This is what Colorado Middle School students in this district are reading and writing. I am using it to supplement my daughter's English while we live in Taiwan.

Supplementary Reading List:

6th Grade

• The Outsiders – http://www.sehinton.com/books/outsiders.html
• The Westing Game – http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/0525471375.asp
• The White Mountains –Epseranza Rising – http://www.pammunozryan.com/esper.html
• Sleepers Wake – http://www.amazon.com/Sleepers_Wake_Paul_Jacobs/dp/0785798994
• Forgotten Door – http://www.amazon.com/The-Forgotten-Door-Apple-Paperbacks/dp/0590431307
• The Cay –  http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/307134/The-Cay-by-Theodore-Taylor/
• Freak the Mighty – http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/307138/Freak-the-Mighty-by-Rodman-Philbrick/
• True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle- http://www.shmoop.com/true-confessions-charlotte-doyle/
• The Black Pearl –  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Pearl_(Scott_O%27Dell)
• Number the Stars – http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/157477/Number-the-stars/
• Slake's Limbo – http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/slakes.html

7th Grade

• Night –  http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/482182/Night-by-Elie-Wiesel/
• Goodnight Mr. Tom – http://readers.penguin.co.uk/nf/Document/DocumentDisplay/0,,P000100000034,00.html
• Island on Bird Street –  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Island_on_Bird_Street
• Upon the Head of a Goat – http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/siegal_upon.htm
• The Cage – http://mandelproject.us/elavsky_rev.htm
• The Man Who Was Poe – http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/230011/The-Man-Who-Was-Poe-by-Avi/
• All Creatures Great and Small – http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18929854-all-creatures-great-and-small
• Hope Was Here – http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/0399231420.asp
• A Long Way From Chicago – http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/alongway.html
• Christmas Carol –  http://literature.org/authors/dickens-charles/christmas-carol/
• Grace In The Wilderness – http://www.amazon.com/Grace-Wilderness-After-Liberation-1945-1948/dp/0374427941
• Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl –http://www.teenink.com/reviews/book_reviews/article/1401/Anne-Frank-The-Diary-of-a-Young-Girl/ 
• Friedrich –  http://allreaders.com/book-review-summary/friedrich-24701
• Forbidden City - http://www.angelfire.com/alt2/forbidden_city/plot.html
• Wild Child -  http://www.iblist.com/book34711.htm
• Walkabout – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkabout_(novel)
• Visions - Collection of Short Stories (No publisher site available)
• Sixteen - Collection of Short Stories (No publisher site available)   
• Monster by Walter Dean Myers: http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/monster-0
• ​The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers: http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/gloryfield.html 

8th Grade

• Johnny Tremain – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Tremain
• To Kill a Mockingbird – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_A_Mockingbird 
• The Call of the Wild – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Call_of_the_Wild
• White Fang –  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43035.White_Fang
• Z for Zachariah – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_for_Zachariah
• April Morning – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Morning
• Touching Spirit Bear –   http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780380977444/Touching_Spirit_Bear/index.aspx
• Monster - http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/0060280778.asp
• Tangerine -  http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/tangerine-discussion-guide
• Stonewall's Gold - http://extras.denverpost.com/books/book497.htm
• The Giver – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giver
• The Million Pound Bank Note - http://www.iblist.com/book22282.htm
• The Glory Field – http://childlit.sdsu.edu/reviews/r-Myers.htm
• The Pigman – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pigman

Writing Expectations:

Seventh-grade students will write an argument, expository, and narrative texts using clear
development, organization, and style.  The writing process will be used to help plan, revise,
edit, and redraft the students’ work so that their ideas are clear and concise to their audience.  
Students will use technology and the Internet to produce, collaborate, and publish their writing
in a classroom, school-wide, and/ or world-wide setting. Seventh-grade students will create
research questions and find reliable sources to help them answer what they want to know.  
After gathering information from multiple print and digital sources, students will analyze for
validity and draw conclusions from their findings to demonstrate their learning.

Eighth-grade writing focuses on the development of a sophisticated five-paragraph essay.
Special emphasis is placed on an introduction that includes a hook, bridge, and thesis statement.
The structured use of textual evidence, the development of sophisticated and embedded transitions,
and the creation of an effective conclusion paragraph including a restated thesis, summary ideas,
and significant parting thought are additional areas of writing instruction.

RESOURCES:
https://littletonpublicschools.net/schools/powell-middle-school/curriculum-resources
LPS Curriculum Guide

ESL Unit 3: Writing About the Present

December

WEEK 1 Practicing Simple Present Tense
Class 1: pg.72-75
Class 2 pg. 76-79

WEEK 2 Editing Practice
Class 1: pg. 80-85
Class 2: pg. 86-89

Quiz #4

WEEK 3 Grammar Review and Editing
Class 1: pg. 90-92
Class 2 pg. 93-94

WEEK 4 Original Student Writing
Class 1: pg. 53-55
Class 2 pg.  56-58

Quiz #5

7th Grade Homeschooling: Week 6

As before, she is continuing with her Chinese textbooks for her math and Mandarin. She is also reading her geography book at her own pace.

Art: Finish Starry Night

Reading:Context Clues 1.5 | PDF, and Read, “Cask of Amontillado” (Poe)

Watch a Video on Italian Carnevale

Cask Vocabulary (Quizlet):

There are many examples of irony. List as many examples as you can find.

Spanish: Winter Clothing in Spanish+ Winter Weather in Spanish

Review: Count to 40 in Spanish

Social Studies: Revolutionary War Ends

Writing: Was the Revolutionary war inevitable, or could it have been avoided?

If you believe it was inevitable, explain why. If it could have been avoided, explain how.

Science: Chapter 4 Lesson 1: Foundation of Genetics (Quizlet)

Video: Gregor Mendel’s Law of Heredity: Crash Course #9, Law of Segregation

Lesson 2: Understanding Inheritance (Quizlet) LAB paper +Alien Baby(PDF)

Review: Codominance and Sex-Linked Codominance Inheritance
Test Problem #1 Codominance Problem: A mother has blood type O and her husband has blood type AB. They have a child who has blood type A. Is this possible? Draw a Punnett’s Square.

Test Problem #2 A man has normal color vision and is married to a woman who is colorblind. What are the chances that they will have children that are color blind like the mother? Colorblindness is carried on the X chromosome and colorblindness is recessive (see above for this information). Since the man has normal vision, he will have a dominant allele on his X chromosome: XBY

The woman is colorblind. This means she must have two recessive alleles – one on each X chromosome. Her genotype is XbXb. Draw a Punnett’s Square

7th Grade Homeschooling: Week 5

As before, she is continuing with Chinese and Math on her own using her textbooks from the public school. She self-tests and is between 85% and higher and if she has any questions, she can ask my coworkers/ friends.

Science: Chapter 3 Lesson 3 Animal Reproduction (Quizlet)

Chapter 3 Lesson 4 Asexual Reproduction (Quizlet)

Spanish: Seasons in Spanish (Quizlet) + Count to 30 (Quizlet)

Reading: A.Read “ Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (pdf)

Who is Emerson? (Bio) Video

This poem was first distributed as a leaflet on the occasion of the dedication of

a monument (July 4, 1837) commemorating the battle of Lexington and Concord.

However, since the cornerstone of the monument was laid late in 1836 and the

monument carries the date 1836, some printed versions of the poem give that date.

The poem was not printed again until it was included in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Poems (1847).

B. Who is Anton Chekov?

Read, “The Lottery” [pdf]

Social Studies: The Revolutionary War Begins Battle of Lexington and Concord,

Women during the War , Events in Moses Grandy's Life,

Moses Grady's Life as a Slave,

Not Really a Tea Party, Patriots and Tories,

Geography: Page 36-44

Art: Starry Night

Mental Health Issues: Has the World Gone Mad?

After Midterms, for our second 9th-grade unit, we will focus on mental health issues. I hope to talk freely, using readings based on scientific research so I can help remove any stigmas the students might have. I won't be covering eating disorders again, as we just finished talking about them during the "Body Image" section of our Garment Industry.

The ppt is a work in progress, as well as the handouts (A class/B Class.)

1. Why is studying mental health important?

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 300 million people worldwide have depression and 50 million have dementia. Schizophrenia is estimated to affect 23 million people, and bipolar disorder around 60 million. A grim report recently published (October 2018) by 28 global specialists in psychiatry, public health and neuroscience warned that the world is experiencing a global mental health care crisis. The current approach by governments, if they don’t address this crisis will be devastating effects on individuals, communities, the global economy and human rights. Experts estimate it could cost the global economy up to $16 trillion between 2010 and 2030 if a collective failure to respond is not addressed. One of the reasons for the “world going mad” are global aging societies (dementia and alzheimers). Another reason, is inadequate care and outdated stigmas, that has led to mass human rights violations globally. It’s time to face our own stigmas and biases and use science and education to find solutions for a better future for everyone.

B. What Mental Issues do Students Face?

1. The US
2. Taiwan

Reading 1: 

Who? Smart people are more likely to suffer from mental illness 聰明人更可能苦於精神疾病

C. Who are the Unhappiest People?

Readings: 1. S. Korean students and 2. young people

3. Big rise in self-harm among girls (A/B)

D. Bullying
Reading: Bullied kids at higher risk of mental health problems (A/B)
E. Addiction
The Internet and Gaming
Readings: Too much gaming is a mental health issue (A/B)
Internet addiction sign of mental health problems (A/B)
F. Suicide
I taught this recently in my 8th grade ESL classes and will use the same materials.




G. Happiness and Solutions

1. Finland is the happiest country in the world, says UN report
2. Dutch Students the Happiest In the World
3. Singing in groups could make you happier
4. Tai chi may help reduce depression symptoms 太極拳可能有助減緩憂鬱症狀
5. Hip-hop can help mental illness (A/B)
6. Therapy center to help the persecuted
7. The Art of Being Alone

Extra: Burglary a threat to mental health,

When hoarding gets out of hand and turns a house into trash 當囤積失控到讓房子變成垃圾堆

Social Media, Girls and Depression

Resources:

Combatting Stigmas About Mental Health in TW

1.25 Million Taiwanese Have a Mental Health Issue

Taiwanese Society of Suicidology

World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10)

30% of Taiwanese Kids Have Mental Health Disorders

https://sharemylesson.com/collections/mental-health-awareness

https://sharemylesson.com/collections/internet-safety-and-cyberbullying

Policy and strategy for preventing suicide in TW

Top 10 Films on Mental Health (Netflix)