January 2022  “Blazing a Pathway!”
NEWSLETTER   Rm 117

Social Studies w/ Mr. Woods 

                             Creativity & Innovation 

This month our 7th-grade class has begun Kansas History.  They have developed some creative ways to demonstrate ideas and concepts for our Classroom-Based Assessments. Seen below is a great example of three students, who collaborated and coded a computer animation for their “Trading Post” project. Other students have created maps, wood displays, videos, and other mediums to display their solutions to where to establish a trading post in 1805 Kansas to promote peaceful trade and relations with the people of the Kansas territory. 

Student: Aiden Ferguson and team coded this SCRATCH animation 

...Scholars’ Bowl is Back! 

Our teams first meet! These 7th & 8th graders are fired up to show off their brainpower! 

A real Puzzler? Not for these kiddos!  

Students in the Scholars’ Bowl have been practicing hard for the upcoming season starting with Conway Springs and ending back home here in Belle Plaine on Feb. 14th. 

We have an exciting lineup this year as we have had over 25 students signed up to participate in the Scholars’ Bowl. 

Tracing the Past… 

7th-grade students have been practicing the use of primary and secondary source materials to learn about the past. They applied their new research skills using technology to attempt to solve the question “Where would be a possible site for archaeologists and researchers to search for physical evidence (artifacts) of the Coronado expedition?” They examined journals provided by the Kansas Historical Society and using geographical clues, plotted the possible path that Coronado’s expedition took traveling into Kansas in 1541 using Google Earth and satellite imaging. 

Courtesy of The Kansas Historical Society “Shaggy Cow” 

Collaboration and Group Discussion 

8th grade is exploring the powers of the Executive Branch of our government through the creation of several podcasts. The topics that they chose from were “The Louisiana Purchase”, “The Alien and Sedition Act”, “The Destruction of the 1st National Bank”, or “Mr. Polk’s War.”  They examined what the President’s constitutional enumerated powers are according to Article II and if these topics fall under the powers of the office or were outside the stated powers of the Executive office.