SJCU activity (Social Justice Cultural Understanding)

Last week, in SJCU, we did an activity based on race, and how it gives you either advantages or disadvantages in society. We were broken up into four groups: The Highlights, Middle Town, the Destructors, and the Oh No’s. The Highlights were the upper class, who were given anything their heart desired, and were looked up to by everyone. The Middle Towns followed in the Highlights' footsteps, and as they saw them popping the balloons that the Oh No’s were supposed to protect, they did the same. The Destructors mostly stayed to themselves, doing their puzzle, and working together to figure out a way to communicate. Lastly, the Oh No’s were treated the worst, being constantly attacked both verbally, as well as having their balloons popped.

This activity was hard on everyone. It showed us some of the things that we aren't aware of in our day-to-day lives as young girls. We had a discussion at the end of the class about how we felt. Some people said that it felt unfair, because when the Highlights ran, they weren't called out on it, but when the Oh No’s ran, they were told not to do that again with a stern look from the teachers. It ultimately all came down to one thing... What is racism?

8th Grade 2010 Blog

Hi 8th graders and families,

This year, Eleora and Greta will be the student bloggers for our class. We'll post pictures, summarize the current happenings in 8th grade, and update you all on what we are learning! The website URLs for the SGS 8th Grade Blog (what we'll be updating) and the 8th Grade Student Blog (homework) are:

SGS 8th- http://sgs8th.blogspot.com/

Student- http://my8thgrade.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Final Words

Hello All,

I'm sorry to say, but this will be the final blog entry from the graduating class of 2010. Just a brief wrap up to the year- and what an amazing year it has been. We read poems, wrote plays, went to the international space station, ate weird neon green pisatacio pudding, decrypted codes, math problems and blood splatter analysis, decided whether a pig autopsy was ethical, came to consensus on term 1 theme (deep sea life), supported each other on a high ropes course, spent a week in Mexico (most of us did), created a perfect world, a multi media presentation about a science question, used string to determine a blood splatter, wrote emails, learning contracts and essays galore, solved puzzles, learned new words, created individual learning plans multiple times, prepared for learning team meetings, gave presentations about race in Social Studies, memorized 167 countries, had deep conversations about the origin of race, wrote reflection, after refelction, after self assement, learned about forensics, made amazing art projects, wrote thank you notes, asked questions and bonded together as an entire grade- all in 9 months. And now, with only 9 days left, we still have an entire movie to make. WOW. I think this last year has been a great final huzzah for everyone. It's going to be a difficult transition into high school for all, but SGS visits will always be waiting. So here's to a great three years as a class, and to a promising, outstanding future ahead.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a GIFT. That's why we call it the present" -Eleanor Roosevelt

News About Production (and other stuff too)

Hello All,

Although the school year is coming to a close, there are still several exciting events to come. Production is moving right along, as vignette groups and plots are becoming more solidified. We are starting to make rough cuts- quick versions of scenes before actually shooting them. We've all quickly discovered that unless the shooting pace picks up, we aren't going to have 60 scenes. 8 shooting days, 6 scenes per day. You do the math. :) Also- big shout out to all the parents who have volunteered to drive! After all the scene are shot, we'll move into the editing stage, and the movie will eventually be finished!

In addition to production, we've been wrapping up other projects: theme, social studies and math. We've got presentations about race coming up, and we only have about 2 or 3 weeks left of term three theme.

POW #16

Sharing Candy

Tommy has a 1.69 ounce bag of M&M's. The bag contains 56 M&M's. He decides to share his candy by giving Lucy two-thirds of three-fourths of his M&M's. Lucy decides to share her M&M's with Melissa by giving Melissa two-thirds of three-fourths of her M&M's. If half of Melissa's M&M's are red, how many red M&M's does she have?