Major US Cities

When Ben Sheets was drafted by the Brewers, he didn't know where Milwaukee was.  Even if you don't go pro, you should know where the major cities in the US are.  After all, you may want to travel to some of them some day.  Or at the very least, pass a map quiz.  Perhaps you'll want to travel to these cities to see new sites and watch your favorite team play in a new stadium.  With that, we offer you these (potentially) helpful maps that show you where various franchises are from.  If you know the logos, it will help you visually see where in the United States the city is.

Stock Market Game

It's time to start another game!  But only if you are in 8th grade.  The 1920s were the Roaring Twenties, partly because of the economic boom.  On the flip side, the start of the Great Depression was marked by the stock market crash.  To give us some real world experience and have a little fun at the same time, the 8th graders will compete (in groups) to invest in the stock market to try and make as much profit as possible.  Three things to remember:
1) The stock market is not for short-term investing
2) You pay commission on every trade (all the more reason not to worry about small variations in prices)
3) Buy low, sell high!

Happy trading!

Fantasy Geopolitics

A new year often leads to new starts.  Perhaps you feel like one of those people from the NFL commercial whose fantasy football team under performed.

Maybe you're wishing for a fresh fantasy start, but just can't get excited for playoff fantasy football.  You need not worry!  Fantasy GeoPolitics is here to save the day!

We will be starting right after Christmas.  This game will be a fun way to increase our knowledge of what is happening in the world around us, learn some geography, and maybe even enjoy some cutthroat competition as well!  :)

For some background information, head on over to Fantasy Geopolitics and look around.  Particularly helpful will be the Resources page and especially Draft Central.  On Tuesday, we will be holding our draft, so come prepared with countries you want to draft.

Remember, being a bigger class means more countries will be chosen - be ready to go even when your top 25 countries have all been taken!  Scores are determined by how often the country is in the news and whether it is for a positive or negative reason.

We will also be doing a few other related activities with this that will require you to pay attention to your country, so please do not plan on drafting a country and then forgetting about it.  It will be part of your job to inform us about your country.

Happy drafting!

Constitutional Convention (7th Grade)

After going through the Constitutional Convention simulation, come back here to comment about it.  Basically, you just need to demonstrate that you paid attention to what you were doing and learned something from it.  So once you are done, post a comment.  Ideas to get you started include:

1) I learned...

2) What I found most interesting was...

3) My constitution ended up being like this...  I would like/dislike this because...

4) Something entirely different.

In order to comment, watch/listen to Mr. Dais explain it on Tuesday, or follow these steps.

1) Type your comment in the comment box.

2) Use your number instead of your name.

3) Check the box for "I'd rather post as a guest."

4) Use mrdais.spl@gmail.com for the email address

5) Click the arrow.

The Incredible, Edible Wall of China

We didn't get to spend too much time on China this year, but one thing we did get to do was to build small replicas of some of the more well-maintained portions of the Great Wall.  They're sure to stop any invaders with a sweet tooth!  :)

How to Comment

Comments are now (finally) operational.  However, in the new system, there are a few steps to follow.  This instructional makes it sound more complicated than it really is.  It will be fairly simple once you get the hang of it.

1. Click on the title of the blog you'd like to comment on.
2. Type the comment you'd like in the comment box.  (Where it says "Start the discussion...")
   
3. Click in the box for name.
   
4. Type your number in the name box and check the box for "I'd rather post as a guest."
5. In the email box, type in "mrdais.spl@gmail.com" without the quotation marks.
   
6. Click the arrow button.
7. Congratulations, your comment has posted.

Online learning

Online classes are all over.  Hopefully, we can now add St. Paul's to the list.  There are lots of great resources out there that we can use to help us get more involved and do more actual learning.  As the 8th graders get more into the latter half of American history, there are lots of opportunities to do more online rather than the textbook.  The next three posts are our first venture in this area.

Eighth graders, please find the right post for you and start working.  Don't be afraid to disagree and share your feelings, but please remember to be respectful and civil.  Remember - the better you do on this, the more likely it is to happen more often.  And as an added bonus, that means you'll have to listen to me talk less!  ;)