8th Grade SOS #26

Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872) was an American inventor and painter.  With the help from his business partners Leonard Gale and Alfred Vail, Morse patented a working telegraph machine in 1837. Morse used a dots-and-spaces code for the letters of the alphabet and the numbers.  By 1838, Morse could send 10 words per minute. Congress provided funds for building a telegraph line between Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland, in 1843. Morse sent the first telegraphic message (from Washington D.C. to Baltimore) on May 24, 1844; the message was: "What hath God wrought?" The telegraph revolutionized long-distance communications.

Visit the Boys' Life site (http://boyslife.org/games/online-games/575/morse-code-machine/) and try TEST 1 or TEST 2.  Play for a few minutes and then return to the blog and respond to the following reflection  questions:
1.  Which test did you try and why?
2. What did you find challenging about the test?  Explain.
3.  Based on your knowledge of the United States during and after the Civil War, how was Morse Code useful to the American people?  Explain.  How was it ineffective for the American people?  Explain.

* Check out the Morse Code Translator in the 8th grade Lesson Links!*

8th Grade SOS #25

Literary Concepts - Theme
The theme of a literary work is an insight about life or human nature that the writer presents to the reader.  In "Across Five Aprils" Irene Hunt offers some of her ideas about inflexible beliefs, about war, and about hardship.  Below are several thematic statements.  After reading them, give examples from the novel, the Civil War, and life today that illustrate those themes.
1.  Individual loyalties can conflict with the values and loyalties of a community.
2.  Most often there are no real winners in a war; both sides suffer.
3.  Some decisions in life are difficult because they are not clearly right or wrong.
4.  Our lives are affected by circumstances beyond our control.
5.  Hardship and the challenge to one's beliefs offer the opportunity for growth.
6.  Justice does not always proceed according to human timetables or individual ideas of right and wrong.

7th grade SOS #25

Leonardo da Vinci

Test your knowledge on a true Renaissance Man - Leonardo daVinci by clicking http://sf.factmonster.com/quizzes/leonardo-da-vinci/1.html and taking the quiz.

When you complete the 10 questions, return to the blog and answer the following reflection questions:  1. What was your score?  2.  Would you have known any of the answers without the art analysis lesson from class?  Explain.  3.  This website was created specifically for our Social Studies textbook.  Would you be interested in using it again?  Why or why not?