August+Parent+Letter

Dear Parents and Students,

Whoosh! That’s the sound summer made as it FLEW by. As much as some might want to deny it, it is time to get ready for the new school year. As you are finishing up your preparations, I thought it appropriate and fitting to inform you about what to expect for the coming school year and the eighth grade – in my classroom anyway.

The course, although it is called “U.S. History,” is intended to be a full social studies course according to the Grade Level Content Expectations for “Integrated United States History. This means that through the survey of U.S. History from before the War for Independence to Reconstruction, we are to weave in and out of the various social sciences – history, geography, civics, and economics. Spread over ten units, the class covers the following topics: The French and Indian War, The War for American Independence, The Constitution, Americas Early Years, The War of 1812, Challenges of Sectionalism, American Expansion, The Civil War, and Reconstruction (and everything in between). It’s the best curriculum in all of education.

Your student will be taking part in inquiry-based learning. As I see it (and teach it) history is a discipline, or a way of studying the events, people, and circumstances that came before us. Many of us learned history perhaps as a narrative told like a story from beginning to end. Maybe for some of you, learning history required you to complete worksheets and memorize facts for a test. That’s how I learned it, too. However, this assumes that history never changes; that history is not subject to new interpretations based on evaluating perspectives that reveal themselves in the evidence left behind. When we understand history to be fluid, then we understand that learning it is a process of discovery -- asking questions of the past, evaluating evidence we have, and creating interpretations based on what we’ve found. We learn this process that can be applied everywhere.

The course is also intended to increase your student’s awareness of the social, cultural, and political world around them, and thus introducing them to the responsibilities of a citizen of this great state, and nation. The world expects a lot of your child, and I am charged with the responsibility of helping prepare them for high school, and their future. I take great pride in my work and I will put a great deal of effort forth to ensure the education of your student.

I am excitedly anticipating this school year and I appreciate your attendance this evening. Please call or email any questions you may have regarding the upcoming school year. Enjoy the remainder of your summer and have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Mr. Larry Bruce