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May 05, 2006
Cinco de Mayo
Happy Cinco de Mayo! Another week has been wrapped up and we are chugging right along. This time of year is a mixed blessing as I am sooo ready for Summer Break but the kids finally understand the system, they are finally maturing into young adults, and are actually a whole lot more fun. So I guess that is the mixed part of it all.
We read a great story called “The Dog who thought he was a Cat and the Cat who thought she was a Dog,” by Isaac Bashevis Singer. He is one of those writers who puts his moral right in the story for all to see. The kids identified with this message about “not judging a book by its cover” and “beauty only being skin deep” and brought a lot into the discussion.
In Social Studies we have discussed America’s trade deficit with Asia. It is a difficult concept to understand for most politicians much less seventh graders. We looked at specific jobs and products which we wear and have in our homes. We traced where they came from and talked in great length about how many of these were once proudly “Made in the USA”. My own mother lost a seamstress position to an overseas factory when I was in college.
The whole idea of a deficit was another area where the kids had trouble understanding. More than once this week I heard the comment, “Just put it on the credit card.” I know now why the State Department has developed a much more effective fiscal literacy plan for social studies. We talked in depth about different kids of debt and especially interest. The idea of 22% interest scares the heck out of me and I hope I conveyed that real danger to the kids.
I know they would enjoy the chance to discuss any of the things we are learning about in school with you. They have a lot of ideas and comments on things they would enjoy sharing with you.
Posted by hlperson at May 5, 2006 10:32 AM
Comments
Hey, that story we are reading is pretty interesting. Happy Cinco DE Mayo!
Posted by: Courtney D. at May 5, 2006 10:43 AM
The story of how the cat thought she was a dog and the dog thought he was a cat was very intriguing how it doesn't matter how the person is on the outside, it's how they are on the inside. Thats how people should judge people instead of how they they look.
Posted by: Bobby Cox at May 5, 2006 10:49 AM
I love the story we are reading in class right now and I just wanted to say that I am also ready for summer break.
Posted by: Erica at May 7, 2006 09:03 AM
I just wanted to say that I might be one of the kids with bad credit.
Posted by: Erica at May 10, 2006 08:14 PM