Happy School Year!

Can you believe we are already back in school? It seems like we were just gone for about a day or two, and now we're here again! However, I am glad to return to the regular routine of school, and I hope you are, too. If not, maybe you should "fake it til you make it." If you act like you are happy to be here, eventually you will be!
This year I have three classes of Pre-AP 8th grade social studies in the morning, and then 3 classes of regular 8th grade social studies. For the most part, these classes will be very similar, because we have the same units of study. We will just have different approaches of study and different assessments.
All of my classes will have the Native Americans in their first unit, followed by the explorers. While we are doing these units, we are also having a refresher on the states and capitals. I have found that most of my students have long forgotten what they knew about this in the 3rd grade. I have found a site that might be helpful.  Start with the map puzzle, then work your way through the states and capitals quizzes: 

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/us-puzzle.html
I was thinking that I might have some competitions to see which class does the best on this, and perhaps I can come up with some type of reward for the winning class. Do you have ideas for the winners? Let me know!

Look for new History Heroes regularly on this site. Who knows? You may be next!