8/26 Monday

We finished our snowballs for why America declared Independence. We then reviewed our thesis statements that we had done early last week. We tried to look over what went wrong and redid them. We then attempted to write a new one for the current topic of America seeking Independence.

8/23 Friday

We continued looking at additional events that led to America declaring Independence. I reviewed the Boston Massacre, and then we read through readings on the Boston Tea Party(the weirdest crime ever), the Intolerable Acts and Thomas Paine's Common Sense.

Notes and Quickwrite 2
Documents for snowballs 6-9

8/22

We began to look at the causes that led to the American Revolution. Students did an assignment in class about the Great Awakening and the Enlightenment. I then discussed the French and Indian War, which led to problems between the British and colonists. This included taxes that the colonists did not want to pay. We finished class with a quickwrite on the Boston Massacre. it will be included with the notes link on tomorrow's post.

8/21 Wed

We looked at the beginning of America's founding in class. We started looking at the Puritans and how they birthed this new dream for a new colony.

Quickwrite 1: What do you think the risk was leaving Europe and heading to the America's for the Puritans? Would you ever leave the earth and head to mars to start a new colony(you could never come back)? Why or Why Not?
City on a Hill

The video we started halfway through where Donald is trying to capture a penguin. It shows the idea of a snowball effect where a small event leads to big problems. It reflects in a small way America's steps towards a Revolution

Tuesday 8/20

Students turned in yesterday's work. We then started the year discussing the American Dream and what it means. Students used google classroom(if you need the code just let me know) to explain what it means to them. We then started unit 1 which is titled A Dream is Born. America is a unique nation, unlike any other. Not perfect but centered on the dream of being different. It is partly why the American Dream exists at all. We will begin the story of America tomorrow.

Monday 8/19

We continued to look at historical thinking by building towards writing a thesis statement. Students looked at the documents of A$AP Rocky and his arrest. They had to take a stand on if they thought the US should have intervened in his arrest. Students need to finish the entire paper for homework tonight if they aren't done.

Friday 8/16

Should America Intervene

We began to do historical thinking. We focused on some of the key words, contextualization, corroboration, evidence and sourcing. We are using a current event to focus on these words as we build an hypothetical essay of historical value.
 

Thursday 8/15

Sorry about the past two days I had accidentally posted updates to last year's blog instead of this years.
We finished looking at the article on Why History. Students created a list of reason's history has value. From helping us know what we believe, to being thankful for who came before us, and giving us a greater appreciation of life and how short it is.
The second part of class we looked at a clip from Saving Private Ryan. Students either started a short writing assignment in class, or will tomorrow on what it means to "earn this" in life. People have gone before us to pave the way for us to have the opportunities and freedoms that we take for granted. For us to honor them the idea would be for us to "earn it" everyday in our lives.

Wed 8/14

In class we started looking at why it is important to know history. America is currently very divided and people are quick to anger but not quick to discussion. We looked at three questions that are somewhat divisive and how people are quickly labeled if you take a side. The goal is that we would always be able to look at both sides with an open mind prior to making a decisions. Having a personal view is not just ok it is important, but base it on something. Every time we answer a question this year we want there to be something that supports your answer or belief. We finished class by starting an article from David McCullough on why History is important.
Why History

Tuesday 8/13

In class today we focused on how History is more than facts. That used to be what everyone focused on. Today we have all the facts at our fingertips though. History is about going beyond just the facts and drawing your own conclusions about events. What was good, bad, right, wrong etc.. The facts are important, one analogy being the foundation of our house. Without it we can't build a house(our opinions). You obviously need to know the facts to have a foundation for your house. Once you have it though everyone builds a different house. We see history differently. We have different opinions. Is Trump doing good or bad? Was the war in Iraq smart or a failure? These bigger ideas which are rooted in facts give us opinions on how we see the past. In a bigger sense it will also be how we envision the best future. It will help us determine who to vote for, support, and what to believe. We did take a citizenship test to look at some of the facts that are the foundation for our background on US history.

2019-2020

Welcome to the new school year. Updates of what we are doing in class, did in class, or will be doing in class can typically be found here. Bookmark it in case you are absent or will be gone.

While it usually won't have everything on here, it will have a recap of what we did, and on occasion more. You can use this so you know the basis for what you have missed. 

US History-Here is your SYLLABUS!!!! (Push the word), print the LAST page and get it signed by you and parent by Friday! It is the first assignment of the year.