One Down and Four to Go

We had a busy week as we finished our first standard on colonization and settlement as well as our Election 2006 project. It is nice to have a weekend with no homework as it gives us an opportunity to reflect on our work and our progress. Think about what you have done in the classroom and outside of the classroom to learn more about colonial life in America and our election project. Did you use all the resources available to you? Did you follow the election syllabus? Did you work on time management to make sure you met clearly stated deadlines? Did you use the rubrics to guide you in your work? And finally, did you ask for extra help when you were confused or uncertain how to proceed? You can be successful with every assignment and project if you take the time to read the directions, plan a course of action, and follow through. Extra help is always available before or after school.

Final Assessment for Standard I
As I announced last week, you will have a take home final assessment. You will be putting yourself back into colonial times and writing a letter to your relatives in the Old World about your decision to move to the New World. This is a 50 point project and you will have one week to complete the assignment using any and all resources. I can hear it now: “I am so glad I kept an organized portfolio as I am going to use that information to help me with my letter!”

Speaking of Portfolios

This week we organized the portfolio. You have a list of all of your assignments and the grades you have earned on your work up to the Letter to the Editor and the final assessment. This is a good time to add up your points and calculate your raw grade. Keep in mind the % you arrive at will go up IF you have checks and check pluses for all the worksheets. The checks are like money in the bank: you can draw on the checks to make your grade go up! If you are missing work or have check minuses, your grade doesn’t move.

And on to a Revolution

We are using the French and Indian War as our link between colonial times, when the colonists saw themselves as loyal subjects of England, to the time of the American Revolution, when the colonists wanted to be free and independent of the mother country. What made these hard working men and women want to make such a drastic change? If we look closely at the French and Indian War we see the seeds of independence are sown. The colonists were successful in this conflict with limited and bungling help from the British. The colonists were disheartened that the British treated them with disdain and disrespect. The colonists also learned from working side by side with the British that the British were not perfect and the hard working colonists had a great deal to offer. The colonists wanted to have the full rights of British citizens but England had no intention of treating them as equals. Second class citizens, in any society, ultimately revolt.

Extra Credit:

On October 28, 1886, the United States received a gift from the people of France. The gift was accepted by President Grover Cleveland. What was the gift? Be the first in your class to respond correctly and earn extra credit!

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!

As promised, I wanted to write a special edition of the blog for those of you who were unable to attend our in school field trip today.

Sheila Mullowney, Managing Editor of The Newport Daily News and Gary Ruff, Opinion Page Editor gave us the inside scoop on what makes a good letter to the editor. They were also generous enough to give us a run through on what the Daily News has been doing to keep on top of the stories and their efforts to provide balanced reporting that meets the need of their readers. Keep a look out for their special election coverage coming up next week!

Here are some tips from the Editors:

Keep you letter brief; not more then 450 words

Expect your letter to be edited while retaining the same thesis

Be focused: say it, support it, and summarize it

Do not exaggerate; keep it real and keep it straight

Support your claims

Suggestions: make your letter punchy, short, strong and well crafted

A special thank you to Ms. Clark and her journalism class for joining us. Their questions gave us additional insight into the workings of the press, sometimes known as the “fourth branch of government.”

Final letters are due this Thursday and Friday. I will hand deliver the letters to the paper on Friday.

From Phil to Clint

This week you had to juggle between the Colonial and Contemporary world. While we focused on King Philip’s War in the classroom, you were also working busily on your long term Election 2006 evidence folder…multitasking!

King Philip’s War was a conflict that happened in your own backyard with long term consequences of economic dependence on England that ultimately led to the American Revolution. You acted as good historians as you asked questions and checked multiple sources. (This reminds me of your election project, where you asked interview questions and checked multiple sources for information on the candidates). We quickly discovered that writers have interpreted this event in a variety of ways. One text identified the war as “a turning point in history,” another text devoted one paragraph to the war and one text completely ignored the conflict. It is up to each of us to read a variety of sources and then to construct our own understanding of events. The study and interpretation of events is an ongoing endeavor. King Philip’s war was recently reexamined by Jill Lepore in her book “The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity.”

Next week we will continue to look at the clashes between the colonists and the Native Americans in the French and Indian War. Take a moment this weekend to look at Standard I and you will see that we are about to complete the standard.

Pro Jo makes a connection to history

Last week we visited the Providence Journal web site “Unrighteous Traffik” and learned about Rhode Island’s involvement in the slave trade. The last episode of the series talked about Brown University’s study group that was initiating the university’s involvement in slave trading and its charge to come up with recommendations on how to educate the community about this difficult past. The recommendations came out this week and were featured in a front page article. The paper is on display in our classroom and I hope you will take a few minutes to look it over. The history we study is alive and well today if you take the time to make connections.

Election 2006 Project

Your long term evidence folder was due on October 19 and 20. I had the opportunity to conference with most of you and overall I was impressed with your articulation of the issues and your decision making process. Using the rubric and the graphic organizer you were able to locate information on the candidates, speak to others about their impressions of the election and then come up with a judgment. You are truly practicing higher level thinking skills!

Some of you were challenged by the multi-step assignment. You had a schedule of assignments broken down by week. Some kept up with the weekly assignments and some tried to put off the collection process till the last minute. Some of you were challenged by the need to organize your information. The cover sheets for the news articles and the interview sheets were used by those who met standard but not used by those who did not read the rubric. Next time you have a long term project take the time to think through the process, set goals or deadlines for yourself and then monitor your progress. These assignments are less daunting if you break them into manageable steps. Always keep in mind that I am available for extra assistance before or after school…you just need to ask!

In School Field Trip

Just a friendly reminder that permission slips signed by your 6th period teacher are due on Monday if you are going to attend the session with the Managing Editor of The Newport Daily News. This is a unique opportunity to hear from Ms. Mullowney, the person in charge of selecting letters to the editor. Your final assessment for the Election project will be writing a letter endorsing the candidate of your choice. Draft letters are due Monday or Tuesday (depending on your schedule) and final letters at the end of the week. Even if you didn’t have success with the evidence folder you should still write the letter.

Thank you Clint

Yesterday, Flags of Our Fathers, a movie directed by Clint Eastwood was released to excellent reviews. The movie is based on the book of the same name written by James Bradley, a man who discovered his father was one of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima. This photograph is a recognized American icon. Mr. Eastwood, like a good historian, will be releasing a second movie next year, Letters from Home, that tells the story of the battle from the Japanese perspective. Thank you, Clint, for reminding us that history has different interpretations!

Time to Decide

This week we focused on the economy of the colonies and we paid particular attention to how the three regions each developed their own means of making money.

The New England colonies focused on the “carrying trade” as the soil was thin and rocky and not conducive to growing large crops. This region, and most notably Rhode Island, was involved in the Triangle Trade, the trade routes between the colonies, Africa and the West Indies. Many of you had the opportunity to use The Providence Journal web site on “The Unrighteous Traffick” which documents Rhode Island and especially Newport and Bristol’s involvement in slave trading. I would urge all of you to revisit that site. Many of you constructed your own maps illustrating the routes and the items carried along each segment of the journey. New Englanders took sugar from the West Indies, distilled it into rum and then sailed to Africa where the rum and other goods were traded for slaves. The slaves then came to the New World and through the West Indies and into the thirteen colonies. New Englanders also made money with fishing, ship building and eventually whaling.

The Middle Colonies had a mix of farming and commerce. The deep water ports supported the merchants in New York and Philadelphia. The Middle Colonies were also the first and last stopping point for the numerous immigrants coming over as indentured servants. These colonies were known for their ethnic diversity.

The Southern Colonies based their economy on growing cash crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo. These large plantations required large numbers of slaves to work the fields. By 1700 28% of the Virginia population was African slaves. In 1730, 60% of the population of South Carolina was slaves. The Southern Colonies remained a region dominated by large farms with few cities and thus few merchants. Many southern families found it easier to do their shopping directly with England than trying to locate merchants in the north.

We also read about the economic theory of mercantilism. Britain, the Mother country, used the colonies as a source of raw materials that British manufacturers turned into finished goods and then sold back to the colonies. This system allowed England to amass great wealth and to deprive the colonists of their “own” raw materials. These trade restrictions on the colonies will be one of many reasons that the Colonists eventually use to justify the American Revolution.

Reading Strategies

As we read about the Colonial economy we used the 3-2-1 reading strategy. This strategy asks you to identify three main ideas of the reading; make two connections to your life or prior knowledge; and finally to generate one lingering question. This is a useful strategy to use whenever you have material to read for any class. It allows you to look for key information and to relate it to your own life which makes the reading more meaningful. I gave you the example of how I connected the reasons why Rhode Island went into the slave carrying business to the reasons we are being given to build a casino. In both cases, people argued that Rhode Island had little territory and few natural resources so they had to turn to another enterprise to earn money.

Election 2006 Project

For the past two weeks we have been working on the Election 2006 Project. This is a major project for the quarter as you will be earning 50 points for the combined evidence file and the Letter to the Editor. You were given an overview explanation, a week by week schedule of assignments and the two rubrics for the evidence file and the Letter to the Editor. Next week I will conference with each of you on your evidence file. Students in 8th period will meet with me on October 19 and students in periods 3 and 7 will meet with me the following day.

Your evidence folder should contain your graphic organizer and four evidence sheets summarizing news articles, debates, or commercials with the news items attached. You will also need to provide a list of questions and responses from the two interviews you conducted. Keep in mind that a good interview requires someone who is interested in the election and probing, open ended questions. On our conference date you will have the opportunity to show me the steps you went through to gather the evidence you needed to support your decision as to which candidate you are endorsing. I will be looking for a variety of sources collected over time. I will also be looking for interviews that demonstrate your ability to ask probing questions to better understand the issues and the candidates.

After the conference we will look at Letters to the Editor that have been printed so you can see how you should model your letter. Ms. Sheila Mullowney, Managing Editor of The Newport Daily News, will address you on October 24 during an in-school field trip. You will have the unique opportunity to ask her questions about what makes for a good letter before you write your own.

Open House
Many thanks to all the parents, guardians and students who came to the Open House. It was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to share our goals for the year. One of the key factors in student success is family involvement. The Election 2006 project is a great way for the entire family to enter into the excitement of the campaign. Debate the issues, look closely at the candidates, watch the commercials, and then on election night settle in for the returns.

Interterms
By now everyone should have received the interterm report and your performance should come as no surprise as you maintain your portfolio and always know at what level you are performing. If you find you are struggling, let’s work on a corrective action plan. As I outlined in last week’s blog there are several steps you can take to make that “below standard” turn into a “meeting standard.” We still have three weeks left in the quarter.

Extra Credit is so very nice:Congratulations to HT and HW who answered last week’s extra credit question correctly.
The thirteen stripes on the American flag symbolize the original thirteen colonies.

Two Sides to the Story

This week we looked more deeply into the story of the colonial workers who were forced to come to the New World against their will: the slaves. As good historians, we read the story of Middle Passage from the perspective of a slave and a ship’s captain. The same event took on two very different perspectives, reminding us that history is not just one story found in a text book.

Around 1660, Virginia and Maryland began passing laws to define the status of Africans as slaves. Historians estimate that between 9 and 12 million slaves came to the Americas from 1600 to 1808. Of this number, approximately 350,000 came to the Colonies. Slaves in South Carolina and Georgia outnumbered the white population and thus were able to preserve many facets of their own culture. The Middle Colonies and New England also benefited from slave labor of approximately 50,000 people. The Providence Journal ran a special series last year on Rhode Island’s high involvement in the slave trading business. We will be visiting the web site this coming week.

This week we will also look at the Triangle Trade routes that spanned the Atlantic Ocean and connected the New World with Africa and the Caribbean. Triangle Trade was a dangerous but lucrative exchange of goods and people. The major components of the trade included rum, slaves and sugar.

Strategies
While engaging in our study of history we are also learning skills and techniques to be better readers. We used our primary source readings to practice marking up the text, summarizing, and asking questions. We also took this assignment to a new level by each of you sharing your side of the story with your partner. By telling the story you are helping to teach someone else and are therefore more likely to remember the information. Talking over your assignments with friends and family is a great way to better understand the material.

Election 2006 Project

We have had an exciting kick-off to our study of the election with two guest speakers representing the Chafee and Whitehouse campaigns (periods 7 and 8). They were able to give you the inside story on what is happening and to answer your questions. You have your graphic organizer to help you sort through the issues and the candidate’s positions. Make sure to watch the news and read the paper over the weekend so you can build your evidence file. You have a timeline for the assignments and cover sheets for the news articles. Do not wait until the last minute to collect your information.

Progress Reports

You updated your portfolio this week and reflected on your progress to date. I like the word “progress,” as it means “a moving forward or onward.” If you are meeting standard, congratulations, and keep up the good work. If you are below standard, make a plan to improve. Do you need to put more time into your homework? Have you missed assignments? Have you given up the opportunity to revise? Have you developed a strategy to stay organized? If you need additional assistance or have questions, I am available before or after school.

I have no doubt that all of you can be successful. Keep in mind:

“Those who fail to plan, plan to fail!”

Spirit Week:

Congratulations on a wonderful spirit week. I hope all of you enjoy the festivities this week and come back on Tuesday rested and ready to continue our study of early American History.

Bonus Question:

Bring in the answer to this question and earn extra credit:

How many stripes are on the American flag and what do they symbolize?

Charts and Colonies

This week we used charts to help us compare and contrast the first two English speaking colonies, Jamestown and Plymouth, as well as the different types of colonial workers. Charts are a great way for you to organize information so you can identify similarities and differences. Selecting the categories for your chart is probably the most challenging aspect of the assignment. Try to think of categories that allow you to see the big picture. It is usually helpful to think about chunking information into social, political, economic and religious units. The colonial workers chart identified the categories and then asked you to think more deeply about people’s motives for coming to the New World and what the advantages and disadvantages would be for each worker. These are good questions to ask as we proceed with our study of American history. Keep in mind good historians ask lots of questions, they use multiple sources and they are open to constructing their idea of what happened.

There are numerous sites on the internet that will allow you to explore further the characteristics of these two colonies that became the foundation for our country today. A clever teacher with a great sense of humor also put together a tour of Jamestown that is worth checking.

This coming week we will focus on a group of worker who did not came to the New World freely and who arrived with shackles on their hands: African slaves. Slaves were imported to make up for the shortage of labor in the colonies. Large groups of workers were needed to work the fields that yielded the cash crops for the South and to work in the ports of the Middle and New England colonies. While the majority of slaves ended up in the Middle and Southern colonies, many New Englanders maintained slaves or were involved in the salve trade.

Election Project

Rhode Island voters are busy gathering information on candidates and issues so that when they walk into the voting booth on November 7 they select the candidate who will best represent their views. As many of you will be 18 and therefore eligible to vote during the next election, we are going to practice being educated voters by going through the research and selection process as a class assignment. You will select one race (Governor, Senator, or House) to follow. You will have a graphic organizer and a list of helpful web sites so you can collect information on the candidates and issues and make a decision as to who you would support. As a final assessment you will be presenting an evidence folder to justify your decision and writing a letter to the Editor of The Newport Daily News or The Providence Journal in support of your candidate.

In order to help you think through the issues and candidates we will be having a series of guest speakers. This past week most classes heard from Senator Whitehouse’s volunteer coordinator for Middletown and this coming week you will hear from Senator Chafee’s staffer. In late October you will hear from the Managing Editor of The Newport Daily News, Sheila Mullowney. These are great opportunities for you to ask questions. Come prepared.

Interterm Grades

It is hard to believe that four weeks have passed and interterm grades are due. In order to meet standard you must have your portfolio updated and in the bin. You are responsible for keeping track of your grades and work. If you have been given the opportunity to revise, those revisions are due the next class period. Don’t lose points by not turning in your revised efforts.

If you find that you are struggling, I am available before or after school for extra help or guidance.