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!