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.