And on to a Revolution!

Congratulations to all who completed the first portfolio task for the year. I was impressed with how you worked with the primary source documents. I saw you marking up the text, underlining key words, using the margins to make connections and ask questions. Many of you prepared outlines or webs which helped you integrate your prior knowledge with the documents.

You will receive a class grade for the essay (50 pts) and the essay will also be scored by a group of readers. If you meet or exceed the standard, the task can be placed in your graduation portfolio. Again, congratulations on your hard work. You will have at least two more tasks this year that are eligible for the portfolio.

Another War

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.

In order to give you the opportunity to use multiple sources and to talk about this event, you were asked to work in groups. Next week we will talk more about what makes group work effective. You need to have a plan as to who will use what sources and how you will share information. Talking about the topic gives you a chance to help others and to clarify your own thinking.

Current Events

Your next current event assignment is due November 1. You may select any national or international article. Make sure to use the rubric and helpful hints list so you can meet or exceed the standard. It is helpful to have the chance to earn extra credit as those extra points come in handy as we approach the end of the quarter.

We had a good discussion about the characteristics of republicans and democrats. Take the time this weekend to ask your family members what political party they identify with and why. We will be talking more about the upcoming presidential race as the person selected will have a major impact on your life: Will the new President support funding to help pay for college? Will the new President support policies that increase or decrease interest rates (for college loans, car loans, credit card balances, etc)? Will the new President support mandatory national service for everyone over 18?

Speaking of Extra Credit

On October 18, 1886, the US dedicated a gift from the people of France. The gift was accepted by President Glover Cleveland. What was the gift? Be the first in your class with the correct response and earn extra credit.

Love those Red Sox!!!

Task Time!

This week we completed our study of Colonial America by reading the Providence Journal Article on King Philip’s War, using our text to discern what life was like in Colonial America and comparing the challenges of women in Colonial America with challenges of today.

Each of our classroom tasks gave you the opportunity to practice the skills you will need to be successful with your first graduation portfolio task. After marking up the ProJo article and discussing the big ideas you practiced writing an effective thesis statement. Your thesis statement should be clear, strong, and responsive to all parts of the document- based question. Our text reading gave you another opportunity to read for understanding. What are the essential concepts you need to know about Colonial life? Finally, we used the readings on Colonial Women to recognize different points of view and bias.

Rubric

On Thursday we analyzed the rubric for your task. Each of the components that you will be evaluated on is clearly outlined in the rubric. This weekend I would recommend that you go over the rubric and explain it to a friend or family member. Talking through the rubric will give you the chance to check your own understanding of the required elements of your essay. If you are unsure about one of the components this is the time to gather more information: call a friend, post a question on the blog, or see me Tuesday morning before the 7:25 bell.

The task will be an on-demand response to informational reading. On Tuesday you will be given six document excerpts with some guiding questions along with the essay prompt. On Friday I also gave you a list of helpful hints on dealing with the documents. Take the time to read carefully, mark up the documents and respond to the questions. Prior to writing, make an outline or a web of your key ideas. You may want to underline your thesis statement as a double check that it is a clear, strong, and complete sentence. Be sure to use parenthetical documentation: incorporate information from the documents to help you respond to the question.

Class Portfolio Update

On Friday you organized your work and updated your status of assignment sheet. If you are given the opportunity to revise, you must turn in the revised work the next class period. If you decide not to revise, you need to write on the work that you are not revising and turn it in so you can earn some credit. Revisions, if done properly and in a timely manner, will meet standard. Take pride in your work....do the revisions....meet the standard!

Current Events:

Your next current event is due Tuesday and you must select an article about the upcoming Presidential race. The papers and news magazines are following the primary races closely. This is a unique contest in many respects. It is the first time in 50 years we don’t have an incumbent (someone who is already serving as President or Vice President) running, which means this is a wide open race for both the Democrats and the Republicans. It is the first time one of the most viable nominees for President is a woman. It is the first time one of the most viable nominees is an African American. It is the first time one of the most viable nominees is a Mormon.

This is an exciting time as we get closer to selecting the nominees for the two leading parties. Talk to your family and friends and find out who they are supporting. Start thinking about some of the issues that you are interested in and how the candidates are responding to your questions. The person elected President in November 2008 will most likely be a candidate in 2012...the year when you will have your first opportunity to cast a vote for President!

From Phil to Al

Our week of study was shortened with our celebration of Columbus Day and a half day on Tuesday so teachers could engage in professional development...learning never ends, even for teachers.

Before you handed in your “Unrighteous Traffick” worksheet we took the time to focus on the big ideas of each of the four episodes you watched. The big idea gives us the opportunity to step back from all the facts and figures and focus on the key significance of each episode. The last episode entitled “Legacy” was especially powerful and you clearly articulated that talking about slavery is difficult but it must be discussed if we are to understand our history and how it affects our lives today. We spoke about how the legacy of slavery and racism was recently played out with the Jena six in Louisiana.

You also worked on a chart on colonial workers. (See how handy they are in helping you organize information!) Your group interviews allowed you to practice asking open ended questions. We talked about the push and pull factors that cause people to move from their native land to a new colony. The yearning for a better life and opportunity are the same reasons why many people come to the U.S. today. This was also a good review as we prepare for our first PBGR task which will involve reading primary source documents and developing a thesis.

King Philip’s War

King Philip’s War was a conflict that happened in our own backyard with long term consequences for economic dependence on England that ultimately led to the American Revolution. You acted as good historians as you asked questions and checked multiple sources. 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,” while another 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.

Reconnecting the Circle

It is that time of year when many organizations conduct essay contests for high school students. One organization that is promoting a greater understanding of Native American history and its importance to our country is sponsoring an essay contest where 10 students will win cash prizes of $2,500 (that would be a nice addition to your college fund). For further information on this contest you can go to http://www.reconnectingthecircle.com/.

Congratulations Al

What many consider the highest award, the Nobel Peace Prize, was awarded to former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their work on global warming. The Nobel prizes are awarded each year to people who have made a valuable contribution to “the good of humanity.” The prize is funded by an endowment established by Alfred Nobel, who became one of the world’s richest men in the late 1860’s with the development of dynamite. He was disturbed that his discovery was being used in war and wanted to counter this with an award that promoted international peace.

To Market To Market

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. We used 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, where some were sold in the West Indies and some in 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 destination for the numerous immigrants coming over as indentured servants. These colonies were known for their ethnic diversity.

The Southern Colonies based their economy on 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 were 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 to try 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.

Workers in the Colonies

For homework, you have a chart that helps organize information from multiple sources on the laborers of the colonies. Just as we classify different types of workers today, the colonial economy also depended on different types of workers. You have your text, primary source readings and a background sheet to help you put the pieces of information together to complete the chart.

Middle Passage

We also read two primary source documents on the Middle Passage. As good historians, we read the story of the 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. By working with your partner you helped teach someone else and therefore are more likely to remember the information. Talking over your assignments with friends and family is a great way to better understand the material.

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 the slave labor of approximately 50,000 people.


Reading Strategies

As we read and listened to the story of slavery in Rhode Island, “Unrighteous Traffick,” 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 think of 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.

We also talked about the SQ3R method of reading. It may take more time then just reading but the method of surveying, questioning, reading, recalling and reciting makes for more effective reading.

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. Your current events assignment is a perfect way to get the whole family involved...ask your family about the key issues of the day, or ask about their favorite presidential candidate.

Interterms

Soon you should receive your interterm report and your performance should come as no surprise as you maintain your portfolio and monitor your grades. If you are exceeding or meeting the standard, congratulations and keep up the good work. If you are below standard, let’s work on a corrective action plan. Do you keep your portfolio updated? Do you hand in all of your homework? Do you take the opportunity to revise? Are you trying to earn extra credit with the regular current events assignments? There are many ways to pull up your grade. Keep in mind that I am here early every day one and two and would be happy to meet with you.

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

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

College Students to the Rescue

Middletown Public Library has announced that students from Roger Williams University and Salve Regina University will be available for homework assistance on Mondays (3-6 pm) Tuesdays (3-5 pm) Thursdays (4-6 pm) and Saturdays (10-2 pm). You do not have to sign up in advance and the college students are ready to help you with all types of assignments.

Did someone say Extra Credit?

To earn extra credit be prepared to answer the following question on Wednesday:

What do the red and white stripes on our flag represent?