Life, Liberty, and please pass the Turkey

In 1943, one of the most popular magazines in America published a series of four paintings by Norman Rockwell entitled "The Four Freedoms." The four paintings were inspired by a speech given by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941 declaring that all people of the world should have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and fredom from fear. The painting entitled "Freedom from Want" has become a symbol for our American holiday Thanksgiving.

I hope you and your families had a warm and memorable day of thanks.

As promised, this blog will contain a few photos I took on a trip to Washington, DC over the Veteran's Day Weekend.





The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

November 2007 was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the War Memorial so there were extra large crowds to commemorate the event. Just as the war was controversial, so was the initial design of the wall. Maya Ying Lin, the 21 year old designer of the Wall, wanted a memorial that allowed "everyone to respond and remember." Under pressure from Veterans' groups, two additional memorials were added to the site: a statue commemorating the ground troops and a statue to commemorate the unique contributions women made to the war.

On my last day in DC, I stopped by Union Station, home of Amtrak and numerous shops. I couldn't leave without taking a photo of a store that caters to those of us interested in American history memoribilia.

Thank you

A thank you to all of the students and parents who came by on Tuesday during a conference time. It is always enjoyable to have the opportunity to speak about your progress and plans for the rest of the year.

No homework this holiday but I hope you are keeping up with the current events.

A special thank you to all of you who contributed to the MHS Leo Club can drive. You are making a difference with your efforts to help people who need our support.

"America's Birth Certificate"

This past week we started looking at the Declaration of Independence, a document sometimes referred to as America’s birth certificate. Thomas Jefferson, the author of the document, clearly outlined why the colonies were breaking from England.

Your worksheet helped you understand the four sections of the document:

The introduction or Preamble
The explanation of political ideas
The list of grievances, and
The “Resolution for Independence”

We will review this document more closely next week.

Next week we will also read and mark up an excerpt from “Common Sense,” a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. This very popular pamphlet outlined the “common sense” reasons why the colonies should break from England.

Boston Massacre

You have now read five different versions of what happened on March 5, 1770. One version not included in your packet was the British side of the story. I have included a link so you can read Captain Preston’s after-action report of that fateful day.

This exercise demonstrates the importance of looking at multiple sources and reading critically. Each version of the event shared some common information with the others, but each also introduced new characters and motives. Good historians must continue to ask questions and look for bias. We are all striving to get a better understanding of what happened. These lessons are especially important as we discuss current events and various ways of interpreting them.

Current Events

Congratulations on your current events quiz! By taking good notes and listening to the discussion many of you earned perfect scores.

Our next current event is due November 20. Your article must be about any international event outside of Iraq. Make sure to look for a quality article, that is, one that has a by-line (author’s name). There is much happening in the outside world so let’s branch out and discover a new topic.

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences

There are still time slots available for conferences on November 20. I look forward to meeting with you and your parents/guardians. It is important for you to attend as you are the one doing the work. Your reflection assignment is a good way to prepare for a constructive conference.

Reflection

It is important to take the time to review your first quarter and plan for the next quarter. You have a two-sided worksheet that will help you think through your successes and challenges and plan accordingly. Everyone needs a plan to be successful. To earn full credit on this assignment you must have a parent or guardian sign the completed worksheet.

Let’s Beat Portsmouth

The Leo Club food drive ends this coming week so let’s show some school spirit and concern for others by bringing in a non-perishable food item. Extra credit “can” (ha ha) be earned by donating to the food drive.

Tensions Mount

Our government is based on the democratic beliefs of our Founders who had to fight a long and difficult revolution. As we begin our study of The American Revolution think about what these people risked so that we may live in freedom and change our leadership through a peaceful voting process. Think about what freedom means and your obligations to defend this way of life. The need to defend our liberties, sometimes even at the risk of our own lives, takes us to Veteran’s Day, a time when we remember, thank and celebrate all those men and women who served in our armed forces. As you enjoy your three day weekend, take a moment to say thank you to the many men and women who serve in our armed services.

Tensions Mount

This week we lived through the major events leading up to the American Revolution. Working with a partner, you designed a timeline to highlight those events that led to war. This activity gave you the opportunity to look at events, debate their significance and make a judgment as to which events are crucial to understanding why the colonists went to war against the British Empire. Our skit/dialogue activity allowed us to explore the British and Colonial perspective. The British government desperately needed money to finance the French and Indian War debt and the Colonists were frustrated with what they saw as restraints on their rights as British citizens.

Tensions mounted as taxes were imposed and boycotts conducted. Each side felt its actions were right and justified. British troops arrived in Boston to impose order but the sight of the brightly uniformed soldiers infuriated the colonists. We again started to think and act as historians as we looked at the Boston Massacre using multiple primary and secondary sources. We will have to think about bias, reliability, accuracy, and intent as we sort through the accounts and try to come to an understanding of what happened that cold and snowy March evening in Boston.

The End Can Also Be A Beginning

As you figured out your grade at the end of the quarter, some of you celebrated the results of your hard work, some of you were disappointed, and some of you were struggling with a failing grade. Now is the time to think about what steps you need to take for the second quarter to maintain your good standing or improve your grades. Do you need to use your class time more wisely? Do you need to take a more serious approach to the assignments? Do you need to work on maintaining an organized and up to date portfolio? Do you need to check the blog more frequently? Do you need to ask questions to clarify your thinking? Do you need to stay after school for additional help? It is up to you to decide on the right course of action.

A Word About Homework

The most important homework is the assignments you give yourself. In addition to teacher directed tasks, you have to ask yourself what you need to do to understand the material in order to meet standard. Do you need to spend more time taking active reading notes? Do you need to review the links on the blog to better understand key events? Do you need to make lists or graphic organizers to help you with the content? Do you need to review study skills and time management techniques? If you missed a class, please take the time to come by room 209 in the morning to pick up papers and review the content.

Let's Beat Portsmouth

MHS has challenged PHS to a food drive competition. The Leo Club of MHS has organized this event to build school spirit and provide much needed food to our community. Did you know that over 35 million people in the United States are classified as hungry? So look in your pantry, talk to your parents, and start bringing in cans of soup, tuna, beans, pasta sauce, vegetables, and other non-perishables for our competition. Food items may be left in the Main Office or room 209. There's no better feeling than the feeling that comes from helping others in need - let's see if we can score 100 percent!

Are You Ready for a Revolution?

This week you received a copy of Standard II on the American Revolution. While the Standard may appear to be a list of things to cover, I like to think of it as a roadmap. It tells us key places we want to stop along the way to our ultimate destination.

As good historians we should always begin by generating questions, assessing our prior knowledge (you are so fortunate that you live where the Revolution occurred), looking for connections and evaluating the numerous sources available to us. Two sites that I would encourage you to visit are Liberty and History of US. If you find other sites that would be useful for your fellow historians, please bring in the address. We will evaluate the site and you can receive extra credit if your site is selected to post on the blog.

Music fans will know that The Beatles (do I need to identify this band?) sang a song entitled “Revolution.” I am looking for a legal copy of the song so we can play it in class, so please start rummaging through that box of old vinyl records your family may have stashed away or check those old cassette tapes.

Habits of Mind

This week we also started thinking about our thinking. The Habits of Mind are steps people can take to help solve problems. We will be looking at the different thinking techniques and trying to incorporate them into our own problem solving opportunities. This list must be kept in your notebook as we will refer to these Habits on a regular basis

War leads to Debt

The French and Indian War, like all wars, resulted in debt. At the same time, the colonists were starting to view themselves as set apart from the citizens of England. Yes, the colonists were still loyal to the King and viewed themselves as British citizens but they also believed they were different. The colonists were developing a different national culture. They believed they deserved equal treatment with the citizens of England through their hard work and tenacity.

The Parliament, in an effort to pay the war debt, passed a series of tax measures aimed at the colonists. At the same time, the King, to prevent further conflict with the Native Americans and curtail military spending, drew a line down the Appalachian Mountains (The Proclamation Line) and told the colonists not to cross this artificial barrier. The colonists were irate. They had just finished fighting a war to gain access to the new land and now the King was telling them not to move west. The parliament was passing tax laws and the colonists had no representation. This was too much to bear and the colonists started boycotting British goods and protesting.

Your homework this weekend is focus on key events that led to the Revolution. This is an opportunity for you to work with your partner (learning by teaching others) and to think about what were the key events. Make sure you take the time to select those events you believe are the most significant. Your rubric requires you to tell why you selected each event.

The Power of Ideas

Next week we will look at the philosophical ideas behind the Revolution. We will be reading the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson and “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine. Both authors draw ideas from the Enlightenment thinkers of Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau. You can make a clear connection with your study of Modern World History and United States History.

Current Events

Your next current events assignment will be due November 9. You have several days to do the assignment so you should be aiming to earn extra credit. Follow the rubric and use the comments I write on your paper to make improvements. We will also be ready for a current events quiz so make sure your notes are in order as you may use them during the quiz. You will also be writing the questions for the quiz as you practice writing open (more then one correct answer) and closed (only one correct answer) questions.

One down and three to go

We are finishing the first quarter this coming week. You will have time to update your portfolio and to add up all of your points so you can figure your raw score. I have your essays, quiz on the events leading to the Revolution and your last current events to hand back. Since the class operates on a point system you don’t have to fool with figuring out certain weights for tests, essays or homework. The checks are “money in the bank” and can be used to increase your raw score. If you have checks or check pluses for all of your assignments you can earn extra credit.

Our taxation question

While talking about “no taxation without representation” I asked what location in the United States is still taxed with out representation. What citizens pay taxes but do not have Senators or Representatives in Congress? Do you want to think about it? Do you want to look it up?