I apologize for the tardiness of the post, but here goes...
Frosh. Seminar:
We continued more of the same this past week... we worked on more vocabulary strategies to help the students study for their toughest classes. A lot of our freshmen seem to be struggling with biology, so please encourage your student to use these vocab. strategies to study in that class. We again worked on math concepts on Monday and the students were given ample time to read for their AR points. The students check their grades weekly on Infinite Campus in this class so there shouldn't be any surprises. We make them record the letter grade and the percentage so they can track change over time and then reflect on why their grade has changed either for the negative or the positive.
US History:
We are off and running in our Western Expansion/American Imperialism Unit. This past week we started by looking at the Lewis and Clark Expedition and talked about its role in sparking Western Expansion. We looked at the influences of Thomas Jefferson and his view of an ideal America and how that image drew Americans to the frontier as they searched for "open lands". We also discussed (and will continue to discuss) the tragic consequences of Western Expansion on Native Americans. We wrapped up the week looking at a the Presidency of Andrew Jackson. We watched a film entitled Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil and the Presidency. More specifically we watched the sections entitled "The First Imperial President", "The Great White Father", "Defender of the Union", and "The Prophet". These sections deal with Jackson's Indian removal policy (and its subsequent removal of the Cherokee to Oklahoma via the Trail of Tears), the nullification crisis with South Carolina, his expansion of executive power, and finally his war with the Second Bank of the United States and corporations.
American Government:
This past week we wrapped up our look at Chapter 3 which is a very structural look at the Constitution. We will get into more application of the Constitution in the upcoming chapters and units. Wednesday the students had a quiz on Chapter 3. We also began looking at American Federalism this week and began discussing how the Federal Government balances its powers with State Governments. Friday we had our first Seminar which is an opportunity for the kids to share their opinions on certain topics related to government. This weeks topic was addressing the question, "When should government intervene?" The students were given ten hypothetical situations to consider if government intervention was apporpriate. After looking at the ten situations they chose one to write a position paper on. Next week will will continue our look at American Federalism. Friday of next week they will have a quiz on Chapter 4 and Tuesday the 26th they will have a Unit test covering Chapters 1-4.
Parents Homework:
Frosh:The first nine weeks is coming to a quick close. please continue to encourage your students to work diligently in 1st period.
US:
If you are interested in the presidency of Andrew Jackson I would recommend American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by John Meacham. For those of you interested in American Imperialism I would recommend Habits of Empire: A History of American Expansion by Walter Nugent. Please continue to encourage your students to READ carefully and diligently. Many of them have not been reading carefully and have missed some easy questions on some of the assignments.
Gov.:
America's Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar is a very interesting analysis of the Constitution point by point. American Federalism: A View from the States by Daniel Elazar is an important analysis of this topic. It is a little harder to come by now, but worth the effort. Please encourage your students to READ and be diligent in their work. Remind them about their service hours (the election is coming very soon) and their semester book project.
