FROSH SEMINAR: This past week was more of the same. We worked on a series of different note taking strategies along with more vocabulary study skills. The students also had significant amounts of time periodically throughout the week to work on assignments from their other classes.
GOVERNMENT: Monday of this past week we finished a lecture on the ratification debates that took place after the draft of the Constitution was submitted to the states for ratification. We spent time analyzing the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-federalists. The students were assigned roles of either Federalists or Anti-federalists and were also given a specific topic to defend in an in class debate. Wednesday we began looking at the six principles that serve as the foundation for our Constitution. Thursday the students were placed in groups and given a section of the Constitution to explain to their classmates. The students will be producing films like those produced by the talented folks at www.commoncraft.com
US HISTORY: This past week we took a very brief look at the presidencies of the first four presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison). We did a more detailed comparison of the ideas and thoughts associated with Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. We worked on some primary source document skills using the acronym APPARTS. The students were also introduced to the idea and concept of DBQs or document based questions. This form of assessment will be used in the near future. We concluded the week by beginning to look at the War of 1812.
PARENTS HOMEWORK:
- Frosh Seminar: Please continue to encourage your students to work diligently in 1st period and to be prepared everyday with their AR book.
- Govt.: Please remind your students to work on completing both their service hours and their semester book project.
- US History: Please encourage your students to read diligently and with purpose. Also, they need to make better use of class time when they are given time in class to begin working on homework.
