Glitz, Glamour, and Governance

This was a week of great excitement. On Sunday, the Oscars were announced amidst great glamour and pageantry. On Tuesday, President Obama appeared before a Joint Session of Congress to announce an ambitious program to bring America out of its current recession and address critical needs in health, education and the environment. The week ended with the President announcing American combat troops would be out of Iraq by August 2010. As I have reminded you on several occasions, watching the evening news will give you a quick snapshot of these key events and make your class work more enjoyable and understandable.

20th Century America and Globalization/CWI/Comparative Government

This week we started our study of World War II. It was great hearing from so many students who had personal family stories to tell about this conflict. These oral histories really make what can seem a distant event come alive for all of us. Check with family and friends...they may have interesting tales to tell!

We read about the multiple causes of the war. Congratulations to so many of you who earned perfect scores on the “quiz.” We then read primary source material on the question of neutrality versus involvement in the war. It was not until the US was directly attacked at Pearl Harbor that the country entered the war with a total commitment. After watching a clip from “Tora! Tora! Tora!” I hope you have a better understanding of a “date that will live in infamy.” Your homework assignment asked you to interview two people about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan on the question of involvement or withdrawal. These are age-old questions that are still with us today.

While our text only spends a few pages on the “Military Struggle,” we are spending time using our Pacific map assignment and the ordering of key events from 1941 through 1945 to better understand the conflicts in Europe and the South Pacific. When a President commits a country to war, the citizens must have a clear idea of why we are fighting. President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech outlined his vision for the world community. We used Norman Rockwell’s famous illustrations of those freedoms to better understand why the US was committed to this war.

AP European History

This week you completed Chapter 25...only 6 more chapters to go before we start our two week review period. I hope you are keeping your bold to bold notes and study guides organized as they will be the basis for our review.

This weekend you are reading primary source documents on “New Imperialism.” With this type of designation we know there must have been an “old” imperialism and a certain AP type question will ask you to compare and contrast the two time periods. AP testers like to ask how countries change over time and this is a great opportunity to test your ability to articulate the common elements and distinctions for these two time periods.

Make sure to use your guiding question sheet as you read the sources. What were the different motives of imperialists? How did they try to gain public support? What problems did imperialists create with the scramble for colonies? Are some of our problems today a result of this imperialistic spree?

On Monday we will have a roundtable discussion that you will lead using our guiding questions. I know all of you will want to participate. Please remember to bring your primary source books so we can cite the text.

World History

Your nationalism posters are now hanging up! Your quotes were especially impressive as you selected phrases each leader used to inspire his countrymen to unite around their common nationality. This powerful political force continues to shape history, and not always in a positive way.

Keep in mind the appearance of your poster. We have gone over how to create a neat and attractive poster. You want your poster to be effective, and appearance counts!

This week we continued our study of imperialism. You have two maps to complete and some questions based on Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden.” On Monday we will conclude our study by reading some primary source material and reviewing your worksheet on the characteristics of imperialism. We should then be ready for our final portfolio task.

Extra Credit Question:

Bring in your favorite line from President Obama’s speech to the Joint Session of Congress. Tell us why you selected that line.

He's Number One

This week is a time to take some R (rest) and R (relaxation) and I would also add another R (reflection) so we can come back to school ready to think, question and make connections. This entry is delayed as I took some R and R and visited Washington DC. It is a great city to explore and this past week the city was celebrating the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. In a recent poll of historians, Lincoln was rated our best overall President. Ford’s Theatre has reopened after renovations with new exhibits and a new series of plays highlighting key events in Lincoln’s life. The Postal Service has issued a series of new stamps commemorating Lincoln and a new penny will be in our pockets soon with new symbols from Lincoln’s life. So what do you know about our top rated President? This may be a perfect time to do some reading about Lincoln and think what you can learn from his example.

CWI/Comparative Government/20th Century America and Globalization

This past week we completed our study of the Great Depression and the New Deal. Your final assessment asked you to respond to two open ended questions. Some of you have been given the opportunity to revise so please make sure you are ready to hand in your revisions the first day back from our break. Our last assignment for the unit looked at the critics of the New Deal. Today we are also hearing from critics of the Obama Stimulus Package as some believe the package is too big while others say it is too small and will not have much impact. Time will tell!

We will continue to do current events this semester and I urge you to watch one of the national evening newscasts. You will be amazed at how much easier it is to keep up on key issues and events if you watch on a regular basis. The news will give you much needed background knowledge which will encourage you to make connections to what we are studying.

On your return from our break we will start looking at the causes of World War II.

AP European History

On Monday we will learn about the unification of Italy and Germany using group presentations. After the presentations we will compare and contrast these two unification movements. This will be good practice for the exam as compare and contrast questions are typical AP style questions.

The exam on Chapter 25 will be on February 25. Your study guide and bold to bold notes are due the same day.

World History

Last week we finished the first of two tasks in World History. Your “Man vs. Machine” task asked you to develop a thesis based on your prior knowledge and two primary source documents. Our second and final task will also be a response to informational text and it will be based on our study of Imperialism. When you return from break we will be reading from multiple sources to get a more complete understanding of Imperialism from different perspectives.

This is a friendly reminder that your Nationalism posters are due on Monday.

Extra Credit:

Bring in your favorite quote from Lincoln to share with the class.

Are We Reliving History?

This week we watched our country slip further into a recession as over 598,000 jobs were lost in January and our national unemployment rate reached 7.6%, the highest in 16 years. On ABC News with Charlie Gibson, Rhode Island and Michigan were featured as the two states with the highest unemployment, both over 10%.

As of this morning, the papers are reporting that the Senate has come to an agreement on an $780 billion Economic Stimulus Package that would combine tax cuts with increased spending for building projects. Once the bill is passed, the Senate and House members must meet on a compromise bill as the House passed version is not the same as the Senate version. Many Congressional observers write about the slow and lumbering process of getting a bill passed into law but this less then speedy system allows both the majority and minority voices to be heard.

Let me remind you that you should be watching the news each evening to keep on top of the latest developments here and abroad. The news will provide you with background knowledge that you will be able to draw upon for many of your areas of study. It will allow you to better understand what is happening in the world and how you fit into the progression of events.

AP European History

Your power points showed good teamwork and a depth of understanding of the key points of our chapter on “Life in the Emerging Urban Society.” Keep in mind that in order to earn all of your points you need to pay close attention to all of the requirements. Some of the handouts did not include the primary source as required and a copy of the slides for your classmates. If you have their emails, you may want to pass along a copy of the slides so they have access to all of the information for the test on Tuesday.

Speaking of the test...40 multiple choice and one free response (you will have four to select from). Your bold to bold notes will also be due that day.

CWI/Comparative Government/20th Century America and Globalization

As many of you know, the former requirement for US II has been eliminated from our course of study and the CWI course has become the Junior year requirement. In order to insure all our MHS students graduate with key concepts from USII we have modified the CWI/Comparative Government course to include some of those key units. We will also be including a unit on Comparative Governments. This will now be considered a year long course so your exam that you took in January will be considered a mid-year.

This week we saw how music and photos can help us better understand historical events. Listening to “Brother Can You Spare a Dime,” you could hear the despair in the voice of the singer, lamenting that after all he had done for this country he was now standing in a bread line. The photo assignment gave you the opportunity to explore the many faces from the Depression and how young and old were subjected to the same realities of unemployment, lack of housing and desperation. We will be contrasting this feeling with the election of President Roosevelt and his upbeat manner and sense of confidence. His campaign song “Happy Days are Here Again” will elicit a much different response than the “Brother...” song. Stay tuned.

Some of you struggled with the Stock Analysis sheet. Your assignment asked you to figure out the cost of stocks at their high point and their low point. By subtracting the difference, and figuring out your repayment of the loan to purchase the stock, you quickly realized that you were deeply in debt. We then figured out a similar scenario as we looked at current stocks and what you might have lost if you bought at their highs and had to sell at their lows.

We will continue using current events to help us understand some key economic concepts. Your next current event is due February 12 and it must be about the economy. It is important to keep up with the current event assignments as they are an efficient way to earn lots of points. At this stage of the course you should be earning perfect scores if you follow the rubric.

Next week we will continue to look at how families coped with reduced income and changed their lifestyles to balance the family budget. The budget reductions individual families made affected the entire community and led to further declines in economic activity. The major thrust of the Obama economic stimulus package is to increase government spending. Building roads and bridges, renovating schools, increasing mass transit options and improving our electric grid are all activities that are needed to improve our infrastructure and a means to put people back to work. Families who receive paychecks from the jobs created will then have more money to spend, which in turn will help the entire economy. Tax cuts will also put more money into the hands of consumers, adding to the stimulus.

World History

This past week you worked on your first portfolio task. You were asked to do two document analysis sheets and then respond to a prompt on the industrial revolution using your prior knowledge and the two documents. You will have time next week to finish your task.

We have also started a brief unit on Nationalism and will focus on the unification of Italy and Germany. Next week we will go to the library where you can work on a project constructing a “campaign” style poster for one of the major figurers from this time period.