Time for a Break

And now some time for rest, relaxation, and reflection. We have an entire week ahead of us to celebrate President’s Day, catch up on sleep, and perhaps read a good book. Take the time to do whatever you find most restful so upon your return you are ready to delve into our next units. While there is no formal homework over the break, I just know you will be watching the news and keeping up with the outside world!

Rhode Island was featured on the news last night with the announcement by our Congressman Patrick Kennedy that he will not be running for reelection. For the past 64 years, a Kennedy has served in Congress, so with his retirement (at age 42) Congress will be without a member of the Kennedy family. They have a long and distinguished history of public service and I am sure he will continue a life of service in his next venture.

CWI

This week we watched excerpts from the PBS video “The Crash of 1929” that helped us better understand the irrational exuberance of the stock market and the ultimate crash. The nation was faced with high unemployment, a sluggish economy, and families driven into destitution. President Hoover believed that the situation would ultimately correct itself and urged banks and companies to participate in voluntary programs that would aid the economy. In the election of 1932, America had a clear choice between Hoover and his voluntary approach and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s approach that called for massive government intervention, which he called The New Deal. The citizens spoke clearly and elected FDR in a landslide.

Even the music of the time helped us better understand the mood of the country as we listened to the somber lyrics of “Brother Can you Spare a Dime” and contrasted that with FDR’s campaign theme song “Happy Days are Here Again.” As you read more about FDR you will see that he was a master at communicating concern and compassion, but also confidence, to the American people. We want to believe that better days are ahead and FDR was the country’s number one cheerleader. If you are a fan of Broadway shows, you may recall that “Annie” has a famous scene with the little red-haired orphan singing “The sun will come out tomorrow” to FDR and Mrs. Roosevelt.

We also reenacted the decisions families had to make during the Depression on how they would try to increase their income and cut down on their spending. We quickly discovered that a family’s spending helps provide someone else’s income, while tightening our belts actually hurts the community. During tough times we want to protect ourselves from the unknown but cutting back too far on spending slows the recovery. All you have to do to see this effect is to drive down Thames Street in Newport and look at the empty shop windows. Small business has been especially hurt during today’s rough economic times.

We had our final assessment on Thursday. All of the questions came from our class activities so I expect some excellent grades. After the assessment you were given the New Deal chart that will allow you to organize information about the programs FDR and Congress implemented to improve the economy. Be on the lookout while you are watching the news or reading the on-line papers for the programs President Obama and Congress are working on to put people back to work. Our reading from The Newport Daily News spoke directly to the similarities of the 1930’s and today.

Finally, we talked about how you can become a millionaire by regularly saving small amounts of money over time. If you decide to go into the stock market, the historical charts show that over time the market goes up. Since you have well over 50 years before you may retire, time is on your side. So start saving today and by the time you are ready to retire you will be a millionaire!

World History

This week we finished our activities on Imperialism. You handed in your maps of Africa and Asia. We watched a video on the Europeans’ scramble for territory in Africa and we practiced document analysis on the impact of imperialism on India and Great Britain. On Friday you were given the documents for the task and had time to mark them up and start thinking about how you want to respond to the prompt. When you return from the break you will be given one day to write your essay. Be sure to follow the rubric as that is how the essay will be scored. You must meet standard on all the starred items to have the essay entered into your graduation portfolio.

A break for the blog

Next Saturday there will not be a posting...I am off for some R and R...including reading “FDR: The First Hundred Days” by Anthony Badger and “The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope” by Jonathan Alter. I look forward to sharing their insights with you when we return. Have a safe and restful break!