Dear Mr. President

Rhode Island remained in the national news this week as the firing of the teachers at Central Falls High School received praise from some and condemnation from others. The Rhode Island Congressional delegation met with the teachers and the superintendent and after much discussion announced that the parties would meet again to develop a corrective action plan for the school. Let’s hope that all interested parties can work together to make improvement a possibility. Now I wonder how the students will react to the new plan. Will they be part of the planning process? And will the scores go up? Should the quality of an education be based on test scores? Questions to ponder...

CWI/Modern America:

Dear Mr. President

We finished our study of The New Deal and for our final assessment from this era we are writing a letter to the President. You watched a video on how mail is handled in the White House and we read an excerpt from “FDR: The First Hundred Days” by Anthony Badger that spoke about the importance of letters in shaping how FDR viewed his role as President. Your letter is due on March 8. The letters will be collected on Monday and sent to the President. It will be interesting to see what type of response we receive. Keep in mind that you must have your MHS email account set up to complete this assignment as an email address must be on your hard copy letter, per White House rules. Follow the rubric and you should earn a high grade.

World War II

We also started our World War II partner projects this week. By now you should have developed an open ended question and had your project approved. Your rubric clearly outlines what is expected. Mrs. O’Donnell worked with you on how to use the Acrobat Web site that will allow you to collaborate with your partner. You will have March 8 and 11 in the computer lab and the final project is due March 15. Your project needs to be emailed to asullivan@mpsri.net by midnight on March 15. As the rubric indicates, please put your class period on the subject line. As we get closer to the due date, we will review the oral presentation rubric.

There will be no assigned book homework while you are working on your WW II projects. In class, you are expected to use your time wisely so you can complete the readings, section reviews and other activities. Please be prepared for quizzes.

We finished Chapter 24, section 1 on the events leading up to the entry of the United States into the war. We watched a brief video on America’s isolationism at the start of the war. FDR did not want to commit US troops to the war but he was more than willing to “lend” or “lease” war equipment to the Allies. It was only after the war reached US territory with the bombing of Pearl Harbor that the US formally declared war on Japan. Shortly afterwards Germany declared war on the US in support of its ally Japan. We also watched a brief clip on America’s entry into the war and its impact on the home front. Food was rationed, oil and rubber was scarce, and people from all walks of life bought war bonds to help finance the conflict. It makes me wonder what we are doing today on the home front to aid our troops in the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

World History

This week we immersed ourselves in the early events of World War I. While most countries involved in the conflict felt that the war would be a short one, after a brutal year of fighting with little progress to show on either side, it became apparent that this would be a long and bloody conflict. The new and “improved” equipment that was developed to fight the war brought on increased destruction. Machine guns that could fire rapidly mowed down scores of soldiers at a time, poison gas that was invisible and difficult to detect burned the lungs of hundreds, and armored tanks were used to invade the best fortified sites. Our quiz on Thursday clearly demonstrated that you understand the causes of the conflict. Great job!

We started watching “All Quiet on the Western Front” based on the novel by Erich Remarque. You brought in background information on the author that allowed us to better understand the movie. Remarque, a veteran of WW I, brings a hard realism to his descriptions of the everyday events that these soldiers, or young men, endured. This is in contrast to the idealistic thoughts expressed by his teacher and proud parents back home. At the end of the movie, you will have a brief writing assignment.

For those of you who would like to see the war from a female perspective, I would recommend the movie “A Very Long Engagement.” It tells the story of five men who were court-martialed and sentenced to walk through No Man’s Land. One of the men was engaged, and it is his fiancé who discovers this story and attempts to find out what actually happened to the men.

And the winner is!

There was a brief blurb in the Business section of The New York Times on the highest grossing films, and while Avatar is number one for 2010, the “Oscar” for overall highest grossing film goes to………“Gone With the Wind.” While the dollar amount is lower, once it is adjusted for inflation, this film comes in number one. Our power point on The Legacy of the New Deal featured the movie poster from this movie. You might want to consider reading the book this summer!