A Time for R and R

The top headlines this week focused on the Icelandic volcanic ash which has shut down European air travel for the past three days and is beginning to have an enormous economic impact. This has been the worst disruption in air travel since 9/11/2001 when all air travel was halted for three days, and no one can predict how long the eruption of last or how far-reaching its effects may be. Government officials are concerned that this microscopic ash will also have a pronounced impact on the health of people if it starts falling from the upper atmosphere.

At home, much has been written about Goldman Sachs and the charges that the bank defrauded its customers who purchased investments tied to risky mortgages. It is the first major case brought against a bank. At the same time, Congress is in the process of rewriting legislation that will reign in banks’ efforts to trade in risky investments. While these investments were lucrative for the banks, it exposed their share holders to unneeded risk.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has set up shop at the Middletown police station. Any of you who were impacted by the flood waters should go to speak to the representatives of FEMA and learn about help that is available. Your tax dollars are coming back to help our community dry off and repair flooded basements.

World History

This week we continued our study of World War II. This war affected almost all nations and was the most costly ever in human lives and physical destruction. Using our packets to guide our reading, we spent time organizing information on the board. We looked at key areas of conflict and discussed how entire nations mobilized. We also asked how – or if – our nation today has mobilized for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As your culminating project for this unit you will be preparing and presenting a power point project on May 3. We spent one day in the lab where you activated your email accounts and signed up for Acrobat. This web site will be a useful tool as you work with your partner. Make sure to read the rubric carefully. You will have two more days in the lab (April 26 and April 28). Your project must be emailed to me at asullivan@mpsri.net by Sunday May 2 at 11:00 pm. This is a fun project…you picked the topic…you picked your partner…you have ample time at school and you need to put the finishing touches on it at home. We will do the presentations on May 3. Think of this as practice for Capstone in your Junior year.

CWI/Modern America

We continued with our study of the Civil Rights Movement as we prepare to take our final task on April 28-30. The task requires you to analyze documents (we have had lots of practice) and to respond to a prompt using documents and prior knowledge. All of our class work has focused on building prior knowledge that you can use for the task. You have a syllabus so the assignments are clearly outlined.

We supplemented out text reading with primary sources from Governor George Wallace (against integration) and an excerpt from Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (for integration). Our video “A Time for Justice” gave us a good overview of the movement from the late 1950s up to the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. The photos and commentary allowed you to enter into the time period and think what it must have been like for the African Americans who were subjected to humiliations and for the white people who were not used to this new idea of equality and integration. Government officials struggled with how to keep peace while protecting the rights of the citizens.

We want to thank Mrs. O’Donnell for the moving power point on the Civil Rights Movement. The music along with the pictures gave us a sense of how over time Americans were able to change their attitudes and eventually elect Barrack Obama President in 2008. Progress and Hope!

Many of you were out as vacation time approached so make sure you check the syllabus for work you missed. On Friday we put our chart on the board and read aloud “The Lasting Impact of Nonviolent Confrontation” on page 808.
When you return from vacation, we will watch a portion of “Eyes on the Prize,” an award winning documentary on the Civil Rights Movement. We will also have a quiz on April 27 which will focus on key ideas from our readings. On April 28 and 29 we will do the document analysis portion of the task. Your analysis should take less than one class period so you will have time to outline your essay. You will have one day to write in the computer lab on April 30.

If you are looking for things to do over the break, I would recommend reading or watching “Roots” by Alex Hayley. The book was published in 1976 and the following year it was made into a miniseries. The story follows Kunta Kinte, an African who is captured in 1767 and brought to the colonies to be a slave. The story continues with the stories of the generations that followed. Hayley based his novel on his own family history.

If you are interested in a more modern rendering of the Civil Rights Movement you could pick up Kathryn Stockett’s book, “The Help.” It is a top seller and a captivating and engrossing tale of a young white woman who wants to become a writer and decides to tell the story of the African American women who acted as the help for white southern families in the early 1960s.

Our day of silence on Friday, sponsored by the Gay Straight Alliance, reminded us that not all people in our country have equal rights. This was a powerful statement of silence when we had so many students participating in this day of awareness. Thank you GSA for reminding us that civil rights have not yet been extended to all groups.

Congratulations Athlete of the Week

Great job JF...may I have your autograph?

Congratulations to the Woods Family

Dr. Gordon Wood from Brown University and his daughter Dr. Amy Wood, an assistant professor at Illinois State University, have both been nominated for the Los Angeles Times’ book prize in history. Dr. G. Wood’s book “Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic 1789-1815” has already won the American History Book Prize by the New York Historical Society. I was fortunate to have Dr. Gordon Wood as a professor for a Gilder-Lehrman Seminar in the summer of 2007. He is a great story teller of early American history and makes the struggles and people of the early formation of our country come alive. Dr. Amy Wood’s book “Lynching and Spectacle: Witnessing Racial Violence in America 1890-1940” is her first book. Dr. Amy Wood grew up in Barrington and did not set out to be an historian. The Providence Journal featured Gordon and Amy Wood in the Sunday Arts and Travel section.

Please note:
The next posting is scheduled for May 1.