The Count Down

This has been a hectic week for us as we juggled NECAP testing, classes, sporting events, the blood drive and our Junior Prom. Congratulations to all of you who put in the effort to do well on your testing. MHS was recently featured in a ProJo based web site as the 9th best high school in Rhode Island. While the rankings took into account many considerations, state testing was a key component. Your hard work helped MHS make the top 10!

By the time you read this, I hope the Junior Prom is a happy memory! Pictures on Monday?

It was a surprise to see ABC World News lead off with a story on new history standards that are being proposed for Texas. Texas and California drive the content of history books as they are the biggest customers for book companies. A good example of supply and demand...if Texas wants a more conservative interpretation of history, book publishers will produce those books. When Middletown begins looking at new texts, our selection will be limited to those that appeal to the big customers. After seeing the new Apple tablet, I am wondering if our days of individual textbooks are on the wane as we look to new internet technology to deliver readings. What is your vote: traditional textbook or on line text?

Intra-term grades were due this week. If you are meeting standard, congratulations and keep up the good work as we wind down...if you are below standard, put a corrective action plan in place immediately...take a more serious approach to your studies, get extra help, outline sections of the text, hand in all your work on time...there are many ways to improve your grade.

World History

This week we looked at the fall of the USSR. In your groups, we developed reasons for the fall and used categories as well as leaders to help group the causes. We also did a timeline so we could see the progression of key events. For homework, you are writing an obituary of the USSR. You have a template that gives you key questions to answer in the obituary. You can also go on line and read samples of obituaries as you prepare to write. Who were the founders of the USSR? What were some of its key accomplishments? How should the USSR be remembered?

You also have your current event on Russia due next week.

This week you also had your quiz on Western Europe after the Cold War. There were lots of high scores. Keep up the good work!

CWI/Modern America

This week we completed our study of JFK and his brief presidency of 1000 days. While he served a short time, his memory is seared into the minds of those who lived during his term of office. We read an excerpt from William Manchester’s best selling text “The Death of a President” and watched a slide show on the assassination. A book has come out recently, “Letters to Jackie,” that features the over 1 million condolence letters and cards received by the young widow. Please talk with family that lived through this time to get a better appreciation of what the country experienced.

We moved on to 1968, which your textbook describes as “a crisis filled year of assassinations, antiwar protests, and violence which polarized the country.” Our slide show from this year highlighted the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy and the 1968 election. You are responsible for reading the text, including the special section “A Turning Point in History.” You will have a quiz on this section next week. The section ends with the election of Richard Nixon, the same man who lost to JFK by a mere 120,000 votes and came back 8 years later to win the presidency by a narrow margin. As we begin our study of Nixon, keep in mind he is the only president who has resigned from office.

Our final project of the year will be power point group projects focused on Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush senior and junior, and Clinton. This will be an opportunity to show your creative side as we look at challenges and accomplishments of the presidents but also at music, movies and TV of the period. You will have two days in the library or computer lab to work on the project and some time at home. We will have to work around your Capstone presentations that are fast approaching.