Good News!

Let’s start off with the good news: Frostee Freeze is now open for the season…summer must be right around the corner, national unemployment numbers have dropped to 8.8%, baseball season has opened, and the escaped cobra from the Bronx Zoo has been safely returned to its cage!

This week we did our technology task by using Voicethread to collaborate and communicate. You were asked to select one World War II poster and write an analysis using your poster analysis sheet. We were looking at color, font, word choice, and visual images to decide if the poster was propaganda or persuasion. After posting your analysis you were also required to offer a substantive comment on another poster. You can check out the class project by going to this link. Great job…all who did the task met standard! The task is now in TieNet so you must upload your word document to your portfolio so it can be scored.

We finished our study of World War II by looking at the role of women. We read interviews of women whose lives changed during the war as they became more independent and confident. Many women worked outside of the home for the first time and found that they enjoyed this new sense of freedom. It was difficult going back to the old ways when the men returned and they were expected to give up their jobs.

We also looked at the Japanese Internment experience. Because of fear and prejudice, the government, under the direction of President Roosevelt, put Japanese Americans into detention camps. Even though these people were American citizens, the Supreme Court ruled that in times of war a person’s civil liberties can be curtailed. This was difficult to understand when some of the most effective combat troops in World War II were made up of Japanese American volunteers. In 1988 the United States government took responsibility for this grave injustice and awarded each family $20,000 in reparation payments. We watched a video clip that showed how fear in the United States today is curtailing the rights of many Arab Americans. We must be ever vigilante, especially in times of war that we do not give up so much of our personal freedoms that we give up what being an American is all about.

We moved into our study of the Cold War by reading a selection from another text on “The Search for Security.” America came out of World War II the most powerful nation in the world. We had an increase in per capita income, industrial productivity, a trained work force and a higher standard of living than any other country. But Americans soon became consumed with the Red Scare…how to stop the spread of Communism, a way of life that we saw as a direct threat against our capitalist system. The world soon broke into two camps: the democratic west and the countries led by the Soviet Union that became communist. To start the unit, we looked at some of the key vocabulary that helps tell the story of this time period. You are expected to keep working on the vocabulary sheet throughout the unit. During your final assessment there will be an opportunity for you to use the vocabulary to help explain the Cold War. We also looked at a power point (thank you Mr. Young) that gave us additional background on the events of 1945-53.

For homework, you need to finish reading Chapter 26 section and be prepared for a quiz. You also have a current event due on April 8. It may be an international or national article. We are looking for the big stories…what appears on the front page of the paper.

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences

Time has been set aside on April 11 from 4-6 for conferences. If you are struggling, please see me for a time slot. There is no reason why you can't be successful in this class.