Thursday - 12/21/2017

What We Did Today
We continued working on our political cartoons.

Homework
Mr. L(yskawa)'s class: will finish tomorrow.
Mr. L(aFramboise)'s class: If you didn't finish in class, bring it in after break.

Discussion Starters
Political cartoon.

Wednesday - 12/20/2017

What We Did Today
We began working on our political cartoons about Andrew Jackson as president.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Tell me about your ideas for your political cartoon.

Tuesday - 12/19/2017

What We Did Today
We learned about "Indian Removal".

Homework
Make sure all your work from Ch. 10 is complete, including the note-taking sheet.

Discussion Starters
"Indian removal"; Andrew Jackson: Good/Bad president?

Monday - 12/18/2017

What We Did Today
We read and took notes about Jackson's administration.


Homework
None, though make sure you're caught up with the Section Assessments from p. 324 and p. 331.

Discussion Starters
Andrew Jackson: Good Prez or Bad Prez.

Friday - 12/15/2017

What We Did Today
We started taking notes and answering questions about Andrew Jackson.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Andrew Jackson.

Wednesday - 12/13/2017

A Norup student ponders a question on today's assessment.

What We Did Today
We took an assessment.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
How'd the assessment go?

Monday - 12/11/2017

What We Did Today
We turned in all our work from the past two weeks, then reviewed and studied for our assessment on Wednesday.

Homework
Use the Study Guide to prepare for Wednesday's assessment.

Discussion Starters
Study guide; assessment on Wednesday; did you follow this link?

Friday - 12/08/2017

What We Did Today
We got caught up on all of our work from the past two weeks.

Homework
Be sure to have all your work done; it will be checked-in on Monday.  See checklist below

Discussion Starters
America: the Story of Us

Make sure you have all of the following complete:

• Section assessments: 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4; 9.1, 9.2, 9.3
• Guided Reading worksheets: 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, Ch. 8 review, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, Ch. 9 review

Wednesday - 12/06/2017

What We Did Today
We read about developments in American culture in the early- to mid-1800s.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Art and literature; religion and music; education.

Tuesday - 12/05/2017

What We Did Today
We learned about sectionalism and nationalism in the early 1800s.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Sectionalism; nationalism; Missouri Compromise.

Friday - 12/01/2017

What We Did Today
We finished up any unfinished work from the week, then completed some review work.

Homework
Finish the section review from your book (pp. 291-293) if you didn't finish in class.  (Don't do #12 on p. 292.)

Discussion Starters
Jefferson as president.

Thursday - 11/30/2017

What We Did Today
We learned about the War of 1812.

Homework
Finish any incomplete work at home.

Discussion Starters
War of 1812.

Wednesday - 11/29/2017

What We Did Today
We explored the challenges that led up to the War of 1812.

Homework
Finish anything you didn't finish in today's class.

Discussion Starters
Foreign and domestic challenges that led up to the War of 1812.

Tuesday - 11/28/2017

What We Did Today
We explored the Louisiana Purchase.

Homework
Finish any work you did not in class.

Discussion Starters
Louisiana Purchase.

Monday - 11/27/2017

What We Did Today
We worked in our textbooks on Ch. 8, Section 1.

Homework
Complete the section 1 part of the packet if you did not finish it in class.

Discussion Starters
Jefferson as president; inaugural address; Marbury v. Madison.

Tuesday - 11/21/2017

What We Did Today
We continued the National Geographic Bee.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Geo Bee.

Monday - 11/20/2017

What We Did Today
We participated in the National Geographic Bee.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Geo Bee.

Friday - 11/17/2017

What We Did Today
We reviewed our GLCE notetakers and watched some video.

Homework
None, unless you are missing work.

Discussion Starters
Study guide; video.

Thursday - 11/16/2017

What We Did Today
We finished our GLCE notetakers.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Washington's farewell address; America's developing relationships with other countries as the result of treaties; early political parties in America; judicial review.

Wednesday - 11/15/2017

What We Did Today
We continued working on our GLCE notetakers.

Homework
None, though some students still need to finish both their Terms & Names and their writing homework.

Discussion Starters
Washington's farewell address; treaties in early America; early American political parties; judicial review.

Monday - 11/13/2017

What We Did Today
Mr. L's class started the new GLCE packet, while Mr. L's class finished planning their argument essays.

Homework
Mr. L(a Framboise)'s classes need to have one supporting paragraph and their rebuttal paragraph completed by the beginning of class on Wednesday.

Discussion Starters
GLCEs; argument essay.

Friday - 11/10/2017

Abigail Adams

What We Did Today
We continued analyzing our two documents in our investigation of our historical controversy (Shays and his followers: Rebels or freedom fighters?).

Homework
Terms & Names are due on Monday for all students.  Mr. Lyskawa assigned some writing for the weekend which is also due on Monday.

Discussion Starters
Rebels or freedom fighters?  Why should Gray be trusted/doubted? Why should Adams be trusted/doubted?

Thursday - 11/09/2017

Daniel Shays: rebel or freedom fighter?

What We Did Today
We continued investigating our second historical controversy (Were Shays and his followers rebels or freedom fighters?).

Homework
Finish your Terms & Names for Monday.

Discussion Starters
Gray speech; Adams letter; rebels or freedom fighters?

Wednesday - 11/08/2017

What We Did Today
We kicked-off our second investigation into a historical controversy: Were Shays and his followers rebels or freedom fighters?

Homework
Finish the Terms & Names sheet for our upcoming unit, "Challenges to an Emerging Nation" by Monday, November 13th.

Discussion Starters
Was there ever a time when you thought you were doing the right thing but others thought it was wrong?

Monday - 11/06/2017

What We Did Today
We presented our projects to our classmates.  Some classes had time to watch CNN10.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Election day; presentations.

Thursday - 11/02/2017

What We Did Today
We continued working on our mini-projects.

Homework
Finish your mini-projects by Monday, November 6.

Discussion Starters
Tell me about your project; what's your 'golden nugget' you will teach to the class?

Wednesday - 11/01/2017

A group works on their presentation in class

What We Did Today
We worked in small groups on our project.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Who is in your group? What is the focus of your presentation? How are you going to express your learning?

Tuesday - 10/31/2017

What We Did Today

Mr. L                                    Mr. L

We went over yesterday's assessment, then learned about our end-of-the-marking-period project.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
How'd you do on your assessments? What was different about Mr. L/Mr. L today?

Monday - 10/30/2017

What We Did Today
We took an assessment.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
How'd the assessment go?

Friday - 10/27/2017

What We Did Today
We reviewed and studied for our assessment on Monday.

Homework
Study for Monday's assessment.  You can download the study guide for the assessment by clicking on this sentence.

Discussion Starters
Federalists/Antifederalists; ratification of the Constitution; Bill of Rights; Social Contract; John Locke; Common Sense.

Thursday - 10/26/2017

John Locke

What We Did Today
We reviewed GLCEs 7 and 8 in preparation for Monday's assessment.  Our scores from last week's assessment are now in the gradebook (so we can check them on Skyward).  Anything less than a 70% requires further learning and reassessment.

Homework
None, though you may start studying for Monday's assessment.

Discussion Starters
Social contract/compact.

Wednesday - 10/25/2017

What We Did Today
We explored core values embodied in the Constitution, as well as examined the philosophical origins of the Constitution.

Homework
Finish note-takers 7 and 8 for tomorrow.

Discussion Starters
Values embodied in the Constitution; John Locke; Common Sense.

Tuesday - 10/24/2017

What We Did Today
We continued taking notes on Federalists/Antifederalists, as well as notes on the first ten amendments to the Constitution (a.k.a., the Bill of Rights).

Homework
Finish up notes on notetakers 5 & 6; they will be checked-in tomorrow.

Discussion Starters
How do the perspectives of Federalists and Antifederalists differ regarding the Constitution?  What are some basic freedoms protected in the Bill of Rights?  How is a fear of a strong central government reflected in the Bill of Rights?

Monday - 10/23/2017

What We Did Today
We began exploring the process of ratifying the Constitution, including the perspectives of Federalists and Antifederalists.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Federalists; Antifederalists; ratification.

Friday - 10/20/2017

What We Did Today
We go back our written essays from last week, watched CNN10, discussed current events, and watched some America: the Story of Us.  We also had the Fun Run (6th hr).

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
How'd you do on your essay questions?  Are you going to study to bring up your grade?

Tuesday - 10/17/2017

What We Did Today
We studied for tomorrow's assessment.

Homework
Get ready for tomorrow's assessment.

Discussion Starters
Tomorrow's assessment.

Monday - 10/16/2017

What We Did Today
We checked-in homework, then went over answers that should be in the note-taking guide.  We ended class by studying for Wednesday's assessment.

Homework
Begin studying for Wednesday's assessment, using this study guide for issues and resolutions at the Constitutional Convention.

Discussion Starters
Issues debated at the Constitutional Convention; how did they resolve those issues?

Friday - 10/13/2017

What We Did Today
We continued taking notes on the Constitutional Convention; we also continued watching some of America: The Story of Us.

Homework
Make sure you have notetakers 3 and 4 finished by Monday, October 16th.

Discussion Starters
Issues debated and resolved at the Constitutional Convention.

Thursday - 10/12/2017

What We Did Today
We continued exploring issues and resolutions at the Constitutional Convention.  We also watched a portion of America: A History of Us.

Homework
You can work on your notetakers if you like, but you will have time in class tomorrow to work on them.

Discussion Starters
What were some of the key issues debated at the Constitutional Convention?

Wednesday - 10/11/2017

What We Did Today
We started exploring issues and resolutions of the Constitutional Convention.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
What issues were debated at the Constitution Convention? How were those issues resolved?

Tuesday - 10/10/2017

What We Did Today
We assessed our work from yesterday to see what we need to do to improve our understanding.  Students will have an opportunity to come in at lunch to work with Mr. L and other students to bring improve their learning (and grade).

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
How did you do on the assessment?  What do you need to do to bring up your score?

Monday - 10/09/2017

What We Did Today
We had an assessment.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Explain the adoption and subsequent failure of the Articles of Confederation. Identify an economic, political, and cultural issue facing the nation under the Articles of Confederation; and explain why the central government was powerless to address each issue.

Friday - 10/06/2017

What We Did Today
We reviewed in preparation for Monday's assessment.  Mr. L provided us a Study Guide and went over it to help us prepare over the weekend.

Homework
Get ready for Monday's assessment questions:

1. Explain the adoption and subsequent failure of the Articles of Confederation.
2. Identify an economic, political, and cultural issue facing the nation under the Articles of Confederation.  Explain why the central government could not resolve each issue.

Download the assessment study guide here.

Discussion Starters

See above assessment questions.

Thursday - 10/05/2017

What We Did Today
The entire 8th grade visited the University of Detroit-Mercy for most of the day.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Dry ice; robotics; small animals; design.

Wednesday - 10/04/2017

What We Did Today
We finished our first two note-takers.  We will have a review on Friday in preparation for an assessment on Monday.  Be on the lookout for a study guide on Friday!

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
What were some issues facing the nation under the Articles of Confederation?

Tuesday - 10/03/2017

What We Did Today
We continued our work exploring the reasons for the adoption and failure of the Articles of Confederation; we also began exploring the economic, political, and cultural challenges faced by the nation during the time of the Articles of Confederation.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
What were some issues faced by the nation during the time of the Articles of Confederation?

Monday - 10/02/2017

What We Did Today
Students received their first GLCE notetaker packet and started taking notes on their first expectation.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Reasons for the adoption of the Articles of Confederation; reasons for the failure of the Articles of Confederation.

Friday - 09/29/2017

What We Did Today

Students share what they like most/least about their writing.

We finished writing our essays, critiqued student sample essays using H2W ("How to Write Your Essay"), shared what we liked/disliked most about our writing, reflected (and evaluated) our writing using a Reflection Guide, turned in our work for Mr. L to read over the weekend, then watched CNN10.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Who fired the first shot? What did you like most/least about your writing? What one change did you make to your writing after you reflected upon it using the Reflection Guide?

Thursday - 09/28/2017

What We Did Today
We wrapped-up our examination of our authors' reliability, then started writing our first essay (actually, just the introduction and conclusion) to the historical question, "Who fired the first shot at Lexington Green?"

Homework
None, though you may want to finish-up your writing if you didn't get a chance to in class.

Discussion Starters
Which text do you think is more reliable/trustworthy, the Barker diary, or the Minute Men's statement? Who do you think fired the first shot?  Why?

Wednesday - 09/27/2017

What We Did Today
We continued our investigation into who fired the first shot at Lexington Green.  We have identified the authors' arguments, summarized paragraphs from each document, and are now examining the reliability of each document.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Who fired the first shot? IREAD (I, R, and E).

Tuesday - 09/26/2017

What We Did Today
We are knee-deep into our first reading-thinking-writing investigation, "Who Fired the First Shot at Lexington Green?"  We have introduced the historical controversy, and began introducing the IREAD strategy that we will be using throughout our investigations.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
"Who fired the first shot at Lexington Green"; IREAD.