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.

Wednesday - 09/20/2017

What We Did Today
We commemorated the International Day of Peace by watching and discussing "The Day After Peace."  We also decided ways that we will make peace in our homes or communities.  You can visit www.peaceoneday.org to log your Peace Day commitment.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
The Day After Peace.

Tuesday - 09/19/2017

What We Did Today
We finished working on "Road to Revolution."

Homework
None; remind your parents to come to Curriculum Night.

Discussion Starters
Road to Revolution; Curriculum Night.

Monday - 09/18/2017

What We Did Today
We finished up work on political cartoons and took notes on the events that led to the American Revolution.

Homework
None, though you can work on "The Road to Revolution" if you'd like.

Discussion Starters
How did 18th century political cartoons reflect tensions between the colonists and Great Britain? What were some of the events that led to the American Revolution?

Friday - 09/15/2017

What We Did Today
We commemorated Constitution Day.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Tell me something about the Constitution.

Thursday - 09/14/2017

Students explain political cartoons to their classmates

What We Did Today
We continued analyzing political cartoons to answer our organizing question: "How did 18th century political cartoons reflect tensions between colonists and Great Britain?"

Homework
Finish Terms & Names 01, which is due tomorrow.

Discussion Starters
How did cartoonists show problems between colonists and Great Britain?

Wednesday - 09/13/2017

What We Did Today
We started analyzing political cartoons using a see-think-wonder guide from the Library of Congress.

Homework
Finish your Terms & Names 01, which is due on Friday.  Some students may need to come to lunch on Thursday to make sure they finish on time.

Discussion Starters
Political cartoons; Terms & Names homework.

Monday - 09/11/2017

What We Did Today
Mr. L checked to see how our homework has been coming along.  Then, we watched CNN10, which kicked off a discussion and reflection about the events that occurred on 9/11/2001.  We explored a 9/11 interactive timeline to guide the discussion.

Homework
Finish your Terms & Names 01 by Friday (though we will do another check-in on our progress on Wednesday).  Try to do a little each night, and it won't be too overwhelming.  If you need to download another copy you can find Terms & Names 01 here.

Discussion Starters
Terms & Names 01; CNN10; 9/11.

Friday - 09/08/2017

What We Did Today
We finished our American History in Review sheets (we worked on these in class for most of the hour), then talked about our homework assignment.

Homework
Finish your Terms and Names Homework for Unit 1.  Use resources available to you to learn what these terms and names are, then write brief definitions or descriptions in the adjacent boxes.  You can work with others on this.  Due next Friday, September 15.

Discussion Starters
Three "worlds"; three European empires that settled the Americas; three colonial regions; Terms & Names homework.

Thursday - 09/07/2017

What We Did Today
We wrapped-up our Scattergories activities.  Then, Mr. L introduced this blog to us and showed us all of its features and resources available.  Lastly, we began working on an American History in Review activity.

Homework
None, though if you'd like to work on your American History in Review, go for it.

Discussion Starters
Blog; American History in Review.

Students hunt through their textbooks to review
early American history.

Wednesday - 09/06/2017

What We Did Today
We reviewed classroom expectations, reviewed our KWL charts, passed out our textbooks, and played a game of Scattergories with our textbook.

Homework
None.

Discussion Starters
Classroom expectations; what we KNOW about history; Scattergories.